Description: The Arts and Industries Building was the first building to serve as the US National Museum. Designed by architects Cluss & Schulze, this brick building with expansive galleries opened in 1881, with exhibits on art, culture, history, geology, and natural history. It was renamed the Arts and Industries Building in 1910. History of the Arts and Industries BuildingAdditional
Description: Jacob Kainen trained as a painter at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute and experimented with printmaking while employed in the graphics program of the Federal Art Project in the 1930's. Kainen, a member of the New York avant-garde in the 1930s, came to the Smithsonian in 1942 and served as graphic arts curator through the 1960's. His friendships in the New York art world assisted his