Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Smithsonian Affiliations

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) | Smithsonian Affiliations deepens the impact of the Smithsonian beyond Washington, D.C., by bringing its high-quality content, resources and expertise to people across the nation in collaboration with museums and cultural organizations.

Through the Smithsonian Campaign for Our Shared Future, SITES | Affiliations is seeking support for projects and programs that bring the Smithsonian to the nation. An endowment to support the director, one of our top priorities, will provide flexibility to address the unit’s evolving needs and emphasize its primary role in Smithsonian community-based outreach. We also seek support to establish or continue projects and programs in our two key focus areas: the Multifaceted American Experience and Life on a Sustainable Planet. Among the major projects that SITES | Affiliations will be spearheading during the campaign are:

1. A second edition of The Bias Inside Us: a science-based community engagement project helping people understand and counter the negative impacts of implicit bias;
2. The South Project: a multidisciplinary exhibition and programming effort that weaves together the arts and humanities to tell a more complete story of the American South;
3. A traveling version of Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas, featuring the fossils, finds and scholarship of an international team of paleontologists showing the ancient connections between the coasts of Africa and North America;
4. An expansion of our Earth Optimism: Youth Action and Leadership program: a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund that uses the power of the Smithsonian Affiliations network to connect underrepresented high school students with our scientists to identify and act on environmental issues affecting their communities;
5. Women and Space: a new exhibition that tells the inspiring stories of women in all fields whose endeavors and accomplishments have expanded our understanding of the universe beyond our planet; and
6. Continued growth of the Leadership for Change Internship: a program that annually offers more than 250 fully paid internships for emerging collegiate leaders to come to the Smithsonian or to work at a Smithsonian Affiliate to explore topics of their choosing that support our organizations’ missions.

Your philanthropic support enables SITES | Affiliations to bring the Smithsonian to people where they are, in their communities, working in collaboration with cultural and educational organizations to help the Smithsonian fulfill its role in our nation and beyond.