A Museum in the Making
A Museum in the Making explores how Charles Lang Freer, American industrialist and art collector, transformed his Detroit home into an innovative setting for displaying art before founding the nation’s first national art museum, now the National Museum of Asian Art. Created in partnership with the Freer House for the United States’ 250th anniversary, the exhibition examines how Freer and his collaborators integrated artworks with architecture, lighting, frames, walls, windows, furniture, and other design elements.
The exhibition features works by American painters James McNeill Whistler, Dwight William Tryon, and Thomas Wilmer Dewing, along with Michigan’s Pewabic pottery and ceramics from China, Japan, and Syria. It also highlights architect Stanford White and Mary Chase Perry Stratton, an important figure in the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Visitors can consider how the ideas tested in Freer’s home continue to influence the National Museum of Asian Art, including its skylights and courtyard.
When: June 27, 2026–August 1, 2027
Location: West Building, Gallery 8
Collection area: American Art
Venue: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1050 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20013
Tickets: Price not available
Featured artists and contributors: Charles Lang Freer, James McNeill Whistler, Dwight William Tryon, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, architect Stanford White, and ceramic artist Mary Chase Perry Stratton
Exhibition focus: Freer’s Detroit home served as a testing ground for new approaches to exhibition and interior design. The exhibition traces how artworks were coordinated with their surroundings and how those experiments helped shape the museum as a place for people to learn about and experience art.
Digital content: A video walk-through offers a virtual visit to the present-day Charles Lang Freer House in Detroit. The silent video shows the house’s exterior, gardens, fireplaces, wood paneling, carved details, skylights, windows, furniture, artworks, ceramic tile, lighting fixtures, and architectural features.
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 Freer House video.
Run time: Not specified
Showtimes: Not applicable; this is an ongoing exhibition during its displayed dates.