Curious if the Smithsonian had any notable unpublished 3D scans, and how the museum is prioritizing its digitization efforts, in 2014 I sent the Smithsonian’s Office of General Counsel a records request. I was hoping for sculptures by Rodin, Degas, Bugatti, and others.

Here’s what I found: cosmowenman.substack.com/p/3d-scans-of-modern-era-sculptures (Spoiler: not much.)

Since then, the Smithsonian has produced a very unusual 3D scan of an extremely high-profile subject that would be of great interest to the public. But the Smithsonian hasn’t made it available to the public. I’ve been trying to access it since 2018 but the museum’s legal department has completely refused.

Instead of granting access to this purportedly sensitive 3D scan, the Smithsonian’s senior attorneys offered me only dilatory responses and arbitrary interpretations of loopholes in the Smithsonian’s supposed open access and freedom of information policies. I’m told in private by people who were involved in making the scan that the US government views its publication as a national security risk.

In a disjointed conference call with the Smithsonian’s senior attorneys, their explanations to me include comments such as “we’ve answered your questions, what’s not clear?” and that there are “any number of other reasons” they would keep the scan from the public. They told me they might release the scan to me if I obtained permission from the president of the United States, but even then they’d still have to think about it. I’ve sought that permission but, alas, have not received a response.

Since the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents is headed up by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, I may write to Chief Justice Roberts to ask for his assistance. I’m supremely confident that would go nowhere, so that would strictly be an exercise in thoroughness and for “fun.”

I’m still pursuing this, and hope to share more about it here… eventually.