Story and photo by DCist contributor Alexa Steinberg.

The creation and recreation of art museums is a tricky enterprise. The Museum of Modern Art's recent $425 million dollar renovation has been subject to a lot of criticism and its expense has been questioned. The Guggenheim in Bilbao, considered an architectural masterpiece, has, for so large a structure, relatively little wallspace for art, and the art on display is often drowned out by the building's architecture.

The National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum appear to have learned from their predecessors. While their renovation has taken much longer than MoMA's (five and half years to MoMA's two), an early press tour yesterday of the building that will house the two museums – replete with hard hat and goggles – revealed that they have figured out how to spend less ($298 million), and work with their existing structure to much greater success.

In many ways, the Portrait Gallery and SAAM had an easier task than MoMA or the Guggenheim in Bilbao because the building they are housed in (designed by Robert Mills, the architect of the Washington Monument, and then Thomas Walker, the architect of the Capitol)) is gorgeous without being ostentatious. It is a huge space with a lot of windows – rare in an art museum – and thanks to Mills, who was able to convince 1850s senators that columns would hold the roof up, at least one wing remains entirely without inside walls. Because the building was not a tear-down, it meant the money raised could be spent in improving how the collections are viewed. The new Luce Foundation Center for American Art and the Lunder Conservation Center are both beneficiaries of this, and they are novel creations that are wonderfully well-conceived. Most museums have huge storage facilities in which they keep the majority of their art. SAAM decided to put as much as they could of their collection on display, and so an incredible amount of art (3,200 pieces,) is packed behind glass in a single atrium-like room.

It helps that the two museums have a standout collection. Nam June Paik's map of the USA, a 33-foot long metal structure, will likely be a huge draw. While it's currently lying folded up on the museum's 3rd floor, when displayed, it will be neon and each state will contain its own video installation. Oklahoma has the first twenty minutes of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical, while Idaho's video references potatoes. D.C. has a live cam that will show different parts of the city.

Another incredible piece is David Hockney's Snails Space with Vari-Lites, 'Painting as Performance.' Including this piece of Hockney's not only shows how willing SAAM and Portrait Gallery museum curators are to showcase strange and unwieldy pieces of art, but also, how much the idea of what American art is has expanded (Hockney is British). As Marc Pachter, Director of the Portrait Gallery explained, Hockney has had a great effect on American culture and American art; "Why shouldn't his work be included?"

Finishing the museums' renovation is likely going to be a feverish job as it comes close to July 1, but when the curators and everyone else involved in the process have a free moment, they ought to pat themselves on the back.