Smithsonian

Cake artist Jill Nguyen (@CapitolJillBaking ) made sure to stop and smell the flours during her recent visit to our @SmithsonianNMNH . 🌸🍰 To get inspiration for her next cake, she met with conservation biologist Gary Krupnick and scientific illustrator Alice Tangerini in the US National Herbarium of our @SmithsonianNMNH . There, she explored specimens like passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) and vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) as well as detailed illustrations of the specimens to better understand their intricacies. When Jill got home, she created a vanilla bean chiffon cake with a passion fruit curd and fig leaf olive oil Italian meringue buttercream. Want to see more museum-inspired cakes? Come back this time next week for a creation that we know will get your stamp of approval! #CakeArt #SmithsonianCakes #MuseumCakes #MuseumInspo #baking

This cake is out of this world! Inspired by a tour of our @AirandSpaceMuseum with curator Matt Shindell, cake artist Justin Ellen ( @EverythingJustBaked ) turned the “red planet” into a red cake! In the “Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery,” Justin met three generations of Mars rovers. Matt said that the Mars rovers act like robot geologists, surveying territory humans can’t visit in person. Back on Earth, teams of geologists tell rovers what rocks to analyze. Justin reflected that while designing tools for use in space and baking are very different, they both require patience, creativity, and precision. “This cake became my way of honoring that process and translating the beauty and mystery of our solar system into something tangible.” Want to see more museum-inspired cakes? Tune in this time next week for a creation that’s got some *hint* *hint* flour power. #CakeArt #SmithsonianCakes #MuseumCakes #MuseumInspo

The seed of coco de mer was nicknamed “butt nut” because...well...we’ll let you guess why. Today, conservation biologist Gary Krupnick goes behind the scenes at the U.S. National Herbarium in our @SmithsonianNMNH to highlight this endangered species. Like the coconut, coco de mer is a palm tree. Native only to the Seychelles islands, they produce the largest and heaviest seeds in the world, weighing up to 65 pounds. Unlike coconuts which can float across the ocean, these seeds are not buoyant and cannot naturally disperse to other islands. While there are only 8,000 naturally occurring mature coco de mer trees left in the world, they can live up to 350 years. The U.S. National Herbarium has over five million plant specimens, which include preserved plants, branches, flowers, fruit, seeds, and other plant parts. Which plant do you want to learn about next?

During World War II, 150,000 American women served with the newly formed Women's Army Corps. Though initially barred from enlisting, hundreds of Japanese American women answered the call. Alice Tetsuko Kono was one of them. Born in Hawai'i to Japanese immigrant parents, Kono trained as a Military Intelligence Service linguist. The curriculum included reading, writing, and conversation as well as lessons in Japanese army terms, military codes, and tactics. Even after the Japanese surrendered in November 1945, Kono completed her enlistment period, continuing to translate captured documents sent from the Pacific. Reflecting on why she joined the Army, Kono explained, “There was nobody in our family that was in the service, so I thought somebody should be loyal to the country." Kono’s uniform, “dog tags,” and personal photographs from her time in the Army are in the collections of our @AmHistoryMuseum . #SmithsonianAANHPI

We remember Jason Collins, who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association and opened doors for other professional athletes when he publicly came out as gay in 2013. At seven feet tall, Collins played center for six NBA teams throughout his career. After the 2012–13 season, he made headlines when he came out in a feature article for Sports Illustrated magazine. Collins became the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American pro sports leagues when he signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2014. In that Sports Illustrated article, Collins reflected on why it was important to him to come out publicly. “I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand.” Collins’ jersey, signed by the 2013-14 Nets team, is in the collections of our @NMAAHC . 📸: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Jason Collins

All that glitters is ✨corn.✨ At least in “Capilla de Maíz (Maize Chapel)” by Justin Favela. Favela is a multimedia artist of Guatemalan and Mexican heritage based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He uses traditional crafts, like cartonería (piñata making), in his large-scale installations. Reflecting on his body of work, Favela explains that his art focuses on “Americana and nostalgia.” In this work, commissioned for our @AmericanArt ’s Renwick Gallery, Favela honors the importance of yellow corn (maize) in North American culture and history. “Capilla de Maíz (Maize Chapel)” embodies both the grandeur of a corn field as well as the lavish ornamentation of 18th-century Mexican Catholic Churches mixed with the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip. Favela was inspired by walking through a cornfield enveloped by tall corn stalks that frame the sky and experiencing the same childlike wonder of staring up at the grand arched ceiling of a church. From art to agriculture, corn is a staple for many Americans. How is corn represented in your life? 🌽: “Capilla de Maíz (Maize Chapel)” is organized by the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

🚀 One of India’s “Rocket Women,” Nandini Harinath helped her country reach Mars. She wore this saree to work the day the Indian Space Research Organization’s spacecraft successfully left Earth’s orbit and began its 300-day journey to Mars. As a rocket scientist and the Mars Orbiter Mission’s deputy operations director, Harinath was integral to mission planning and operations. Far exceeding its mission of six to 10 months, the spacecraft spent eight years in orbit, documenting Mars’ surface and atmosphere. The team’s success made India the first Asian country and the fourth country in the world to reach Mars. The sarees worn by the mission’s women leaders came to symbolize their national identity and India’s success in space. Harinath’s saree is on view in our @AirAndSpaceMuseum ’s “Futures in Space” gallery, which invites visitors to consider some of today’s biggest questions. Who decides who goes to space? Why do we go? And what will we do when we get there?

“Portrait of the Artist as Mom, Nightmare Sequence” is a handmade teapot. Ceramicist and arts educator Jean Nunez Donegan created this artwork for a self-portrait exhibition. At the time, her oldest was nine years old and her triplets were eight. She told a Louisiana newspaper, “Laundry was a constant in my life, and that, along with other demands, sometimes seemed overwhelming.” Can’t quite make out the teapot shape? A rolled rug near the top of the laundry pile is the spout, and a pair of blue jeans forms the handle. We see you, moms and mother figures. May your laundry baskets be empty and your hearts full. 🫖 : Jean Nunez Donegan, “Portrait of the Artist as Mom, Nightmare Sequence,” 1995, hand-built and low-fired whiteware with velvet underglazes, 12 7⁄8 x 9 1⁄8 x 6 1⁄4 in. (32.8 x 23.2 x 15.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum @AmericanArt

Poet and musician Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, became the first Native American United States Poet Laureate in 2019. Today is her 75th birthday! Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Harjo studied drawing before finding her passion for poetry during her time at the University of New Mexico. “I met Native poets who were writing about our lives,” she explained. “That shifted it for me.” Since then, Harjo has published 11 books of poetry, three children’s books, and two memoirs. Performing with her saxophone and flutes, Harjo has also had a celebrated career in music. Last month, she released her latest album “Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace” with our @SmithsonianFolkways . Showcasing her bold and direct voice, the record moves fluidly through jazz, poetry, rock, and Native musical traditions. Swipe to hear a clip of the song “Stomp All Night” and see the album’s cover art, which features Harjo’s first original painting in years. Recently, our @SmithsonianNPG acquired a life-size portrait of Harjo, pictured above, by artist Joel Daniel Phillips as part of the museum’s 2025 Portrait of a Nation Awards. See this work on paper currently on view at the museum. Doomscrolling this Saturday morning? We’ll leave you with the opening lines from Harjo’s 2015 poem “For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet.” “Put down that bag of potato chips, that white bread, that bottle of pop. Turn off that cellphone, computer, and remote control. Open the door, then close it behind you. Take a breath offered by friendly winds. They travel the earth gathering essences of plants to clean. Give it back with gratitude.” Learn more about Harjo’s journey as an artist with our @SmithsonianNMAI ’s American Indian Magazine (link in bio). 📷: “Joy Harjo” by Joel Daniel Phillips, 2022. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution © Joel Daniel Phillips 🎶: @SmithsonianFolkways album design by Caroline Gut

PSA: don’t sleep on chamber music.🎶 From storage to the stage, the Smithsonian’s Chamber Music Society brings classical music from the last 400 years to life by making @AmHistoryMuseum ’s historic collections sing. Here, artistic director Kenneth Slowik shows off the “Ole Bull” violin, crafted by Italian master craftsman Antonio Stradivari in 1687, part of the Smithsonian’s decorated “Strad” Quartet. Only 11 decorated instruments from Stradivari’s hand survive anywhere in the world! Can’t make it to one of the Smithsonian’s Chamber Music Society’s live performances? Enjoy a few of their recordings online at the link in our bio.

Farms that make chocolate and great rest stops for migratory birds? That's a win-wing! 🍫🐦 Located in the central region of Panama, Cacao Cerro La Vieja became the first farm in Panama to obtain the Smithsonian Bird Friendly cocoa certification. "We started with this somewhat romantic idea of proving that you can grow good cocoa in a sustainable, biodiversity- and bird-friendly way," explained the farm’s owner, Panamanian biologist and entomologist Samuel Valdés. "It's the only way we know how to do things, respecting nature."

Baritone saxophone player and composer Fred Ho expressed himself through music AND fashion. @AmHistoryMuseum curator Theo Gonzalves took us behind the scenes to learn more about the legacy of Fred Ho, who blended his Chinese American culture with his musical influences in both his compositions and his clothes! “My boots were inspired by my trip to Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Cambodia and the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt,” Ho reflected. “Those have been standing at least for millennia. Still vibrant forever. So I feel like anything that we create should be that.” Fred Ho’s boots will be one of the 250 objects on view in our National Museum of American History’s exhibition “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness,” opening May 14 as part of the museum’s United States 250th anniversary celebrations. 📷: Fred Ho by Jack Mitchell, 1995. In the collection of our National Portrait Gallery. © 1995 Jack Mitchell. @smithsoniannpg Duke Ellington by William Paul Gottlieb, 1946. In the collection of our National Portrait Gallery. @smithsoniannpg #SmithsonianAANHPI Charles Mingus. Duncan P. Schiedt Photograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. @amhistorymuseum Fred Ho Pictures 2 & 3: Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images / Contributor