Phillips Collection (Photo by palincss)

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Irving Blum and The Cool School @ The Hirshhorn. May 4 @ 6:30 p.m. (Free)

The Hirshhorn regularly hosts amazing artists and art historians for Wednesday night lectures, and this month’s talk with legendary contemporary art dealer Irving Blum is no exception. The lecture complements their current Robert Irwin exhibit, as Blum’s documentary The Cool School: How LA Learned to Love Modern Art reflects on his time at LA’s Ferus Gallery, including his work with Irwin. In the 1960s, Blum transformed the Los Angeles art scene by by bringing together East and West Coast artists for the first time at a single venue, highlighting the work of Ed Ruscha and others, along with Pop artists from New York like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. Blum will speak at 6:30 p.m., and the film will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Hirshhorn is located on the National Mall at the corner of 7th Street and Independence Avenue SW.

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Phillips After 5’s Saving Nature @ Phillips Collection. May 5 from 5-8:30 p.m. $12; advance tickets available here.

Phillips After 5 is a great way to spend a Wednesday evening, and this month’s event sounds especially fun. Fifteen-minute gallery talks run every thirty minutes from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and discuss the exhibit Seeing Nature, which showcases 39 landscape masterpieces from diverse artists like Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe, Gerhard Richter, and Ed Ruscha. You’ll also get to play with plastic balls recycled from the Dupont Underground’s Re-Ball! installation, eat tacos, drink local wines and beer from Flying Dog Brewery, and splurge on sweets from DC chocolatier Harper McCaw. Finally, learn how you can help protect the Brazilian rainforest, and enjoy live music from Caolaidhe & Meghan of The 19th Street Band. Be aware that Phillips After 5 typically sells out, so be sure to make reservations in advance.

The Phillips Collection is located at 1600 21st Street NW.

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Mid City Artists Open Studios. May 14-15. (Free)

This biannual event is always a great excuse to take a walk around Mid City and see some great local art along the way. Stop in to see private studios of member artists: see their artwork and working spaces, chat with the artists, get inspired, enjoy some food and beverages, and pick up some new artwork.

Mid City runs from Dupont Circle to 9th Street NW and from U Street NW to L Street NW. Pick up a studio map here.

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Turf and Terrain: Arts in Foggy Bottom Outdoor Sculpture Biennial. Opens May 14 and runs through October 22. (Free)

Take a stroll in Foggy Bottom for the Outdoor Sculpture Biennial, either on your own or on a guided walking tour. Self-guided brochures will be available at each stop, but artist-led walking tours start at 842 New Hampshire Avenue NW. On opening weekend May 14 and 15, there are plenty of discussions, workshops and performance art planned, including Fog, a performance by Eames Armstrong in which artists will write a collections of texts—their own and those by historic authors—on the brick paths using water and a paintbrush. Curator Danielle O’Steen chose works that are rooted in the sites and stories of Foggy Bottom, but sculptures range from figural, abstract, and fantastical to interactive and new media works.

Tours start at 842 New Hampshire Avenue NW.

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Gift Shop. May 14-June 18. (Free)

D.C.-based artist collective NoMüNoMü curates an exhibition that explores where art meets commerce. They write: “Merging the realms of art, design, craft, conceptuality and entertainment, Gift Shop rejects all hierarchy and embraces a pluralism of form that will liberate your soul!”

Transformer is located at 1404 P Street NW

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52 O Street Artist Open Studios. May 21-22. (Free)

With artist spaces (or the lack thereof) in the public debate, now is a good time to check out one of the city’s most successful set of studios. Since opening in 1978, the four story warehouse has played host to scores of arts working in a wide variety of mediums; today those include painters, fashion designers, goldsmiths, photographers, and sculptors. Meet some of them when they fling open the doors for this annual event.

52 O Street Artist Studios is, surprisingly, located at 52 O St NW. The building will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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Raise/Raze @ Dupont Underground. Runs through June 1. ($16.82, but sold out)

The opening installation in the Dupont Underground opens April 30, and you may recognize the decor: an art installation makes use of the more than 650,000 balls from the National Building Museum’s The Beach exhibition last summer. In Raise/Raze, the balls are glued together to form building blocks for five different zones underground, which visitors can take apart and put together using velcro. While the installation is definitely worth a visit, it is also your first chance to see what the Dupont Underground has become. The ticketed event is sold out, but you can still see our preview here and organizers say they are working on a way to open up more slots.

Dupont Underground is located at Dupont Circle, atop the Metro’s Red Line. Tickets are sold out for Raise/Raze through June 1st.

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Kaleidoscopes: 200 Years. Runs through June 4. (Free)

Kaleidoscopes, it turns out, are actually pretty young, for the art world anyway: just 200 years old. The Brewster Kaleidoscope Society marks the milestone with this exhibit at Strathmore, which showcases the optical instruments’ intricate artworks.

The Mansion at Strathmore is located at 10701 Rockville Pike.