>> If “gorgeous weather” isn’t enough of a reason to get you outside, this weekend’s kick-off for the National Cherry Blossom Festival should get you to shake off that winter gloom. Head over to the National Building Museum tomorrow to kick-off the celebration with Family Day events from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and the opening ceremony from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Lots of hands-on art activities, like oragami and fruit carving, will keep the kids busy while you can take in some environmental demonstrations and the original Japanese garden installation. The festival goes on for two full weeks and is jam packed with events from art exhibits to soccer tournaments to bike tours around the National Mall. Mark your calendar for the parade and street festival on April 14 and check their web site for the list of performances at the Tidal Basin.
>> Hey, if you’re going to check out the cherry blossoms anyway, why not win great stuff for it? We love the words “photography contest,” and know you do, too, so aim your lenses at the pink flowers and submit your work to the Festival’s first ever contest. The web site won’t be live until tomorrow, when the contest begins, so check back to get all the rules. Twelve talented nature photographers will see their image included in the 2008 Festival calendar, while the supreme cherry blossom photog will get their work on the cover, along with $1000 and a new digital camera. Get shooting!
>> As we mentioned earlier, tonight the Warehouse brings you the opening of the new show The Werewolf Youth by Mike Lowery and the DeerMilk Collective, a group of international artists. Their show focuses around “a group of simplified, iconic preteens in feral costume that have been translated by the various members of the collective.” Maybe you can give them a keg of beer tonight while you take in the experimental short film and various mixed media works. 6 to 8 p.m.
>> Sometimes we forget that our huge collection of local embassies is a great way to take in some culture. The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey just opened a new exhibit with 35 works from the celebrated Turkish painter Yalçın Gökçebağ that depict contemporary rural life in the eastern European country. The show opened Wednesday, so stop by the embassy’s gallery at 1624 Crescent Place NW, open Wednesday through Sunday, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m to check it out. Admission is free.
>> Check out work by new artists at the George Washington University Annual Awards Show, featuring art by this year’s best undergraduate and graduate students. The show runs until April 27, so stop by and see if you can pick out who will see their work hanging down the road at the Smithsonian in the near future. The Luther W. Brady Art Gallery is located on the second floor of Media and Public Affairs Building at 805 21st Street, NW and is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A possible cherry blossom photography contest winner taken by maxedaperture.
