Education
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The Arts + Industries Building has been part of the nation's history for more than 140 years and is poised for a new chapter. Its origins lay in the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia, where Congress directed ticket proceeds toward a permanent home in Washington, D.C., for the fair's exhibits, and sixty train cars of objects were sent to the Smithsonian for display. In 1881, the first National Museum of the United States opened there with President James Garfield's Inaugural Ball, and in the rotunda a colossal Statue of America held Edison's new electric light as a symbol of American skill, genius, progress, and civilization. From 1910 to 1980, known as America's Palace of Wonders, it drew crowds to see inventions such as the steam engine and Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, national treasures including the Star-Spangled Banner and the first ladies gown collection, and rare objects such as the Spirit of St. Louis and the first moon rock. The building also incubated seven Smithsonian collections that later became their own museums, including Natural History, American History, and Air and Space. In 2021 and 2022, it reopened for FUTURES, the first building-wide exploration of the future on the National Mall, giving millions of visitors a look at humanity's next chapter through interactives, artworks, technologies, and ideas.
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Washington, District of Columbia · United States
