Image of work by Ellington Robinson, courtesy DCAC.

>> The new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery is our pick this week, with Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture. With 100 portraits and self-portraits of the artist in a wide range of media, the exhibit is a thorough examination of the way he reshaped the field through his own work and by influencing his peers. Fifty-eight other artists are included in the exhibit, such as Richard Avedon, Man Ray, and Andy Warhol. If you can make it by at 10 a.m. tomorrow, catch a discussion by conservators and curators from NPG, MoMA, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Jean Crotti’s Duchamp portraits. Opens Friday, visit during regular hours, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

>> Artist Billy Colbert is the man about town this weekend. See his new exhibit, Love is a Losing Game, opening at Long View Gallery on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. Colbert designs eclectic football helmets symbolizing all the issues surrounding love and relationships. Over at the DCAC, Colbert plays the curator in an exhibit of spiritual paintings by Ellington Robinson. Reception Friday, 7 to 9 p.m.

>> It’s kite flying time in D.C., so prepare for this Saturday’s festival at the Art Museum of the Americas in the morning making your very own to fly. In the family workshop, you’ll learn about the giant kites made and flown in Guatemala to celebrate Día de los Muertos, then build your own and take them for a test run. 10 to 12 p.m., $5 per person.

>> While you’re down on the Mall for the start of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, head to the Freer and Sackler Galleries, which is celebrating the Japanese origins of the trees. On Saturday they’ll hold a day long “Anime Marathon,” including costumes and an exhibit provided by the DC Anime Club. You can also see two exhibits, The Tale of Shuten Dōji, featuring Edo era prints on scrolls and fans, and an array of metallic printing methods in Moonlight and Golden Clouds: Silver and Gold in the Arts of Japan.

>> We told you last week about the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ ArtTable discussion, “Breaking Through: Women Leading Museums.” If you haven’t registered, give them a call to see if there is still space available. 6:30 p.m., $25 for non-members, $10 for students.

>> The Marsha Mateyka Gallery opens an exhibit of new paintings by Kathleen Kucka. Her technique involves pulling “layers of translucent acrylic paint from the glass on which it has been poured to structure paintings in a collage-like process,” which puts focus on the motions of fluids, giving them a unique energy. Reception Saturday, 4 to 6 p.m.