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Fine Arts

See the moon up close through a 16-inch telescope this Wednesday at the Air and Space Museum’s observatory.

Events April 9-11: Tarantulas, Star Gazing and an Award-winning Film

This week, hold some creepy crawlers, look at craters on the moon and watch a film based on Joseph Conrad’s first novel

Cosmetics have a long history.

Miss Piggy, My Feather Boa and A Moment to Consider Makeup’s Greasy Past

No Fools Need Apply to the Smithsonian’s Curatorial Conference On Stuff, A Sometimes Annual Scholarly Gathering on a Subject Rarely Considered

April 4, 2013: Taylor Swift, by Klari Reis

Every Day a Different Dish: Klari Reis’ Petri Paintings

This year, a San Francisco-based artist will unveil 365 new paintings, reminiscent of growing bacteria, on her blog, The Daily Dish

“Where there’s smoke there’s fire” by Russell Patterson, 1920s

The History of the Flapper, Part 5: Who Was Behind the Fashions?

Sears styles sprung from the ideas of European artists and couturiers

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a National Historic Landmark, was designed in the 1870s by Calvin T.S. Brent, Washington, DC’s first black architect. Learn more about famous black architects and how they shaped the city in “Master Builders”at the Anacostia Community Museum on Sunday.

Events April 5-7: Japanese Art, Poetry Month and African-American Architects

This week, experience Japanese design, celebrate poetry with your family and learn about African Americans’ roles in shaping Washington, DC’s architecture

Darius Brubeck with students from Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, 2007

Dave Brubeck’s Son, Darius, Reflects on His Father’s Legacy

As a global citizen and cultural bridge-builder, Dave Brubeck captivated the world with his music, big heart and a vision of unity

Gerhard Richter (above) is one of the world’s most accomplished living painters. Watch a documentary about him and his creative process at the Hirshhorn Museum this Thursday.

Events April 2-4: Native Sousa Music, Free Art Lessons and Gerhard Richter

This week, learn about a little-known Native American musical tradition, make something creative and see a world-class painter in action

The tiny parasitic wasps flourish by laying eggs inside other insects (above: a wasp punctures a fruit fly).

Events March 29-31: Parasitic Wasps, Joseph Henry and Victorian Portraits

This weekend, learn about wasps that live inside their prey, meet Smithsonian’s first secretary from 1846 and see living rooms from 150 years ago

These flowers are always in bloom at the American Art Museum.

Butterflies, Baseball and Blossoms: Tours for Your Spring Vacation

Two custom tours come fully loaded with insider information, digital postcards and step-by-step directions

An Artist’s Ode to Plankton, Set to Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’

Instead of singing to Mimi, the poet Rodolfo serenades a giant stalks of human-sized plankton wrapped in plastic pollution

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The Otherworldly Calm of Wolfgang Laib’s Glowing Beeswax Room

A German contemporary artist creates a meditative space—lined with beeswax—at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Reusable water bottles, like those above, are good for the environment. Instead of throwing away your disposable plastic bottles, bring them to the Anacostia Community Museum on Wednesday to turn them into art.

Events March 26-28: Student Sit-Ins, Environmental Art and Female Historical Perspectives

This week, re-enact an event that encouraged civil rights, turn water bottles into art and see American history through women’s eyes

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PHOTOS: Portrait Gallery Announces Winners of its Outwin Boochever Competition

Winners of the triennial National Portrait Gallery competition used everything from rice to glitter to thread to capture themselves and the people around them

The Garrison Dam, whose construction displaced the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in the 1950s. See a documentary on the dam’s effects on American Indians on Saturday.

Events March 22-24: Flying Lessons, the Garrison Dam and Dream Folk-Rock

This weekend, have your kids learn the science of flight, hear the history of a displaced North Dakota tribe and listen to local folk-rockers Kindlewood

Nam June Paik’s “Electronic Superhighway” (he coined the phrase). See a curated selection of short films by the video artists on Wednesday at the American Art Museum.

Events March 19-21: Poetry Lessons, Nam June Paik Films and a Native Ballet

This week, unlock your inner poet, see films by the first video artist and take in the history of the Osage people performed in dance

Chahārshanbe-Sūri, Iran’s Festival of Fire, falls on the Wednesday before the Persian New Year. Join in celebrating Iran’s unique New Year traditions this Saturday at the Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Events March 15-17: Three Movies, the Persian New Year and Native Story Time

This week, see free films, celebrate the Persian New Year by jumping over fire and hear children’s stories from different Native communities

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Why the Department Store Brought Freedom for the Turn of the Century Woman

Harry Selfridge, a London department store owner, may have opened the doors to more than just his retail store when he gave women a chance to power shop

Marianne Moore

Poetry Matters: Women’s Work: Toward a New Poetic Language

For Women’s History month, curator David C. Ward considers the steady ascendency of poets from Emily Dickinson to today’s Eavan Boland

Jesper Kongshaug's Northern Lights display at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The Northern Lights—From Scientific Phenomenon to Artists’ Muse

The spectacular aurora borealis is inspiring artists to create light installations, musical compositions, food and fashion

An artist’s rendering of Curiosity, the rover that is currently exploring Gale Crater on Mars. Learn about the rover from the scientist in charge of its mission this Tuesday at the Air and Space Museum.

Events March 12-14: Missions to Mars, the Civil War in Art and a Meditation on Imaginary Landscapes

Meet the scientist behind the Mars rover, learn the civil war’s influence on contemporary art and watch films by European media collective Flatland

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