Elena del Rivero's [Swi:t] Home: A Chant, 2001–2006, installation of found papers mended, burnt, embroidered, and stitched to five rolls of muslin. Courtesy of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the artist. (c) Elena del Rivero. If the scant number of press releases in our inbox is any indication, we have officially reached the start of summer in the art scene. Take some time to battle the tourists and see what's hanging......

A show featuring the conceptual photography of Michael Dax Iacovone opens at the gallery at Flashpoint this Saturday. >> It may just be that we're in Conner Contemporary withdrawal, since they shuttered up their Dupont space last year and won't open in their new Atlas neighborhood venue until December, but our pick of the week has to be Academy 2008. With a temporary space at 1341 H Street NE, donated by Taurus Development, Conner's......

Faith Ringgold's Who's Bad? , courtesy the Arlington Arts Center This week, some of the D.C. area’s best nonprofit and alternative art spaces push their boundaries in ways that commercial spaces often don’t. Get out your thinking caps and your love for interesting discussion, and mark these dates, times and locations in that day planner of yours. >> Friday from 7 to 9 p.m., the DC Arts Center holds a reception for its newest......

If you want to get away from the warm weather this weekend, this week’s Arts Agenda is full of art happenings all over town for your indoor enjoyment. >> This Friday is the monthly Dupont Circle First Friday, with gallery openings across the neighborhood from 5 to 8 p.m. Washington Printmakers opens at 5 p.m. to present recent monotype and printed relief constructions by Bill Harris. A Bachelors and Masters graduate of Howard and instructor......

>> At Randall Scott, see the new photographic exhibit by Sarah Wilmer. The young Brooklyn artist was named as one of the 30 under 30 to watch by PDN Magazine last year; in the accompanying profile she describes her work as "dark and weird." Wilmer creates worlds -- often faiery, dream-like worlds, populated with pale, beautiful people doing mysterious tasks (pictured right). See them at the reception on Saturday, 7 to 9 p.m. >> Transformer......

Crafty Bastards participants may have a higher calling now. The Smithsonian American Art Museum has just announced the creation of a Curator of Craft position, after an $800,000 donation was made by Lloyd Herman, founder of the Renwick Gallery. Other patrons inspired by the gift have ponied up more funds to support the new role, amounting to $1.2 million so far. Herman encouraged, "Whatever their means, I hope that artists, collectors and all others......

>> Artomatic continues this week. Join them tonight for an art collecting discussion sponsored by Pink Line at 7 p.m., or on Friday for Meet the Artists Night, from 7 to 10 p.m., or perhaps feel more at home during Blogger's Night in the 12th floor lounge on Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. Read through the other hundred or so events going on this weekend on Artomatic's calendar. And don't forget to check out......

If you happen to be on the mailing list for Artomatic, precisely 3,000 emails have told you that the five-week, eight-floor exhibition opens on Friday. Keep an eye out tomorrow, as we'll be headed to the pre-opening walk-through and will have a preview of the whole shebang for you in the afternoon. The gates officially open at noon at Capital Plaza I, 1200 First St NE, near the New York Avenue Metro. All events and......

>> An art show to tempt our own hearts, Meat Market Gallery opens Don't Ready to Die Anymore, a sculptural reinterpretation of pop culture and media tainted storytelling of "real" events, from the mundane to the ones that have marked our history. Or, what would happen if "blogging were a sculptural practice." An online video project will accompany the show, starting tomorrow at dontreadytodieanymore.com. Visit the opening reception tomorrow from 6 to 8:30 p.m. >>......

>> The artist studios at 52 O Street NW will host their annual open house this weekend. We'll have a preview for you tomorrow showing what you can find in the four floors of art spaces on Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. >> Pyramid Atlantic also has an all-weekend event, Collectors for a Cause, starting Friday with a "Singles Night." With a slew of talks by local art collectors -- Philippa......

>>Project 4 opens a new exhibit this Saturday with the abstract scenes of Christine Gray (pictured right). She twists around the inequities that result from the hyper-perfectionism of the Martha Stewart brave new world we're told everyday living should be. Her paintings are created by first building models ("modest micro-sculptures") with craft and other simple items, then translating those models with her paintbrush. See them at the reception, 6 to 8:30 p.m. >> Tonight take......

We hope you cleared your calendar and laundered all your black clothes, 'cause it's a busy weekend out there for art lovers. >> On your way to the opening day of the Newseum tomorrow, swing by the old convention center grounds (you know, the parking lot that was supposed to break ground for new construction in January 2008, now, supposedly, in January 2009) at 10th Street between New York Avenue and H Street NW to......

Good news, Colbert Nation. If you caught the April 1 episode of the Colbert Report, you saw Stephen take an "atonement" call from Brent Glass, Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History — who originally turned down the offer to display his portrait before the National Potrait Gallery agreed to hang it in the entrance to their bathrooms. The run ended on Tuesday, but before the painting was left homeless, Glass called to......

Last week, Artomatic announced the dates and location of this year’s art extravaganza, and today at noon, the registration flood gates open. If you want to participate, get out $90 and register quick before all of the good spots are taken. Don’t worry too much though; although registration is first come, first serve, there are nine full floors of space available this year, compared to last year’s two. Now, on to this week’s arts agenda.......

D.C.’s big art news arrived yesterday, when Artomatic announced the dates and location for their semi-annual massive and all-inclusive art exhibit. If you want to help organize the event, join them for an All Hands Meeting this Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Capitol Plaza 1 building, located at 1st and M Streets NE. Artomatic is not until May 9, however, so get your art fix this week with the exhibits and events highlighted below.......

Remember that Saturday is the very last day of the 2008 DCist Exposed Photography Show. Civilian Art Projects is open today through Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m. Many of the artists will be at the gallery between 4 and 6 p.m. Saturday to toast the last day, so please come by and say hello. Contact heather [at] dcist.com if you're interested in purcashing any of the images in the show. In more Smithsonian turnover......

It's just over 24 hours until the 2008 DCist Exposed Photography kicks off at Civilian Art Projects. Join us to celebrate and support our local talent before they all become wildly famous and we have to put their work in the "boy, I wish I could afford one of those" column (that would be the column you'll see below). The free reception is tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m., no RSVP required. All the works......

Last week we were excited to tell you about our special event for the second annual DCist Exposed Photography Show. The Pink Line Project and Civilian Art Projects have done an excellent job getting the knowledgeable Emerge Exposed panel together to discuss how one can start collecting photography and other art, so we hope you'll join us on Wednesday, March 12 at 7 p.m. (sharp!). Please RSVP to info [at] pinkline.org to make sure......

Flickr user yonas1 stumbled across this Art-o-mat, pictured to your right, hidden away on the second floor of the Tenleytown Whole Foods. The converted cigarette machines give you an original piece of art for just five bucks, which is a pretty sweet idea if we've ever heard one. This is the only one in D.C., but you can find a list of other locations across the country, as well as participating artists at their web......

Smithsonian News Roundup: >> This week the Smithsonian continued its redevelopment and got a little overdue support from government officials. Even though Congress has murmured about drastically reducing the Institution's budget in the wake of misspending reports, President Bush proposed a $33.9 million increase for 2009 for the many repairs needed throughout the museums. Meanwhile, the National Museum of the American Indian continues its period of turmoil, as the Post reported that retired director W.......

First, let's catch up on all the art news from the week. We like the changes we hear going on over at the Smithsonian. The Post reports that Acting Secretary Cristián Samper has announced that Martin E. Sullivan will be the new Director over at the National Portrait Gallery. Though his resume alone proves he's a worthy fellow for the job, the cajones he showed by stepping down as chairman of the State Department's Cultural......

If you're a regular reader of the Arts Agenda, be sure to check out yesterday's summary of the benefits of becoming a member of one of the local arts venues in D.C. Right after we put that online, we heard that WPA is relaunching their online database ArtFile (one of the benefits of becoming a WPA member is a free artist profile on the site, where you can store images of your work). Visitors can......

FRIDAY: >> It's Friday the 13th. Scaaary? Nah. We laugh in the face of danger. Or at least, you might if you swing by HR-57 tonight for all the DC Comedy Fest events happening on their stages. We gave you the rundown on the festival yesterday, and we'd especially recommend heading over later on to catch the 11 p.m. Leno-Letterman Audition Highlights, which features some of the fest's funnier comedians in longer sets than usual.......

FRIDAY: >> Print out this PDF and take it to Local 16 between 6 to 9 p.m. tonight to receive a free drink, courtesy the Not For Tourists Guide to Washington, DC 2007. They'll also be giving away free copies of the Guide. >> Local rockers The Pharmacy Prophets are brewing up a high-concept hootenanny at Iota tonight. When the band takes the stage, they'll simultaneously be filming live concert footage for a multimedia project......

FRIDAY: >>Do you like Hall and Oates and Haddaway? Who doesn't? The Black Cat is hosting Crap, a dance night of bad music on purpose. We advise loosening your Macarena muscles and preparing your ears for "singers" like Don Johnson, Eddie Murphy, and Bruce Willis. 10 pm, free. SATURDAY: >>There are more art openings than we can shake a sculpture at today, so check out our Arts Agenda for a rundown. >>Anything called "Underwear Party"......

The long, dark night of the Arts Agenda is almost over! Our fearless arts editor, DCist Heather, will return next week and restore confidence in our coverage of the arts. It has been an enjoyable task for me to fill in, but we are all relieved; let's face it. THURSDAY: >> If you have not seen The Société Anonyme: Modernism for America at the Phillips Collection, you have to do it by this Sunday. Read......

It's that time of the year again, when people make resolutions they do not plan on keeping. Join DCist in resolving to see more art in 2007, but let's mean it. You could get started this week. >> Studio Gallery will have an invitational show featuring artists from the greater D.C. metropolitan area (January 3 to 28). This will include Suzanne Quinlan, whose work is shown at right. Open Wednesdays to Sundays, 2108 R St.......

Holiday? What Holiday? While some of us were home devouring pumpkin pies instead of writing the Arts Agenda last week, a few galleries opened their doors to new exhibits. The National Portrait Gallery is giving thanks to Josephine Baker by displaying images, posters, music sheets and other artifacts that tell the story of this amazing performer and civil rights activist. Meanwhile, the National Geographic Museum has opened their Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit, showcasing......

FRIDAY: >> Provisions Library's Cartoon Film Series continues tonight with Ducktators, Dutch director Wolter Braamhorst's look at the use of cartoons as propaganda during World War II. The film, originally released in 1997, sheds light on how entertainment and war have gone hand-in-hand since at least the 1940s, and features interviews with famed Loony Tunes animator Chuck Jones. 7 p.m., free. >> Be sure to check out the Arts Agenda for details on the gallery......

Today we bring you news from the revolving door. Artworks are arriving, artists are leaving, and the local scene remains ever-changing, even in the slow, muggy doldrums of summer. >>A Klee In the Hand: Just last week we were pimping Paul Klee in the Arts Agenda, and here he is making the news again this week. The Post reported Tuesday that The Phillips Collection has acquired two Klee pieces from separate private donors. To the......