Smithsonian Associates Online Programs

Drop the burden of a finished product and focus on developing your ideas. Begin to deal with procrastination, creative blocks, flow, problem solving, and finishing within the support of a stress-free environment and build confidence alongside other creatives on the same journey.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This writing session is inspired by 20th-century American artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s shell paintings.

Historian Clay Jenkinson is a John Steinbeck scholar who is retracing the author’s 1960 Travels with Charley tour of America to explore the mood and face of the country on the eve of its 250th birthday. Jenkinson examines Steinbeck's extraordinary account of his road trip ­and his own attempt to make sense of what the author called "this monster country" by viewing it with fresh eyes during a spring-though-fall driving odyssey.

The longtime kings of jazz—Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie—were born within a few years of one another and overcame racial boundaries to become some of the most popular entertainers on the planet. Author Larry Tye follows the story of how these revolutionary musicians opened America’s eyes and souls to the magnificence of their music, and in the process wrote the soundtrack for the civil rights.

Create spectacular color combinations in your quilts as you build your color theory vocabulary and learn how to beautifully incorporate many types of printed fabric through exercises presented in this class for quilters ready to level up.

In their native environments, most common orchids grow on trees. This class teaches you how to free your orchid from the confines of its pot and mount it on a piece of wood.

Billy Wilder, the Polish-born and German-raised genius behind The Apartment and Some Like It Hot, captured the outrageous quirkiness of the United States better than most of his Hollywood contemporaries His caustic and brutal observations manifested themselves in charming and sometimes-outrageous comedies, as well as forceful dramas. Film historian Max Alvarez salutes the laughter and intensity of the great Wilder and his unforgettable film achievements.

For more than 60 years, Barbie has been the world’s best-selling fashion doll, inspiring millions of fans to play with, collect, and adore her. Cultural historian Leslie Goddard explores the history of Barbie, beginning with her inventor, the passionately creative and intensely competitive Ruth Handler. Delve into the complex cultural debates Barbie has inspired over the decades.

Yoga can be a lifestyle medicine that promotes brain health, mental health, and overall well-being. Linda Lang, a certified yoga therapist, offers an opportunity to learn how to embrace yogic thinking and simple and gentle breathing techniques to cultivate a healthier—and calmer—relationship with your body and mind.

Understanding the Bible means understanding the cities and cultures that produced it. The story of these centers—their history, their archaeology, their mysteries, and the inhabitants, and the people later excavated there—is also the story of the Bible itself. Professor of classics and religious studies Robert Cargill leads a fascinating tour through cities including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Qumran, Babylon, Athens, Alexandria, and Rome to reveal how their stories shed new light on the Bible.