A Museum in the Making
A Museum in the Making examines how Charles Lang Freer, an American industrialist and art collector, transformed his Detroit home into an experimental setting for art, architecture, and design. The exhibition connects Freer’s ideas about displaying art with the galleries and design features of the National Museum of Asian Art, including its skylights and courtyard.
The exhibition features works by American painters James McNeill Whistler, Dwight William Tryon, and Thomas Wilmer Dewing, along with Pewabic pottery and ceramics from China, Japan, and Syria. It also explores the contributions of architect Stanford White and Mary Chase Perry Stratton, a major figure in the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Visitors can consider how frames, lighting, walls, windows, furniture, and artworks were coordinated to create a unified environment.
When: June 27, 2026–August 1, 2027
Venue: National Museum of Asian Art, West Building, Gallery 8
Collection Area: American Art
Tickets: Price not available
Featured Artists and Contributors: Charles Lang Freer, James McNeill Whistler, Dwight William Tryon, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Stanford White, and Mary Chase Perry Stratton
Experience: A video walk-through offers a virtual visit to the present-day Charles Lang Freer House in Detroit. The exhibition also encourages visitors to identify echoes of the house’s design choices in the museum itself.
Video Content: The silent video presents the Freer House at 71 East Ferry Street in Detroit, including its wood-paneled interiors, decorative lighting, fireplaces, skylights, latticework, built-in shelving, artworks, gardens, Japanese-style stone lantern, and architectural details influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement.
Accessibility: Exhibition wall and case text is available online in a format that can be resized or read with a screen reader. A descriptive transcript is also provided for the exhibition video.
Context: This is a featured American art exhibition in the Smithsonian’s celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary.