WASHINGTON, DC.-The Smithsonian American Art Museum has just launched Eye Level , a blog produced by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The name Eye Level imparts a sense of clarity to which the blog aspires. The name refers to the physical experience of viewing art, but it also plays on the many roles and perspectives that make a museum a reality—roles that will come into focus here. The title also alludes to works from the museum’s collection: to give one example, in the 1820s, it was fashionable to carry a miniature portrait of a lover’s eyeball.

Using the museum’s collection as a touchstone, the conversation at Eye Level will be dedicated to American art and the ways in which the nation’s art reflects its history and culture. The discussion will extend beyond the walls of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection to include other collections, exhibitions, and events. Eye Level will also document the extraordinary collaboration between curators, conservators, handlers, historians, enthusiasts, critics, exhibition and new media designers, and of course bloggers that has motivated the past and present of American art history.

Eye Level is written and produced by a collaborative team at SAAM including: Kriston Capps, Writer (on contract with New Media Initiatives), Joanna Champagne, Head, New Media Initiatives, Michael Edson, Chief, Information Technology Office, Tiffany Farrell, Editor, Publications, Jeff Gates, Lead Producer, New Media Initiatives, and Eleanor Harvey, Chief Curator.

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