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Two of Virginia’s Historic Gardens: Oak Spring and Blandy Experimental Farm
Resident Associate Program
During this all-day tour with horticulturist Chelsea Mahaffey, spend the morning at Oak Spring, the former home of philanthropists Paul Mellon and Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, usually closed to the public. The nearly 700-acre estate includes the main Mellon residence, its extensive gardens with examples of Bunny Mellon’s landscaping, and the formal greenhouse. The afternoon takes you to the University of Virginia’s Blandy Experimental Farm on the former Tuleyries estate, which includes the State Arboretum of Virginia.
Event Location: Departs Mayflower Hotel, DeSales St side 1127 Connecticut Ave NW. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260081?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM.
Wonderplace
Ongoing Tours & Activities
This learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians.
Admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. At busy times, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry using timed tickets is at 3:30 p.m.
Hours are subject to change.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Wonderplace, 1 West. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Mother Earth & Me
Resident Associate Program
For Ages 5 to 10. Explore the origins of our planet, sing about the water cycle, and understand our vital role to protect the ecosystem in this Discovery Theater original play.
Venue: S. Dillon Ripley Center. Event Location: S. Dillon Ripley Center Discovery Theater, 3rd Sublevel. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/258549?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Kids & Families.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Spark!Lab
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with art, history and creativity.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Spark!Lab, First Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.si.edu. Ocean Explorer Theater Spotlight
One-Time Events
Looking for a deeper dive into ocean topics like animal adaptations, behavior, biodiversity, or ecology? Come and join one of our Ocean Educators in Explorer Theater to watch short videos, explore specimens, and learn more about our blue planet!
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, Explorer Theater in the Sant Ocean Hall. Cost: Free and open to the public. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: The Sant Ocean Hall. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Mother Earth & Me
Resident Associate Program
For Ages 5 to 10. Explore the origins of our planet, sing about the water cycle, and understand our vital role to protect the ecosystem in this Discovery Theater original play.
Venue: S. Dillon Ripley Center. Event Location: S. Dillon Ripley Center Discovery Theater, 3rd Sublevel. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/258550?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Kids & Families.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Jazz Appreciation Month Concert featuring The University of Maryland-College Park Jazz Big Band
One-Time Events
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Coulter Plaza, 1st Floor West. Cost: Free; First-come First-Served. Categories: Performances. Related Events: In 2002, the National Museum of American History launched Jazz Appreciation Month. It is a celebration of the American national treasure that is jazz. Today we are featuring the University of Maryland-College Park Jazz Big Band. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Curator’s Tour: Revolutions
One time events
Hirshhorn curator Marina Isgro will walk visitors through the exhibition Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960, which marks the Museum’s fiftieth-anniversary year and surveys one of the most revolutionary periods in art history.
About the Exhibition
Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection highlights works from the early half of the Museum’s collection. Working alongside new technologies, groundbreaking scientific discoveries, and rapidly expanding cities, while also responding to the first and second World Wars, artists in both Europe and North America invented dramatically novel approaches to artmaking during this time. This period saw the development of abstraction in Western art, the increased use of nontraditional materials, and the rise of conceptualism—the notion that the idea behind an artwork is more important than the art object. Many artists used their work to comment on social and political issues; others looked inward, making art that dealt with personal expression or…
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden. Event Location: meet in Lobby. Cost: Free, No passes required. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. Women of the Freer
Gallery Talks & Tours
March is Women’s History Month. The National Museum of Asian Art invites you to celebrate the women in our collection—ancient and modern, human, and divine. This docent-led tour will introduce you to influential women and their little-known stories.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Butterflies and Moths: Winged Wonders
Resident Associate Program
Discover the world’s deadliest caterpillars; a butterfly that shares its world with polar bears at one extreme and penguins at the other; and screaming moths that can jam the sonar of predatory bats. Wildlife documentary filmmaker Steve Nicholls looks at why it seems there’s no end to the tricks that evolution has come up with as it turned the Lepidoptera into one of the most successful of all insect groups.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260181?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260181?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Resident Associate Program
On April 15, 2019, the world watched as Notre-Dame de Paris withstood a devastating fire. But the great Gothic cathedral itself has watched over its city for nearly a thousand years, from the beginning of its construction in 1163 to the French Revolution when its statues of kings were beheaded to witnessing the adversities of World War II. With its reopening scheduled for December, Met Cloisters curator emerita Barbara Drake Boehm traces the history of this monument through times of turbulence and triumph.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260135?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260135?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.
Register and join the sessions here:
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoc-GqpzovHdOwBtMxdm7MCyFA-pa9EuFn, Image: Landscapes of the Four Seasons: Spring and Summer, Hishikawa Sori, Japan, late 18th–early 19th century, color, ink, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1906.233.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Art Bites Gallery Talk
One-Time Events
Join SAAM’s research fellows for this lunchtime series of gallery talks as they share new discoveries about artworks on view. Learn the stories behind these objects and how each one tells us about an ever-changing culture in the United States. Elizabeth Fair, Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow, discusses Kay Sekimachi and Bob Stocksdale’s Marriage in Form.
Image credit: Lucia Martino
Credit: Kay Sekimachi, Bob Stocksdale, Marriage in Form, 1996, hornet's nest paper and Pacific yew, A (wooden bowl): 4 × 4 1/2 × 4 3/8 in. (10.2 × 11.4 × 11.1 cm)
B (paper bowl): 4 1/8 × 4 3/4 × 4 5/8 in. (10.5 × 12.1 × 11.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jane and Arthur Mason, 2022.43.1A-B.
Venue: Renwick Gallery. Event Location: In-person | Renwick Gallery. Cost: Free | Meet in Renwick Gallery Lobby. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 12:15 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. "Feltrigami": Exploring Folded Felt
Resident Associate Program
Take felting to the next level in this 3D exploration of the art. Combine felting and origami techniques to create a collapsible, space-saving “feltrigami” bag.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260239?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260239?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Cellphones networks: Not so wireless!
One-Time Events
Did you know that your wireless network isn’t that wireless? Quite a bit of physical infrastructure is needed to make your cell phone work. Come talk to Jeff Danielson, Telecom Network Executive at Comcast, and learn about the vast network of fiber optics, towers, computers, datacenters, and power sources through which our phones work.
Photo Credit: @ Jeff Danielson.
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 2nd Floor, Cellphone exhibit. Cost: Free and open to the public. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
DC | Guided Gallery Tours
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Experience one of the museum's major exhibitions currently on view—Americans or Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations—with a guided tour led by a knowledgeable museum educator. Join fellow visitors to dive deeper into the content and have your questions answered. These walk-in tours include a brief overview of the museum’s mission, history, and even the building itself. Tours are subject to availability and may be canceled without prior notice.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 1, meet in the Potomac Atrium. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Americans; Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM.
Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tour of "Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings"
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a tour of the special exhibition, Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings, featuring artworks excavated from the capital of the ancient Shang Dynasty (ca. 1250 BCE–ca.1050 BCE), including jades and bronze vessels. Learn about the advanced technology of bronze casting, explore intricate and sophisticated designs of ritual objects, and discover famous “oracle bones.”.
Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Event Location: Meet at the Sackler Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: https://asia.si.edu/exhibition/anyang-chinas-ancient-city-of-kings/.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
Walk-in Highlights Tour of the National Portrait Gallery
Ongoing Tours & Activities
The National Portrait Gallery is offering docent-led public walk-in tours on the Highlights of the National Portrait Gallery. All tours are subject to availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: Portrait Gallery. Event Location: F Street Lobby. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
NY | At the Movies: Hey Viktor!
One-Time Events
Twenty years removed from childhood fame as Little Viktor in 1998’s indie hit Smoke Signals, Cody Lightning (Cree) has been forced to move home to his reserve in northern Alberta. He still believes himself to be famous, even though the only parts he gets these days are dubious. When Cody learns his wife and kids are leaving him for a younger, more successful actor, he decides it’s time to quit messing around and make his masterpiece: writing, directing, and starring in Smoke Signals 2: Still Smoking. A documentary crew follows Cody on his journey to realize his vision by trying to reunite the original cast, steal Adam Beach’s wig, and borrow money from an arms dealer, only to recognize that his grand vision was complete nonsense. (Director: Cody Lightning (Cree); Canada, 2023, 102 min.), For Mature Audiences: Contains nudity, alcohol use, and coarse language. Director Cody Lightning, and Jacob Floyd (Muscogee (Creek)/Cherokee) and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Iñupiaq) in attendance for a post-screening Q&A. …
Venue: American Indian Museum NY. Event Location: Auditorium, Lower Level. Cost: Free. Categories: Films. After Five.
Friday, April 26, 2024, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
Little Critters: Nature Play
Special Zoo Events
Come play with us at the Zoo!
Bring your little zoogoer for a wild time as we explore animals and nature through creative, drop-in play!
Little Critters Nature Play is designed for ages 0-5 and their caregivers and families. Activities are designed with early learners in mind, but all ages are welcome. Parents and guardians must remain with their children.
Location: Bird House Classroom
Winter Weather Notes:
1) Little Critters: Nature Play follows all Zoo guidance on delayed openings or closures owing to winter weather. Please always check https://nationalzoo.si.edu/ for updates to the Zoo's opening status.
2) For your Little Critter's safety, staff may close or limit access to the outdoor classroom during the program.
Venue: National Zoo. Event Location: Bird House Classroom. Cost: Free drop-in program; no pre-registration required.Parents and guardians must remain with their children. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM.
For more info visit nationalzoo.si.edu. Freshfarm ACM Farmstand
One-Time Events
The FRESHFARM ACM Farm Stand takes place on the outdoor plaza of the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum (1901 Fort Place, SE Washington, DC 20020) every Saturday (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) from April 20- November 23, 2024.*
The farm stand offers FreshMatch, FRESHFARM's incentive program, which provides a dollar-to-dollar match on all federal benefits (WIC and Senior and WIC FMNP) spent at the stand, helping shoppers take home more fresh and nutritious produce and local foods. The farm stand also accepts Produce Plus, a benefit program unique to Washington, DC, which provides locally grown, fresh produce to District residents with limited access to fresh, healthy food.
Park View Farms in Poolsville supplies the FRESHFARM ACM Farm Stand with their own homegrown produce and additional fruits and vegetables that they aggregate from neighboring farms.
*Weather permitting. Be sure to follow the Anacostia Community Museum for updated information.
Venue: Anacostia Community Museum. Event Location: 1901 Fort Place SE. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://anacostia.si.edu/farmstand. Categories: Kids & Families. Culinary Arts.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
Growing Community: Early Plantings and How to Plan for Success… and Failure
One-Time Events
Early spring is the best time to get a jump on the plantings season, proper planning ensures a garden that is bountiful the whole season. Through proven techniques and new hacks, our garden team will explore the benefits of early plantings.
Growing Community is the longstanding community gardening program at the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum. Through garden programming, residents of all ages can engage with the beauty of the natural world, a healthy food system, and their cultural past. We welcome the community to participate in our monthly workshops, taking place throughout the growing and harvesting seasons. All workshops incorporate themes such as gardens as places of community and connections to our cultural past; gardens as sites of stewardship and nurture; and gardens as sites of empowerment and access to good nutrition and healthy living.
Venue: Anacostia Community Museum. Event Location: 1901 Fort Place SE. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/growing-community-early-plantings-and-how-to-plan-for-success-and-failure-tickets-840454059717. Categories: Demonstrations. Lectures & Discussions. Workshops.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Art Cart: Cherry Blossoms You Can Wear
One time events
In celebration of cherry blossoms, join us for a spring-inspired Art Cart. We’ll take a close look at artist Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Two Circles, supply nature-inspired books and materials, and make our own blossom-inspired artworks.
Find the Art Cart on the Plaza, and pick up your blooming materials. In case of inclement weather, check in the Museum Lobby for our indoor locations. Do this at home! If you could be anything from nature, what would you be? This project, inspired by artist Thierry de Cordier, encourages young artists to create a self-portrait using natural items. Instructions here.
, ABOUT THE ART CART
Want to make art inspired by your favorite Hirshhorn works on view? The Art Cart offers young artists a hands-on maker experience during their visit to the Hirshhorn. Each week’s Art Cart offers a fresh and fun theme featuring an artwork on view, an artmaking activity to do at the Museum, and kids projects to extend the fun at home!
The Art Cart is free; no registration required. Drop in any…
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden. Event Location: Plaza. Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. Writing Workshop Inspired by Portraits of Performers
One-Time Events
Join the National Portrait Gallery for a fun, interactive creative writing workshop that celebrates legends of the stage and screen. Through portraiture, readings, discussion and guided writing prompts, participants will explore the fascinating life stories of performers such as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Robeson and Florenz Ziegfeld.
Pay homage to the figures who helped shape American theater, film and dance while weaving your own memories and experiences into new short stories. Open to writers of all levels and genres, ages 18+.
Event Location: G Street Lobby. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/national-portrait-gallery-810710525. Categories: Workshops.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. Wonderplace
Ongoing Tours & Activities
This learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians.
Admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. At busy times, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry using timed tickets is at 3:30 p.m.
Hours are subject to change.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Wonderplace, 1 West. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Queens, Crowns, and Conflicts: The Royal Ambitions of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots
Resident Associate Program
One of the greatest battles of the late 16th century was the clash of two women who were cousins and rivals in power: Elizabeth I, Queen of England, and Mary, Queen of Scots. In a world ruled by men, they took center stage in a battle to the death over a prize only one could claim—the throne of England. Tudor and Renaissance scholar Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger explores how their epic political and personal battles finally led to a unified rule in England.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260103?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260103?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Storytime: “Raigón Puertorriqueño: La diáspora puertorriqueña introducida para niños”
American Latino Museum
Celebrate the love of reading with local Latino authors and the National Museum of the American Latino at the museum's first Día del Niño: A Celebration of Children’s Storytime and Literacy.
10:30am- 11:30am: Cyd Marie Miranda Negrón reads “Raigón Puertorriqueño: La diáspora puertorriqueña introducida para niños”
Cyd Marie Miranda Negrón started her career at the age of 29 as the author of a children's book, with the intention of telling the history of Puerto Rico in a simple and striking way. “Raigón Puertorriqueño: La diáspora puertorriqueña introducida para niños” is a heartwarming Spanish rhyme children's book. In the story, siblings Mila and Andrés learn about their grandfather's life when he lived in the United States, what it means to be Puerto Rican and, more importantly, they learn about the roots that lead every Puerto Rican to love their country wherever they are.
The event will be held in the General Motors Learning Lounge of the Molina Family Latino Gallery at the National Museum of American…
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: GM Learning Lounge. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dia-del-nino-a-celebration-of-childrens-storytime-and-literacy-tickets-876111933377. Categories: Demonstrations. Kids & Families. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM.
Film Screening & Discussion: Printmaking Legacy Project® BLACK PRINTMAKERS of WASHINGTON D.C. Percy B. Martin & Michael B. Platt
One-Time Events
Please join us for a film screening of Printmaking Legacy Project® BLACK PRINTMAKERS of WASHINGTON, D.C. Percy B. Martin & Michael B. Platt, which documents DC’s rich history of Black owned printmaking workshops where artists thrived and formed community. which documents DC’s rich history of Black owned printmaking workshops where artists thrived and formed community. Printmakers Percy B. Martin and Michael B. Platt, participated in pivotal movements, having significant impact on American art and arts education. This documentary provides personal accounts of their history, training, involvement with the development of print departments, studios, and their art. The film is followed by a discussion, moderated by Samir Meghelli, Senior Curator, Anacostia Community Museum, with the film’s Producer and Director, Susan J. Goldman, Percy Martin, and Carol A. Beane, the wife of the late great Michael B. Platt. Printmaking Legacy Project® all rights reserved 2023. Michael B. Platt,”Yellow” pigment print on…
Venue: Anacostia Community Museum. Event Location: 1901 Fort Place SE. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/film-screening-discussion-black-printmakers-of-washington-dc-tickets-880793134977?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Lectures & Discussions. Films. Related Exhibition: A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, DC, 1900-2000.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
Spark!Lab
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with art, history and creativity.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Spark!Lab, First Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.si.edu. DC | Storytime
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Families are invited to an interactive story time featuring a children’s book by a Native author. They will have the opportunity to engage with objects and photographs that can deepen their understanding of the community represented in the story.
Recommended for visitors ages 3 years and up accompanied by an adult caregiver. .
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: imagiNATIONS Activity Center, Level 3. Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 11:15 AM – 11:45 AM.
Family Fun
National Museum of Asian Art
Join our docents for engaging and collaborative hands-on activities that are geared toward families with children ages 5 and up. Exciting stories, scavenger hunts, sketching, and other activities will bring the whole family together to imagine, create, and learn.
Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Event Location: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gallery 23-24. Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: FREE. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change: Small Business Pop-Up
National Museum of Asian Art
RSVP to help us plan! Exhibition Tours: 1pm and 3pm, Featured businesses:
Plum Good, LLC
Connected to Culture
Mane Rhodes
The Kitchen Physician
The Beautiful Brown Rainbow, LLC
Blum Tea
To celebrate the special exhibition Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change, the National Museum of Asian Art in partnership with Art to Go-Go (powered by the Anacostia Business Improvement District) and the 11th Street Bridge Park, a project of the Ward 8 nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River, will host a pop-up market featuring small businesses located east of the Anacostia River. Connect and shop with local creators and entrepreneurs and learn more about DC’s Arts and Culture District in historic Anacostia.
Enjoy food, music by DJ Art.is, and special tours of Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change by curator Diana Greenwold and by local community leaders who will look at parallels between the urbanization of nineteenth-century Europe and contemporary changes to local neighborhoods and streetscapes.
Come and support the…
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art, Freer Plaza. Cost: Free; RSVP recommended. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whistler-streetscapes-urban-change-small-business-pop-up-tickets-871906324287?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Shopping/Book Signing. Performances. Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Weekend Workshops
One-Time Events
Calling all artists! Get creative during our drop-in workshops for all ages. Learn about artists and change-makers and create art inspired by their stories.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Kids & Families. Workshops.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Women of the Freer
Gallery Talks & Tours
March is Women’s History Month. The National Museum of Asian Art invites you to celebrate the women in our collection—ancient and modern, human, and divine. This docent-led tour will introduce you to influential women and their little-known stories.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Walk-in Highlights Tour of the National Portrait Gallery
Ongoing Tours & Activities
The National Portrait Gallery is offering docent-led public walk-in tours on the Highlights of the National Portrait Gallery. All tours are subject to availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: Portrait Gallery. Event Location: F Street Lobby. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. DC | Guided Gallery Tours
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Experience one of the museum's major exhibitions currently on view—Americans or Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations—with a guided tour led by a knowledgeable museum educator. Join fellow visitors to dive deeper into the content and have your questions answered. These walk-in tours include a brief overview of the museum’s mission, history, and even the building itself. Tours are subject to availability and may be canceled without prior notice.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 1, meet in the Potomac Atrium. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Americans; Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM.
Storytime: “The Interesting and Exciting Vacation Plan of Mailys”
American Latino Museum
Celebrate the love of reading with local Latino authors and the National Museum of the American Latino at the museum's first Día del Niño: A Celebration of Children’s Storytime and Literacy.
1:30pm-2:30pm: Euclides Rengifo Córdoba reads “The Interesting and Exciting Vacation Plan of Mailys”
Euclides Rengifo Córdoba is a passionate Afro-Colombian leader born in Quibdó Chocó. He lives in Washington, D.C. where he works as an educator and activist. Euclides is the author of “The Interesting and Exciting Vacation Plan of Mailys”. The book, partly based on his daughter’s life, follows Mailys’ journey to her native country after seven years of absence.
The event will be held in the General Motors Learning Lounge of the Molina Family Latino Gallery at the National Museum of American History. Registered attendees will receive a free signed copy of a book while supplies last. Registration is required through Eventbrite.
Space in the GM Learning Lounge is limited. If a registrant does not check in within 10…
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: GM Learning Lounge. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dia-del-nino-a-celebration-of-childrens-storytime-and-literacy-tickets-876122274307. Categories: Demonstrations. Kids & Families. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM.
Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tour of "Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings"
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a tour of the special exhibition, Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings, featuring artworks excavated from the capital of the ancient Shang Dynasty (ca. 1250 BCE–ca.1050 BCE), including jades and bronze vessels. Learn about the advanced technology of bronze casting, explore intricate and sophisticated designs of ritual objects, and discover famous “oracle bones.”.
Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Event Location: Meet at the Sackler Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: https://asia.si.edu/exhibition/anyang-chinas-ancient-city-of-kings/.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
Walk-in Highlights Tour of the National Portrait Gallery
Ongoing Tours & Activities
The National Portrait Gallery is offering docent-led public walk-in tours on the Highlights of the National Portrait Gallery. All tours are subject to availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: Portrait Gallery. Event Location: F Street Lobby. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
Storytime: "Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice"
American Latino Museum
Celebrate the love of reading with local Latino authors and the National Museum of the American Latino at the museum's first Día del Niño: A Celebration of Children’s Storytime and Literacy.
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Anna Lapera reads “Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice”
Anna Lapera is an author who has lived all over the world and is proud of her Guatemalan and Hawaiian-Filipino-German heritage. She teaches by day and writes stories in the early hours of the morning before the teaching day begins. Her debut novel, “Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice” is a contemporary middle grade novel with a protagonist who’s full of determination and an activist heart.
The event will be held in the General Motors Learning Lounge of the Molina Family Latino Gallery at the National Museum of American History. Registered attendees will receive a free signed copy of a book while supplies last. Registration is required through Eventbrite.
Space in the GM Learning Lounge is limited. If a registrant does not check in within…
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: GM Learning Lounge. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dia-del-nino-a-celebration-of-childrens-storytime-and-literacy-tickets-876125183007. Categories: Demonstrations. Kids & Families. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
The Axelrod String Quartet: Stradivarius and Amati (Saturday series)
Resident Associate Program
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society audiences are privy to the unparalleled experience of being able to hear two magnificent quartets of instruments—one made by Antonio Stradivari, the other by his teacher Nicoló Amati—in this popular three-concert series on Saturdays. The concert features music composed by Osvoldo Golijov, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Franz Schubert.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: National Museum of American History Nicholas and Eugenia Taubman Hall of Music. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/258651?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Workshops.
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Chincoteague and Assateague
Resident Associate Program
Assateague Island National Seashore and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge are home to natural splendor, cultural treasures, and coastal charm. Spend two days with naturalist and educator Liana Vitali immersed in island life, exploring the natural wonders the barrier islands have to offer—and hear the lore of the Chincoteague ponies’ origin.
Event Location: Detailed information for overnight tours is mailed approximately FOUR WEEKS. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260085?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 7:30 AM – Monday, April 29, 2024, 9:00 PM.
Wonderplace
Ongoing Tours & Activities
This learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians.
Admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. At busy times, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry using timed tickets is at 3:30 p.m.
Hours are subject to change.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Wonderplace, 1 West. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Spark!Lab
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with art, history and creativity.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Spark!Lab, First Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.si.edu. Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Weekend Workshops
One-Time Events
Calling all artists! Get creative during our drop-in workshops for all ages. Learn about artists and change-makers and create art inspired by their stories.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Kids & Families. Workshops.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Big Objects, Big Stories: The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture by Jacobs Lawrence
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Join us for a docent-led talk and get a fresh look into a featured object that is on view in one of our permanent exhibitions. At each of these 15-minute talks visitors will hear incredibly big stories about a big object.
About this Program: Jacob Lawrence’s The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture celebrates the Haitian revolutionary strategist and statesman who liberated his country from colonial rule to establish the first independent Black republic. Explore the silk prints by the artist that depict L’Ouverture’s struggle against slavery and oppression.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets at the L'Ouverture screen print, in the Visual Arts Gallery, L4. Each 15-minute program starts at: 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM, and 3:30 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 1:30 PM – 3:45 PM.
Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tour of "Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings"
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a tour of the special exhibition, Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings, featuring artworks excavated from the capital of the ancient Shang Dynasty (ca. 1250 BCE–ca.1050 BCE), including jades and bronze vessels. Learn about the advanced technology of bronze casting, explore intricate and sophisticated designs of ritual objects, and discover famous “oracle bones.”.
Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Event Location: Meet at the Sackler Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: https://asia.si.edu/exhibition/anyang-chinas-ancient-city-of-kings/.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
Glacier: A Climate Change Ballet
One-Time Events
It’s Earth Month! In conjunction with the Portrait Gallery’s “Forces of Nature: Voices that Shaped Environmentalism” exhibition, Moveius Contemporary Ballet will present “Glacier: A Climate Change Ballet.” Moveius works at the intersection of policy and performance, creating a path for ballet to speak to contemporary issues and stories. In 2018, the company’s “Glacier” became the first ballet to be presented at an international climate conference. Created by Moveius Artistic Director Diana Movius, a climate policy expert, this piece imagines the dancers as melting polar ice caps; they ripple, crack and plunge in dance movements that connect the audience to the motion of ice in the arctic.
Event Location: Kogod Courtyard. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/national-portrait-gallery-810710525. Categories: Performances.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 4:00 PM – 4:45 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. The Axelrod String Quartet: Stradivarius and Amati (Sunday series)
Resident Associate Program
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society audiences are privy to the unparalleled experience of being able to hear two magnificent quartets of instruments—one made by Antonio Stradivari, the other by his teacher Nicoló Amati—in this popular three-concert series on Sundays. The concert features music composed by Osvoldo Golijov, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Franz Schubert.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: National Museum of American History Nicholas and Eugenia Taubman Hall of Music. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/258654?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Workshops.
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
Composition
Resident Associate Program
This course examines fundamental concepts of composition and their practical application in studio art practice, offering participants tools to enrich their work as well to analyze and appreciate visual art in general. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259811?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259811?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: Workshops.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Ocean Topics Cart Chat
One-Time Events
Looking for a deeper dive into ocean topics? Come and find one of our Ocean Educators to explore some of the latest discoveries in marine science, stationed at an interactive cart in the Sant Ocean Hall.
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, The Sant Ocean Hall. Cost: Free and open to the public. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: The Sant Ocean Hall. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Portrait Gallery Kids
One-Time Events
Children and families are invited to learn, play and create at the Portrait Gallery! Join educators on select Mondays as we explore topics like colors, emotions, STEM and history. Portrait Gallery Kids incorporates looking at art, hands-on activities, music and movement. This program is a fun way to engage with art and each other.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Kids & Families. Workshops.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Women of the Freer
Gallery Talks & Tours
March is Women’s History Month. The National Museum of Asian Art invites you to celebrate the women in our collection—ancient and modern, human, and divine. This docent-led tour will introduce you to influential women and their little-known stories.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Walk-in Highlights Tour of the National Portrait Gallery
Ongoing Tours & Activities
The National Portrait Gallery is offering docent-led public walk-in tours on the Highlights of the National Portrait Gallery. All tours are subject to availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: Portrait Gallery. Event Location: F Street Lobby. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation Mondays: Rooted in the Land
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Join us every Monday this April as we explore meditation as a practice in liberation. This 40-minute meditation session provides an opportunity for participants of any experience level to explore the museum’s theme of Rooted in the Land through mindfulness meditation practice.
This program includes grounding meditations, breathwork, and deep listening exercises to music and others in the space. Together we will experience freedom in the present moment and contemplate the journey of Black Americans toward liberation.
Event Location: Online. Cost: Free! Registration is Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpdeCuqjkoGtVVXBl-YZ269Ss_f2Kwj21r. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 12:15 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Big Objects, Big Stories: Afrofuturist Harriet Tubman
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Join us for a docent-led talk and get a fresh look into a featured object that is on view in one of our permanent exhibitions. At each of these 15-minute talks visitors will hear incredibly big stories about a big object and experience the infinite possibilities of Afrofuturism.
About this Program: Harriet Tubman has been known by many names—Araminta, Moses, conductor, daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt. Her legacy of care, activism and bravery has influenced Black women across time. Visitors will learn about the life of Harriet Tubman by exploring artwork created by Alison Saar and Bisa Butler.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets at the Harriet Tubman Quilt by Bisa Butler, in the Visual Arts Gallery, L4. Each 15-minute program starts at: 1:15 PM, 2:15 PM, and 3:15 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 1:15 PM – 3:30 PM.
Slavery and Freedom Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Explore the complex story of slavery and freedom. Visitors will view priceless objects, connect to the past, and hear about the actions of ordinary men and women, demanding freedom and transforming our nation.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets in the Slavery and Freedom exhibition, located on C3. One hour tours take place at 1:15 PM and 2:30 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 1:15 PM – 3:30 PM.
Making A Way Out of No Way Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Learn about the ways in which African Americans created possibilities in a world that denied them opportunities. On this docent led tour visitors will reflect on the perseverance, resourcefulness, and resilience required by African Americans to survive and thrive in America.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets in the Making A Way Out of No Way exhibition, L3. Each 1-hour tour takes place at 1:30 PM and 2:45 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Making A Way Out of No Way.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 1:30 PM – 3:45 PM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM.
Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Walk-in Highlights Tour of the National Portrait Gallery
Ongoing Tours & Activities
The National Portrait Gallery is offering docent-led public walk-in tours on the Highlights of the National Portrait Gallery. All tours are subject to availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: Portrait Gallery. Event Location: F Street Lobby. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
Gel Plate Journey Part I
Resident Associate Program
Printmaking using a gel plate offers many options for combining materials, tools, and techniques to achieve an array of effects on both paper and fabric. Beginning with basic acrylic paints, explore the possibilities for layering with stamps, stencils, inks, and acrylic paint markers.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259812?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259812?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: After Five. Workshops.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
The Bauhaus: A Brief History
Resident Associate Program
Considered the most influential art school of the 20th century, the Bauhaus lasted merely 14 years, from 1919 to 1933. Art historian Erich Keel traces the pressures that led to its formation, the changing aesthetic philosophies that guided the teaching of subjects as varied as architecture, weaving, and typography, and the inevitable exposure to political headwinds that questioned both the existence of a progressive art school and the very idea of a liberal republic following the defeat of Germany in World War I. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260025?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260025?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM.
To Be Is To Be Anxious
Resident Associate Program
Anxiety is usually thought of as a pathology, but some philosophers argue that anxiety is a normal, even essential, part of being human, and that coming to terms with this fact is potentially transformative. Philosophy professor Samir Chopra explores valuable insights about anxiety from ancient and modern philosophies, including Buddhism, existentialism, psychoanalysis, and critical theory.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260026?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260026?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Monday, April 29, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:15 PM.
Little Critters: Nature Play
Special Zoo Events
Come play with us at the Zoo!
Bring your little zoogoer for a wild time as we explore animals and nature through creative, drop-in play!
Little Critters Nature Play is designed for ages 0-5 and their caregivers and families. Activities are designed with early learners in mind, but all ages are welcome. Parents and guardians must remain with their children.
Location: Bird House Classroom
Winter Weather Notes:
1) Little Critters: Nature Play follows all Zoo guidance on delayed openings or closures owing to winter weather. Please always check https://nationalzoo.si.edu/ for updates to the Zoo's opening status.
2) For your Little Critter's safety, staff may close or limit access to the outdoor classroom during the program.
Venue: National Zoo. Event Location: Bird House Classroom. Cost: Free drop-in program; no pre-registration required.Parents and guardians must remain with their children. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM.
For more info visit nationalzoo.si.edu. Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Slavery and Freedom Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Explore the complex story of slavery and freedom. Visitors will view priceless objects, connect to the past, and hear about the actions of ordinary men and women, demanding freedom and transforming our nation.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets in the Slavery & Freedom exhibition, located on C3. One hour tours take place at 10:15 AM and 11:30 AM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 10:15 AM – 12:30 PM.
Hello, Museo
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Join educators from the National Postal Museum every other Tuesday for a bilingual program featuring music, stories, crafts, and gallery exploration. Designed for children ages 1-3 and their caregivers, but all are welcome!
Please note that due to space limitations, strollers will not be permitted in the program space. Stroller parking will be provided in the museum lobby.
Únase a los educadores del Museo Postal Nacional cada dos martes para un programa bilingüe que presenta música, historias, artesanías y exploración de galerías. Diseñado para niños de 1 a 3 años y sus cuidadores, ¡pero todos son bienvenidos!
Tenga en cuenta que, debido a las limitaciones de espacio, no se permitirán cochecitos en el espacio del programa. Se proporcionará estacionamiento para cochecitos en el vestíbulo del museo.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Byrne Classroom, 3rd floor. Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM.
Play Date at NMNH: Colorful Corals
One-Time Events
Join us on Tuesdays for special family play dates with museum educators!
Tuesday, April 30 is all about exploring coral reefs! Families will learn about coral polyps (the tiny animals that help to build-up the reef), create their own artwork inspired by coral reefs, and look up close at coral specimens from the museum’s collection.
The event is part of our drop-in program, Play Date at NMNH. Play Date at NMNH is a program designed for early learners (ages 0-5) and their caregivers and families. Activities are designed with early learners in mind, but all ages are welcome.
Location: This program is held in the Explorer Theater in the Sant Ocean Hall on the 1st floor of the museum.
Accessibility: Access services such as American Sign Language interpretation, real-time captioning (CART), or audio-description are available with advanced notice. However, accommodations may not be possible with less than two-weeks advanced notice. To request this service, please call (202) 633-5238 or e-mail…
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, Explorer Theater in Sant Ocean Hall. Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM.
Explore More! in STEM: Having Fun with Frequencies
One-Time Events
Explore More! in STEM is a classroom program for ages 8+ to explore STEM concepts in relation to African American history, culture, or the museum. In this lesson, people will learn about sound, frequency, famous African American electric guitarists, and how electric guitars work.
Image Credit: Robert Stewart | NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: 2nd Floor Classrooms. Cost: This is a *free* event! Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: FREE. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.
Register and join the sessions here:
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoc-GqpzovHdOwBtMxdm7MCyFA-pa9EuFn, Image: Landscapes of the Four Seasons: Spring and Summer, Hishikawa Sori, Japan, late 18th–early 19th century, color, ink, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1906.233.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoc-GqpzovHdOwBtMxdm7MCyFA-pa9EuFn. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Spotlights: Freedom Now! The Modern Civil Rights Movement (1945-1968)
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Our 25-minute spotlight tours provide an engaging introduction to a key topic in the Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation 1876-1968 exhibition.
About this program: After World War II, a generation of African Americans saw less and less reason to endure attacks on their civil rights. Learn how African Americans survived the challenges set before and explore how the nation emerged more in sync with its pronouncements about freedom, equality, and democracy.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets at the entrance to Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation 1876-1968 exhibition, located on C2. Each 25 min talk takes place at 12:45 PM and 2:45 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation 1876-1968.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 12:45 PM – 3:10 PM.
Jazz Appreciation Month: Objects Out of Storage
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Curatorial staff from the museum's Division of Culture and the Arts will be sharing selected objects from its jazz collection during Jazz Appreciation Month.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: 3 West. Cost: Free. Categories: Demonstrations. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
For more info visit americanhistory.si.edu. Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Virtual Tour | Art Across Asian Cultures
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art is home to more than 45,000 objects from the Islamic world, the ancient Near East, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Join a free, docent-led, virtual tour to explore highlights of the museum’s collections that showcase the richness and diversity of Asian art.
Select your date and register here. Image credit: Boy Viewing Mount Fuji, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Japan, 1839, ink and color on silk, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Collection, F1898.110.
Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3lBc52AEROWkmbKl9CKX_w. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Gallery Talks & Tours.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
DC | Welcome to a Native Place
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Enjoy tribal songs from Alaska to Florida with Dennis Zotigh (Kiowa/Isanti Dakota/Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo) in the Potomac Atrium. At the end of the 30-minute presentation, visitors are encouraged to ask questions pertaining to the museum and Indigenous culture, past and present. Presentations may be canceled without prior notice.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Potomac Atrium. Cost: Free. Categories: Performances.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Big Objects, Big Stories: Afrofuturist Harriet Tubman
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Join us for a docent-led talk and get a fresh look into a featured object that is on view in one of our permanent exhibitions. At each of these 15-minute talks visitors will hear incredibly big stories about a big object and experience the infinite possibilities of Afrofuturism.
About this Program: Harriet Tubman has been known by many names—Araminta, Moses, conductor, daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt. Her legacy of care, activism and bravery has influenced Black women across time. Visitors will learn about the life of Harriet Tubman by exploring artwork created by Alison Saar and Bisa Butler.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Event Location: Program meets at the Harriet Tubman Quilt by Bisa Butler, in the Visual Arts Gallery, L4. Each 15-minute program starts at: 1:15 PM, 2:15 PM, and 3:15 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 1:15 PM – 3:30 PM.
Slavery and Freedom Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Explore the complex story of slavery and freedom. Visitors will view priceless objects, connect to the past, and hear about the actions of ordinary men and women, demanding freedom and transforming our nation.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets in the Slavery and Freedom exhibition, located on C3. One hour tours take place at 1:15 PM and 2:30 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 1:15 PM – 3:30 PM.
Coral Reef Tank Talk
One-Time Events
Swim by the Sant Ocean Hall to meet some of the coral reef species that call the Smithsonian NMNH home! Hosted by an Ocean Educator, this interactive cart experience will walk you through the world of saltwater fish, coral colonies, and invertebrates galore!
Image Credit: Sant Ocean Hall, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, from the main hall, 2nd floor. Photo by Jennifer Renteria, Smithsonian.
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, The Sant Ocean Hall. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: The Sant Ocean Hall. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Walk-in Highlights Tour of the National Portrait Gallery
Ongoing Tours & Activities
The National Portrait Gallery is offering docent-led public walk-in tours on the Highlights of the National Portrait Gallery. All tours are subject to availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: Portrait Gallery. Event Location: F Street Lobby. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
Hieronymus Bosch: Heaven and Hell
Resident Associate Program
Painting on the cusp of the medieval and Renaissance worlds, Hieronymus Bosch continues to fascinate with his fantastic imagery and densely symbolic compositions. Even after decades of research and close examination, many of his masterpieces remain as perplexing as they probably appeared to their original viewers. Art historian Aneta Georgievskia-Shine discusses ways of approaching the unique vision of reality and human nature contained within Bosch’s painted worlds. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260027?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260027?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
Steinbeck and the Arthurian Saga
Resident Associate Program
In the late 1950s, having already won lasting fame as a novelist, John Steinbeck was seized by a powerful urge to return to a longtime dream: contemporizing Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d' Arthur. Public humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson offers a fascinating look at the book that became the critically dismissed The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights and Steinbeck’s quest to give new life to Malory and use the tales of King Arthur as a medium for his own expression.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260182?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260182?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics
Resident Associate Program
The COVID-19 pandemic won't be our last, says biological anthropologist Sabrina Sholts of the National Museum of Natural History, because what makes us vulnerable to pandemics also makes us human. Drawing on her new book, The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs, Sholts travels through history and around the globe to examine how and why such pandemics and many other infectious disease events are an inescapable threat of our own making.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260028?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260028?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 6:45 PM – 8:00 PM.
McClellan and the Seven Days Battles
Resident Associate Program
Delve into Gen. George McClellan’s 1862 Peninsula Campaign with an emphasis on the Seven Days Battles. Evaluating McClellan’s actions and state of mind, Civil War tour guide Marc Thompson explains why this bold campaign plan yielded disastrous results.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260127?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260127?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:15 PM.
Storytime: A Trip to the Hirshhorn
One time events
Storytime is currently a drop-in experience. Join Hirshhorn educators any time between 10 am–noon; we will host read-alouds at 10:30 am and 11:30 am. ASL interpretation is provided at the 10:30 reading.
Ignite your child’s imagination with a trip to the Hirshhorn. We will read the story Matthew’s Dream by Leo Lionni, a book about a young mouse who visits a museum and realizes that art can change the way we see the world. Following the story, participants will create their own visual stories.
Meet on the Plaza. Do this at home! Use water to transform a plain coffee filter into your own sculptural work of art bursting with color. Instructions here.
, ABOUT STORYTIME
Join Hirshhorn Kids on Wednesdays for a one-of-a-kind Storytime experience! Each week offers a fun and fresh theme for our youngest artists and their adults. Get a fun and hands-on introduction to a new artwork each week, and participate in a joyful read-aloud filled with music, stories, and tons of movement. Then, stay and play while your…
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden. Event Location: Plaza. Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. Wonderplace
Ongoing Tours & Activities
This learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians.
Admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. At busy times, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry using timed tickets is at 3:30 p.m.
Hours are subject to change.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Wonderplace, 1 West. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Spark!Lab
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with art, history and creativity.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Spark!Lab, First Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.si.edu. Explore More! in STEM: Having Fun with Frequencies
One-Time Events
Explore More! in STEM is a classroom program for ages 8+ to explore STEM concepts in relation to African American history, culture, or the museum. In this lesson, people will learn about sound, frequency, famous African American electric guitarists, and how electric guitars work.
Image Credit: Robert Stewart | NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: 2nd Floor Classrooms. Cost: This is a *free* event! Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: FREE. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Tours | Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects. Image: Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United Kingdom, 1876–77, room installation; oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. See Me at the Smithsonian - National Museum of American History
See Me at the Smithsonian
See Me at the Smithsonian (See Me) is a free, virtual interactive program for adults with dementia and their care partners. During each event, pre-registered participants (12-15 people) explore some of the Smithsonian’s most beloved objects through small group discussions and multi-sensory activities.
Contact Access@si.edu to RSVP.
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice Gallery Talk
One-Time Events
SOLD OUT
Join senior curator Virginia Mecklenburg for a highlights tour of SAAM's exhibition Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice. Painted in the mid-1940s, these images honor the stories of African American historical figures who worked to bring peace to the world while facing the realities of racism, oppression, and violence. Learn more about the backgrounds of “Fighters” such as Marian Anderson, Frederick Douglass, and Paul Robeson.
Image Credit: William H. Johnson, Harriet Tubman, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard, 28 7⁄8 x 23 3⁄8 in. (73.5 x 59.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.1146 .
Venue: American Art Museum. Event Location: Meet in G Street Lobby. Cost: SOLD OUT
Free | Registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://events.blackthorn.io/5f4ZMUx7/4a2bVRDVcI. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. After Five. Related Exhibition: Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 5:30 PM.
Innovative Lives: Doug DeAngelis
One-Time Events
In conjunction with the recently opened exhibition “Change Your Game/Cambia tu juego,” the museum’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation will present a conversation with Doug DeAngelis, runner and inventor-entrepreneur behind the FinishLynx photo-finish camera. Join us for an evening of snacks, drinks, and innovation!
In 1990, at age 24, DeAngelis sought to improve the photo finish cameras that were popular in the 1980s and sketched out a two-page idea for what he called a “digital “Accutrack.” Instead of capturing finish-line images on Polaroid film, his concept would capture and timestamp digital images of the finish line and store them on a computer. In 1992, DeAngelis became the founder, president and chief technology officer of Lynx Systems Developers, which today provides photo-finish cameras and timing solutions for the Olympic Trials, Kentucky Derby, NASCAR, and the Tour de France.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/879651680857?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: After Five. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: "Change Your Game"/"Cambia tu juego". Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. The Photo Essay
Resident Associate Program
Learn how to create a photo essay, a set of photographs that tell a story or evoke a series of emotions. Homework assignments are designed to encourage students to explore their interests.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259813?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259813?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Workshops.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
A Journey through Ancient China
Resident Associate Program
China has more than three thousand years of recorded history, but misconceptions abound at every stage. Historian Justin Jacobs clears up misinterpretations as he takes you on a thematic tour of four important topics in ancient Chinese history. Each lecture includes a rich, nuanced overview based on the latest scholarship and illustrated with copious slides. This session focuses on the relations with nomads.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260040?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260040?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Lectures & Discussions.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 6:45 PM – 8:15 PM.
Lincoln: The Months Before Sumter with Author Erik Larson
Resident Associate Program
Drawing on his new book The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson examines the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election in November 1860 and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Using information from diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson discusses the five months that led to the start of the Civil War—a slow-burning crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two.
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: National Museum of Natural History Baird Auditorium. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260183?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: After Five. Lectures & Discussions.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 6:45 PM – 8:15 PM.
Book to Screen: Viet Thanh Nguyen on Adapting The Sympathizer
Lectures & Discussions
Get tickets
Join author Viet Thanh Nguyen for a discussion about adapting his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Sympathizer, for the screen. Through clips from the series and readings from the novel, Nguyen will talk about the difficulties and rewards of adapting his work for the screen, among other topics. Like the novel, the HBO series is an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his new life as a refugee in Los Angeles, where he learns that his spying days aren't over. Its showrunner is the acclaimed Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Decision to Leave), and the cast includes Robert Downey Jr. and Sandra Oh. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Sylvia Chong, associate professor of American Studies and English at the University of Virginia, and author of The Oriental Obscene: Violence and Racial Fantasies in the Vietnam Era. This event is copresented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific…
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free; advance registration recommended. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-to-screen-viet-thanh-nguyen-on-adapting-the-sympathizer-tickets-863217224957. Categories: Films. After Five. Lectures & Discussions. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Little Critters: Nature Play
Special Zoo Events
Come play with us at the Zoo!
Bring your little zoogoer for a wild time as we explore animals and nature through creative, drop-in play!
Little Critters Nature Play is designed for ages 0-5 and their caregivers and families. Activities are designed with early learners in mind, but all ages are welcome. Parents and guardians must remain with their children.
Location: Bird House Classroom
Winter Weather Notes:
1) Little Critters: Nature Play follows all Zoo guidance on delayed openings or closures owing to winter weather. Please always check https://nationalzoo.si.edu/ for updates to the Zoo's opening status.
2) For your Little Critter's safety, staff may close or limit access to the outdoor classroom during the program.
Venue: National Zoo. Event Location: Bird House Classroom. Cost: Free drop-in program; no pre-registration required.Parents and guardians must remain with their children. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM.
For more info visit nationalzoo.si.edu. Wonderplace
Ongoing Tours & Activities
This learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians.
Admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. At busy times, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry using timed tickets is at 3:30 p.m.
Hours are subject to change.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Wonderplace, 1 West. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Slavery and Freedom Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Explore the complex story of slavery and freedom. Visitors will view priceless objects, connect to the past, and hear about the actions of ordinary men and women, demanding freedom and transforming our nation.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets in the Slavery and Freedom exhibition, located on C3. Morning tours take place at 10:15 AM and 11:30 AM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 10:15 AM – 12:30 PM.
The Power of Place Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Our Power of Place exhibition uses the idea of place and region as an integral component of the African American experience. Tour 10 diverse places in the U.S. significant to African Americans with a docent. Learn about black urban life in Chicago, leisure in Oak Bluffs in Martha’s Vineyard, life in the rice fields of South Carolina’s low country, and the rise of hip hop in Bronx, New York.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets at the POP exhibition, L3 at 10:15 AM and 11:30 AM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 10:15 AM – 12:30 PM.
Outdoor Walking: The Museum, A Century in the Making
Ongoing Tours & Activities
During this 25-min outdoor walking tour, visitors hear the story behind the design of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and explore its unique architectural features. Each 25-min program start at: 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, and 12:30 PM.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Meets at the oculus, located on 14th Street and Constitution Ave. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 10:30 AM – 12:55 PM.
Drawn to Figures
One-Time Events
Discover your inner artist in this live virtual drawing workshop. Facilitated by artist Jill Galloway, each program will highlight a Portrait Gallery exhibition or a portrait from the collection. Open to all skill levels, ages 18 and up.
Event Location: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/national-portrait-gallery-810710525. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/national-portrait-gallery-810710525. Categories: Demonstrations. Lectures & Discussions. Workshops.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. Spark!Lab
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with art, history and creativity.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Spark!Lab, First Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.si.edu. Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Tours | Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects. Image: Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United Kingdom, 1876–77, room installation; oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Virtual Tour | Art Across Asian Cultures
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art is home to more than 45,000 objects from the Islamic world, the ancient Near East, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Join a free, docent-led, virtual tour to explore highlights of the museum’s collections that showcase the richness and diversity of Asian art.
Select your date and register here. Image credit: Boy Viewing Mount Fuji, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Japan, 1839, ink and color on silk, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Collection, F1898.110.
Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3lBc52AEROWkmbKl9CKX_w. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Gallery Talks & Tours.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
Color Theory and Chroma-psychology
Resident Associate Program
Learn how to make color choices in your art to bring out a reaction from the viewer. Create combinations with colored pencils that illustrate how color theory works.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259814?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259814?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Slavery and Freedom Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Explore the complex story of slavery and freedom. Visitors will view priceless objects, connect to the past, and hear about the actions of ordinary men and women, demanding freedom and transforming our nation.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets in the Slavery and Freedom exhibition, located on C3. One hour tours take place at 1:15 PM and 2:30 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 1:15 PM – 3:30 PM.
Big Objects, Big Stories: Plywood panel mural from Resurrection City
Ongoing Tours & Activities
At each of these 15-minute talks visitors will hear incredibly big stories about a big object. During this program we’ll consider a salvaged mural from the Resurrection City—a 1968 anti-poverty protest camp. Visitors will discover how America’s cultural diversity comes forth in the mural and come to understand how the National Mall has served as a site for the public to express concerns about American society.
Photo Credit: NMAAHC.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: Program meets at the Plywood panel mural from Resurrection City, in the A Changing America 1968 and Beyond exhibition. C1. Each 15-min talk takes place at: 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM, and 3:30 PM. Cost: Free; walk-in
Tours are subject to docent availability; last minute cancellations may occur. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 1:30 PM – 3:45 PM.
Macro Photography
Resident Associate Program
Take a much closer look at your photographic subjects through the art of macro photography. Get an introduction to the technique’s aesthetics and design, as well as technical tips on lenses, close-up focusing distance, depth of field, tripod use, lighting, and other key elements.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259815?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259815?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Workshops.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Making Democracy Count: Math’s Influential Role in Voting and Representation
Resident Associate Program
Are you feeling like it’s impossible to repair our ailing democracy and the mechanisms that power it? Math holds the key to creating an infrastructure that benefits everyone, says math professor Ismar Volić. Presenting mathematical thinking as an objective, nonpartisan framework, Volic explains why the current voting system stifles political diversity and the Electoral College must be rethought—and suggests what can work better.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260184?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260184?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM.
Mid-Century Modern Design in Pennsylvania
Resident Associate Program
From the period after World War II through the late 1960s, the Mid-century Modern design movement swept through the United States and Europe, emphasizing functionality, clean lines, and simplicity. Design historian Elizabeth Lay Little leads a tour to eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey that explores how the movement took root in the region. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: Departs Mayflower Hotel, DeSales St side 1127 Connecticut Ave NW. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260088?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM.
Conversation Circles
One-Time Events
Calling all English language learners! Join National Portrait Gallery educators and friends from all over the world. Together, we’ll use portraiture to learn about U.S. art, history and culture. This program takes place every other week. Meet new friends, learn about different cultures and practice your English. For more information, email Beth Evans at evansb@si.edu.
Event Location: Online via Zoom. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Lectures & Discussions.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.
Conversation Circles
One-Time Events
Calling all English-language learners! Join National Portrait Gallery educators and friends from all over the world. Together, we’ll use portraiture to learn about U.S. art, history and culture. This program takes place every other week. Meet new friends, learn about different cultures and practice your English. For more information, email Beth Evans at evansb@si.edu.
Event Location: G Street Lobby. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Lectures & Discussions.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Wonderplace
Ongoing Tours & Activities
This learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians.
Admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. At busy times, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry using timed tickets is at 3:30 p.m.
Hours are subject to change.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Wonderplace, 1 West. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Flights of Fancy Story Time: Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy
Ongoing Activities
Join us for a reading of Meghan McCarthy’s children’s book about preparing to go to space, Astronaut Handbook. We will learn about different types of spacesuits and what they are designed to do for the people who wear them. After the story, make an astronaut paper doll and dress for space!
ASL interpretation will be provided during this program.
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free with registration. Categories: Kids & Families. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Soar Together at Air and Space Family Program. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program. Captioning.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Spark!Lab
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with art, history and creativity.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Spark!Lab, First Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.si.edu. Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Tours | The Art of Women
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join us for a docent-led tour highlighting women’s untold stories in the art world, where their contributions have frequently been overshadowed. Discover the importance of women artists, subjects, patrons, and collectors who’ve shaped history. Celebrate women’s creativity and resilience by exploring captivating narratives that include inspirational subjects, ruling monarchs, and revered figures of divinity. Image: Detail, The Princess from the Land of Porcelain (La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine), James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United States, 1863–65, oil on canvas, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1903.91a–b.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Tours | Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects. Image: Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United Kingdom, 1876–77, room installation; oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
The Footsteps of Piero della Francesca
Resident Associate Program
More than any other creator, Piero della Francesca was responsible for the development of 15th-century painting in Florence and its crucial dissemination throughout Italy. His compositions marry art and science with cool precision and a sophisticated grasp of perspective. Join Renaissance art historian Elaine Ruffolo from her home in Italy as she follows Piero’s extraordinary career and his journey through Tuscany, Umbria, and Urbino. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260324?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260324?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.
Register and join the sessions here:
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoc-GqpzovHdOwBtMxdm7MCyFA-pa9EuFn, Image: Landscapes of the Four Seasons: Spring and Summer, Hishikawa Sori, Japan, late 18th–early 19th century, color, ink, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1906.233.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. DC | Guided Gallery Tours
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Experience one of the museum's major exhibitions currently on view—Americans or Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations—with a guided tour led by a knowledgeable museum educator. Join fellow visitors to dive deeper into the content and have your questions answered. These walk-in tours include a brief overview of the museum’s mission, history, and even the building itself. Tours are subject to availability and may be canceled without prior notice.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 1, meet in the Potomac Atrium. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Americans; Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations.
Friday, May 3, 2024, 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM.
The Seven Days Battles
Resident Associate Program
In May 1862, Union Gen. George B. McClellan and his army were on Richmond’s outskirts. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was assigned the daunting task of stopping a Union juggernaut capable of ending the Civil War. Thus, the stage was set for what became known as the Seven Days Battles. Led by Civil War tour guide Marc Thompson, this tour travels to five of these battlefields plus other significant related locations.
Event Location: Departs from the Holiday Inn Capitol at 550 C St SW (corner of 6th & C Sts). Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260144?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM.
Little Critters: Nature Play
Special Zoo Events
Come play with us at the Zoo!
Bring your little zoogoer for a wild time as we explore animals and nature through creative, drop-in play!
Little Critters Nature Play is designed for ages 0-5 and their caregivers and families. Activities are designed with early learners in mind, but all ages are welcome. Parents and guardians must remain with their children.
Location: Bird House Classroom
Winter Weather Notes:
1) Little Critters: Nature Play follows all Zoo guidance on delayed openings or closures owing to winter weather. Please always check https://nationalzoo.si.edu/ for updates to the Zoo's opening status.
2) For your Little Critter's safety, staff may close or limit access to the outdoor classroom during the program.
Venue: National Zoo. Event Location: Bird House Classroom. Cost: Free drop-in program; no pre-registration required.Parents and guardians must remain with their children. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM.
For more info visit nationalzoo.si.edu. Freshfarm ACM Farmstand
One-Time Events
The FRESHFARM ACM Farm Stand takes place on the outdoor plaza of the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum (1901 Fort Place, SE Washington, DC 20020) every Saturday (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) from April 20- November 23, 2024.*
The farm stand offers FreshMatch, FRESHFARM's incentive program, which provides a dollar-to-dollar match on all federal benefits (WIC and Senior and WIC FMNP) spent at the stand, helping shoppers take home more fresh and nutritious produce and local foods. The farm stand also accepts Produce Plus, a benefit program unique to Washington, DC, which provides locally grown, fresh produce to District residents with limited access to fresh, healthy food.
Park View Farms in Poolsville supplies the FRESHFARM ACM Farm Stand with their own homegrown produce and additional fruits and vegetables that they aggregate from neighboring farms.
*Weather permitting. Be sure to follow the Anacostia Community Museum for updated information.
Venue: Anacostia Community Museum. Event Location: 1901 Fort Place SE. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://anacostia.si.edu/farmstand. Categories: Kids & Families. Culinary Arts.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
Wonderplace
Ongoing Tours & Activities
This learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians.
Admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. At busy times, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry using timed tickets is at 3:30 p.m.
Hours are subject to change.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Wonderplace, 1 West. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
The World and Me: Amphibian Week Kickoff Celebration with the USDA Forest Service and Friends!
One-Time Events
Learn more about your place in the world through explorations of nature and culture.
Come celebrate Amphibian Week with a special kickoff event at The World & Me inside Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center! Join us Saturday, May 4th, as we learn about amphibians with our friends from the USDA Forest Service, US Navy, US Geological Survey, and more. Families with learners of all ages will be invited to explore different stations, see live amphibians, and explore play, art, and related museum collections.
This is a drop-in event. Families can drop in anytime from 10:00am - 12:30pm and stay for as long as your family would like. No registration is required. Cost: Free.
Location: Meet at the entrace of Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center, on the Ground Floor of the museum. Q?rius is located next to the Constitution Avenue entrance.
Accessibility: Access services such as American Sign Language interpretation, real-time captioning (CART), or audio-description are…
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center, Ground Floor. Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM.
Great Houses of Scotland and Their Treasures
Resident Associate Program
The architecture and interiors of Scotland’s finest historic houses uniquely reflect the country’s heritage and culture. In a richly illustrated day-long journey into history, cultural historian Lorella Brocklesby explores more than 400 years of splendor from fortified 16th-century tower houses and palaces of Baroque extravagance to elegant 18th-century residences and exuberant revival styles of the Victorian period. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260106?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260106?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
CANCELLED - Teen Conversation Circles
One-Time Events
Calling teen English-language learners! Join National Portrait Gallery educators and friends from all over the world. Together, we’ll use portraiture to learn about U.S. art, history and culture. This program takes place every other week and alternates between in-person gatherings (meet in the G Street Lobby) and virtual conversations on Zoom. Meet new friends, learn about different cultures and practice your English. Open to teens, ages 13-19.
Event Location: G Street Lobby. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/national-portrait-gallery-810710525. Categories: Lectures & Discussions.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. Spark!Lab
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with art, history and creativity.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Spark!Lab, First Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.si.edu. Family Workshop: Silver Tells a Story
Kids and Family
In May, a selection of dazzling silver objects will go on display as part of the exhibition Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Behind the scenes, how do we care for a material that tarnishes so quickly? In this hands-on workshop for children ages 6 to 11 with adult participation, explore how conservators preserve silver objects; then, experiment with real silver using your newly acquired conservation skills.
This program is brought to you by the museum’s Department of Conservation and Scientific Research. There will be two sessions, each lasting about an hour and a half. Please register for one session only.
Free; advanced registration suggested. RSVP here.
Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Event Location: ImaginAsia Studio, Sackler level B2. Cost: Free; advanced registration suggested. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/841461934297?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Workshops. Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM.
Embroidered Patch Workshop - In Person
Resident Associate Program
Use basic stitches to create an embroidered patch to embellish a favorite jacket or pair of jeans. Learn how to prepare fabric with a simple design, then ready a hoop and begin stitching.
Venue: S. Dillon Ripley Center. Event Location: S. Dillon Ripley Center 1100 Jefferson Dr SW. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/259816?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: Workshops.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
DC | Storytime
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Families are invited to an interactive story time featuring a children’s book by a Native author. They will have the opportunity to engage with objects and photographs that can deepen their understanding of the community represented in the story.
Recommended for visitors ages 3 years and up accompanied by an adult caregiver. .
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: imagiNATIONS Activity Center, Level 3. Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 11:15 AM – 11:45 AM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: FREE. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Weekend Workshops
One-Time Events
Calling all artists! Get creative during our drop-in workshops for all ages. Learn about artists and change-makers and create art inspired by their stories.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Kids & Families. Workshops.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tours | The Art of Women
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join us for a docent-led tour highlighting women’s untold stories in the art world, where their contributions have frequently been overshadowed. Discover the importance of women artists, subjects, patrons, and collectors who’ve shaped history. Celebrate women’s creativity and resilience by exploring captivating narratives that include inspirational subjects, ruling monarchs, and revered figures of divinity. Image: Detail, The Princess from the Land of Porcelain (La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine), James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United States, 1863–65, oil on canvas, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1903.91a–b.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Tours | Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of American artist James McNeill Whistler. Experience the artist’s paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects. Image: Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United Kingdom, 1876–77, room installation; oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Hand-On History of Photography: Cyanotypes
Resident Associate Program
Delve into the history of cyanotypes, a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue and white print, and create your own cyanotype in this unique studio arts class. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260240?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260240?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Workshops.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
NY | At the Movies: One with the Whale
One-Time Events
Watch the gripping and emotional tale of an Alaska Native family’s struggle to recover from animal activists’ online assaults against their teenage son, the youngest person to ever harpoon a whale for his village. (Directors: Pete Chelkowski and Jim Wickens; Producers: Susan Aakapak Apassingok (Yupik), Yaari Walker (Yupik), and Justine Nagan; USA/UK, 2023, 80 min.; English and Siberian Yupik with English subtitles)
This film is for mature audiences. It contains scenes of hunting, strong language, and drug use.
Co-director Pete Chelkowski in attendance for post-screening discussion and Q & A.
This screening is presented as part of the museum's Native Cinema Showcase, a celebration of the best in Indigenous film from communities throughout the Western Hemisphere and Arctic. This program is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Image courtesy of Vitamin Sea Productions.
Event Location: Auditorium, Lower Level. Cost: Free. Categories: Films. Accessibility: Captioning.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Visual Journaling: Creativity Workout
Resident Associate Program
In an afternoon of artistic experimentation designed to deepen skills in visual expression, explore five modes of visual thinking: working from memory, observation, imagination, narrative, and experimental approaches.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260369?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260369?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Family Workshop: Silver Tells a Story
Kids and Family
In May, a selection of dazzling silver objects will go on display as part of the exhibition Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Behind the scenes, how do we care for a material that tarnishes so quickly? In this hands-on workshop for children ages 6 to 11 with adult participation, explore how conservators preserve silver objects; then, experiment with real silver using your newly acquired conservation skills.
This program is brought to you by the museum’s Department of Conservation and Scientific Research. There will be two sessions, each lasting about an hour and a half. Please register for one session only.
Free; advanced registration suggested. RSVP here.
Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Event Location: ImaginAsia Studio, Sackler level B2. Cost: Free; advanced registration suggested. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/841461934297?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Workshops. Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM.
DC | Guided Gallery Tours
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Experience one of the museum's major exhibitions currently on view—Americans or Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations—with a guided tour led by a knowledgeable museum educator. Join fellow visitors to dive deeper into the content and have your questions answered. These walk-in tours include a brief overview of the museum’s mission, history, and even the building itself. Tours are subject to availability and may be canceled without prior notice.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 1, meet in the Potomac Atrium. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Americans; Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations.
Saturday, May 4, 2024, 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM.
International Family Equality Day
Special Zoo Events
Celebrate the beauty and importance of family diversity with the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. International Family Equality Day activities will take place throughout the Zoo, including animal demonstrations and rainbow-themed enrichment. Visitors will also have the chance to make arts and crafts, enjoy music performances, and play lawn games. Representatives from SMYAL, the DC Center, Rainbow Families, Brave Trails, and the Smithsonian Pride Alliance will be hosted at the event. All programming is free.
Visit the Zoo's website for more details.
Venue: National Zoo. Event Location: Great Meadow. Cost: Free. Categories: Celebrations.
Sunday, May 5, 2024.
For more info visit nationalzoo.si.edu. Wonderplace
Ongoing Tours & Activities
This learning space designed especially for children ages six and under combines age appropriate activities with museum collections and touchable objects to provide a gateway to history and a place to exercise curiosity for the youngest historians.
Admission to Wonderplace is on a first come, first-served basis. At busy times, we may use FREE, timed tickets to minimize wait time if needed. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required for the first session from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. To visit during a later half-hour session, visitors may pick up a ticket at Wonderplace in 1 West. The last entry using timed tickets is at 3:30 p.m.
Hours are subject to change.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Wonderplace, 1 West. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Spark!Lab
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation invites children between the ages of 6 and 12 to create, collaborate, explore, test, experiment and invent. Activities for children and families incorporate traditional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with art, history and creativity.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Spark!Lab, First Floor, West Wing. Cost: Free; first come, first served. Categories: Kids & Families. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.si.edu. Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Weekend Workshops
One-Time Events
Calling all artists! Get creative during our drop-in workshops for all ages. Learn about artists and change-makers and create art inspired by their stories.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Kids & Families. Workshops.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tours | Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of Whistler. Experience Whistler’s paintings along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects. Image: Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United Kingdom, 1876–77, room installation; oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
When Good Patterns Go Bad: Avoiding and Fixing Knitting Mistakes
Resident Associate Program
Nothing can be more frustrating than realizing there’s something wrong with your knitting and not knowing how to fix it. This workshop focuses on avoiding errors, learning to detect them sooner, and figuring out what to do once you know there’s a problem.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260241?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260241?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Spanish-Language Walk-In Tours
One-Time Events
Spanish-language tours are returning! Join our volunteer docents on select Sundays for lively tours of Portrait Gallery favorites. We hope to see you there!
Event Location: G Street Lobby. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Movie Music Matchups | Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life
Films
Live musical accompaniment by Kamyar Arsani, Get tickets, Watch the trailer
In 1924, filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack (who would later go on to make King Kong together) set off with Marguerite Harrison, a writer and occasional spy, to document the migration of the Bakhtiari people of what is now Iran. Twice a year, fifty thousand Bakhtiari and their half a million animals make the treacherous trek to seasonal pasture lands. The filmmakers captured harrowing images of strength and endurance as the Bakhtiari and their herds cross the raging, half mile–wide Karun River and scale the snow-covered, fifteen thousand–foot Zardeh Kuh mountain. Musical accompaniment will be provided by Iranian American musician Kamyar Arsani, a master of the traditional Iranian frame drum called the Daf. He will perform as part of a trio creating music inspired by Bakhtiari folk traditions. (Dir.: Merian C. Cooper & Ernest P. Schoedsack, United States, 1925, 72 min, DCP, English intertitles)
Musicians: Kamyar…
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free; register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://nmaamoviemusic.eventive.org/films. Categories: Films. Performances. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Captioning.
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Virtual Story Time
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Join educators from the National Postal Museum for live, interactive story time. Designed for children ages 4-7, but all are welcome!
Mondays at 11:00 (EDT) National Postal Museum educators will read stories aloud and lead related activities in a Zoom meeting for children and their caregivers. Explore a range of postal-related topics and more! Sessions will be interactive and last approximately 45 minutes. Caregivers are expected to be present with children for the duration of the program.
Event Location: Online Only. Online Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/story-time-with-the-national-postal-museum-registration-141338917507. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/story-time-with-the-national-postal-museum-registration-141338917507. Categories: Kids & Families. Webcasts & Online.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Portrait Gallery Kids
One-Time Events
Children and families are invited to learn, play and create at the Portrait Gallery! Join educators on select Mondays as we explore topics like colors, emotions, STEM and history. Portrait Gallery Kids incorporates looking at art, hands-on activities, music and movement. This program is a fun way to engage with art and each other.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Registration Required. Categories: Kids & Families. Workshops.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Tours | The Art of Women
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join us for a docent-led tour highlighting women’s untold stories in the art world, where their contributions have frequently been overshadowed. Discover the importance of women artists, subjects, patrons, and collectors who’ve shaped history. Celebrate women’s creativity and resilience by exploring captivating narratives that include inspirational subjects, ruling monarchs, and revered figures of divinity. Image: Detail, The Princess from the Land of Porcelain (La Princesse du pays de la porcelaine), James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United States, 1863–65, oil on canvas, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1903.91a–b.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM.
“Bridgerton” and the Real World of Regency London
Resident Associate Program
Society in Regency London was ruled by a few hundred wealthy families whose strict codes of conduct, fashion, and social customs dictated who and what was acceptable. Fans of the “Bridgerton” series know them as the Ton, celebrities of the day who engaged in what was described as "a business of pleasure." Historian Julie Taddeo examines the tightly circumscribed lives of these fashionable men and women and how the Ton was eventually forced to welcome non-aristocratic members into their ranks or risk dying off.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260185?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260185?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 6:45 PM – 8:00 PM.
The Future of Exploration
Resident Associate Program
Accompany former National Geographic executive vice president and chief science officer Terry Garcia and nature and cultural photographer Chris Rainier, a National Geographic Explorer, on a journey with some of the world’s most renowned explorers, scientists, astronauts, visionaries, thinkers, and authors as they discuss their insights about what motivates them, what is left to explore, and why we should care. Following a short presentation, Garcia and Rainier are joined by a few of the explorers for a conversation on the future of exploration.
Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260052?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2023FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=264355. Categories: After Five.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 6:45 PM – 8:15 PM.
The Future of Exploration
Resident Associate Program
Accompany former National Geographic executive vice president and chief science officer Terry Garcia and nature and cultural photographer Chris Rainier, a National Geographic Explorer, on a journey with some of the world’s most renowned explorers, scientists, astronauts, visionaries, thinkers, and authors as they discuss their insights about what motivates them, what is left to explore, and why we should care. Following the presentation, Garcia and Rainier are joined by deep-sea explorer and founder and president of the Ocean Discovery League Katy Croff Bell for a short conversation on the future of exploration.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260575?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260575?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 6:45 PM – 8:15 PM.
Little Critters: Nature Play
Special Zoo Events
Come play with us at the Zoo!
Bring your little zoogoer for a wild time as we explore animals and nature through creative, drop-in play!
Little Critters Nature Play is designed for ages 0-5 and their caregivers and families. Activities are designed with early learners in mind, but all ages are welcome. Parents and guardians must remain with their children.
Location: Bird House Classroom
Winter Weather Notes:
1) Little Critters: Nature Play follows all Zoo guidance on delayed openings or closures owing to winter weather. Please always check https://nationalzoo.si.edu/ for updates to the Zoo's opening status.
2) For your Little Critter's safety, staff may close or limit access to the outdoor classroom during the program.
Venue: National Zoo. Event Location: Bird House Classroom. Cost: Free drop-in program; no pre-registration required.Parents and guardians must remain with their children. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM.
For more info visit nationalzoo.si.edu. Mothering: A Reflective Writing Workshop
Resident Associate Program
Discover the power of reflective writing inspired by art guided by the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s Writing Salon, Mary Hall Surface. The work of two British artists, painter Evelyn De Morgan and poet and playwright Carol Ann Duffy, open participants to an exploration of Demeter, Greek mythology’s goddess of fertility and Mother Earth. Through close looking and imaginative writing, they reflect on the myriad meanings of mothering in their lives, in the natural world, and in the creative process.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260053?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260053?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: Webcasts & Online.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM.
Interactive Programs
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Docents offer interactive programming throughout the museum, in the form of Highlights tours of the museum, gallery spotlight talks, and hands-on cart programs.
Tours of the museum’s highlights generally take place daily at 10:15 AM and 1 PM. Additional tours may be offered on the hour between 11 AM and 3 PM as docents are available. Please check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Gallery spotlight talks take place throughout the day. Docents offer a 15-minute overview of an exhibition or briefly discuss a favorite museum object. Look for the "Docent on Duty" signs posted outside the exhibition entrances.
Docents stationed at carts help visitors get their hands on history and learn about the museum's collections. Carts are located throughout the museum, and you can check either Welcome Desk for today’s schedule.
Year-Round:
Available most days between 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM.
Notes:
Programs are subject to docent availability; last-minute cancellations may occur.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: Multiple floors. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Play Date at NMNH: At Home in a Habitat
One-Time Events
Join us on Tuesdays for special family play dates with museum educators!
On Tuesday, May 7, explore the different needs animals have that keep them safe and healthy in their habitat. During this Play Date at NMNH, families will practice identifying needs of animals and create habitats out of different play materials.
The event is part of our drop-in program, Play Date at NMNH. Play Date at NMNH is a program designed for early learners (ages 0-5) and their caregivers and families. Activities are designed with early learners in mind, but all ages are welcome.
Location: This program is held in Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center, on the Ground Floor of the museum. Please enter through the Constitution Avenue entrance. Q?rius is located on the right as you enter the museum.
Accessibility: Access services such as American Sign Language interpretation, real-time captioning (CART), or audio-description are available with advanced notice. However, accommodations may not be possible with less…
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center (Ground Floor). Cost: Free. Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM.
Explore More! in STEM: Flying High with the Triple Nickles
One-Time Events
Explore More! in STEM is a pop-up program for ages 8+ that focuses on a particular STEM concept and relates it to the museum or African American History and Culture. In this lesson, people will learn about 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (aka the Triple Nickles), make their own parachutes, and test them.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: 2nd Floor Classrooms. Cost: This is a *free* event! Categories: Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
Highlights Tour
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Welcome Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Event Location: Starts at the Welcome Desk in the Historic Lobby. Cost: FREE. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Tours | Whistler's World
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join a walk-in, docent-led tour to explore the many sides of Whistler. Experience Whistler’s paintings along with objects by Asian artists that inspired his style and subjects. Image: Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United Kingdom, 1876–77, room installation; oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.
Register and join the sessions here:
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoc-GqpzovHdOwBtMxdm7MCyFA-pa9EuFn, Image: Landscapes of the Four Seasons: Spring and Summer, Hishikawa Sori, Japan, late 18th–early 19th century, color, ink, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1906.233.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoc-GqpzovHdOwBtMxdm7MCyFA-pa9EuFn. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer Information desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Virtual Tour | Art Across Asian Cultures
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art is home to more than 45,000 objects from the Islamic world, the ancient Near East, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Join a free, docent-led, virtual tour to explore highlights of the museum’s collections that showcase the richness and diversity of Asian art.
Select your date and register here. Image credit: Boy Viewing Mount Fuji, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Japan, 1839, ink and color on silk, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Collection, F1898.110.
Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3lBc52AEROWkmbKl9CKX_w. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Gallery Talks & Tours.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
Virtual Writing Hour
One-Time Events
Join us for a virtual creative writing hour at the National Portrait Gallery! We’ve set up an online space where writers can create, connect and draw inspiration from the Portrait Gallery’s collection. Bring a happy hour beverage of choice and write with us. We will provide writing prompts, and participants are welcome to bring their own writing project-in-progress. Attendees will write for about 30 minutes and end each session with a brief discussion or reading.
Event Location: Online via Zoom. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/national-portrait-gallery-810710525. Categories: Workshops. Lectures & Discussions. Demonstrations.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. The Golden Age of Television
Resident Associate Program
For roughly a decade beginning in the late 1940s, NBC and CBS offered viewers live original dramas. These anthology programs, such as “Kraft Television Theatre” and “Ford Television Theatre, ” launched the careers of directors like Arthur Penn and John Frankenheimer, actors like Paul Newman and James Dean, and playwrights like Paddy Chayefsky and Rod Serling. Media historian Brian Rose looks at the forces that made this golden age such an intriguing chapter in TV history.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260054?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260054?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Webcasts & Online.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM.
The 80th Anniversary of D-Day
Resident Associate Program
June 6, 2024, will mark the 80th anniversary of the greatest amphibious operation in history: D-Day. Kevin Weddle, professor emeritus of military theory and strategy at the U.S. Army War College, traces the development, execution, and aftermath of the cross-channel invasion that signaled the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260121?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/260121?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2024FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=273765. Categories: After Five. Workshops.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 6:45 PM – 8:30 PM.