Calendar of Events

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 U.S. Botanic Garden presents this colorful new exhibit that may reframe how you view plant life. Large-scale murals from local artists will showcase plants through powerful colors and vibrant detail, highlighting the vital role that plants play in urban environments, not just suburban or rural ones. You’ll have a chance to admire botanical art in one[...]

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[...]

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[...]

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[...]

With this exhibit, the National Portrait Gallery begins a series that will highlight the global context of American portraiture. You can marvel at Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler’s Femme en Extase, a portrait of the Italian dancer Giulia Leonardi. The piece embodies the theory of eurhythmics, which went on to change the concept of dance in America. Other Portrait[...]