International Art Exhibit Goes Online
“Panoramas: The North American Landscape in Art” is a collaborative international virtual exhibition sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, as well as the Canadian and Mexican governments. Artists in the United States, Mexico and Canada have long depicted a powerful attachment to place. This exhibition explores the ideas that people are profoundly affected by the landscapes they inhabit and that a sense of identity comes from the land. The exhibition is organized into four themes: the Evolving Landscape, the Mythic Landscape, the Social Landscape and the Personal Landscape. Each theme contains about 75 artworks from all three countries.
More than 100 images from the Smithsonian’s permanent collection are available for the online visitor. A significant portion of the site is dedicated to interactive educational programming designed to foster understanding among citizens and to encourage students to find cultural similarities and differences. All text will be available in English, French and Spanish. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is hosting the global classroom within the museum’s virtual community. To view the exhibit, go to http://americanart.si.edu.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2001 issue of THE Journal.