Juliette Gordon Low, by Edward Hughes, 18872012 opens with a full month of activities in our local museums. Check out our highlights as well as the Smithsonian’s complete schedule for more in-depth coverage.
>> One hundred years ago, Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girls Scouts of the USA and has ever since has been the inspiration for countless campfire songs, park clean-ups, Thin Mints, and first-aid badges in the world’s largest educational organization for girls. The National Portrait Gallery celebrates the centennial with Juliette Gordon Low and the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts beginning January 13 with an exhibit centered around Edward Hughes’ iconic 1887 portrait of Low. The exhibit also includes memorabilia and photographs from the group’s 10th anniversary in 1922.
>> The Smithsonian’s American Art Museum offers up several gallery talks this month starting January 6 at 12 p.m. with White House collections manager Donna Hayashi Smith presenting a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Something of Splendor: Decorative Arts from the White House. On January 18, curatorial assistant Debrah Dunner will discuss Dale Chihuly’s Blanket Cylinder Series, part of the American Craft Masterpieces permanent collection. Both talks start in the first-floor lobby of theRenwick Gallery. Also on January 18, catch a showing of the 1955 Marilyn Monroe classic The Seven Year Itch at 6:30 p.m. in the Renwick’sMcEvoy Auditorium. If music is more your style, let the Andrea Wood Quintet show you a thing or two about the blues from 5 to 7 p.m. on January 19 in the Kogod Courtyard or bask in an afternoon of recitals by the Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program inspired by the works on display in the Grand Salon at 2 p.m. on January 22. Turning 40 can be hard, but the Renwick Gallery hits the milestone in style with contests, music other activities, including the announcement of the winner of its 40th Anniversary Postcard Design Contest on January 28 at 11 a.m. Submissions are due by January 17.
>> Not long after the Belgian Congo (known today as the Democratic Republic of Congo) obtained its independence in the 1960s, its copper mining industry flourished during a period known as “the beautiful time.” The Congolese photographer Sammy Baloji brings together images from the era with those of today in an exploration of memory. The Beautiful Time: Photography by Sammy Baloji opens at the Natural History Museum on January 7 and will remain on view through 2012.
>> Also on January 13, the American Indian Museum explores the Quileute tribe of Washington State and their folklore, which is ingrained with lupine mythology. Behind the Scenes: The Real Story of Quileute Wolves features rare artworks and artifacts depicting the rich history of the Quileute people, who—despite what Stephenie Meyer might have told you—are not shapeshifters. The exhibit includes authentic art and five wolf headdresses, and is on view through May 9.
>> Discover the role of seasons throughout Chinese and Japanese art while creating your own works of art through Japanese Flower Arranging at the Freer Gallery on January 15. Tickets are $15 and includes refreshments. The afternoon sunlight transforms the blue, green and gold tones of the Peacock Room when the shutters are opened again on January 19. From 12 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., discover new details and depths to Whistler’s redecoration style as the winter sun moves across the sky revealing colors and textures often missed under artificial light.
>> Unlike the controlled portrait work most often associated with Annie Leibovitz, the collection opening at the American Art Museum on January 20 is surprisingly devoid of bodies. Annie Leibovitz: Pilgrimage is filled with dynamic landscapes of wild locations and past homes of American icons who have contributed to her distinctive view of culture and inheritance. Leibovitz will discuss her work on January 24 at a sold-out event (a small number of seats may be available on a first-come, first-served basis just before the 7 p.m. event).
>> Last summer the National Portrait Gallery announced that the photographer Dave Woody, winner of the 2009 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, triennial event at the museum, was commissioned to create a portrait of food pioneer and founder of the Chez Panisse restauranteur and slow-food advocate Alice Waters. The finished product is set to be unveiled on January 21.
>> The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has a full month of book signings, story readings and other activities to keep you occupied throughout the month. Hope for clear skies and head out to the Public Observatory, located on the east terrace, for stargazing at 6:45 p.m. on January 14 and 28. Fly Marines! The Centennial of Marine Corps Aviation: 1912-2012, a collection of works celebrating the 100-year anniversary of United States Marine Corps aviation, gets underway on January 14 in Gallery 211. The next edition of the Stars Lecture Series on January 28 and features Jim Zimbelman, a geologist at the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, who will discuss deposits of sand throughout the solar system. This event is free, but reserve your tickets now. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center presents two installments of the Ask an Expert series with What Time is it? Astronaut Chronographs on January 12 and Betty Skelton’s Legacy – Pitts S-1C Little Stinker on January 26, both starting at 12:30 p.m. Admission is free, parking is $15.
>> The American History Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture takes a closer look at Thomas Jefferson’s contradicting views toward slavery, which persisted at his own Monticello plantation despite his condemnation of the practice as an “abominable crime.” Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty, opening January 27, explores the lives of six slave families living at Monticello through artwork, documents and artifacts found through archaeological excavations at the 5,000-acre estate. The exhibition, which also includes interviews with 170 descendants of slaves who lived at Monticello, will remain on view until October 14.
>> The writer Gertrude Stein’s circle of artist friends included Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, as well as Ernest Hemingway and Alice B. Toklas, who all affected each others’ work on many levels. Explore these relationships, and Stein’s continuing impact on contemporary literaries, at the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program’s Evening Seminar Gertrude Stein: A Writer Is a Writer Is a Writer on January 11. General admission tickets are $35. If your New Year’s resolutions included expanding your artistic skills, consider one of the painting, photography or other art classes offered by the studio arts department which begin in late January.
