Muhammed Ali knocks out Sonny Liston in 1965. Photograph by Neil Leifer. Sports Illustrated.>> If you’ve ever watched a home improvement or DIY show, you know that interior design is all the rage. Did you know that it’s also art? Tonight at Riggio Design an exhibit will open that examines the design process from concept to schematics to construction and finally the finished product. Recent projects will be on display including the design for a new restaurant and a boutique in Old Town. A marketplace will also be open offering refinished and vintage furniture for sale. 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.
>> Tomorrow evening, the National Museum of Women in the Arts is partnering with The Kreeger Museum to host a panel discussion moderated by Vivienne Lassman and featuring Carol Brown Goldberg, Martha Jackson-Jarvis and Dalya Luttwak. The discussion, A Viewpoint — Women Making Sculpture, will cover the technical challenges the artists face. Tickets are $10; Members are free. 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
>> We all know how well music and art go together, so one can only imagine the possibilities when you’re asked to interpret the blues. The blues, as a musical genre, have influenced jazz and rock and roll. As a color, it represents a wavelength of light in the 440-490 nm range along the visible spectrum. Emotionally, the blues can mean either happiness or sadness, depending on the person. In their new exhibit opening on Friday at the DC Art Center, The Blues and Other Colors, artists interpret the blues as a musical form, a color, and an emotional state. Work by Cedric Baker, Magruder Murray, Adjoa J. Burrowes, Gloria C. Kirk, Bruce McNeil, Hubert Jackson, J’Nell Jordon, Carolyn Goodridge and Jarvis Grant will be on display. 7 to 9 p.m.
>> Have you started holiday shopping yet? No? You like to wait until the last possible minute don’t you? You’re one of those people that starts looking for gifts two days before you’re supposed to go visit your family and you end up buying everyone socks because that’s all that’s left in the store. How about this year, instead of socks, you get everyone a cool piece of original artwork? The Pleasant Plains Workshop will be opening Present Day: a locally sourced holiday gift shop on Friday at 2 p.m. and it will offer artwork and handmade items from local artists. Prices range from $5 to $100. On Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. they will host a special shopping social and reception to mark their one year anniversary.
>> Are you looking to make your artwork purchases a little more exciting? Then the 8th Annual Transformer Gallery Silent Auction is for you. On Friday from 8 to 11 p.m., the gallery will host a silent auction featuring over 100 pieces of artwork from local, national and international artists. Proceeds will benefit Transformer programs. Tickets are $175 and must be purchased in advance.
>> Even though FotoWeek DC just ended, there is still a lot of photography to see in the city. On Friday, the Newseum will open their newest exhibit Photo Finish: The Sports Photography of Neil Leifer, which will feature several career-defining photos by Neil Leifer, one of the most celebrated sports photographers of all time. Almost 50 of his photos will be on display, including Secretariat running to win the Kentucky Derby, the “Thrilla in Manila”, as well as Vince Lombardi being carried off the field after the Packers won Super Bowl II in 1968.
>> If you’re looking for something to do outside of the city on Saturday, you can venture up to Kensington, Maryland to the Adah Rose Gallery to check out the opening of the new exhibit Without Proof. Open Ended, featuring the work of Thierry Guillemin and Amanda Horowitz. Guillemin draws on his inner emotional state and transfers it onto the canvas. Inspired by the improvisational aspects as well as the discipline of jazz music, he creates abstract blends of color and form. Horowitz combines various mediums in her work by painting on glass and the photographing the work with different backgrounds. 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
>> The National Gallery of Art’s Fall Film Events continue this weekend with Andy Warhol’s John and Ivy (1965, 33 minutes) followed by Soap Opera (1964, 46 minutes) at noon on Saturday. At 2 p.m., the gallery will show I Remember You as part of the film series Ali Khamraev: Uzbek Triptych. At 4 p.m., the Le Cinéma Fantastique continues with Louis Malle’s Black Moon and then on Sunday at 4 p.m. with Judex by Georges Franju. Free.
>> The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) will host an opening reception and gallery talk this Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. for its 2011 Fall Focus exhibitions featuring works by Heidi Fowler in Constructing Haiku, Sheep Jones and Novie Trump in Hidden Worlds, and Millicent Young in Vehicles and Vessels. The artists’ work focuses on the symbiotic relationship between man and nature and uses paintings, sculpture and sound to examine the ways we impact our surroundings.
>> Another Gaia event will take place this Saturday at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from 7:30 to 11:00 p.m. The event, which is part concert, part nightclub, and part performance art, will incorporate the art and architecture of the Corcoran into the experience. There will be an open bar and light refreshments. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
>> The Art Whino gallery will be hosting the first solo U.S. show of Italian artist Pixel Pancho beginning this Saturday. All of the work in this show was created during the time Pancho spent traveling back and forth between the East and West Coast of the United States. His work focuses on the passage of time and the life of materials, especially the rusting of metal, so it should be no surprise that his subjects are robots. Pancho takes photographs and replaces the human subjects with robot ones to create his iconic imagery. In his current work, the robots take on American personas and represent his impressions of American society and culture. His work can also be seen on walls in Ivy City, Edgewood, and Sherman as a part of the Open Walls project that took place last week. 8 to 11 p.m.
>> If you’re looking to be a little more hands-on with your gifts this year, then maybe making some textile art at The Textile Museum is the way to go. This Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., artist Lisa Shepard Stewart will teach participants how to create their very own mudcloth-covered journals using professional no-sew techniques. Advanced registration is required by calling (202) 667-0441, ext. 64. Fee (including materials): $65/members, $75/non-members.
