The curious case of the Smithsonian Institution and Anne Helmreich failing at its most basic task

Time to open up... my apologies in advance for the cursing - you can retire the Navy out of a former sailor, but you can never retire the sailor out of a sailor.

In the spirit of open transparency: As most of you know by now, I am now almost finished organizing a monster of a survey show for 2025 with the aim of not only exhibiting a curated, 15-venue exhibition to survey a snap shot of women artists working in the DMV region, and catalog them digitally, but to also leave a digital footprint of their 2025 presence for the future.

That show is "Women Artists of the DMV." More than 400 artists in (so far) 15 major art venues across the capital region!

As part of that process, starting in December 2024 I wrote multiple emails and mailed multiple old-school snail mail letters to offer the Smithsonian Institution the opportunity to archive the exhibition materials as part of a survey snapshot in time for DMV area female artists - at no acquisition cost - FREE!

The materials that I offered to the SI would consist of a flash drive which would contain a Powerpoint presentation documenting all curated female artists and one image per artist - I also made it clear that any digital format could be used as needed/recommended by then.  Additionally, in view of how fast technology ages, I would also include (at no cost) a digital screen device (a digital frame) to “play” the digital presentation as needed in the future.

Throughout January, February, March, and April I was ignored, and in May I blasted a: "Did you get my email?" email to every email address that I could find online from them.

On May 9, 2025, I got this response:

From: AAACollectionReview - AAACollectionReview@si.edu 

To: lenny@lennycampello.com

Copy: Helmrich, Anne L.

Dear Lenny Campello,

    Thank you for your interest in the Archives of American Art. Upon reviewing your inquiry, the Archives is not the proper home for the proposed collection. This decision reflects the ongoing needs, priorities, scope, and resources of the Archives rather than the value of the collection.

We are excited to see the exhibition when it comes together. A more suitable repository for a local survey show and a PowerPoint documenting the artists who submitted might be the National Museum of Women in the Arts, though each institution has their own priorities and archival acquisition strategy. Such records of exhibition submissions can be challenging for archival accessions, particularly regarding rights issues around images as well as preservation concerns around born-digital materials.

Thank you again for reaching out to the Archives of American Art —

The curatorial team

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My translation: You need to segregate an exhibition of female artists with an institution that focuses only on female art, because female artists are not the same as "American artists."

Am I the only one who sees how fucked up this response is?

Clearly they have no idea who they're fucking with, because I suspect that the SI knows zip fuck about the artists - male or female - in their own backyard.

I've written to my Senators (Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks), and also to all the DMV area representatives... so far they've also ignored me. Have not yet written (but will) to Virginia senators Tim Kane and Mark Warner.

And thus: I need your help.

If you (like me) believe that part of the Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Art mandate and job is to fucking archive American art, and that the digital footprint of 400+ female artists working in the Greater Washington, DC is American art that needs to be archived... then PLEASE help me raise a fire in the tuchis of Anne Helmreich, Chris Van Hollen, Angela Alsobrooks, Tim Kane, Mark Warner, and whoever the fuck is the "curatorial team" that wants art by female artists segregated to a museum for just women artists.

Write to them... if they are on your "contacts" list in your cell phone, call them.

Art is art, regardless of the shape of the reproductive part shape of the artist.

Please help... all that I am asking the SI to do is to accept a free gift of a digital archive and keep it for future generations to know what female artists were doing around the DMV in 2025.