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 cultural offerings. DCist has compiled some of the highlights, but check out the full schedule for a complete list of events.
>> Start at the information table near the Dupont Circle Metro station, and grab some brochures and event maps. If you’re looking to enjoy the weather and put your sneakers to good use, head out on one of the self-guided walking tours (which add up to a five mile route), or take the kids on a scavenger hunt through the neighborhoods.
>> Stop at the Fondo Del Sol Visual Arts Center to check out Mosaic of America, a group of exhibits that span the globe. Work featured includes photography and film portraying heroes of the Mexican Revolution, the varied styles of contemporary American Latina artists, the artwork of African American art professor Lois Mailou Jones and her students, and a variety of other work exploring the cultures and history of Jamaica, Cuba, Nicaragua and the American Indian.
>> At the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, experience the original headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, and learn about how Bethune and the council “spearheaded strategies and developed programs that advanced the interest of African American women and the black community.”
>> The Phillips Collection highlights their new Jacob Lawrence Migration Series exhibit (pictured above) with the Jacob Lawrence Family Free Festival. The exhibit features 60 panels depicting the 20th-century exodus of more than a million African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North, and the festival’s interactive events aim to explore this topic further. The Phillips will be presenting performances of shadow puppetry, dance, a student-written and performed play, live jazz and other activities. Additionally, families can sign up with StoryCorps and record their own migration story, which will later be archived by the Library of Congress.
>> Or, check out the Anderson House, the 1905 Beaux Arts building that now serves as the headquarters for The Society of the Cincinnati, and functions to preserve the memories of the American Revolution.
