A panel of three distinguished experts in American crafts and decorative arts has selected ceramic artist Christyl Boger, fiber artist Mark Newport, glass artist Mary Van Cline and ceramic artist SunKoo Yuh for the Renwick Craft Invitational 2009. Each artist uses traditional craft media in new ways to create figurative and narrative works. This biennial exhibition is made possible through The Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation Endowment.

"Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist," on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through Aug. 3, presents the first nationally touring retrospective of Aaron Douglas (1899–1979), one of the most influential visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Douglas vividly captured the spirit of his time and established a new black aesthetic and vision.

"Color as Field: American Painting, 1950–1975," on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Feb. 29 through May 26, is the first full-scale exhibition to examine the sources, meaning and impact of the Color Field movement. Paintings from this period constitute one of the crowning achievements of postwar American abstract art. "Color as Field," organized by the American Federation of Arts, offers an opportunity to re-evaluate this important aspect of 20th-century painting.

The exhibition "Going West! Quilts and Community" is on view at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum from Oct. 5 through Jan. 21, 2008. It reveals the essential role that quilts and the making of quilts played in the lives of women on the frontier.

Since 2001, some of the most innovative artists working in the United States today have received the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Lucelia Artist Award. "Celebrating the Lucelia Artist Award, 2001–2006," on view from Sept. 21 through June 22, 2008, features work by each previous winner—Matthew Coolidge, director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation (2006); Andrea Zittel (2005); Kara Walker (2004); Rirkrit Tiravanija (2003); Liz Larner (2002); and Jorge Pardo (2001).

“Kindred Spirits: Asher B. Durand and the American Landscape,” the first major retrospective in 35 years devoted to this celebrated leader of the Hudson River School, is on view from Sept. 14 through Jan. 6, 2008 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

“The Prints of Sean Scully” presents for the first time at the Smithsonian American Art Museum a selection of 57 works from a master set of prints that was acquired in 2001 and is updated annually with newly created works. Scully chose the Smithsonian American Art Museum as the only museum in the United States to receive a master set. The artist’s prints range from large-scale, monumental compositions to smaller, more intimate expressions of the artist’s ideas.

“Earl Cunningham’s America” examines the paintings of Earl Cunningham (1893–1977), one of the premier folk artists of the 20th century. The exhibition is on view in Washington from Aug. 10 through Nov. 4; it begins a national tour in 2008.