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Artists

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These Bright Webs Depict Flight Patterns Around Major Airports

Software engineer Alexey Papulovskiy has built Contrailz, a site that generates visuals of flight data over cities around the world

“A Democracy of Images,” open today at the American Art Museum, features 113 images that span the history of American photography, including William Eggleston’s Tricycle (Memphis), c. 1975.

How American Photography Went From Family Portraits to Art Form

A new exhibition at the American Art Museum show photography’s role in the development of democracy in America

Hear the voices of the Navy this Friday at the Air and Space Museum, where the Navy Band Sea Chanters and The Anchor Sisters will perform.

Events June 28-30: Navy Band Sea Chanters, Hungarian Folk Dance and ‘Cold War’

This weekend, listen to Navy sea chanteys, dance like a Hungarian and check the Hong Kong action-thriller “Cold War” on the big screen

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photos of MLK at Work: The Civil Rights Leader Before and After His “I Have a Dream” Speech

The National Portrait Gallery looks at the work of Martin Luther King beyond his most famous hour

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Smithsonian Creates America’s Family Photo Album, Featuring You

Help create the ultimate album with your own memories and photographs from visiting the museums

A horticulturist from the Natural History Museum will give a tour of the Butterfly Garden and provide tips on how to attract butterflies to your own backyard greenery.

Events June 25-27: Electrical Inventions, Revolutionary Knowledge and Butterfly Gardens

This weekend, take a glimpse into Nikola Tesla’s life, sharpen your knowledge on revolutionary figures and tour the Butterfly Garden

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This Incredible Art Installation Makes It Rain, Everywhere But On You

“Rain Room,” on display at MoMA, is an indoor downpour that detects the presence of people and adjusts to keep them dry

In the Lunder Conservation Center Paper Lab with conservator Kate Maynor

A Visit to the Lunder Conservation Center Art Doctor

The pros at the Lunder Conservation Center offer helpful advice for collectors, including our own Jesse Rhodes

Professional skateboarders and a panel of experts will talk about creativity and innovation in the skating world and provide tips, tricks and demonstrations Saturday.

Events June 21-23: Meet Choctaw Princesses, Skate Like the Pros and Unplug with Vandaveer

Experience the culture of the Choctaw people, learn about innovations in skateboarding and get in touch with your folksier side with Vandaveer

Elvis on the Southern Railroad between Chattanooga and Memphis, Tenn. July 4, 1956

Hanging Out with Elvis in Fort Worth

Hitting the road this month, curator Amy Henderson follows her show “Elvis at 21” to Texas

Learn about how Native Americans used dolls as toys and teaching tools at the American Indian Museum Tuesday.

Events June 18-20: Native American Dolls, Animal Feedings and “Cujo”

This weekend, learn about Native American dolls, witness animal feedings at the National Zoo and watch canine horror flick “Cujo”

The Meade brothers worked above a bank in this Williamsburg building in Brooklyn before moving into Manhattan. Half-plate daguerreotype by Meade Brothers Studio, circa 1853.

How One New York City Studio and the Brothers Behind It Helped Popularize the Daguerreotype

Two brothers and their sister built an early photography empire alongside Mathew Brady but watched in crumble in tragedy

Learn what it takes to fly this Saturday at an aircraft show at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Events June 14-16: Free Drawing, an Aircraft Show and Signing About Art

This weekend, learn how to draw, see 50 vintage, military and recreational planes and discover art in American sign language

This statue of King Kamehameha in Honolulu is paired with another that resides in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall.

Happy King Kamehameha Day!

Celebrated in Hawaii and in D.C., June 11 honors the unification of the Hawaiian islands

Learn about Central American ceramics on Sunday in a pottery festival at the American Indian Museum.

Events June 7-9: A Chinese Action Film, Craft Day and Central American Pottery

This weekend, solve a 1920s Shanghai mystery, learn to make crafts from the experts and discover Central America’s past through its ceramics

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The Hirshhorn Museum’s “Bubble” Project is Officially Cancelled

The inflatable structure, which would have served as a temporary space for lectures and events, will not go forward due to cost concerns

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Poetry Matters: A Lifelong Conversation in Letters and Verse

For Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, a friendship between two poets left a beautiful written record

Artist Andy Paiko spins glass into a variety of shapes and objects. Hear him speak about his process and see glass spinning in action on Sunday at the Renwick Gallery.

Events May 31-June 2: Tunes and Brews, A Day in Space and Glass Art

This weekend, listen to local bands, meet Buzz Aldrin and learn about the art of glass sculpture

Auguste Bert Vaslav Nijinsky as the Golden Slave from Scheherazade, 1910 gelatin silver print V&A

Bringing the Dazzle Back to the Blockbuster Exhibit

Casting aside today’s fondness for the understated, a curator ponders the importance of “the wow factor”

Painter Thomas Dewing (1851 to 1938) was best known for his tonalist style, which blurred images to create a dream-like effect. See his work in “Sylvan Sounds: Freer, Dewing and Japan,” which opens at the Freer Gallery on Tuesday.

Events May 28-30: Sylvan Sounds, Trivia Night and Joseph Henry

This week, see the art that launched the Freer Gallery, test your knowledge of DC celebrities and meet the Smithsonian’s first secretary

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