Just as Jazz in the Garden means it's summer, ice skating by the National Mall means it's (nearly) winter. more ›

Yesterday, four members of the Washington Capitals -- forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson, and defensemen Karl Alzner and John Carlson -- took a break from their usual weekend routine to get back to basics on the National Mall. more ›

You may not want to think about it, but the onset of winter is inevitable. The temperature is falling, the wind is getting brisker and we're already talking about the ticket lottery for the White House's Christmas Tree lighting. But the creeping chill isn't all bad: for instance, the colder temperatures means that the Ice Rink at the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden is reopening soon. more ›

When last we checked with the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden Ice-Skating rink, the official start of the season had been indefinitely delayed due to "technical difficulties with the ice-making equipment." But good news has at last been posted to the rink's web site: it's now set to open on Thursday, December 10, "weather permitting." Tomorrow's forecast looks pretty safe for skating, so we're optimistic. more ›

Outdoor ice-skating at the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden rink may be a uniquely Washington activity for working off extra holiday calories, but it won't be an option this Thanksgiving weekend. According to the ice rink's guest services office and a note on their web site, the Sculpture Garden rink remains closed due to "technical difficulties with the ice-making equipment." A representative explained that while they hope repairs will be completed within 10-14 days, there is a chance that the rink may not open at all this season – typically mid-November to March – if the problem turns out to be more extensive. While the Pavilion Cafe remains open, we're hoping ice-skating will be back soon. more ›

>> The one and only Chaka Khan is at H2O tonight as a pre-party of sorts to the kick off of Howard Homecoming festivities, which officially start tomorrow. Doors at 5 p.m., show begins at 7. more ›

Written by DCist Contributor Amy Cavenaugh Baltimore-bred artist Morris Louis, who lived in Washington in the 1950s, is the subject of a 28-work retrospective on display at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden through January 6. Morris Louis Now: An American Master Revisited, curated by Jeffrey Grove of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, is the first such consideration of Louis’ work in two decades — the previous retrospective was also at the Hirshhorn,... more ›

Olga Viso, who has served as director of the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden for two years, announced today she'll be stepping down at the end of the year. Viso will be taking her experience and successes in running the Hirshhorn to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. more ›

Don’t let the threat of Polonium poisoning crush your dreams of becoming a spy or the inevitable prison sentence keep you from robbing a bank. We understand your desire to solve ancient religious conspiracies shrouded in mystery and international intrigue, but perhaps you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Joshua Czarda, the brains behind Ravenchase Adventures, has a solution. He and his crack team of writers and actors want you to step inside a... more ›

Flickr user xtol7 makes his own art at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The extreme overexposure puts all the focus on the cylindrical door, making it look like mysterious portal in the middle of nowhere. EXIF. more ›

FRIDAY: more ›

To those readers who missed their Classical Music Agenda last week, apologies are in order. Your faithful chronicler was in Paris for the week and experiencing a general lack of Internet connectivity. Now I am back, and there a lot of concerts to tell you about. We may not emphasize this enough, but "classical music" does not mean only music that is old. In fact, living composers are still writing works that continue and modify... more ›

The Agenda's a little late this week, and we're awfully sorry to leave you hangin'. We've been expanding our regular visual arts coverage (hope you noticed), but in so doing got behind on our long-standing duties. Luckily, there's a slew of events this weekend to point out, so hopefully you'll forgive our tardiness and not throw any drinks in our faces when we see you at openings over the next few days. White wine may not stain clothes, but we'd rather not reek of the stuff anymore than we already do. People will talk. more ›

Always looking for the D.C. slant to a story, DCist found a loose District tie, albeit a strong mid-Atlantic one, to all the Olympic action on the ice in Turin, Italy. more ›

This post was written by DCist contributor Heather Goss. more ›

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is one of the great treasures of Washington's arts scene, a federal museum with the guts to undertake strange and current exhibitions, along with adventurous musical programs to accompany them. So it should be no surprise that DCist was at the Hirshhorn yesterday to hear what was sure to be an excellent and interesting concert by the Norwegian pianist Håkon Austbø. With a name spelled like that, how could... more ›

Synesthesia was a pretty big topic with arts bloggers a few months ago. For the record, it's a clinical condition that involves the confusion of stimuli between different senses. Most importantly for our post today, some composers—Messiaen and Scriabin, to name two—have had this condition and perceived colors visually along with sounds that they heard (and, we presume, vice versa). This was the theme of a free concert that we suggested earlier this week in our Classical Music Agenda, featuring the 21st Century Consort at Washington National Cathedral Tuesday night. As venues go, this was a natural place to think about color and music. Synesthete Olivier Messiaen was profoundly influenced by a visit he made with his parents, when he was a teenager, to La Sainte-Chapelle in his native Paris. The late Gothic builders of the Sainte-Chapelle removed the supporting function of the wall to its maximum, leaving most of the elevation to be filled with stained glass windows. The effect, especially on a sunny morning or afternoon, can be hallucinatory. The windows shown here, in the nave wall by the tomb of President Woodrow Wilson in the National Cathedral, could probably have induced some strange chords in Messiaen's eyes/ears. more ›

If you can make it through the 4-5 inches of snow that are sure to shut down our fair city this weekend, we've got some picks to round out your weekend of snowball fights and hot chocolate. FRIDAY: >> Velvet Lounge celebrates its sixth birthday this weekend with a Friday lineup of Meredith Bragg and the Terminals, The Small Shouts (featuring Olivia from Washington Social Club), Debutants, and Greenline. >> On-the-rise female rapper Jean Grae... more ›

With the holiday season upon us, DCist is bracing for the usual phalanx of seasonal activities. There's a number of events around the mall of interest. more ›

A few goodies to make your week go by just a little bit faster... more ›