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Storytime Studio: The Beauty of the Night
One time events
ABOUT STORYTIME STUDIO
Storytime Studio is a captivating blend of play, educator-led read-alouds, and art exploration designed for kids from birth to age 6 and their caregivers. Every Wednesday morning at 10 and 11 AM, visitors are welcomed into our studio to enjoy a special Storytime adventure.
Storytime Studio has limited capacity. Entry is first-come, first-served. THIS WEEK
Nights are getting longer as winter approaches, but there’s no need to be afraid of the dark! We’ll appreciate the night sky by looking at Max Ernst’s painting Beauty of the Night (1954) and reading Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle. Then we’ll create our own artworks that explore the night sky’s many wonders.
Featured Book: Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO, Storytime Studio is a one-hour experience
There are two Storytime sessions each Wednesday, with entry times at 10 and 11 AM. Participation for each adult and child is limited to one hour.
No pre-registration required
Entry to…
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum. Event Location: Art School on the Lower Level. Cost: Free. Related Events: Storytime Studio, Visiting with Kids, Art Project: Naturally You! Art Project: Over the Moon.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
CANCELLED: Story Time with DCPL
One-Time Events
This program has been cancelled.
Join us for Story Time in collaboration with the DC Public Library! Story Time is a fun way to introduce your child to language and literacy skills through an interactive experience.
For questions about this event, please email us at: HistoryTeachers@si.edu.
Venue: American History Museum. Event Location: 1 West. Cost: Free.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 10:45 AM – 11:15 AM.
Storytime Studio: The Beauty of the Night
One time events
ABOUT STORYTIME STUDIO
Storytime Studio is a captivating blend of play, educator-led read-alouds, and art exploration designed for kids from birth to age 6 and their caregivers. Every Wednesday morning at 10 and 11 AM, visitors are welcomed into our studio to enjoy a special Storytime adventure.
Storytime Studio has limited capacity. Entry is first-come, first-served. THIS WEEK
Nights are getting longer as winter approaches, but there’s no need to be afraid of the dark! We’ll appreciate the night sky by looking at Max Ernst’s painting Beauty of the Night (1954) and reading Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle. Then we’ll create our own artworks that explore the night sky’s many wonders.
Featured Book: Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO, Storytime Studio is a one-hour experience
There are two Storytime sessions each Wednesday, with entry times at 10 and 11 AM. Participation for each adult and child is limited to one hour.
No pre-registration required
Entry to…
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum. Event Location: Art School on the Lower Level. Cost: Free. Related Events: Storytime Studio, Visiting with Kids, Art Project: Naturally You! Art Project: Over the Moon.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. Envisioning the Future: How the 19th Century Predicted Today
Resident Associate Program
People of the late 19th century had great hopes that technological innovation 100 years into the future would change human life for the better. Artists of the period offered their visions of this new world—including robot barbers and manicurists, jet-pack-propelled tennis, and a Victorian-era version of Zoom—in colorful illustrations for collector’s cards, postcards, and cartoons. Writer Adam Tanner looks at these depictions to reveal how some futurists were hilariously off-base, while others uncannily predicted the world of today.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264848?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264848?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM.
How Weather Works
Resident Associate Program
Despite scientific advancements and sophisticated forecasting tools, the local weather that impacts people’s daily lives continues to remain a mystery to many. Gain a better understanding of what weather is and how it works with meteorologist Edward Graham, an atmospheric scientist based at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, as he surveys the science behind the operation of Earth's weather and climate systems and how millions of weather observations are gathered to make the forecast for tomorrow.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265087?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265087?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM.
See Me at the Smithsonian with the National Museum of the American Latino
American Latino Museum
See Me at the Smithsonian is a free program that fosters connection and belonging for adults with dementia and their companions through discussions and reflections on museum objects.
Join the Office of Visitor Accessibility and the National Museum of the American Latino on November 19!
In this program, participants will get a sneak peek at a few of the objects that will be included in the upcoming exhibition: ¡Puro Ritmo! The Musical Journey of Salsa.
Please contact Access@si.edu for more information.
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/m8ZTFKZ0QNSVzZPh0P5qbQ.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Aloha Palette: Watercolor Escape to Hawai’i
Resident Associate Program
Capture Hawai’i’s dramatic skies, shimmering sea, and sunlit essence with expressive, flowing watercolors.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264233?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264233?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
The Blitz: How England Met Germany’s Air Assault
Resident Associate Program
As Britain's survival hung in the balance in 1940 and 1941 against Germany's relentless Blitz air campaign, scrappy defenders on the ground forged a fragile network of radar, telephones, civil defense, and radio communications. It triumphed despite equipment delays, squabbling, and political interference. Historian Marcus Jones of the U.S. Naval Academy examines how the Blitz was both an assault on cities and a test of Britain’s ability to organize knowledge, labor, and machines into an effective defense—one that foreshadowed the information age of warfare.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264800?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264800?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM.
A History of Fantasy
Resident Associate Program
Fantasy is now an established and lucrative genre with a dizzying array of popular iterations across literature, games, and film. But the story of how hobbits, dungeons, knights, and dragons took over our collective imaginations is a long, complex one. In a fall series, historian Justin M. Jacobs explores the origins of the modern fantasy genre, from the evolution of obscure Gothic novels to the iconic works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, and the co-creators of Dungeons & Dragons. This session focuses on the cultural impact of the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264590?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264590?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:15 PM.
Musicians from Marlboro I
Performances
Seating is limited. Reserve your seat in advance to pick where you sit ($6 fee per seat). Join the standby line for remaining seats on the day of the concert, free of charge.
For 60 years, the Musicians from Marlboro touring program has brought memorable performances from Vermont’s legendary chamber music school and festival to national audiences. The first of three Marlboro touring ensembles this season is led by senior violinist Itamar Zorman of the Lysander Trio. The program features Britten’s Phantasy for string trio and oboe, his first work to gain major international recognition, as well as Shostakovich’s introspective, sardonic, and elegiac String Quartet No. 8, a work dedicated to the victims of war and fascism. The program concludes with the youthful brilliance of the 16-year-old Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in A Major.
The program features: Britten’s Phantasy Quartet, Op. 2 , Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110 , Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in A Major, Op. 18,
Artists include…
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: $6 per seat. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1789694116279?aff=oddtdtcreator. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 7:30 PM – 9:00 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Making Noise and Leaving A Mess: Why Did Early Hominins Make Stone Tools?
One-Time Events
Humans live in a global diaspora more than 8 billion strong, immune to all but biosphere-level extinction threats. Our ancestors overcame difficulties, surviving long enough to reproduce in greater numbers than other hominins. But how did they do it? John J. Shea, Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, poses the “Noise/Mess” hypothesis as an explanation- that Plio-Pleistocene hominins made stone tools at least in part to transmit social information and the effects contributed to their success. Shea discusses how percussive stoneworking created loud, distinctively anthropogenic “noise” and left behind equally distinctive fracture products (a “mess”) and used both as platforms for transmitting social and cultural information, including nearby presence of potential mates and social allies/rivals. This “Noise/Mess" hypothesis explains aspects of Plio-Pleistocene lithic evidence from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and other Early Stone Age sites that the "Stone Cutting-and-Pounding Tools" hypothesis does…
Event Location: Online; Internet connection required. Cost: Free; Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/94763193/making-noise-and-leaving-a-messwhy-did-early-hominins-make-stone-tools-washington-national-museum-of-natural-history. Accessibility: Captioning.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
For more info visit www.etix.com. Rooted in Fire with Pyet DeSpain: A Celebration of Native American and Mexican Cooking
Resident Associate Program
Chef Pyet DeSpain talks with Andi Murphy, producer for NPR’s “Native America Calling, ” about her new cookbook and the stories, culture, and philosophies of Indigenous people that flavor each recipe. In the cookbook, she shares how to incorporate an array of key ingredients—including venison, dandelion greens, honey, habanero peppers, and squash—into dishes that invite home cooks to honor the seasons and connect with essential foodways.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264801?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264801?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM.
CANCELLED - Eye-Popping Art: Tours for People with Colorblindness
One-Time Events
Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a docent-led tour of highlights from the museum’s collection using museum-provided, colorblind correcting glasses that bring the vibrancy of these works to life.
Image credit: Photo by Mary Tait.
Venue: American Art Museum. Event Location: Meet in the F Street Lobby. Cost: Free | Registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://events.blackthorn.io/5f4ZMUx7/5a2bVR1zEQT.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 5:30 PM.
Gene Kelly: Singin’ and Dancin’ in the Rain
Resident Associate Program
Gene Kelly is one of the most engaging and influential dancers to ever set foot in Hollywood. Starting in the 1940s with films like Cover Girl, Anchors Aweigh, and On the Town, Kelly choreographed and performed dozens of classic numbers that helped to define the American movie musical and that continue to delight audiences of all ages. Media historian Brian Rose surveys Kelly’s remarkable achievements and examines his enduring impact on Hollywood dancing.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264941?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264941?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM.
Louis XVI: The Tragic Monarch Reconsidered
Resident Associate Program
In popular culture and historical fiction, Louis XVI, the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy in 1792, is typically portrayed as either a feeble puppet manipulated by his glamorous wife Marie Antoinette or a heartless tyrant whose downfall was richly deserved. Historian Alexander Mikaberidze examines these familiar tropes, offering a more nuanced reappraisal of a monarch caught in the violent center of a world in transformation.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264849?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264849?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM.
L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain
Resident Associate Program
Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, brought a unique voice to children’s literature, seizing on classic folk tales and giving them a decidedly American spin. From the landmark 1939 film adaptation to this year’s release of Wicked: For Good, Baum’s fantastical creations continue to shape our cultural landscape. Celebrate the wonderful world of Baum as author Daniel Stashower explores his life and legacy and actor Scott Sedar reads from Baum’s most beloved works.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264883?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264883?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:00 PM.
Honor and Legacy: A Journey Through the 250 Years of U.S. Army History
Resident Associate Program
Founded on June 14, 1775, the United States Army stands as the oldest branch of the U.S. military. Historian Christopher Hamner leads a compelling day exploring the Washington, D.C. area’s collection of memorials and museums dedicated to the nation’s first military branch, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History; the National Museum of the United States Army in Fort Belvoir, Virginia; the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial; and the World War II Memorial.
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/264818?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM.
Story Time
One-Time Events
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas.
Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”.
Meet in the Museum Lobby.
If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g. ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact NPMprograms@si.edu; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Meet in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free ; no registration required.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:30 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Siena: A Gothic Dream
Resident Associate Program
In the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, Siena developed an artistic identity distinct from that of nearby Florence. The Sienese School—led by Duccio, Simone Martini, and the Lorenzetti brothers—produced works celebrated for their graceful lines, luminous color, and deep devotion, especially to the Virgin Mary. Art historian Elaine Ruffolo examines how this art-filled cityscape and a fierce sense of civic pride combined to make Siena an artistic world of its own. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264884?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264884?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 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 what each one tells us about an ever-changing culture in the United States. Andrew Park, Betsy James Wyeth Predoctoral Fellow in Native American Art, discusses Sam Gilliam’s, Swing.
Image credit: Sam Gilliam, Swing, 1969, acrylic and aluminum on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. Edwin Janss, Jr.
Venue: American Art Museum. Event Location: In-person | Smithsonian American Art Museum. Cost: Free | Meet in G Street Lobby.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 12:15 PM – 12:45 PM.
Churchill the Writer
Resident Associate Program
Beyond his political and military achievements, Sir Winston Churchill was a prolific and accomplished writer. Historian Katherine Carter explores the literary legacy of a man whose mastery of language was as formidable as his determination during his country's darkest hour. She examines how Churchill’s skillful storytelling helped shape public perception, bolstered morale during World War II, and made him a worthy recipient of a Nobel Prize in Literature.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264917?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264917?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM.
ONLINE | Native Cinema Showcase Shorts 2025
One-Time Events
The National Museum of the American Indian’s Native Cinema Showcase online is an annual celebration of the best in Native film. This year, the museum highlights an array of film shorts featuring a diverse range of Indigenous stories and perspectives, including stories of resilience, inspiration, and hope, as well as stories that entertain and educate. Countries represented are the United States, Peru, New Zealand, and Greenland. Four Indigenous languages are spoken in the films: Quechua, Māori, Kalaallisut, and Mohawk. All shorts are available to stream free November 21 (5 PM ET) to November 28, 2025 (5 PM ET).
Generous support provided by The Walt Disney Company. .
Event Location: Online only. Cost: Free. Accessibility: Audio description. Captioning.
Friday, November 21, 2025, 5:00 PM – Friday, November 28, 2025, 5:00 PM.
For more info visit americanindian.si.edu. CANCELLED - FRESHFARM ACM Farm Stand
One-Time Events
The FRESHFARM ACM Farm Stand returns for another farm stand season in 2025. It is the only direct-to-consumer farm stand of its kind East of the River in Ward 8.
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 19 - November 22, 2025.*
The FRESHFARM ACM Farm Stand is generously supported by The Hillside Foundation - Allan and Shelley Holt.
*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://www.eventbrite.com/e/freshfarm-acm-farm-stand-tickets-1307850759829?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
Growing Community: Harvest Celebration!
One-Time Events
Join us to celebrate the end of the growing season with garden activities, cooking demonstration, wreath making, and more.
Venue: Anacostia Community Museum. Event Location: 1901 Fort Place Se. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1248571534069?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 10:00 AM – 2:30 PM.
Open Studio: Art Is Better Together
One time events
Fill yourself with gratitude this November at Open Studio! Each week, we’ll think about what we’re thankful for and get inspired by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Aliza Nisenbaum, and Adam Pendleton.
Join us this Saturday as we draw inspiration from Nisenbaum’s painting Mis Cuatro Gracias (Brendan, Camilo, Carlos, Jorge) (2018). We will experiment with bright colors and lively compositions to create vivid scenes that reflect togetherness with friends and family.
Meet in Art School on the Museum’s Lower Level. ABOUT OPEN STUDIO
Let your creativity run wild at Open Studio! Drop in to explore modern and contemporary art through interactive hands-on activities inspired by the Hirshhorn collection and artworks on view. Open Studio helps you transform your ideas into reality.
Every session introduces a new theme and a fresh perspective on art-making. Activities are designed to captivate everyone—from budding young artists to seasoned creators—and allow them to craft, create, and learn.
No reservations…
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum. Event Location: Art School on the Lower Level. Cost: Free. Related Events: Open Studio, Hirshhorn Art School, Art School Everywhere, Art Project: Community Portraits with Aliza Nisenbaum.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
CANCELLED - NMAAHC Kids Story Time: Jabari Tries
One-Time Events
NMAAHC Kids Story Time: Jabari Tries, Designed for children ages 4-8 years
Get creative with NMAAHC Kids! During this program we’ll learn about inventors and determination with Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall read by a museum educator. Children will create their own inventions with recycled materials, enjoy building activities and explore museum objects!
Join us in the classrooms on the museum's 2nd floor! This program will take place from 10:30am to 12:30pm and follow the program schedule below:
-10:30am-12:30pm: Ongoing Create & Explore Time
-10:45am & 11:45am: Read Alouds
-11:00am & 12:00pm: Children’s Gallery Tours.
Venue: African American History and Culture Museum. Event Location: 2nd Floor Classroom. Cost: Free. Registration required! Get Tickets/Register: https://tickets.si.edu/nmaahc/events/0199686d-aca8-bc14-2da8-c092bf58a450.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
Teen Studio: You’re So Gelly
One time events
Teens: Ready to level up your art? Join us for Teen Studio, a free art-making program exclusively for teens ages 13–19. Push your artistic boundaries using materials and techniques inspired by artists whose work is on view at the Hirshhorn.
Roll up your sleeves: this November, we’re diving into printmaking! Experiment with various printmaking techniques by creating a design to use over and over again. This Saturday, we’ll take in the vivid color variations in Aliza Nisenbaum’s painting Mis Cuatro Gracias (Brendan, Camilo, Carlos, Jorge) (2018). Then we’ll use gel printing plates and acrylic paint to create a vibrantly colorful work of art.
Drop in to Teen Studio every Saturday between 2:30 and 4 PM. Register for the entire school year by emailing hmsgeducation@si.edu (one-time registration covers all sessions). Join one or join them all! Meet in Art School on the Museum’s Lower Level.
Looking for more? Explore Art School Everywhere, wherever you are, to learn about artists at the Hirshhorn and get…
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum. Event Location: Art School on the Lower Level. Cost: Free. Related Events: Teen Studio, Hirshhorn Art School, Art School Everywhere, Andy Warhol: Flower Power.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
American Bison Cart Chat
One-Time Events
Join educators in the Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals to discover more about the Nation's Mammal - the American Bison. Learn how these fascinating animals alter their ecosystem in ways that benefit other animals and their habitat, as well as their importance to humans.
Image by Jean Beaufort, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83971372.
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals. Cost: Free and open to the public. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
The 1860s Vision of Cézanne: Figures, Portraits, Landscapes, and Still Lifes - In Person
Resident Associate Program
Explore the vibrant and expressive world of Cézanne as you peer into the mindset of the beloved Impressionist and create inspired art, uncovering new layers of artistic possibility in this 3-session weekend class. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
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/264222?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 11:00 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, November 24, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Portrait Gallery Kids
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Children and families are invited to learn, play and create at the National Portrait Gallery. Join educators every Monday to explore a new topic and different materials. Participants will look at art, enjoy hands-on activities, listen to music and participate in story time. Portrait Gallery Kids is a fun way to engage with art and each other. Our friends from DC Public Library will join us on the second Monday of each month for a special story time about the day’s theme.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Regsitration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-gallery-portrait-gallery-kids-tickets-654254040447?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=organizer-profile&utm-share-source=organizer-profile.
Monday, November 24, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. The American Revolution and the Fate of the World: A Global History of a Not-so Global War
Resident Associate Program
The American Revolution is often considered a parochial drama: 13 colonies squaring off against the British Crown in a spirited bid for independence. Historian and author Richard Bell reevaluates the Revolution as a seismic global event that redrew maps, toppled hierarchies, catalyzed migration, and accelerated new movements for liberty—and for empire.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264850?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264850?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, November 24, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM.
Write Into Art: Creative Writing Inspired by Visual Art
Resident Associate Program
Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s Writing Salon, leads three online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts. The sessions spotlight a wide range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This writing session is inspired by 20th century British-Mexican painter Leonora Carrington.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264912?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264912?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, November 25, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, November 25, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Margaret Fuller: An Extraordinary Transcendental Woman
Resident Associate Program
While many people have some idea who the 19th-century author and feminist Margaret Fuller is, very few have read her work or know her life story. The author of the first major work of feminism in the United States was also an editor of the nation’s first avant-garde magazine and the first foreign correspondent for a major American newspaper. Scholar Randall Fuller recounts the remarkable life and work of a brilliant and often-misunderstood woman.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264918?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264918?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, November 25, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:15 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Wednesday, November 26, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, November 26, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, November 26, 2025, 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Thursday, November 27, 2025, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, November 27, 2025, 10:00 AM – 2:00 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, November 27, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Coffee and Gratitude
One-Time Events
Spend Black Friday with your neighbors at the Anacostia Community Museum!
Join us for coffee, a light breakfast, and a special look at our exhibition A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, DC, 1900–2000. Come together in fellowship and community as we host an art-led activity inspired by gratitude. We invite you to tap into your creativity and express yourself through art.
*Light breakfast available while supplies last.
Suitable for all ages.
Venue: Anacostia Community Museum. Event Location: Program Room. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coffee-and-gratitude-tickets-1789843452949?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
Story Time
One-Time Events
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas.
Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”.
Meet in the Museum Lobby.
If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g. ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact NPMprograms@si.edu; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Meet in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free ; no registration required.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:30 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
DC | Native American Heritage Day
One-Time Events
Join award-winning hoop dancer Joseph Secody (Navajo) as he demonstrates the power and art of the Hoop Dance. A top-ranking hoop dancer, Secody has performed at the Dubai World Expo and World Champion Hoop Dance Contest in Phoenix, Arizona. With hoops and music, visitors will see stories take vibrant form before their eyes. Performances begin at 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 3:30 PM.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 1, Potomac Atrium. Cost: FREE.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 11:30 AM – 4:00 PM.
NY | Native American Heritage Day
One-Time Events
Members of Native Pride Productions, featured North American dancers in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, join the museum’s celebration of Native American Heritage Day. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn about and enjoy performances of the Fancy Dance, Shawl Dance, Jingle Dance and more. Performers include Larry Yazzie (Meskawaki Tribe), founder and artistic director of Native Pride Productions, Samarra Yazzie (Cheyenne River Sioux/Meskwaki Tribe), and Elvin Nicotine (Cree).
Performances begin at 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 3:30 PM.
Venue: American Indian Museum NY. Event Location: Level 2, Rotunda. Cost: FREE.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 11:30 AM – 4:00 PM.
DC | Closer Look: "Making a Statement"
One-Time Events
Curator Anya Montiel (Mestiza/Tohono O'odham descent) offers a closer look at the museum’s special installation Making a Statement, featuring custom Gucci gowns worn by actress Lily Gladstone (Siksikaitsitapi [Blackfeet]/Nimiipuu [Nez Perce]) at the 96th Academy Awards. Then join Montiel and one of our museum educators to get hands-on and learn more about different types of quillwork in the museum’s Teaching Collection.
Image: Photos by Norwood Photography for the National Museum of the American Indian.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 3: "Making a Statement" special installation. Cost: Free. Related Exhibition: Making a Statement.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM.
DC | Closer Look: "Making a Statement"
One-Time Events
Curator Anya Montiel (Mestiza/Tohono O'odham descent) offers a closer look at the museum’s special installation Making a Statement, featuring custom Gucci gowns worn by actress Lily Gladstone (Siksikaitsitapi [Blackfeet]/Nimiipuu [Nez Perce]) at the 96th Academy Awards. Then join Montiel and one of our museum educators to get hands-on and learn more about different types of quillwork in the museum’s Teaching Collection.
Image: Photos by Norwood Photography for the National Museum of the American Indian.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 3: "Making a Statement" special installation. Cost: Free. Related Exhibition: Making a Statement.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 2:30 PM – 3:00 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Saturday, November 29, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, November 29, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, November 29, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Go-Go Fitness
One-Time Events
Join Go-Go Fitness LLC as they lead a fun dance fitness workshop for the whole family to DC’s home sound – Go-Go Music. Dress in loose fitting, comfortable clothes, wear tennis shoes, and bring water and a hand towel. Reserve your spot today!
Venue: Anacostia Community Museum. Event Location: Program Room. Cost: Free.
Saturday, November 29, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:00 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Sunday, November 30, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 30, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 30, 2025, 10:15 AM – 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264978?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264978?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264979?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Portrait Gallery Kids
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Children and families are invited to learn, play and create at the National Portrait Gallery. Join educators every Monday to explore a new topic and different materials. Participants will look at art, enjoy hands-on activities, listen to music and participate in story time. Portrait Gallery Kids is a fun way to engage with art and each other. Our friends from DC Public Library will join us on the second Monday of each month for a special story time about the day’s theme.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Regsitration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-gallery-portrait-gallery-kids-tickets-654254040447?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=organizer-profile&utm-share-source=organizer-profile.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265028?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265028?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Pienza: An Ideal Renaissance City
Resident Associate Program
To visit Pienza today is to step into the late 15th century. Located in the heart of the picturesque Val d’Orcia region of Tuscany, the pre-existing town on the site was fully rebuilt under the patronage of Pope Pius II through an ambitious project of urban renewal that transformed the papal hometown into the utopian notion of the ideal city. Art historian Sophia D’Addio of Columbia University explores of the history, art, architecture, and urban planning of Pienza, which glorified the ambitions of its illustrious patron. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264851?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264851?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM.
A History of American Dining
Resident Associate Program
During the past 100 years the United States transformed from having a relatively wholesome food system—in the early 1900s, wealthy Europeans visited simply to enjoy the splendid cuisine—to having a food culture laden with fats, sugar, and ultra-processed unhealthy foods today. As a result, our healthcare system currently spends some $1 trillion annually to combat diet-related diseases, which account for the majority of American deaths. How did we get here? Historian Allen Pietrobon answers that question as he leads a visual journey through American culinary history.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264942?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264942?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 1, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:15 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264980?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264980?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Play Date at NMNH: Marvelous Meteorites
One-Time Events
Join us on Tuesdays for special family play dates with museum educators!
Tuesday, December 2nd, is all about exploring the colors, shapes, and textures of objects from space! Families can learn about and make close observations of meteorites from our collection, explore different colors of planets, and create your own play telescope. Come and join us for a fun time learning through play and exploration!
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…
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center (Ground Floor). Cost: Free. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264981?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265029?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265029?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Amaryllis in Watercolor
Resident Associate Program
Fine-tune a drawing of an amaryllis from a provided tracing, then focus on creating captivating, colorful shapes. As you add details, the rhythmic lines and soft folds of the petals become even more vibrant and lifelike.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264234?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264234?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
Shakespeare's London: A Living Stage
Resident Associate Program
When young Will Shakespeare showed up in London sometime before 1592, it was full of travelers from all over the world—a polyglot of languages and cultures crammed together in narrow streets and taverns. Tudor scholar and historian Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger explores how London served as a backdrop and inspiration for Shakespeare’s works, revealing how he was inspired by the humanity he observed—the city’s nobility, merchants, artisans, laborers, actors, beggars, thieves, visitors, and more—to create the unforgettable worlds of his plays.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264852?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264852?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM.
The Films of Humphrey Bogart
Resident Associate Program
Humphrey Bogart and Burt Lancaster became Hollywood legends in very different ways. “Bogie” was shoved around by the old studio system, playing tough guys who often hid a softer core. Lancaster rose as stars gained more freedom, dazzling audiences with quiet intensity and magnetic charm. In a 2-session series, film historian Max Alvarez examines their cinematic achievements and the personal and professional turbulence that shaped their artistry. This session focuses on Humphrey Bogart.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264919?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264919?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:30 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264982?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264982?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264983?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265030?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265030?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Barnett Newman: The Man, the Artist, and His World
Resident Associate Program
Abstract Expressionist Barnett Newman was a contemporary of Pollock, de Kooning, and Rothko. He also crusaded for the civil service; ran for mayor of New York; taught public school; and promoted artists—all before painting a mature work of his own. Art historian Amy Newman (no relation) tells the story of how someone with none of the qualities once considered indispensable for an artist became the artist who seemed to be exactly what American post-war culture called for. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265129?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265129?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM.
Dickens, Christmas, and Victorian Society
Resident Associate Program
Apart from celebrating the holiday, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol highlights the stark contrast between London’s wealthy and impoverished. Taking a cue from the Ghost of Christmas Past, historian Julie Taddeo returns to the age of workhouses and plum puddings to examine Dickens and Christmas within the larger social dynamic of 19th-century Britain; why Dickens has been credited with the “invention” of Christmas; and how this holiday became a distinctly Victorian tradition that influences how it is celebrated today.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264921?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264921?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:15 PM.
Machu Picchu
Resident Associate Program
The monuments of Machu Picchu are perhaps the most recognizable yet least understood of the world’s famous monuments. Historian Justin M. Jacobs explores the world of the Inca empire and analyzes Machu Picchu’s original function as a royal estate for successive Incan kings. He covers the innovative layout of the site, the type of structures that have survived, the reason for their abandonment, and their rediscovery by American explorer Hiram Bingham in the early 20th century.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264943?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264943?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:15 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264984?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264984?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264985?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265031?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265031?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Classical Sounds of Christmas
Resident Associate Program
From sleigh bells and sugarplums to the mystical beauties of the Nativity, December is alive with the music of Christmas. Lecturer and concert pianist Rachel Franklin revisits this most beloved seasonal repertory, exploring how classical Western composers created a canon of both secular and sacred experiences that are deeply rooted in the celebration of the holidays.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264922?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264922?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
First Thursdays: Come Look with Us
One-Time Events
Need to wind down after work? Let the National Portrait Gallery's educators share their favorite portraits with you. Participants will spend time slowing down, looking closely, and engaging in a conversation about artworks in the galleries.
Event Location: G Street Lobby. Cost: Free. Registration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-gallery-first-thursdays-come-look-with-us-tickets-1972837137987?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. America’s Favorite Holiday Movie: The Story of It’s a Wonderful Life
Resident Associate Program
Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life is a beloved Christmas classic. Yet when the film was released in 1946, it was a box office flop, won no Academy Awards, and was largely forgotten—until it was rediscovered through endless airings on local TV stations beginning in the 1970s. Media historian Brian Rose examines the movie’s fascinating story.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264944?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264944?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM.
Clodia of Rome: Champion of the Republic
Resident Associate Program
Described by Cicero more than 2, 000 years ago as a promiscuous, husband-murdering harlot, Clodia of Rome led a powerful, complex life. Classicist Douglas Boin argues that Cicero lied about her to protect his own property and interests. Drawing on neglected sources and his study of Roman lives, Boin recounts events from Clodia’s privileged childhood and describes how she engaged in her family’s tradition of egalitarian activism.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265130?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265130?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM.
Story Time
One-Time Events
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas.
Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”.
Meet in the Museum Lobby.
If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g. ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact NPMprograms@si.edu; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Venue: Postal Museum. Event Location: Meet in the Historic Lobby. Cost: Free ; no registration required.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:30 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
The Holidays in Old Town Alexandria
Resident Associate Program
Step back in time as Lynn O’Connell leads an exploration of how Christmases of yesteryear were celebrated in Alexandria, Virginia. As you walk through Old Town Alexandria, learn how John Carlyle, George Washington, and other city leaders of the 18th century marked the seasons and which new customs were brought to Alexandria in the 1880s and 1890s. Get the delicious details on the holiday feasts served at historic Gadsby’s Tavern in the 19th century, including George Washington’s favorite dish—and his rather boozy eggnog.
Event Location: Tour meets at Market Square 300 King St, Alexandria, VA. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265100?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 10:00 AM – 12:00 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264986?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264986?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264987?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265032?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265032?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Is Extreme Weather on the Increase?
Resident Associate Program
Observational evidence of unprecedented weather extremes is mounting from all over the globe. While linking such events directly with human influence on the climate is not easy, atmospheric scientist Edward Graham examines how atmospheric modeling scenarios make it possible to assess how the frequency and intensity of an extreme weather event may have been influenced by human effect—and if such events are on the rise.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265131?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265131?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM.
The Arts and Crafts Movement in Philadelphia
Resident Associate Program
Philadelphia Art Museum curator David Barquist highlights the Arts and Crafts movement by focusing on Philadelphia artists who sought to correct what they saw as the poor quality of factory production by embracing the British Arts and Crafts movement's principles of handwork, simplicity in design, and what they called “truth to materials.” Despite their shared interest in Arts and Crafts principles, the artists created individual responses that were shaped in part by the size and organization of their workshops. (World Art History Certificate elective, ½ credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264945?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264945?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Artful Movement | SEL Webinar for Students K–3
Kids and Family
Get ready to observe, chat, and move with art! In these webinars, students (grades K–3) will look carefully at a work of art through facilitated exploration. Then, they will breathe, stretch, and flow through a guided mindful movement. This month’s theme is “Shine a Light.”
These sessions are perfect for families, homeschool groups, virtual schools, and teachers who may want to review a recording with their students after the live session. Everyone who registers gets a link to the recording. Each session includes American Sign Language interpretation. Sessions take place on Fridays from 1 to 1:30 p.m. We present these webinars in partnership with Create Calm. Mosque lamp; Egypt, Mamluk period, ca. 1360; glass, enameled and gilded; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1957.19.
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_U7p95nf8Qga2QmCHmloohg. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program.
Friday, December 5, 2025, 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
DC | Native Art Market
One-Time Events
The museum’s annual Native Art Market features award-winning and innovative Indigenous artists from across the Western Hemisphere. This weekend event invites lovers of art and craftsmanship to meet Native artists and learn about traditional Native arts and contemporary Native creativity. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to purchase traditional and contemporary handcrafted artworks, including beadwork, jewelry, paintings, photography, pottery, and sculpture.
Image: A:shiwi (Zuni) necklace, ca. 1990. Silver, turquoise, jet/lignite, shells, 33.9 x 3.4 x .5 in. 26/5340.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 1, Potomac Atrium. Cost: Free.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
Open Studio: Let It Glow
One time events
Explore how artists use light, reflection, and shadow in December at Open Studio. Each week, we’ll get inspired by pioneering installation artists such as Dan Flavin, Sam Gilliam, Robert Irwin, and Richard Long.
Join us this Saturday as we draw inspiration from Flavin’s artwork “monument” for V. Tatlin (1967). We’ll explore installation art, which is a type of art often designed for a specific place or space, and experiment with glow sticks as we make our own glowing installations!
Meet in Art School on the Museum’s Lower Level. ABOUT OPEN STUDIO
Let your creativity run wild at Open Studio! Drop in to explore modern and contemporary art through interactive hands-on activities inspired by the Hirshhorn collection and artworks on view. Open Studio helps you transform your ideas into reality.
Every session introduces a new theme and a fresh perspective on art-making. Activities are designed to captivate everyone—from budding young artists to seasoned creators—and allow them to craft, create, and learn.
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Venue: Hirshhorn Museum. Event Location: Art School on the Lower Level. Cost: Free. Related Events: Open Studio, Hirshhorn Art School, Art School Everywhere, Art Project: Sculpture Spotlight.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Art Guardians | Family Workshop: Roll It Up!
Kids and Family
Why do some paintings roll or fold instead of hang in frames? Find out in this hands-on family workshop for children ages 6–11. After a visit to the exhibition Japanese Art from the Collection, families will learn how art conservators preserve paintings that are mounted on scrolls and screens. Inspired by the paintings on view, families will design and assemble their own hanging scrolls. National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Cory Grace.
Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Building: East Building. Event Location: ImaginAsia Studio. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1969888074258?aff=oddtdtcreator. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM.
Notre-Dame’s Grand Organ: Magnificence and Rebirth
Resident Associate Program
The great organ in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is as magnificent as it is historically significant. Though preserved from the flames and water during the fire that engulfed the cathedral's roof in 2019, the instrument was taken apart, then carefully reconstructed and tuned. Olivier Latry, titular organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and Bach expert Thierry van Bastelaer discuss the history of the organ, the factors that make it unique, and the impact of the cathedral’s restoration on its sounds.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264853?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264853?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM.
Upcycled Aluminum Holiday Ornament
Resident Associate Program
Select a pattern inspired by early 20th-century paper ornaments and learn simple metal embossing to transform an aluminum can into a holiday ornament or objet d’art for everyday decorating.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264236?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264236?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 12:00 PM – 3:30 PM.
Visual Journaling: Creativity Workout
Resident Associate Program
In an afternoon of artistic experimentation designed to strengthen creative muscles and 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/264237?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264237?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Art Guardians | Family Workshop: Roll It Up!
Kids and Family
Why do some paintings roll or fold instead of hang in frames? Find out in this hands-on family workshop for children ages 6–11. After a visit to the exhibition Japanese Art from the Collection, families will learn how art conservators preserve paintings that are mounted on scrolls and screens. Inspired by the paintings on view, families will design and assemble their own hanging scrolls. National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Cory Grace.
Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Building: East Building. Event Location: ImaginAsia Studio. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1969888074258?aff=oddtdtcreator. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM.
Jazz it up: Holiday Cards Using Pointed-Pen Calligraphy
Resident Associate Program
Step up your card- and gift-giving game this holiday season with hand-drawn holiday-themed illustrations and borders using pointed-pen flourishes.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264238?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264238?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
Teen Studio: You’re GLOWing
One time events
Teens: Ready to level up your art? Join us for Teen Studio, a free art-making program exclusively for teens ages 13–19. Push your artistic boundaries using materials and techniques inspired by artists whose work is on view at the Hirshhorn.
This December, Art School is exploring the big ideas in the Hirshhorn’s newest exhibition, Big Things for Big Rooms. This show explores installation art, large-scale artworks that wrap viewers in multisensory experiences. This Saturday, we’ll experience Dan Flavin’s “monument” for V. Tatlin (1967). Then we’ll experiment with LED light circuits to create our own light sculptures.
Drop in to Teen Studio every Saturday between 2:30 and 4 PM. Register for the entire school year by emailing hmsgeducation@si.edu (one-time registration covers all sessions). Join one or join them all! Meet in Art School on the Museum’s Lower Level.
Looking for more? Explore Art School Everywhere, wherever you are, to learn about artists at the Hirshhorn and get creative any time. Do this at…
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum. Event Location: Art School on the Lower Level. Cost: Free. Related Events: Teen Studio, Hirshhorn Art School, Art School Everywhere, Olafur Eliasson: Rainbow Reflections.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. 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 four-concert series on Saturdays. This concert features music composed by J. S. Bach.
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/264802?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM.
21st Century Consort: In the Spirit
One time events
FREE
Registration information to come.
Two grand pianos and a string quartet will fill the stage with the work of six spectacular composers in this program of both resounding and intimate music that resonates with the holiday spirit.
Join Consort director Christopher Kendall at 4 PM before the performance for a discussion with the performers about the music and the inspiration for this program. Registration is required for the pre-concert talk.
This program is presented in celebration of the 21st Century Consort’s 50th-anniversary season.
SCHEDULE
4 PM | Pre-Concert Talk (reservation required)
5 PM | Performance.
Venue: Hirshhorn Museum. Event Location: Ring Auditorium. Cost: Free; Registration required. Passes will be released closer to the event. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM.
For more info visit hirshhorn.si.edu. Holidays in the Brandywine Valley
Resident Associate Program
Led by regional historian Hayden Mathews, step into a world of elegance and holiday splendor in a journey through the historic Brandywine Valley, where the legacy of the du Pont family comes to life in grand estates filled with seasonal displays. Spanning Pennsylvania and Delaware, the region is home to some of the most opulent mansions and gardens in the country, each with a connection to the du Pont family, who shaped the cultural and economic landscape of the region and created a heritage of architecture, art, and horticulture.
Event Location: Detailed information for overnight tours is emailed approximately FOUR WEEKS. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264779?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 7:30 AM – Monday, December 8, 2025, 9:00 PM.
DC | Native Art Market
One-Time Events
The museum’s annual Native Art Market features award-winning and innovative Indigenous artists from across the Western Hemisphere. This weekend event invites lovers of art and craftsmanship to meet Native artists and learn about traditional Native arts and contemporary Native creativity. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to purchase traditional and contemporary handcrafted artworks, including beadwork, jewelry, paintings, photography, pottery, and sculpture.
Image: A:shiwi (Zuni) necklace, ca. 1990. Silver, turquoise, jet/lignite, shells, 33.9 x 3.4 x .5 in. 26/5340.
Venue: American Indian Museum DC. Event Location: Level 1, Potomac Atrium. Cost: Free.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 10:00 AM – 5:00 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Exploring Encaustic - In Person
Resident Associate Program
First practiced in the Greco-Roman era, encaustic painting remains popular with artists today. Study fusing and carving in wax as well as capturing vibrant pigments using heated beeswax.
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/264239?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 10:30 AM – 4:00 PM.
American Bison Cart Chat
One-Time Events
Join educators in the Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals to discover more about the Nation's Mammal - the American Bison. Learn how these fascinating animals alter their ecosystem in ways that benefit other animals and their habitat, as well as their importance to humans.
Image by Jean Beaufort, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83971372.
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals. Cost: Free and open to the public. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Holiday Keepsake Ornaments - In Person
Resident Associate Program
Just in time for the upcoming season, this workshop is an opportunity to create small hanging artworks that can be individualized in many ways to fit any gift-giving occasion.
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/264235?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Postwar Italian Cinema
Resident Associate Program
Few national cinemas offer as compelling a mirror to social transformation as Italy’s. In the decades following World War II, Italian filmmakers shaped a legacy of innovation, reflection, and artistry that still resonates on the global stage. In a four-part series, art historian Jennie Hirsh explores pivotal moments in Italian cinema from the birth of Neorealism to the bold experimentation of contemporary filmmakers, and how they captured—and questioned—their time. This session focuses on 1970s and 1980s filmmaking and the legacy of Fascism.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264716?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264716?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
Ne Zha 2
Films
Come see why this Chinese fantasy film is not only the highest grossing film of 2025 but the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Its hero is a rebellious little boy with uncontrollable superpowers. When an ancient evil force bent on destroying humanity appears, he must grow up to become the hero the world needs.
This screening will be the new English-dubbed version, featuring the voice talents of Michelle Yeoh and others, making this amazing adventure accessible to the whole family.
Director: Jiaozi. Country: China. Released: 2025. Length: 144 min. Format: DCP. Language: English. Image courtesy of A24.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://nmaanimation.eventive.org/films. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM.
Advent's Anticipation: A Reflective Writing Workshop
Resident Associate Program
Ponder the possibilities that the contemplative season of Advent provides inspired by Henry Ossawa Tanner’s painting The Annunciation and a poem by Wendell Berry. Designed for writers of all levels, and for the curious, the workshop led by Mary Hall Surface invites you to look outwardly at art and to look inwardly through writing. These reflections can become creative fertile ground for memoir, poetry, and more.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264923?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264923?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM.
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 four-concert series on Sundays. This concert features music composed by J. S. Bach.
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/264806?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:30 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264988?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264988?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264989?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Portrait Gallery Kids
Ongoing Tours & Activities
Children and families are invited to learn, play and create at the National Portrait Gallery. Join educators every Monday to explore a new topic and different materials. Participants will look at art, enjoy hands-on activities, listen to music and participate in story time. Portrait Gallery Kids is a fun way to engage with art and each other. Our friends from DC Public Library will join us on the second Monday of each month for a special story time about the day’s theme.
Event Location: Education Center, E151. Cost: Free. No Regsitration Required. Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-gallery-portrait-gallery-kids-tickets-654254040447?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=organizer-profile&utm-share-source=organizer-profile.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
For more info visit www.eventbrite.com. Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265033?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265033?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
The National Gallery of Parma
Resident Associate Program
In 1734, the Duke of Parma (and soon-to-be King of Naples) had most of the extensive art collection established by his family moved from Parma to Naples. Filippo Borbone, who became Duke of Parma in 1748, was determined to hold on to what works were left. The collection eventually would become the National Gallery of Parma. Italian Renaissance art expert Rocky Ruggiero delves into the museum’s artworks, including important pieces by Correggio as well as La Scapigliata by da Vinci. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264946?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264946?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
The New Deal: Taking on the Crises of the Great Depression
Resident Associate Program
During the early years of the Great Depression, Americans experienced economic decline on a scale that was without precedent in the nation’s history. Historian Edward O’Donnell explores the causes and impact of this era in an examination of the key aspects of President Roosevelt’s New Deal, including the philosophical and political ideas behind it.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265132?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265132?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM.
Harmonies and Reflections: The Aesthetic Vision of Whistler
Resident Associate Program
The artistic ideals of James Abbott McNeill Whistler were informed by the Aesthetic movement and its emphasis on refinement, subtlety, and belief in the autonomy of art. His admiration for Asian art prompted experimentation with abstract color and composition. He also created visual arrangements and color harmonies that correspond to those in music. Art historian Aneta Georgievska Shine looks at how these ideals were expressed in Whistler’s works. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265133?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265133?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Monday, December 8, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:15 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264990?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264990?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Play Date at NMNH: Lights, Color, Action!
One-Time Events
Join us on Tuesdays for special family play dates with museum educators!
Tuesday, December 9th, is all about exploring bioluminescent animals! Did you know that many animals in the ocean (and even some animals on land) are able to produce and give off light? Living organisms that can produce and emit light are called bioluminescent. During this Play Date at NMNH, families will learn reasons why bioluminescence might be important, make observations of different bioluminescent animals, and play with light in different ways. Come and join us for a fun time learning through play, art, and exploration!
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), their caregivers, and families.
Location: This program is held in the Explorer Theater in the Sant Ocean Hall. Ocean Hall is on the 1st floor. Please note that space is dependent on the location of that week's event. Some locations have less capacity than others. It is possible…
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, Explorer Theater in the Sant Ocean Hall. Cost: Free. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264991?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265034?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265034?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Natural History Research Experiences (NHRE) For Undergraduates 2026: How to Apply INFO Session
One-Time Events
The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, hosts a world-class research staff and unparalleled scientific research collections. NHRE summer internships pair undergraduates with museum scientists to complete a research project in Anthropology, Botany, Entomology, Invertebrate Zoology, Mineral Science, Paleobiology, or Vertebrate Zoology. Although most of the internship time is spent working on the research project, there are additional events including lectures, tours of museum collections, and other activities related to natural history research.
The NMNH is located on the National Mall in the heart of Washington DC. The program runs for 10 weeks starting the day after Memorial Day, May 26 through July 31, 2026. Participating students will receive a stipend of $8,250, and up to $800 for travel to the DC area. We also cover housing in Washington DC area dorm style housing in single-occupancy rooms.
Previous research experience is not required.
Questions about NHRE? Contact us at…
Event Location: Online; Internet connection required. Cost: Free. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
The Films of Burt Lancaster
Resident Associate Program
Humphrey Bogart and Burt Lancaster became Hollywood legends in very different ways. “Bogie” was shoved around by the old studio system, playing tough guys who often hid a softer core. Lancaster rose as stars gained more freedom, dazzling audiences with quiet intensity and magnetic charm. In a 2-session series, film historian Max Alvarez examines their cinematic achievements and the personal and professional turbulence that shaped their artistry. This session focuses on Burt Lancaster.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264920?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264920?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
The Mexican Muralists in the U.S.
Resident Associate Program
As the Mexican Revolution drew to a close in 1920, Mexico’s new democratic government commissioned public murals depicting what the nation could look like. They were painted by many artists, most notably José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Soon works by the three artists and others influenced by them appeared outside Mexico, too. Using the imagery and influences of works painted by Orozco, Siqueiros, and Rivera in the U.S. Walters Art Museum curator Ellen Hoobler explores how the ancient Americas and modern politics intertwined in 1930s and ‘40s public murals in the United States. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265134?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265134?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 6:30 PM – 7:45 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264992?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264992?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264993?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265035?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265035?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
The Travels of Paul Gauguin
Resident Associate Program
French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin worked in Brittany’s Pont-Aven and later with Vincent van Gogh in Arles until he decided to travel to Tahiti in 1891. Art historian Joseph Paul Cassar discusses Gauguin’s many travels with the French Navy and his time as a successful stockbroker before committing himself to painting. Focusing on Gauguin’s main masterpieces and his legacy, Cassar also provides a critical analysis of the works created by the artist during his visits to Tahiti. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit).
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264924?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264924?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264994?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264994?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM.
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice
Films
One of the ineffably lovely domestic sagas made by Yasujirō Ozu at the height of his mastery, The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice is a sublimely piercing portrait of a marriage coming quietly undone. Secrets and deceptions strain the already tenuous relationship between a childless, middle-aged couple. Her city-bred sophistication bumps up against his small-town simplicity, and a generational sea change—in the form of their headstrong, thoroughly modern niece—sweeps into their household. The director’s abiding concern with the intricacies of family dynamics receives one of its most spirited treatments. With wry, tender humor and buoyant expansiveness, Ozu moves the action from the home into the baseball stadiums, pachinko parlors, and ramen shops of postwar Tokyo. Description adapted from Janus Films.
Director: Yasujirō Ozu. Country: Japan. Released: 1952. Length: 116 min. Format: DCP. Language: Japanese with English subtitles. Image Courtesy of Janus Films.
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://nmaamatinees.eventive.org/schedule/68d41c9d79c71b92381f54f5. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Captioning. Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Raise a Glass to the Holidays
Resident Associate Program
The holidays are a time of celebration around the world—and enjoying seasonal libations is a part of the celebration. Join cocktail historian Philip Greene and Washington, D.C. mixologists Gina Chersevani and Duane Sylvestre in looking at holiday-themed drinks from near and far. Sample six holiday quaffs and enjoy light snacks as you learn how to make each drink.
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/265135?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:45 PM.
The Amarna Letters: Voices From the Bronze Age
Resident Associate Program
In 1887, a cache of nearly 400 clay tablets inscribed in cuneiform was found in the ruins of the heretic king Akhenaten’s ancient capital. Now known as the Amarna Letters, this correspondence between Egypt’s pharaohs and the great powers of the day offers a glimpse into a vibrant international arena. Author and professor Eric Cline explores the complex web of alliances and rivalries that defined the Late Bronze Age and the ambitions, anxieties, and diplomatic theater of the ancient world.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264885?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264885?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 6:45 PM – 8:00 PM.
Shaping the Age of Information: A History From ARPANET to AI
Resident Associate Program
How did room-sized computers and dial-up connections evolve into tools that can write, analyze, and even create? Information science educator Nancy Friedland focuses on the key moments in history that shaped today’s digital world and how these developments changed the way people communicate, access knowledge, and navigate daily life.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265136?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/265136?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM.
Volunteer Recruitment Information Session
American Latino Museum
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL) is recruiting volunteers for its upcoming exhibition, ¡Puro Ritmo! The Musical Journey of Salsa. Volunteers will support educational programs by engaging in hands-on activities and tours in the museum’s Molina Family Latino Gallery at the National Museum of American History. This information session will help you learn about NMAL’s volunteer program, requirements, and application process.
For questions, please contact nmalvolunteer@si.edu
For ASL interpretation, please email us at nmalvolunteer@si.edu at least one week in advance.
*Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and must be able to volunteer in person at the Molina Family Latino Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/YVGsOnh0R-CnXUh9Wtj2iQ.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 7:00 PM – 8:00 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. Related Exhibition: Places of Invention, Inventive Minds, Landmark Object: Ralph Baer's Workshop, Inventing in America.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
For more info visit invention.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. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 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. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 10:15 AM – 3:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264995?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264995?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM.
Down on the (Fish) Farm
One-Time Events
More than half of the seafood we eat comes from aquatic farming, also known as aquaculture. Hundreds of species of plants and animals are grown in the water, including in the open ocean! But what exactly does an ocean farm entail? Come learn about what it means to farm in the sea – who grows what, where, and how?Presented by:
Dr. Robin Fail, Marine Social Scientist, Marine Mammal Commission
Hayley Lemoine, Marine Social Scientist, NOAA Fisheries
Photos courtesy of Dr. Robin Fail and Hayley Lemoine.
Venue: Natural History Museum. Event Location: 1st Floor, The Sant Ocean Hall. Cost: Free and open to the public. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/264996?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM.
Seasons of Light
Resident Associate Program
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265036?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Seasons of Light
Discovery Theater Automatic Upload
Ages 5 to 10. Celebrate the holiday season with traditions from around the world.
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/265036?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-DT-ev&utm_content=DT-Trumba-event&promo=276224.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:15 PM.
Investigating Objects: From Inquiry to Action | Cultivating Learning
Smithsonian Sponsored Events
Many voices of the American people have contributed to and continue to shape the nation and its communities, from its earliest beginnings to the present. Join Orlando Serrano of the National Museum of American History (NMAH) to consider how material culture can be a point of departure for inquiry, analysis, research, and information sharing. Orlando shares techniques developed from his time as a classroom teacher and in his role as Head of PreK-12 Learning at NMAH. You’ll leave with resources to activate learning in your classroom and a deeper understanding of the never-ending process to become one nation.
Program Details:
This is a Zoom webinar with automatic captioning. You’ll be able to participate using the chat and Q&A, and your camera and mic will be disabled. We’ll record and post the webinar on the Smithsonian Learning Lab’s Events page approximately 72 hours after the session ends.
For general questions, or if we can provide additional accessibility services to support your participation, please…
Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Related Events: In this special 2025-2026 Cultivating Learning series, "Celebrating America at 250," Smithsonian educators share teaching techniques and resources that help tell the story of America's 250th. The series celebrates well-known people, events, and accomplishments of our nation and also provides opportunities to discuss lesser-told histories that together form our national narrative. Join us to explore strategies for using digital museum resources to support student learning at this milestone moment in American… Accessibility: Captioning.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Our Universe in a New Light: Exploring the Chandra X-ray Observatory’s High-Energy Wonders
Resident Associate Program
For over 25 years, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed a dramatic, invisible universe where black holes collide, stars explode, and galaxies erupt with high-energy light. Join Chandra visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for a dynamic journey through some of space telescope Chandra’s most breathtaking discoveries, transformed into stunning images, immersive experiences, and even sound. Explore stellar nurseries, hear the echoes of black holes, and experience deep space like never before.
Event Location: This online program is presented on Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264947?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223. Cost: Click here to view prices. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/264947?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2025FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&promo=276223.
Thursday, December 11, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM.