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 are for sale at reasonable prices, so bring along your checkbook or contact heather [at] dcist.com for purchasing info. If you’re interested in attending the Emerge Exposed panel, RSVP to info [at] pinkline.org quickly, because seats are almost filled.

It’s actually a pretty busy weekend in the arts around D.C. this weekend, but since we’re running around finishing last minute tasks and polishing 47 photographs for tomorrow night, we hope you’ll forgive the brief agenda:

Thursday:
>> Today the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum opens an interesting exhibit featuring all kinds of World War II memorabilia and correspondence. Victory Mail can be seen during regular hours, daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Friday:
>> It’s First Friday for the Dupont galleries. Stop by the Marsha Mateyka Gallery to see the intricate drawings of Nancy Wolf in Dragons Adrift: The New Chinese Landscape. All First Friday receptions are 6 to 8 p.m. Mateyka will have another artist reception this Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m.

>> Also participating in First Friday, Hillyer Art Space opens two shows, After the Flood, the abstract “collage-like” paintings of Don Kimes, and Brazilian Contemporary Printmakers, featuring live Brazilian music. Foundry Gallery will show Abstraction::Distraction, paintings by Shaune Bazner. And Studio Gallery has New Works of more colorful abstracts by Carol Rubin, along with a show of The Paper Chase with paper works by two artists.