Mara Vandarou's photographs will be on display at Hillyer Art Space. Arts lovers, we hope you've cleared your calendar for the next two weekends. The 2008-2009 season kicks off en masse with nearly every gallery in the region opening new exhibits. Both Dupont and the 7th Street corridor are coordinating openings this weekend, so let's see what they've got: Dupont Circle: This weekend is First Friday, and it looks like the consortium of galleries......

This month the area's museums are chock full of celebrations, openings, anniversaries and festivals. Enough to keep your dance card filled and your brain active. >> The Natural History Museum describes the ocean as "a huge, awesome realm -- sometimes mysterious but always amazing." Their interpretation of the "awesome realm" will be shown in the long awaited opening of the Sant Ocean Hall on September 27. The exhibit represents the largest renovation in the......

>> Conner Contemporary has exciting news: instead of the previously predicted December 2008 opening, their 7000 sq. ft. newly renovated space at 1358-60 Florida Avenue, NE will hold their inaugural opening on September 27. We'll bring you more about the space and the first show later next month. >> He's no Stephen Colbert, but he did win about a zillion gold medals, made Mark Spitz cry in his mustache, and had us worrying about......

>> Artist J.J. McCracken will engage in a series of performances at Project 4 over the next week. Living Sculpture incorporates figures, spheres, and lots of clay in a way that ponders expectations and movement in life. See one of two performances tonight, 7 p.m. or 8:15 p.m., or next Friday, August 29, at 7:30 p.m. >> A new video work opens in Hirshhorn's Black Box next Monday. British duo Ruth Jarman and Joseph Gerhardt,......

View Larger Map When Joan Wages, President of the National Women's History Museum, was successful at moving the Suffrage statue to the Capitol rotunda from the depths of the basement, it served as a metaphor for women's history. She wanted to bring the accomplishments and contributions of women into the light and placed in full view for all to see and learn. Founded in 1996, the National Women's History Museum, a private organization, is currently......

Photograph of work by Nikolas Schiller courtesy Civilian Art Projects >> Civilian Art Projects has some entertainment for you on Friday. From 7 to 9 p.m., they open Quart Bag, an exhibit featuring 32 ounces of creativity from each of the 100 artists in this community art show. All works are $100 or less and, Civilian jokes, "FAA approved." Afterwards, head to Comet Ping Pong, which will have beer and pizza specials, while The......

Dig It! The Secrets of Soil exhibit photo courtesy of John Steiner, Smithsonian Institution. With August's abrupt arrival, summer session is almost over. Even if you’ve been done with school for ages, you may still want to keep that brain sharp, if only to make yourself sound interesting at parties. While most of the area’s galleries are a bit out-of-commission, the museums are still packing in the events. >> Recently opened on July 18......

>> Project 4 presents to you the childhood of Gina Tibott. She dug up the backyard of the home she grew up in, for a (gruesome?) rediscovery of her deceased pets. Using her archeology training, she carefully retrieved the bones and proceeded to photograph this lost culture. No opening reception, so see the remnants for yourself at during regular gallery hours, Wed. - Fri. 2 - 6 p.m., Sat. 12 - 6 p.m. and......

Not many exhibit openings this week, but that doesn't stop the galleries from throwing big parties for any reason they can find. Keep reading for derby arm wrestling, two concerts from our three star alums, DJs, poetry readings, and of course, tons of (mostly) free alcohol. >> Head over to Hillyer Art Space on Friday night for the Barrelhouse Magazine Roller Derby Issue launch party, "License to Brawl". From 6 to 10 p.m. you can......

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......

With so many museums in D.C., it's easy to overlook the wealth of fun and interesting events that are happening at them. Here's a round-up of some of the notable events and exhibits going on in July, including a look at baseball in D.C., a hip-hop happy hour and a chance to finally see what's living in your refrigerator. >> As we noted last week, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is running through July 6; this......

The second Transformers movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is apparently filming in Washington right now, because people keep sending us celebrity gossip reports that actor Shia LaBeouf allegedly set off a smoke alarm inside a bathroom at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum over the weekend when he tried to sneak a cigarette inside the building. The story seems to have come entirely from the National Enquirer, however, so we should probably take......

For 25 years, the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium has been holding its annual Museum Walk Weekend to celebrate the two neighborhoods' abundance of cultural centers. This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., they celebrate the event's 25th anniversary by providing free entrance to eight museums, as well as live music, food, demonstrations, walking tours, and other activities to encourage us all to indulge in our city's excellent......

We're continuing to bring you a monthly round-up of the most interesting events and exhibits at area museums, and this month, there's something to please photography fans, animation addicts, ocean lovers and more. At the Natural History Museum, check out Ocean Views, where a collection of photographers have captured their vision of the sea (June 11). Forget Q and Basil: Check out what the real life spies of the CIA have come up with in......

>> 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......

Graphic designers: Back away from the computer and head to the Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. In the sixty displayed postered portraits, one can see an evolution of graphic design and advertising, with each era screaming its identity through fonts, colors and graphic techniques, as well as the obvious context of the featured face. Keeping true to the NPG’s mission, all 60 posters are about Americans or American films, however......

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......

The National Portrait Gallery recently opened a pair of shows, Zaida Ben-Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer and Edward Steichen: Portraits, which combine to weave a single portrait of American cultural life in the early decades of the twentieth century. Though Steichen is the much better known photographer, Ben-Yusuf’s work is equally compelling, and together the two exhibitions portray a range of politicians, actors, writers, musicians and other important figures, giving us a glimpse back into......

As spring and summer roll in, D.C.’s museums offer a great way to get out of the heat and boost your brain power. And, after spending most of your free time relaxing at outdoor happy hours, who couldn’t use a brain boost? DCist has gathered some of May’s best museum exhibits and events. While some of the exhibits are long term, now’s as good a time as any to check them out, as we'll have......

>> 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. >>......

Sometimes the introduction to an historical event is better done with a smaller issue within the broader, chronological overview most museum exhibitions use. They help us forge a connection between our own familiar experiences and the vast unknowns of events we may not have been around to experience. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s newest special exhibition, The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936, serves as an alternative and compelling introduction into Holocaust studies. By going in-depth into......

>> 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......

Just like its subject — the news — the Newseum, which opens tomorrow, includes far more information than the average museum-goer can handle. It would take days (there are 24 hours of documentary footage alone) to see everything on display in the 250,000-square-foot museum, and with a $20 admission charge, a visit to the Newseum should be a full-day’s outing. Opening day, however, is free of charge, so you might want to head down......

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......

Yakama two-hide dress, ca. 1860 In the current exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian, visitors can see Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses, a show indicative of the NMAI's effectiveness in using creative museum techniques. The exhibition, of course, is about cultural traditions. It features some 55 dresses and more than 200 accessories, all of which are meant to express the depth and development of Native......

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......