Performing Arts
The Folklife Festival is Back on the Mall!
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is back—that ten-day celebration that has been happening on the National Mall since 1968. Every summer the Smithsonian Folklife Center promotes cultural education by highlighting the conventions and customs of social groups from the world over. This year, come on o...
June 24, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Bringing the Wright Flyer to Life
In a movie first, curators and filmmakers collaborated to animate artifacts for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
June 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Days 7 to 12: A Cannes Farewell
As Michael Parfit bids goodbye to the Cannes Film Festival, there is good news for Luna from the Canary Islands
May 25, 2009 |
By Michael Parfit
Days 5 and 6: Dark Days at Cannes
The buzz surrounding a new film leaves Cannes-goers anxious, but Michael Parfit finds reasons for hope
May 19, 2009 |
By Michael Parfit
Five Movies That Memorably Feature Museums
The ‘Night at the Museum’ films aren’t the only films that take place largely in the confines of a museum
May 04, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Send Your Birthday Wishes To Pete Seeger
UPDATE: From everyone at the Around the Mall blog and Smithsonian Folkways, we’d like to thank you for sharing your happy birthday messages with Pete! If you’d still like to post, please do so by Tuesday, May 5th at 5 PM EST, after which we’ll close the comments and send the messages to Pete. Thank...
May 01, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Jukebox: Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger is still singing the ballads that popularized folk music and transformed the genre into a call for action
May 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Hollywood on Exhibit
Movie memories come to life inside the filmmaking collections of these seven museums
April 24, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Smithsonian Weekend Events: Bunnies, Bling and All That Jazz
Friday, April 10: Annual Bunny PartyIs your best friend a 6-foot 3 and one half inch rabbit? Are your tea parties never without a march hare in attendance? Or, do you just live in fear of the cotton-tailed creature living down the street? Spring is here, so come sing, dance, play and listen to stor...
April 10, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Julia Keefe’s Jazz
The young musician discusses the joys of improvisation and her new tribute to fellow American Indian artist Mildred Bailey
April 09, 2009 |
By Katy June-Friesen
Smithsonian Events Week of 4/6-10: Samuel Morse, Satellites and Bunnies
Monday, April 6: Book SigningCorkey Hay DeSimone will be available to sign copies of her children's book Cherry Blossom Friends, a book written especially for this year's Cherry Blossom Festival. Free. National Air and Space Museum, 12:00-3:00 PM Tuesday, April 7: Quilting DemonstrationVolunteers f...
April 06, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
For Smithsonian, Mangione Memorabilia 'Feels So Good'
The jazz flugelhornist and composer kicks off Jazz History Month with a donation to the National Museum of American History
April 03, 2009 |
By Jeff Campagna
Benny Goodman's Clarinet
Late in his career, jazz musician Benny Goodman favored a Parisian “licorice stick” as his instrument of choice
April 2009 |
By Owen Edwards
"Blues Music is Truth" - A Farewell Tribute to John Cephas
Born in 1930, John Cephas grew up with the blues. At age 9, his aunt sat him down and taught him how to play the guitar. And before Cephas was a teenager, he had his own guitar, which he used to entertain weekend guests at his family’s home in the Foggy Bottom area of Washington, D.C. The tradition...
March 27, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
The Importance of Irish Pirates
Without pirates, there may not have been a St. Patrick. According to historians, 1,500-year-old lore states that St. Patrick was born in Banwen, Wales, kidnapped by pirates at the age of 16, and made a slave in Ireland for 6 years. During that period, St. Patrick turned to religion and came up wit...
March 17, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
A Jazzed-Up Langston Hughes
A long-forgotten poem about the African-American experience is given new life in a multimedia performance
March 13, 2009 |
By Laban Carrick Hill
Costume’s Cultural Reveal
The Los Angeles County Museum aims to draw new visitors and historic insights with a landmark costume acquisition
March 06, 2009 |
By Jeanne Maglaty
The White House Revealed on the Smithsonian Channel
In 1962, viewers the nation over (and later the world) marveled at Jackie Kennedy's tour of the freshly revamped White House in an extensive one-hour televised tour of the executive mansion. But the film, with it's camera trained on First Lady was missing something: all the people who work behind t...
March 05, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Women of Science on the Smithsonian Channel
Let's take a moment to think about notable women of the past decade or so. How many entertainers can you rattle off the top of your head? Sports stars? How about scientists?I'm guessing you choked a little on that last one. Let's rectify the situation, shall we?March is Women's History Month and th...
March 03, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
