Calendar of Events

George Washington’s estate knows how to celebrate the holiday season like few other locales in the DMV area. During daylight hours, tour the gorgeous mansion, witness chocolate-making demonstrations and hang out with the estate’s favorite pet, Aladdin the Camel. At nighttime, tour the estate by candlelight and on Dec. 14 and 15, enjoy an incredible fireworks display along the Potomac River.

The Anacostia Community Museum explores the evolution of Washington, DC’s neighborhoods over the past 50 years, from dilapidation to rising rents and inequality. You will find out how DC residents have always stayed organized and engaged, fighting for better schools, healthier communities and fair city planning, among many other effo

View original mail sent and signed by Alexander Hamilton when he served as the first Secretary of the Treasury in this enthralling exhibit from the National Postal Museum. You’ll also be able to see portraits of Hamilton and his contemporaries on stamps, in addition to enjoying interactive elements and educational programming. The exhibit will also coincide[...]

The National Postal Museum highlights the role of the flowering plant on U.S. postage stamps over the last 50 years in this new exhibit. See developmental and final artwork that shows how important design artwork is to the completion and production of a postage stamp. Common artistic themes, like the relationship between flowering plants and bees, will[...]

More than two hundred pieces of Buddhist art comprise this new exhibit from the Freer | Sackler Galleries. Spread across two millennia, the works show Asia’s powerful Buddhist heritage. You’ll learn how the art is perceived to have sacred power, how Buddhists have engaged with the works, how the religious understanding of the pieces differs from[...]

In Inuit culture, the narwhal (a small Arctic whale with a distinct spiral tusk) is an intriguing and spiritual animal. The National Museum of Natural History will showcase the Inuit perspective on the animal, as well as the latest scientific information, to reveal the complex nature of the narwhal. The exhibit will include tusks and skulls from[...]

The Renwick Gallery hosts the first major national exhibition to focus on the large-scale participatory work from the annual gathering of bohemians who construct a city of 70,000 in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for one week every year. No Spectators will take over the entire building, even extending outdoors, with sculptures positioned throughout the surrounding neighborhood in parks and on streets[...]

America’s fascination with airmail service in the early 20th century will be the focus of this new exhibit at the National Postal Museum. Trace the beginnings of the service, which initially only covered DC, Philadelphia and New York City, to its eventual privatization in 1927, when businesses began building their infrastructure through airmail, which led to[...]

The National Air and Space Museum is one of the most popular in the nation, and the dynamic locale features an exhibit like few others in its history this summer. Artist Soldiers shows how war art drastically changed during World War I, when depictions went from heroic and romanticized to first-person accounts by professional artists[...]

Explore the world and all that’s in it at the National Geographic Museum. Great for all ages, the museum features a variety of changing exhibitions, from interactive experiences to stunning photography. Celebrating over 125 Years of educating people about our world, the Museum provides a unique perspective from renowned explorers, photographers, and scientists that support[...]

The U.S. Botanic Garden gets decked out for the holidays thanks to this annual exhibit featuring a model train exhibit running through classic train stations like New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, St. Louis’ Union Station and many more. Inside the Conservatory you’ll also find the garden’s collection of DC’s iconic landmarks, including a model of the Smithsonian National Museum[...]

A new large-scale installation from internationally appreciated artist Subodh Gupta resides in the Sackler Pavilion. Terminal is made from towers of brass containers that are connected by thread, creating a glimmering landscape. The spires within the installation range from one to 15 feet tall, reminding one of architectural features found on churches, temples and mosques.

Fans of both comic books and the cinema will love the new display of the Batmobile at the National Museum of American History. This particular vehicle comes from the 1989 Warner Brothers film entitled Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as the caped crusader. Burton’s Batmobile was designed by Anton Furst and inspired by[...]

The creative ways that absence is expressed throughout numerous forms of art is the topic of this new exhibit at the Hirshhorn. More than 70 works across seven decades make up the display, which include small-scale pieces that use mirroring effects to large-scale ruminations using simple materials. Visitors will be able to observe how leading artists[...]

An action-packed holiday schedule is the norm at National Harbor, a shopping, dining and amusement park-like landmark located just 20 minutes south of DC. Step inside the Gaylord National Resort for ICE! (Nov. 16 – Jan. 1), an indoor winter wonderland featuring two million pounds of hand-carved ice sculptures, ice slides, a live carving area and a retelling of A[...]

Sharpen your understanding of an understudied art form, from its historical significance to its modern-day application, at this new exhibit from the National Portrait Gallery. Cut paper profiles, known as silhouettes, rose to prominence as a form of portraiture in the 19th century. The exhibition will focus on fascinating pieces from that era, as well as[...]

Diane Arbus was a major figure in the acceptance of photography as a legitimate art form. The portfolio that is the subject of this exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, A box of ten photographs, was a catalyst for photography’s evolution. The exhibition will detail the history of the project, its innovation and how Arbus came[...]

Two contemporary artists highlight misrepresentations of minorities in American portraiture in this new National Portrait Gallery exhibit. Ken Gonzales-Day uses photography of sculptures, busts and ethnographic casts to create installations that show how the notion of “Otherness” has become intertwined with race, while Titus Kaphar defaces his paintings to reveal how portraits of American icons have coded[...]

This free-to-frequent downtown bazaar is centrally located at 8th and F Streets NW, in front of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. Scope out eclectic wares from dozens of pop-up tents with seasonally flavored music performed live in the background. Locally roasted coffee and crafted-before-your-eyes mini-doughnuts inspire a cold-weather appetite, creating a[...]