Smithsonian American Art Museum
Weekend Events: Dancing, Annie and Steinway
Friday, May 8: Dancing Through the Asian American ExperienceThe Washington Post has called Dana Tai Soon Burgess "the area's leading dance artist." In a celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, Burgess will be performing two original works—China Latino and Hyphen—at the American Art Museum. A d...
May 08, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dances the Asian American Experience
Who is Dana Tai Soon Burgess? He is an internationally recognized choreographer. He's a contemporary dance performer. He's the son of an Irish-Scottish American father from upstate New York and a Korean-American mother from Hawaii. He's the director of Washington DC's first Asian-American dance com...
May 07, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Jean Shin: Common Threads at Smithsonian American Art Museum
This past December we publicized installation artist Jean Shin's request for Washington area residents' trophies (ones with figurines, only.) The designated drop-off location was the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the idea was that she would create a site-specific installation from the trophi...
May 05, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Earth Day at the Smithsonian
Earth Day is an annual invitation to heighten your awareness and appreciation of the environment. Since nature is not equipped for verbal communication (with the rare exception of some species of household plants), it's our job to take care of the earth as best we can. Throughout the rest of the we...
April 21, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 4/20-24: Commodores, Quilting, Keith Haring and Forensics
Monday, April 20: The Navy CommodoresThe Navy Commodores will be performing the jazz standards of Benny Goodman in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month. (Yes, note the word "navy" to avoid potential confusion with those other musical Commodores.) Free. American History Museum, 12:00 PMTuesday, April 21...
April 20, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Weekend Events: Opera, Jazz and Photography
Friday, April 17: Take Five!Enjoy an evening of live jazz. Tonight, it's the Thad Wilson Jazz Orchestra, a 12-piece big band that is sure to bring the house down. Free. Light refreshments will be available for purchase. American Art Museum, 5-8:00 PMSaturday, April 18: Photographer Alec Soth: In th...
April 17, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 4/13-17: A Little Jazz, a Glass of Wine and a House of Gorillas
Monday, April 13: Easter Monday: Celebrating the African American FamilyEaster Monday has been a long standing multicultural tradition in Washington, DC—and why not celebrate at the National Zoo? The day is rife with food and activities, which include an Easter egg hunt, crafts, live musical entert...
April 13, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
It's a Beautiful Night for a Ballgame
Cloudy and drizzling in Washington today, but I can almost hear old Jack Brickhouse, "It's a beautiful day for a ballgame." And Ernie Banks, "Let's play two." And Harry Caray, "let me hear ya!" at the Seventh Inning Stretch.It's early April and optimism thrives—every fan's team is headed straight f...
April 06, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Weekend Events: Disco, Jazz and Heavy Metal
Friday, April 3: Discotheque UndergroundWhy sit in your room all day listening to ABBA songs when you can come to the Ripley Center and be the dancing queen? That's right. Disco is at the Smithsonian. Afraid? Petrified? Don't be, because the DJs Jay Style and Evaa Pearl are on deck spinning tunes t...
April 03, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 3/30-4/03: Spartacus, Walt Disney and Duke Ellington
Monday, March 30: 2009 National Sciences Bowl CompetitionCome see high school students show off their oceanographic know how in this Jeopardy-style trivia challenge. Free. National Museum of Natural History, 10:45 AMTuesday, March 31: Spartacus: The True StoryYeah, we all know of Spartacus. At some...
March 30, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Weekend Events: March Madness, Moving Images and a Treasure Hunt
Friday, March 20: March Madness of the Mind: DemonstrationsOur nation's best and brightest scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are at the American History Museum to show off their latest inventions. And don't forget to visit the Spark!Lab where you can enjoy hands-on demonstrations. Free. Natio...
March 20, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of March 16-20: March Madness!
Monday, March 16: Octopus FeedingI'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden—wouldn't you? But the question is: what do octopi eat that would merit them having a garden in the first place? Come out to the National Zoo where you can observe an octopus feeding! Free, but space is limited. Repe...
March 16, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Weekend Events: Step on Up for Kites and Graphic Masters
Friday, March 6: Kite FlyingBelieve me, I have my eye on this year's upcoming kite festival and intend to kick some tail this go round. (Read about our inaugural kite-flying endeavors here.) In the meantime, why not kick back, relax and enjoy story time at the National Air and Space Museum? Come he...
March 06, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Is It Déjà Vu All Over Again? A New Deal for Artists
On a recent visit to the Smithsonian American Art Museum's new show on Depression-era artists, it was hard to tell if this was a glimpse of the future or a look at the past."The United States was in crisis," reads the text on the walls. "The national economy fell into a profound depression. . . . T...
March 05, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Weekend Events: Louise Bourgeois, Kirkikou and the Sorceress
Friday, February 27: Friday Gallery Talk: Louise BourgeoisAn afternoon at the art gallery? How bourgeois! Louise Bourgeois to be exact. She's the artist responsible for the big honkin' spider living outside the Hirshhorn's entryway and the focus of a recently-opened exhibition of her work. She is a...
February 27, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Picturing the President: A Piece of (Cup) Cake
I've always wondered what would have happened if pointillist master Georges Seurat received an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas instead of paintbrushes. Perhaps he would have turned his attention to baking, plying his revolutionary sense of color and light with a sensible palette of polychrome frosting...
February 05, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Groundhog Day Recap -- Winter Scenes at the Smithsonian
The revelry extended beyond Pittsburgh’s city limits as Punxsutawney Phil awoke yesterday morning on Gobbler’s Knob, a hill about 65 miles northeast of the Steel City, to 13,000 spectators—some still wearing their black and gold. As you may have heard, the famed groundhog saw his shadow, predicting...
February 03, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Enter the Year of the Ox
The Smithsonian American Art Museum wished everyone a Happy Chinese New Year on Saturday with a neighborhood-wide celebration in the heart of the District's Chinatown. To bring in the year 4707, performances by the Fairfax Chinese Dance Troupe and a lion dance by the Wong Chinese Boxing Association...
January 26, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Remembering an American Master: Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth died in his sleep, January 15, at age 91. He was a part of a highly gifted continuum of artists—the son of illustrator NC Wyeth, brother of Henriette Wyeth and father of Jamie Wyeth—and over the course of his lifetime he produced a body of technically and aesthetically astounding work ...
January 16, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Inauguration Tours: Smithsonian American Art Museum
If you find yourself roaming the streets this Inaugural weekend without a ticket to a fancy ball, I suggest you wander up to the third floor of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. It’s since been renovated, of course, but it was the space where Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural ball was held. ...
January 15, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
