Phillips Collection's Centennial Exhibition Embraces Community Voices

The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., celebrates its 100th anniversary with the exhibition 'Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century,' which was co-curated with a community advisory committee. Founded in 1921 by Duncan Phillips after the deaths of his brother and father, the museum began as his family home and has since expanded multiple times, most recently in 2007. The collection, now nearly 6,000 works, originally focused on living American artists and 19th-century European masters, with photography growing rapidly after a donation from Georgia O'Keeffe. Today, the museum prioritizes diversifying its holdings with works by artists of color, Latinx, and LGBTQ creators, as well as international acquisitions. The centennial show is organized around four themes—identity, senses, place, and history—and features community-written labels alongside works by Jacob Lawrence, John Edmonds, and Simone Leigh. Senior curator Elsa Smithgall, who has worked at the Phillips for 25 years, notes that the museum's intimate, personal origins still influence its approach, though it now operates as a private institution with a professional director. The museum also runs educational programs at its THEARC campus east of the Anacostia River and partners with the University of Maryland.