From May 28- October 9, 2011, art lovers across the world will able to dwell in a different form of creativity as NASA teams up with the Smithsonian to showcase some of the most unique collections in the field of space art.

The exhibition titled NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and NASA in cooperation with the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (NASM).

The NASA Art Program was established in 1962 by the NASA administrator James E. Webb who invited a group of artists to illustrate and interpret the agency's missions and projects. The purpose was to educate audiences about NASA and space exploration by utilizing the creativity of artists of different genres.

Back in the 1960s, James Webb knew that NASA would probably take more photos than any other federal agency in U.S. history, the National Geographic quoted Tom Crouch, senior curator for aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. stating.

With the help of this initiative, many renowned artists like Mitchell Jamieson, Andy Warhol, James Wyeth, and Annie Leibovitz have been documenting the extraordinary adventure of spaceflight. . The exhibition includes drawings, photographs, sculpture and other art forms and media from the collections of NASA and the National Air and Space Museum.

Several of the artists have captured the faces and personalities of the men and women who have flown in space. Other members of the team including the scientists, engineers, technicians, managers and thousands of others who made the space program possible are also portrayed.

Apart from the National Mall venue, the exhibition also opens in three more venues in New Mexico, Wisconsin and Iowa before it closes at NASM in October.

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