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White House treasures get new curator [1]
['Lauren Monsen']
Date: 2024-05-20 17:02:00+00:00
As the home of U.S. presidents for more than two centuries, the White House is also recognized as an accredited museum with a vast collection of artifacts that reflect the history of its most notable residents and the American people.
Donna Hayashi Smith, the newly appointed curator of the “People’s House,” will care for some 60,000 objects ranging from fine art and furniture to textiles, dinnerware and more. She will work with the president, first lady and their staffs to select art and furnishings that showcase U.S. history for the foreign dignitaries and thousands of tourists who visit the White House each year.
“We want everyone who visits the White House to feel a connection to [it] while learning about its history, [its] great collection of fine and decorative arts, and the presidents and families who have lived there,” Hayashi Smith said in an interview with the University of Hawaii. She graduated from the school’s Mānoa campus with a degree in art history.
Originally from Hawaii, Hayashi Smith is the ninth person to serve as White House curator since the U.S. Congress officially declared the White House a museum in 1961. She is the first Asian American to lead the White House Office of the Curator.
🇺🇸 Alumna Donna Hayashi Smith is the first Asian American curator of the U.S. White House – She oversees the stewardship and care of approximately 60,000 objects, ranging from fine art to furniture to china ➡️
https://t.co/2ycARu2bMl #FacesOfManoa pic.twitter.com/Z9rF6NUh6o — University of Hawaii at Manoa (@uhmanoa) May 7, 2024
Years of experience
Hayashi Smith has worked at the curator’s office since in 1995, during the administrations of five presidents. She started as an administrative and collections assistant and has held positions including associate curator of the collections and registrar, and acting White House curator. Hayashi Smith earned a master’s degree in museum studies while working at the curator’s office.
“She understands the history and legacy of the White House, as well as the intricate inner workings of the building itself,” first lady Jill Biden said.
A new chapter
In her new role, Hayashi Smith will oversee new acquisitions for the White House collection, as well as efforts to catalogue, research and interpret the collection’s current pieces, including portraits of U.S. presidents and first ladies.
Among the most famous are Gilbert Stuart’s 1797 full-length portrait of President George Washington and an 1869 oil rendering of President Abraham Lincoln painted by George Peter Alexander Healy. Other prize pieces include John Singer Sargent’s 1903 three-quarter-length portrait of President Theodore Roosevelt and Aaron Shikler’s portraits of President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, both painted in 1970, and of first lady Nancy Reagan, painted in 1987.
In the interview with her alma mater, Hayashi Smith said she never knew studying art history would lead her to caring for White House treasures.
She moved to Washington after graduating from the University of Hawaii and took a fellowship at the National Museum of American History, then a job at the National Museum of American Art before arriving at the White House Curator’s Office nearly 30 years ago.
“A relative asked what I would ever do with an art history degree,” she said. “I replied that I was not sure but that I really enjoyed studying it, and felt it was the right choice for me. I am thankful I followed my interests and pursued a career that continues to bring me happiness.”
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[1] Url:
https://share.america.gov/white-house-treasures-get-new-curator/
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