Smithsonian Associates - Educating and Entertaining Audiences for More Than 50 Years

In their native environments, most common orchids grow above the soil attached to trees or rocks. Discover the unique attributes of orchids that allow them to grow this way. 

It takes a village! In this workshop, students construct their own tiny houses, which they personalize working in paper-mache, acrylics, and mixed media.

On February 23, 1961, Jacqueline Kennedy launched the most historic and celebrated redecoration of the White House in its history. James Archer Abbott and Elaine Rice Bachmann—co-authors of a new book that chronicles the undertaking—discuss the 60-year legacy of one of the most influential interior design projects in American history.

Join Tudor and Renaissance scholar Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger on a journey to Regency England as seen through the eyes of Jane Austen and her novels.  She provides fans of Austen added insight into the characters and their lives, and aficionados of history with the details and dramas that made this one of the most fascinating eras in English history.

Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi dives into the mysteries of the universe and how the universe we perceive is not the universe that actually exists.

This intermediate-level photography course offers a better understanding of compositional elements and practices—such as simplicity, balance, and natural lighting—that promote taking better and more unique photographs.