How much is the Hope Diamond worth? Ask Smithsonian.

Our inquisitive readers are rising to the challenge we gave them last month. The questions are pouring in and we’re ready for more. Do you have any questions for our curators? Submit your questions here.

How much is the Hope Diamond worth? — Marjorie Mathews, Silver Spring, Maryland

That’s the most popular question we get, but we don’t really satisfy people by giving them a number. There are a number of answers, but the best one is that we honestly don’t know. It’s a little bit like Liz Taylor’s jewels being sold in December—all kinds of people guessed at what they would sell for, but everybody I know was way off. Only when those pieces were opened up to bidding at a public auction could you find out what their values were. When they were sold, then at least for that day and that night you could say, well, they were worth that much. The Hope Diamond is kind of the same way, but more so. There’s simply nothing else like it. So how do you put a value on the history, on the fact it’s been here on display for over 50 years and a few hundred million people have seen it, and on that fact it’s a rare blue diamond on top of everything else? You don’t. – Jeffrey E. Post, mineralogist, National Museum of Natural History

What’s the worst impact of ocean acidification so far?- Nancy Schaefer, Virginia Beach, Virginia

The impacts of ocean acidification are really just starting to be felt, but two big reports that came out in 2011 show that it could have very serious effects on coral reefs. These studies did not measure the warming effect of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but rather its effect of making the ocean more acidic when it dissolves in the ocean. Places where large amounts of carbon dioxide seep into the water from the sea floor provide a natural experiment and show us how ocean waters might look, say, 50 or 100 years from now. Both studies showed branching, lacy, delicate coral forms are likely to disappear, and with them that kind of three-dimensional complexity so many species depend on. Also, other species that build a stony skeleton or shell, such as oysters or mussels, are likely to be affected. This happens because acidification makes carbonate ions, which these species need for their skeletons, less abundant.

Nancy Knowlton, marine biologist
National Museum of Natural History

Art and artifacts from ancient South Pacific and Pacific Northwest tribes have similarities in form and function. Is it possible that early Hawaiians caught part of the Kuroshio Current of the North Pacific Gyre to end up along the northwest coast of America from northern California to Alaska? — April Croan, Maple Valley, Washington

Those similarities have given rise to various theories, including trans-Pacific navigation, independent drifts of floating artifacts, inadvertent crossings by ships that have lost their rudders or rigging, or whales harpooned in one area that died or were captured in a distant place. Some connections are well-known, like feather garment fragments found in an archaeological site in Southeast Alaska that appear to have been brought there by whaling ships that had stopped in the Hawaiian Islands, a regular route for 19th-century whalers. Before the period of European contact, the greatest similarities are with the southwest Pacific, not Hawaii. The Kushiro current would have facilitated Asian coastal contacts with northwestern North America, but would not have helped Hawaiians. The problem of identification is one of context, form and dating. Most of the reported similarities are either out of their original context (which can’t be reconstructed), or their form is not specific enough to relate to another area’s style, or the date of creation cannot be established. To date there is no acceptable proof for South Pacific-Northwest Coast historical connections that predates the European whaling era, except for links that follow the coastal region of the North Pacific into Alaska.

William Fitzhugh, archeologist
Natural History Museum

Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's trilogy kicks off with "Where is the Friend's Home?" Image courtesy of the Freer Gallery.

Friday, January 27 Iranian Film Festival: Koker Trilogy

Even if you haven’t made it to the Iranian Film Festival yet, don’t miss part 1 of the Koker Trilogy by internationally acclaimed director and screenwriter Abbas Kiarostami. The first film, “Where is the Friend’s Home?” employs the simple premise of a young boy traveling to his classmate’s village to return a book to weave a potent allegory on friendship, duty and the importance of breaking the rules sometimes. Free. 7:00 p.m. The second and third film will be shown Sunday: And Life Goes On at 1:00 p.m. and Through the Olive Trees at 3:00 p.m. Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery.

Saturday, January 28 Renwick Birthday Party

The Renwick Gallery turns the big 4-0 this weekend. Come celebrate with music, crafts, games, a scavenger hunt through the galleries, and, of course, cake. Free. 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Grand Salon, Renwick Gallery.

Sunday, January 29 Silkscreening Demo

Join local artist Kristina Bilonick for an art talk and demo of the silkscreen printing process. Bilonick is known for her interactive art installations incorporating screen printing, video and other media. Stick around afterward to try it yourself in a hands-on activity. Talk is free; activity has a minimal fee. Preregister by emailing AmericanArtLuce@si.edu. 1:30 p.m. American Art Museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Learn the story behind Dale Chihuly's Blanket Cylinder Series at the Renwick Gallery. Image courtesy of the American Art Museum.

Tuesday, January 17 The Loving Story

Learn about the dramatic story of Mildred and Richard P. Loving in this documentary about the 1967 landmark Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia, which banned laws forbidding interracial marriages. After the film, stick around for a panel discussion with director Nancy Buirski and legal scholars. Free. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. McEvoy Auditorium, National Portrait Gallery.

Wednesday, January 18 Dale Chihuly’s Blanket Cylinder

Join curatorial assistant Debrah Dunner for the Renwick’s monthly gallery talk. Dunner delivers on Dale Chihuly’s Blanket Cylinder Series. The artist was inspired by motifs on Indian trade blankets to create intricately patterned blown glass cylinders. Free. 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Renwick Gallery, American Art Museum.

Thursday, January 19 Beat the Blues

Shake off your winter blues with singer Andrea Wood and her talented blues quintet on the Take 5! stage. Borrow a board game to play during the concert and enjoy printmaking demonstrations by artists from George Mason University. Free. 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Courtyard, American Art Museum

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Join curators to learn about "Pair of Prickly Pairs" as part of a gallery talk. Photo courtesy of the Renwick Gallery

Monday, December 19 Fly Me To Mars

Author and illustrator Catherine Weitz’ award-winning children’s book Fly Me To Mars tells the story of wayward planet on a fantasy journey. Weitz, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, focuses on Mars geology in her research. Come meet Dr. Weitz and have your copy of the book signed in time for the holidays. Free. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Air and Space Museum, at the entrance to the museum store.

Tuesday, December 20 Holiday Arts and Crafts

Join museum staff for a morning of arts and craft making with a holiday theme. Participants will have their own chance to create memorable ornaments with materials provided by the museum. Free; please call 202 633 4844 to make reservations. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum, program room.

Wednesday, December 21 American Craft Masterpieces

As part of the Renwick’s monthly gallery talks series, experts discuss the masterpieces in small, intimate groups. This month, join Rebecca Robinson as she provides insight into Jon Eric Riis’ Pair of Prickly Pairs. Riis is an internationally-known tapestry artist whose intricate works often incorporate precious materials such as metallic and silk threads. Pair of Prickly Pairs was acquired by the museum in 2001 and features an unusual cactus-like roughness on the surface of the fruits that was produced with the incorporation of glass seed beads into the work. Free. 12 p.m. Renwick Gallery, first floor lobby.

Thursday, December 22 Butterfly Pavilion

Come out of the chill of winter and discover a tropical oasis in the middle of the Mall. Located next to the “Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution” exhibit at the Natural History Museum, the Butterfly Pavilion is home to hundreds of rare butterflies and exotic plants from all over the world. Tickets are required, and can be purchased in person at the Butterfly Pavilion Box Office or online. $6 for adults, $5.50 for seniors (60+), $5 for children (2 to 12), and $5 for members. Natural History Museum, 2nd Floor West, open 10:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Beth Lipman's sculpture "Bancketje," is on view at the Renwick. Photo courtesy American Art Museum

With Thanksgiving Day at hand, the ATM team combed the collections for the some of the best feasts depicted in art. Visit the American Art Museum and its branch, the Renwick Gallery, to see these and other masterpieces of holiday food festivities.

1. Sioux Dog Feast: George Catlin was a self-taught artist who traveled the American West during the 1830s. This painting portrays a feast given by the Lakota people to visiting U.S. government representatives, likely observed at Fort Pierre in 1832. Recounting the event in his Letters and Notes Catlin wrote, “Near the foot of the flag-staff were placed in a row on the ground, six or eight kettles, with iron covers on them, shutting them tight, in which were prepared the viands for our voluptuous feast.”

2. Vegetable Dinner: This 1927 work, painted by artist Peter Blume at the precocious age of 21, depicts a pair of women—one, seated and smoking, the other, standing and chopping vegetables. “Blume was involved with a style called Purism, which emphasized exquisite contours and simplified shapes,” writes museum director Elizabeth Broun. “Still, there’s something in the way the knife slicing away a potato skin is poised against the vulnerable thumb, perhaps to cut more deeply. Blume could find a dark tension in this game of edges and surfaces.”

Doris Lee's 1935 "Thanksgiving," is held in the collections. Photo courtesy American Art Museum.

3. Thanksgiving: During her lifetime, Doris Lee was a popular mainstream artist whose work evoked Norman Rockwell and appeared in Life magazine. This 1935 painting provided a look back at the simpler domestic life many yearned for during the years of the Great Depression. The bustling kitchen is full of preparation for the annual feast, and although the work appears simple in terms of subject, it is filled with countless realistic details.

4. Archelous and Hercules: In ancient Greek myth, the god Archelous took the form of a bull during flood season and carved channels into the earth, while Hercules tore off his horn to create a cornucopia of plenty. Thomas Hart Benton’s 1947 oil painting adapts this legend as a parable for the American Midwest, where engineers worked to tame the Missouri River. The plentiful harvest spilling from the horn represents the future bumper crops farmers would enjoy as a result of this work.

5. Bancketje: This sculpture—named after the banquets often featured in 17th century Dutch still-life paintings—is a literal feast, but one already eaten. Contemporary glass artist Beth Lipman worked with 15 other artisans to create the extravagant installation, piling 400 pieces of hand-blown glass tableware, stemware, candlesticks and serving dishes atop an oak table. The 2003 piece manages to combine an initial impression of abundance with a subsequent awareness of emptiness and decay.

Jo Ann Gillula interviews Susan Ford Bales, left, daughter of President Gerald Ford, about what it was like to live in the White House. Photo by Bruce Guthrie.

Despite their age, the satin upholstered arm chairs, a perfectly coifed valance, shiny silver serving pieces and neatly set state china, now on display in the Renwick Gallery’s exhibition “‘Something of Splendor’: Decorative Arts from the White House,” are in immaculate condition. So much so, that it is hard to imagine real families and guests of the White House actually sitting on the furniture and eating off of the dinnerware. But the real dynamism of the White House, says White House curator William G. Allman, is in remembering that in addition to being a museum and office it is a home. “The White House embodies the story of how the presidents and their families live, work and entertain within its historic walls and among its historic furnishings,” says Allman.

For the 13-minute film At Home in the White House, featured in the exhibition, Jo Ann Gillula, chief of external affairs for the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery, interviewed several members of past first families. In it, Rosalynn Carter talks about how her daughter, Amy, particularly disliked a platter handpainted with a picture of a wild boar on it from the Rutherford B. Hayes administration. Lynda Bird Johnson Robb mentions how her mother would often say how she and President Lyndon Johnson ought to get their portraits done early, before they age. Tricia Nixon Cox speaks of how she had her wedding ceremony on the premises, and Susan Ford Bales recalls her senior prom, the only one ever to be held at the White House. Gillula especially enjoyed the funny stories Susan Ford Bales, daughter of former President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford, shared about living in the White House.

Just last week, Bales was invited back to the Renwick for a public interview in the gallery’s Grand Salon. In retrospect, Bales said that she wished she had paid more attention to the historic furnishings that surrounded her while living at the White House, but at the time, she admits she was more focused on “dates, grades, parties and what I was going to do for the weekends.” She was 17 years old, after all, when President Richard Nixon resigned and her father Gerald Ford took the highest office in 1974.

Bales had a leg up on her mother and three brothers, though, in knowing some of the public rooms of the White House. When the family had its first walk-through of the house with the curator, before moving in, she admits she acted like a know-it-all. The previous summer, she had a summer job selling White House Historical Association guide books in the residence.

The Fords had been living in a saltbox house in Alexandria, Virginia, with four bedrooms. Bales shared a bathroom with her older brothers, Michael, Jack and Steven. “I was so excited to have my own bathroom,” she recalls. “We really were simple people.” To make the private quarters their own, the president and first lady brought their own comfy chairs into what is traditionally the first lady’s bedroom. Bales says that her parents had always slept in the same room, and so decided to forgo the separate president and first lady bedrooms. They turned what was considered the president’s bedroom into an exercise room.

To Bales, the most “normal” room was the solarium on the third floor, facing the National Mall. With yellow chintz sofas, care of Mrs. Nixon, “you weren’t afraid to break anything,” says Bales. “It was like a normal living room. You felt comfortable in there.” On the other end of the spectrum, during the Ford administration there was a room on the White House’s second floor that had dark hunter green, velvet-covered walls. “It was a creepy room,” says Bales. “It had a warm, weird feeling about it.” As a child or teenager living in the White House, you expect it to have its mysteries, notes Bales. She poked around in drawers, and, on her very last night in the house, she slept in the Lincoln bedroom, where others had allegedly seen a ghost. While Bales tried to fall asleep, Betty Ford made ghoulish noises from the hallway. “That’s the kind of thing she did,” says Bales.

When Gillula brought up the senior prom, Bales looked to high school friends seated in the front rows of the audience, and said, playfully, “Yes, girls, should we talk about the prom?” Bales remembers the prom committee at the Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, asking her if it might be possible to have the prom at the White House in the spring of 1975. When she asked White House staff and her father, it was decided that yes, her classmates could have their prom there, as long as they, of course, footed the bill.

“Our dream was to have the Beach Boys,” says Bales, of the entertainment. “We thought they’d do it for free.” But they instead had two bands, called the Outer Space and the Sandcastle, playing in the East Room. It was interesting, says Bates, because unlike most proms, everybody in the class came to this one. “Anybody could get a date,” she jokes. “And all the parents wanted to be chaperones.” But, the class chose their favorite teachers to come instead.

Before the dance, Bales, her date, a 21-year-old “college boy,” and three other couples ate dinner while traveling down the Potomac River on Sequoia, the presidential yacht. “My parents were actually out of town in Egypt,” recalls Bales. “It was really convenient,” she adds, with a laugh. “Mother flew in my aunt to chaperone what was going on in the family quarters,” she adds.

The press, and the fish bowl-like lifestyle, was what Bales least liked about living in the White House. But the best part, she says, was having her father home for dinner more than he ever had been, thanks to Air Force One.

“People who have had the privilege to live there are very connected, in a different way,” says Bales, mentioning how former first ladies from both parties attended her mother’s funeral in July. “Politics really don’t matter once you live in this house,” she says.

In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy became the first to conceive of the White House as a museum. She established the White House Historical Association, a nonprofit responsible for funding, preserving and educating the public about the house’s historic furnishings and artwork, as well as the White House Office of the Curator, to act as the residence’s official historian. “‘Something of Splendor’: Decorative Arts from the White House,” open through May 6, 2012, honors the 50th anniversary of these two entities. In total, 95 objects from the White House’s permanent collection, some never before seen by the public, are on display.

* On Thursday, November 17, at noon at the Renwick Gallery, presidential historian and author Doug Wead will share entertaining stories about first families’ experiences in the White House from his book, All the President’s Children.

Shango’s most popular symbol, the double ax staff signifies the diety’s ability to reward the good and punish the bad. Photo courtesy of African Art; gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company

Friday, June 3 Meet Shango, the Yoruba Diety of Lightning and Thunder

According to oral tradition, Shango, the 16th-century Yoruba warrior-king of Nigeria acquired a special “medicine.” He could bring forth lightning and rout his enemies on the battlefield. His powers enabled him to control much of southwestern Nigeria between the 17th and 19th centuries. Upon his death, Shango was deified and thereafter identified with thunderstorms, forces of nature that the Yoruba peoples  interpreted as a sign of supernatural justice. Shango worship, which spread beyond Nigeria to the Americas via the transatlantic slave trade, promotes the material and spiritual well-being of humanity and protects the powerless. Join Nigerian art historian Babatunde Lawal from Virginia Commonwealth University as he explores the changing interpretations of Shango symbols in Africa and the Americas. Free. 12 PM. Lecture Hall. African Art

Saturday June 4 Renwick Craft Invitational Family Day

Like to cut and paste the old fashion way? Gather at the Renwick for a family activity day making arts and crafts inspired by the work of the four artists on view. Docents will be on had to lead family-oriented tours through the exhibition History in the Making, featuring the work of stain glass artist Judith Schaechter, ceramicist Cliff Lee, silversmith Ubaldo Vitali and furniture maker Matthias Pliessnig. There will also be live music and a scavenger hunt.  Free. 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Renwick Gallery

Sunday, June 5 DC Jazz Festival at American Art Museum

The award-winning drummer and composer Nasar Abadey is the founder and leader of the band SUPERNOVA. Come out to here the group’s performance as part of DC Jazz Festival.  Abadey defines his music as “mult-D,” which he calls multi-dimensional and multi-directional—a broad eclectic mix of Classical African American music, that includes everything from traditional to bebop to free form.  Free. 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. American Art Museum

For updates on all exhibitions and events, visit goSmithsonian.com

Celebrate Hawai'i Festival is at the American Indian museum. Photo courtesy of Katherine Fogden, NMAI.

Friday, May 20 Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

Get a jump on the weekend’s cultural festival “Celebrate Hawai’i,” at the American Indian museum. The two-day event includes films, hula performances, weaving lessons, Hawaiian cooking and discussions. On Friday night, see the documentary Papa Mau: The Wayfinder, which follows a group of young Hawaiians  on a mission to revive the traditional Polynesian arts of canoe-building and wayfinding, or non-instrument celestial navigation. Follow the group as they journey to the island of Satawal in Micronesia and and learn form the master navigator Mau Piailug as he shares the ways of the ancestors aboard the voyaging canoe Hokule’a. Director Na’alehu Anthony will answer questions after the screening. A short film, Stones, will begin at 7:00 PM. Dinner is available at Mitsitam Cafe from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM. The films are free, but reservations are required.

The festival takes place Saturday and Sunday throughout the musuem. Free. 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM. National Museum of the American Indian

Saturday, May 21 Start with the Arts

The Very Special Arts (VSA), the international organization on arts and disability, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum team up for the sixth annual VSA Start with the Arts Festival. Artists and educators from around the world will be on hand for a multicultural celebration featuring music, dance, improv and hands-on activities for children of all abilities and ages. The festival features dance and musical performances, hands-on art activities, improvisation and movement sessions. Free. 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM both Saturday and Sunday. Kogod Courtyard of the American Art Museum

Sunday, May 22 Renwick Craft Invitational

Judith Schaechter is one of four featured artists in this year’s Renwick Craft Invitational. She employs a modern approach to making stained glass; sandblasting, layering and painting the glass, also called the “Tiffany Method.” She will discuss her artwork, themes and experience with the audience.  Free. 2:00 PM. Renwick Gallery “History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational” on exhibit through July 31.

Craig Fifer (right) and friends visit the Freer Gallery of Art, March 13. Photo courtesy of Craig Fifer.

As much as the ATM blog team enjoys keeping you up-to-date with the latest-and greatest-happenings around the Smithsonian Institution, we’re equally excited when readers share their experiences with us— what exhibitions they’ve seen, which museums they’ve visited and what keeps bringing them back to the Mall again and again.

One such reader, Craig Fifer, recently shared the details of his “Smithsonian quest” with us, and we, in turn, share his story with you.

Craig Fifer, an employee with the nearby City of Alexandria, was visiting the “Norman Rockwell” exhibition in early January of this year at the Smithsonian American Art Museum when he had a thought. First, he marveled at how generous lenders are for sharing their works of art with the public and then he thought that having free museums was a gift that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

“Since I was in a new year mindset at the time,” he says, “I decided to make a resolution to visit all of the Smithsonian museums over the course of 2011.” Living so close to Washington, D.C., Fifer, like most D.C.-area residents, hadn’t taken full advantage of the Institution’s proximity. So, in 2011, he decided to change that.

He invited friends to join him on his quest and they documented their jaunts. On Saturday, Fifer and crew (so far, he has 41 RSVPs) will wrap up the 20-site visit that has taken him and his friends up to New York and all Around the Mall, eight months ahead of schedule. So, if you happen to be at the National Zoo on Saturday, around 3 PM, stop by the Panda Cafe terrace (across from the zebra entrance) and you might catch the Questers having a belated birthday party for Fifer, who turned 33 on Wednesday. Hey, who says you can’t be a kid again?

Fifer’s three favorite sights on the trip were: the “Enterprise” space shuttle at the Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center, the “Americans Now” exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery and the “Ghost Clock” at the Renwick Galley. He hopes that his Quest will encourage other readers to take in the sights, too.

Next up for Fifer? Why, more museums of course. “Once I complete the Smithsonian quest,” he says, “I plan to work for the rest of the year on a new goal of visiting a total of 50 museums in 2011.” Well, with such a good head start, that shouldn’t be too hard.

Happy trails!

Tear Drop by Cliff Lee, 2001, 2001, 2004, Collection of the artist. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Porcelain artist Cliff Lee spent 17 years trying to recreate a glaze. He succeeded. Then, he lost the formula. Three years would pass before he could successfully (and continually) reproduce the imperial yellow glaze of the 15th-century Ming court. The glaze is one of his biggest discoveries and remains, perhaps, his biggest secret.

More than 20 of Lee’s works are currently on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery (located at Pennsylvania and 17th Street, NW) in the exhibition, “History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011″ through July 31.

A self-described “type-A person,” Lee demands perfection—from himself and, by extension, from his art; he will not rest until he achieves it— if he rests at all. Ironic, since “rest” is what brought Lee to the craft in the first place.

Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1951 and raised in Taiwan, Cliff Lee was exposed early on to Chinese porcelain through his parents’ vast collection of Chinese antiques. The son of a diplomat, Lee attended college and medical school in the United States, specializing in neurosurgery. The stress of the job led Lee in search of a release and, after a patient introduced him to ceramics, he began taking classes. Soon after, he left his surgical practice to pursue ceramics full time. Lee began his career creating vessels of clay painted with standard glazes. He then switched to porcelain, where impurities are difficult to mask, and began mixing his own glazes and firing his own work in the kiln so that he could understand and control the entire process from start to finish. Blending technical precision and artistic vision, Cliff Lee’s one-of-a-kind pieces reflect his dedication to a purist aesthetic. And, true to form, Lee does not spend much time on the computer, preferring, instead to speak by phone, or face-to-face. He recently chatted with ATM, revealing what he could about his technique, from his studio in Lancaster County, PA, where he was, of course, working.

How do you go about designing a piece?

Most of the time, I get inspired by my environment. I live in the county and I have very beautiful surroundings. Because I have high blood pressure—I am a type A person—I need beautiful surroundings to cool me off, calm me down. By observing nature, the surroundings, most of the time I get inspired for my work. I get ideas in my mind, sometimes for many months and I try to solve the technical problems. Then I start working on it and slowly, slowly it comes to reality. It’s a gradual process. It doesn’t just come out. The ideas incubate slowly and then I try many many times and fail many many times. Every time I try and fail, I learn from the mistake and it eventually comes. That’s why my work is one of a kind. Every one of them that comes out is different.

Does your training as a neurosurgeon ever play a part in how you go about crafting a piece?

Yes. Like chemistry, physics, calculus, surgical procedures are very tedious and require patience. I’ve got precision, I’m precise. You cannot make any mistakes, so all that training comes into practice. I’m a workaholic. I’m still working. If I don’t work on the potter’s wheel, in my studio, I’m reading or either studying, doing experiments.

What are you currently working on?

Now, I’m trying to perfect my persimmons glaze, a beautiful persimmons glaze. I saw one piece in the Sotheby’s catalogue. I studied it, looked at it and I said, ‘hey, I can do this.’ So, I’m working on it and it slowly comes out to be very beautiful. I want to perfect it. Because, when you do firing in a kiln, each one has a different location which is good for certain glazes. So, when you do experiments, you accumulate knowledge and when you know, the problem then becomes your knowledge. The ‘know’ comes from knowledge. You know something, then it becomes your knowledge.

Cliff Lee, Photo by Douglas Lee. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Why did you decide to work with a notoriously difficult sculpting material like porcelain?

I like the challenge. Life is full of challenges. If there’s no challenge, what’s life for? There’s no meaning any more. It’s too easy. That’s not in my nature. Just like doing sports. I was watching the NCAA man’s basketball [championship game]. The first half was terrible—they all missed all the shots. I say, ‘what’s going on with these kids,’ you know? They’re supposed to be very good at it; they’re supposed to be able to make the easy shot. If they cannot keep their cool, and take a deep breath before they take a shot, that means that they are not there. They need to practice. It’s the challenge, everyday life is just a challenge.

You have had an enormous amount of success thus far in your craft. Is the work still challenging?

Oh yes, because I have set a standard. I want to be better. Every year, every month, I want to be better.  So it’s just the beginning for me, everyday is just the beginning. I want to go one step beyond. I’ll never be happy, satisfied, isn’t that terrible? It’s a curse.

Why did you decide to focus on traditional Chinese ceramic forms and glazes?

In the early days, I lived with a whole bunch of Chinese porcelain; my parents have a vast collection of Chinese antiques. And when we were young, they took us to museums very often so I got attracted to those beauties, the color, the shape. So, subconsciously I got educated, that left an imprint in my mind. So I did not learn ceramics overseas in Taiwan. I learned everything in the United States. I owe everything to the U.S. They gave me a good education and they gave me good opportunities. I think that, in the United States, if you set your mind to it, you can do anything you want. The sources are infinite. Anything you want to get, you want to know, you can get it, if you work harder.

It took you 17 years to recreate a previously lost Chinese glaze—imperial yellow. What can you tell us about it?

Some of my personal secrets, I cannot tell. Everyone wants to know. You know that right? It was a very difficult process, long process. Like [the PBS show] “Craft in America,” next week is coming to my studio for four days. They are coming to my studio, a film crew, six people, for four days, to tape. They want to know all this too, but I cannot tell them, you know. Someday maybe I will give all the secrets to the museum. Maybe the Smithsonian, maybe the art museum; they can decide what they want to do. They can sell my secrets for a lot of money. That’d be fine.

How do you  keep people from finding out?

I don’t tell them. I keep my mouth shut. Everybody wants to know. Sometimes when you get online you can see the people say, ‘How did Cliff Lee do the yellow? We really want to know.’ That’s for me to know, for you to find out.

Hear Renwick curator Nicholas R. Bell discuss Lee’s Guan-ware Vase at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery tomorrow, April 20 at 12 PM in the first floor lobby. See more of Lee’s work, including pieces painted in the famed imperial yellow glaze, on display in the exhibition “History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011,” at the Renwick Gallery through July 31. The artists were selected by Bell, Ulysses Dietz, senior curator at The Newark Museum and Andrew Wagner. The exhibition also features the work of silversmith Ubaldo Vitali, stained glass artist Judith Schaechter and furnituremaker Matthias Pliessnig.

This post was updated to clarify the role of the visiting scholars.

Friday, April 15: Latin Jazz

The John Santos Sextet will perform jazz from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the United States. Santos, a four-time Grammy nominee, is an expert of Afro-Latino music and is known for his innovative use of traditional forms and instruments in combination with contemporary music. He has performed, recorded and studied with some of the masters of Afro-Latin Jazz such as Cachao, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Bebo Valdés, Lázaro Ros, Armando Peraza and Eddie Palmieri. Sextet members include Santos, Saul Sierra, Marco Diaz, John Calloway, Melecio Magdaluyo and David Flores. Free. Natural History Museum. 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.

Hurry In. The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef closes on April 24. Photo courtesy of Eric Long, SI.

Saturday, April 16: Celebrating the Crocheted Coral Reef

Families with kids take note. At the crochet coral reef exhibition over at the Natural History museum, a festival of fun is planned. Kids are invited to learn how to crochet, color a coral reef button and meet Sanctuary Sam, the sea lion mascot for Quiksilver. Smithsonian zoologist Stephen Cairns will be answering questions about coral reefs and the creatures who live in and around them. Check out this article about the reef exhibition from Smithsonian. Free. Natural History Museum. Exhibition closes April 24. 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Sunday, April 17: Meet the Artist, Silversmith Ubaldo Vitali

Silversmith Ubaldo Vitali is one of only four artists to be selected for this year’s Renwick Craft Invitational. Vitali trained under the guild system in Italy and is the only member of the Roman goldsmith’s guild who lives outside Italy. He designs using traditional techniques with a modern flair. The artist be in the gallery Sunday to answer questions about his life and work. ATM blogger Jeff Campagna interviewed Vitali earlier this month. Free. 1:30 PM. Renwick Gallery

For updates on all exhibitions and events, visit our companion site goSmithsonian.com

Judith Schaechter, Widow, (2008), Collection of Colleen and John Kotelly, Photo by Dominic Episcopo/Renwick Gallery, SI

According to one of Judith Schaechter’s bios, she “single-handedly revolutionized the craft of stained glass through her unique aesthetic and inventive approach to materials.” Judith Schaechter, while flattered by the description, wants you to know two things: one, she did not write that bio and two, she does not believe herself to be “some kind of Grand Poobah Savior of Stained Glass.”  But Schaechter has, admittedly, made significant contributions to the field.

“I would say that my contribution has been both technical, as well as in terms of how one might use contemporary content as inspiration, without sacrificing the medium’s spiritual essence,” Schaechter says, “or something like that.”

Born in Gainesville, Florida in 1961, Judith Schaechter grew up in Massachusetts, visiting art museums where she was drawn to “scary paintings,” which would later influence her work. Schaechter began her career as a painter and later switched to stained glass, “a notoriously difficult medium,” according to Andrew Wagner, editor-in-chief of ReadyMade magazine and co-curator of a contributing scholar to the exhibition, “History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011.” And she’s been shattering conventions ever since. Traditionally, stained glass is created by cutting the glass, painting it using the matting and tracing method and assembling it with lead. Schaechter’s technique, by contrast, involves sandblasting, layering and painting the glass with vitreous paint and using copperfoil instead of lead, sometimes referred to as the “Tiffany Method.” She also displays her works more like paintings, instead of in architectural settings. Judith Schaechter, quite simply, is an unintentional rebel. So don’t ask her to define her art or deconstruct its meaning, the witty artist simply can’t, and more importantly, won’t. Instead, she prefers to let the pieces speak for themselves. Here, she offers a few thoughts on her process.

You describe yourself as an outsider. In what way(s)?

My parents were a mixed background couple.  My father is of a Jewish background (and he immigrated to the USA in the 1950s) and my mother, Episcopal (from Oklahoma), although both were atheists before I was born. I grew up in a largely Catholic area of Newton, Massachusetts and to the children in the neighborhood I was “Jewish.” To Jewish children I was “Christian.”  And that is only part of the story. . . I was also 100 percent nerd. I was not just bad at sports, but truly appallingly awful, (left handed, but right legged and also right eyed and left eared—I am hopelessly miswired— for one thing). My brother was strange to others because he was learning disabled. . .. There are many obvious and not so obvious ways I didn’t fit in as a kid. I believe that this taught me to see way beyond any socially designated boundaries and to see them as artificial (albeit sometimes necessary). Think outside the box?  I’m so outside the box that first I’d have to pick one to think “inside” of!

How does this designation inform your art? Or your  chosen medium?

Well, I would not designate myself as either a “Fine Artist” or “Craftsperson,” for one thing, but some sort of melange. I also can hold contradictory beliefs in my head without much conflict. I am very open-minded yet paradoxically very stubborn. And, I am fine being alone for long periods of time.

Judith Schaechter at work. Image courtesy of the artist.

Why glass?

I have often wondered if I had a predisposition to the medium or if it’s all coincidence. All I can say for sure is that I knew almost instantly when I tried stained glass that that was what I wanted to pursue for the rest of my life. Amazingly, this turned out to be true.

The fact is I feel my medium is a separate and living entity with which I have a relationship not unlike a marriage. Glass seems to love me back unlike anything else I’ve ever worked with and therefore, no matter how bad things get, there’s always incentive to “try to work it out.”  For some reason, my medium HAD to be glass and believe me, I tried other media! I truly thought and wanted desperately to be a painter—but it was not to be. Glass was the only thing I could bear to work with long enough to become fluent in. I strongly believe that stained glass is an unlimited expressive and virtually unexplored technical medium—when I get bored with glass it’s something wrong in my own head, a failure of my own imagination which would translate to any medium—so switching would be not only  futile but also a cop out.

I have a crisis about every three years or so when I not only feel I am in a rut with glass but actually tell everyone I am quitting.  Like anyone who’s  ever truly loved something, I regularly DESPISE IT WITH ALL MY HEART. But I always go back to it.

What, if anything, do you want visitors to take away from your pieces, or understand about your work that may not be immediately evident?

Let’s just leave it that I want them to take away something!  Anything they may want or need that they might find there –that’s for them!!!!

See more of Judith Schaechter’s work in the exhibition “History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011,” on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery through July 31. The show was curated by Renwick curator Nicholas R. Bell. The artists were selected by Bell, Ulysses Dietz, senior curator at The Neward Museum and Andrew Wagner. The exhibition also features the work of silversmith Ubaldo Vitali, ceramic artist Cliff Lee and furnituremaker Matthias Pliessnig.

This post was updated to clarify the role of the visiting scholars.

All Smithsonian Institution museums and the National Zoo are Open. Photo by Eric Long

All Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are open.

Don’t miss out on all the events and happenings, all scheduled as planned. Tarantula feedings at the Natural History Museum. A special tour of the Kinsey Collections at American History. An Earth Day celebration at the American Art Museum.

And here’s a list of all the exhibitions that are on view.  For the first time, the Freer Gallery’s renowned Peacock Room has been restored to its appearance in 1908, when the museum’s founder Charles Lang Freer used it to organize and display more than 250 ceramics from all over Asia. The new exhibition, The Peacock Room Comes to America, debuts today.

Other don’t-miss exhibitions and landmark Smithsonian artifacts like the Hope Diamond, Julia Child’s kitchen, the Ruby Slippers, The Wright Flyer, The First Ladies exhibition can be found at the following Smithsonian museum locations:

• The Smithsonian Castle
• The Carousel on the National Mall
• The Ripley Center and International Gallery
• The National Museum of American History
• The National Museum of Natural History
• The National Air and Space Museum
• The Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia
• The Smithsonian American Art Museum
• The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
• The National Portrait Gallery
• The Freer and Sackler Galleries
• The Hirshhorn Museum
• The African Art Museum
• The National Museum of the American Indian
• The National Postal Museum
• The National Zoo
• The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City
• The George Gusav Heye Center in New York City

This weekend marks a special time for Smithsonian visitors and the Institution’s spokesperson Linda St. Thomas expressed her delight that the museums were all open for business this weekend:  “People have planned for months, or a year or more, for their spring visits to Washington, which always includes visits to the museums and the Zoo. If it were up to us, we would never shut down. That’s why we are only closed one day a year—Christmas Day.”

Of course spring time is also is presenting Smithsonian photographer Eric Long with some of the most exquisite visual opportunities, enjoy this gallery before gearing up to head out.

Ubaldo Vitali, 25th Anniversary Tea & Coffee Service, 2004 (glass by Leonard DiNardo). Collection of Janet and Ricardo Zapata. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Ubaldo Vitali (b. 1944) is “arguably the greatest living silversmith in the United States,” according to Ulysses Dietz, one of the curators of the new Renwick Gallery exhibition, History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational. Vitali is a go-to-guy for commissioned work from high-end houses like Tiffany, Cartier and Bulgari, as well as for restoration of antique silver pieces. Stylistically, he combines traditional craftsmanship and technique with elements of modern design.

As an artist, Vitali is constantly aware of the ever-changing interplay of light as it bounces off of the surface of his works, or as he puts it, “each object reflects its own structure, its own soul, its own personality.”

Italian-born and trained, Vitali came up in the old-school guild system in Rome, later emigrating to New Jersey in the late 1960s. And he maintains those roots, still a member of a Roman goldsmith’s guild. In fact, he’s the only member allowed to reside outside of Rome.

Vitali’s pieces are featured in the exhibition, along with works by three other artists—ceramic artist Cliff Lee, furniture maker Matthias Pliessnig and glass artist Judith Schaechter—that share his sensibilities regarding updating classical technique with modern style. He’ll also be giving an artist talk about his work Sunday, April 17 at 1:30 at the Renwick Gallery.

I caught up with Vitali at the press preview and found him to vaguely resemble an older, more Italiano version of George Clooney in his suit. It was almost difficult to imagine the elegant gentleman in front of me pounding sheets of silver and making the precious metal bend and melt. But initial appearances can be deceiving, and Vitali’s enthusiasm for his craft, as well as his humble nature, shine through when he speaks.

Silversmith Ubaldo Vitali at work. Photo courtesy of SAAM

What attracted you to working with silver, as opposed to, say clay, stone, or other metals?

I come from a family of silversmiths. I am the fourth generation. I went to my father and grandfather’s workshops since I was very young. However, all my studies were in the arts, and I was given the freedom to be a painter or a sculptor. But I guess it was in the blood. Silver was in the blood, and it always kept pulling me back.

You were trained in the old world-style guild system of silversmiths. Briefly, what is that like, and how long does it take to go from being an apprentice to a master?

The guild system is [now] more a symbolic thing. In the past, the role of the guild, besides controlling the metal, was to be insurance for the family. If you died young they would take care of your widow and the children. It was a system of support. Today we don’t need that anymore, so it’s basically symbolic. As far as apprenticeship is concerned, by the 20^th century, you don’t have to be an apprentice in order to become a master, at least in my field. But most of the people that start in this business are young, usually ten or eleven [years old]. They go maybe two, three hours a day, like in internships here. Then if you feel you have some kind of attraction to it, these people will become more and more involved.

Do you think traditional silversmithing has become a lost art?

Yes and no. Actually, it’s practiced more in the U.S. than the rest of the world, because you have so many colleges that offer courses. However, whenever you make something institutionalized, it loses a lot…When people come out of an institution, even if they have a Master’s, they will end up teaching, because it’s very difficult for a silversmith to establish an economically viable business. It’s almost impossible.

Do you think technology has helped or hindered the process of silversmithing?

In my shop, I use the oldest techniques…But on the same token, I have the latest technology, from hydrogen flames to induction melting, all kinds of microscopy. You name it, we have it. There is no reason to shut the door to technology–You embrace it.

History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitation 2011 is on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, located at Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W., through July 31. The show was curated by Nicholas R. Bell. The artists were selected by Bell, Ulysses Dietz, senior curator and curator of decorative arts at The Newark Museum and Andrew Wagner, editor-in-chief of ReadyMade Magazine.

This post was updated to clarify the role of the visiting scholars.

Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the James Renwick Alliance

Towering over viewers at an astonishing 107 inches, Viola Frey’s Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress commands your attention.

Currently on view at the Renwick Gallery, Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress exemplifies what made Frey—who died in 2004 at the age of 70—unique as an artist. She was a classic artist who worked in many mediums—painting, drawing, bronze and photography—but she is best known for her monumental scale ceramic sculptures. “They’re tour de force in the field of ceramics,” says Fern Bleckner, the Renwick Gallery’s deputy chief for operations.

Frey studied at the California College of the Arts in Oakland with the abstract expressionist artist Richard Diebenkorn, who had a major influence on her work. As an adult she would frequent flea markets—a trait she picked up as a child from her family—and collect random objects such as Japanese porcelain figurines. “She combed the Alameda flea market looking for things that spoke to her,” said Bleckner. “This very much was an integral part of her working process.” Frey deliberately reconfigured these diminutive objects and “giganticized” (her word) them up into a sculpture that depicted an archetypal “Every man” or “Every woman.” In her large pieces, Frey frequently explored the themes of control and power.

“She’s  thinking of people and their place in time and history and their culture,” says Bleckner. “She’s looking at the average every day man in our time and how he fits in and what does it mean for the individual.”

While Frey may have been trying to capture ordinary people living their lives, there are noticeable instances where Frey chose to let her artistic expression run wild. For instance, one hand is larger than the other in Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress. According to Bleckner, this exaggeration was deliberate and is a reference to historic sculptures. It’s an indication of showing power. The face is also not structured like a normal face. “It is more cubist in its depiction,” said Bleckner.

With monumental scale, exaggerated features, a forward leaning stance, and a free form spontaneous painting technique, Frey’s work has the uncanny ability to turn the viewer into the figurine. To learn more about Frey and her work stop by the Renwick Gallery February 16 at 12 p.m. for a free gallery talk led by Bleckner.

Updated: This post was updated to include some additional information from curator Fern Bleckner.