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Fine Arts

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

Camille Reed at her salon in Silver Spring, Maryland

A Natural Hair Movement Takes Root

From her salon in Maryland, Camille Reed sees more black women embracing natural hair

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

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The Evolution of the Treble Clef

For centuries, music notation was an inexact technique and hasty transcriptions may have resulted in this symbol

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

Hirshhorn Board Divided on Future of the Bubble Project; Director Resigns

The split vote by the trustees of the contemporary art museum leads to the resignation of Richard Koshalek

Who is this guy exactly? Find out at Friday’s gallery talk at the Hirshhorn.

Events May 24-26: Jeff Koons, Hawaiian Staycation and Navy Jazz

This weekend, learn more about an iconic piece of art, celebrate the Pacific island and take in some tunes, courtesy the U.S. Navy jazz band

China Is Opening Around 100 Museums Every Year

Since 2008, the Chinese have allocated something like $800 million to building new museums, and the country now has over 3,000 of them

“If TIME had a beguiling woman that was going to make the cover, it often went to Boris Chaliapan,” says curator Jim Barber. Marilyn Monroe by Boris Chaliapan. 1956.

Ali, Marilyn, Jackie and Mr. Time: The Cover Artist Who Helped Define a Magazine

Originally from Russia, Boris Chaliapan’s more than 400 covers for the weekly captured the news of the day

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Sheila E. On Her Glamorous Life, Upcoming Album and Future Collaborations

The diva on the drums, Sheila E. says she has no plans to slow down as she works on a solo album and autobiography

Lillian Gish played a girl haunted by the wind of the western prairies in the 1928 silent film The Wind. On Sunday, see the film set to a live piano concert at the American Art Museum.

Events May 17-19: Art Conservation, Japanese Pouch-books and a “Cineconcert”

This weekend, learn what it takes to conserve great modern art, make your own ancient Japanese book and see a movie and a concert at the same time

Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii. 1995. Nam June Paik.

Events May 14-16: New Research, Old Films and Live Jazz

This week, hear the latest from the brains at the Smithsonian, dissect the great Nam June Paik’s video legacy and relax with live music

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What the Great Gatsby Got Right about the Jazz Age

Curator Amy Henderson explores how the 1920s came alive in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel

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