Explore Smithsonian Open Access

Go exploring inside Smithsonian Open Access, where you can download, share, use, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images—right now, for free, without asking. For the first time in its 174-year history, the Smithsonian has created platforms and tools to provide easy access to nearly 3 million high resolution 2-D and 3-D digital items from their 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo. This huge data dump is just the beginning; throughout the rest of 2020, the Smithsonian will roll out another 200,000 images, with more to come as the Institution continues to digitize its collection of 155 million items and counting. The Smithsonian collection includes hundreds of items pertaining to music.