Reopening today after six years are the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
The two share the Patent Office building in Washington and the building itself was always part of the attraction. Its construction began in the 1830s and, among much else, it served as the first American history exhibit hall — it displayed the Declaration of Independence, for example, and Washington’s tent. The Patent Office was also the site of Lincoln’s second inaugural ball (1865). For NewMexiKen, it was satisfying just to walk its halls (I worked three blocks away for six years and often went there during lunch.)
Now the building has been refurbished and the museums re-done. The reviews have been singing praises. I can’t wait to return.
Eye Level will be blogging the opening today.