The Spirit of Invention: Patent Office and Patentees

June 26, 2026 - June 6, 2027, 11:30 AM - 7:00 PM

About

The Spirit of Invention looks at American inventors and the U.S. Patent Office in the historic building it once occupied, now home to the National Portrait Gallery.

Details

Other exhibits nearby

Photography

Photographic Memory: Fifty Years of Collecting at the National Portrait Gallery

At National Portrait Gallery

November 14, 2026, 11:30 AM

The National Portrait Gallery celebrates five decades of collecting photography with more than 100 portraits, including a recently acquired 1846 daguerreotype of Dolley Madison.

Craft & Design

Materials, Methods and Meanings: Craft in the Archives of American Art

At Archives of American Art

November 6, 2026, 11:30 AM

The Archives of American Art draws on its collections of letters, photographs, sketches and papers to show how American craft artists made their work and what it meant

Art

New & Now: A Decade Building the National Collection of African Art

At National Museum of African Art

November 6, 2026, 10:00 AM

New & Now celebrates a decade of building the national collection of African art at the National Museum of African Art.

Where

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National Portrait Gallery

8th and G Streets NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20001

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Cultural places nearby

National Portrait Gallery

8th and G Streets NW
Washington
District of Columbia
20001
United States

American Art and Portrait Gallery Library

8th and F Streets NW
Washington
District of Columbia
20001
United States

Smithsonian American Art Museum

800 G St NW
Washington
District of Columbia
20001
United States

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

901 G Street NW
Washington
District of Columbia
20001
United States

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is the central library of DC Public Library, in a landmark building by Mies van der Rohe.

Archives of American Art

750 9th St NW
Washington
District of Columbia
20001
United States

Shakespeare Theatre Company

610 F Street NW
Washington
District of Columbia
20004
United States

Shakespeare Theatre Company presents classical theatre at Harman Hall and the Klein Theatre.