‘Flight originated from the imagination’: how artists have captured space travel
Why This Matters
Key context: <p>As the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum turns 50, an expansive exhibition celebrates how art has coincided with space</p><p>Wearing a shiny silver spacesuit, Alan Shepard clutches his helmet and looks like an archetypal blue-eyed American hero. The <a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_61.6">1961 portrait by Bruce Stevenson</a> paid tribute to the first US astronaut in space. It also planted a seed.</p><p>James Webb, the then administrator of Nasa, saw the painting and was inspired to start the space agency’s own art programme, believing that artists could bring a unique perspective to exploring the cosmos. From 1962 to 1974 it was led by <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/get-involved/art-program/a-different-perspective-remembering-james-dean-founder-of-the-nasa-art-program/">James Dean</a>, who then became the first art curator at the <a href="https://www.si.edu/museums/air-and-space-museum">Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum</a> in Washington.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jul/06/smithsonian-space-museum-exhibition">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.
As the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum turns 50, an expansive exhibition celebrates how art has coincided with spaceWearing a shiny silver spacesuit, Alan Shepard clutches his helmet and looks like an archetypal blue-eyed American hero. The 1961 portrait by Bruce Stevenson paid tribute to the first US astronaut in space. It also planted a seed.James Webb, the then administrator of Nasa, saw the painting and was inspired to start the space agency’s own art programme, believing that artists could bring a unique perspective to exploring the cosmos. From 1962 to 1974 it was led by James Dean, who then became the first art curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Continue reading...
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