Finding Sculptures
Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture
SOS volunteers collected data on more than 32,000 publicly accessible outdoor sculptures across the United States. The information they gathered has been added to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, a database of nearly 400,000 artworks, including indoor and outdoor sculpture.
Visit the Inventories database online at www.siris.si.edu. Look for the "Smithsonian American Art Museum Research Databases" section and click on "Art Inventories."
- Sample Searches: To quickly search for outdoor sculpture in your state, select "Sample Searches" listed in the green bar at the top of the search screen. Click on your state name, and then click on a city name from the list, and scroll through a brief description for each of the works recorded so far for that city.
- To search the database for outdoor sculpture in a specific city, select a "Keyword" search from the green bar at the top of the search screen. Fill in the "Object Type Keyword" search box with the city name, or city and state name in full (e.g., Springfield, Massachusetts, or Washington, District of Columbia).
- To narrow your search by artist, title, or subject, also fill in the “Artist Keyword,” "Title Keyword," and/or "Subject Keyword" search boxes.
You may also search the Inventory of American Sculpture (IAS) database for artworks that have received conservation treatment.
Updating Data
New works: To report a work to the Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Web site at www.AmericanArt.si.edu—click on "Art Information Resources" and click "Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture" and click on "Report Artworks."
Conservation treatment of a work: IAS will update records for sculptures that have been conserved. Complete a Conservation Treatment Notification Form, available on the SAAM Web site at www.americanart.si.edu/art_info/sos-getinvolved.cfm
Questions?
Contact staff at the Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture by e-mail at artref@si.edu or call 202-633-8380.