Didito, Candomble Ceremony, 1992. Acrylic on canvas, 19 x 27 in. Courtesy of Con/Vida – Popular Arts of the Americas c Didito. Image: Paul Primeau.

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Summer Shows @ the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center. Exhibit through August 14. Young Patron’s Reception July 28 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and costs $10 per person, or Free for museum members.

American University’s summer shows are required viewing; see our review of the fascinating show Contemporary North Korean Art: The Evolution of Socialist Realism (here). And if you want to mix art with Brazilian food, you can do that too. Next month’s Young Patron’s event is in honor of the exhibit, Bandits & Heroes, Poets & Saints: Popular Art of the Northeast of Brazil, which includes paintings, sculpture, audio, video, and educational material that demonstrates the blending of African and Portuguese cultures in Northeastern Brazil.

The American University Museum is on the campus of American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW.

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Smithsonian Folklife Festival @ The National Mall. Runs from June 29 to July 4 and July 7 to July 10. (Free)

This year’s Folklife Festival highlights the Basque culture of northern Spain and the Sounds of California. While the latter focuses on music rather than visual arts, there’s plenty to see in the Basque area. Master artisans will demonstrate ironwork, stone carving, painting, pottery, weaving, and more. Painter Jesus Maria Lazkano will create two eighteen-by-seven-foot canvases, potter Blanka Gomez de Segura will give hands-on pottery workshops using terra cotta clay, stone carver Bernat Vidal will carve a traditional coat-of-arms design in a 550-pound stone from Basque country, and Olga Uribe Salaberria will demonstrate weaving techniques. Check the schedule for times and dates for the demonstrations.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival takes place on the National Mall between Madison and Jefferson Streets NW and 4th and 7th Streets NW.

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Friday Gallery Talk on Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree for Washington @ The Hirshhorn with Curator Stéphane Aquin. July 1 at 12:30 p.m. (Free)

You may hate Yoko Ono for her influence on John Lennon, but her career as a performance artist should not be ignored. Head to the Hirshhorn this Friday to hear Chief Curator Stéphane Aquin discuss Ono’s participatory Wish Tree for Washington, which allows visitors to hang their wishes each year in the Hirshhorn’s sculpture garden. Wish Tree will be at the Hirshhorn from July 1 through Labor Day.

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Sound Scene IX: Sculpting Sound @ the Hirshhorn. July 9 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Free)

If you’re more into interactive art installations and sound games, head to the Hirshhorn next Saturday, when the sculpture garden will be transformed into a one-day-only sonic playground by local artist collective DC Listening Lounge. Capture your personal sound signature, take an audio tour of the museum, improvise a song with the Hirshhorn plaza fountain, and embark on a choose-your-own audio adventure. One featured installation even lets you shift sand with the sound of your voice.

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

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EXILE Books @ Transformer. Opening reception July 7 from 6 to 8 p.m. Artist talk with Nora Halpern on July 9 at 2 p.m. Exhibits runs through August 20. (Free)

This summer, the tiny Transformer gallery is hosting Miami-based EXILE books founder Amanda Keeley, who coincidentally ran Yoko Ono’s studio for nine years before launching EXILE. The show at Transformer highlights artists’ books and publications that focus on the intersection of art and writing, and is staged as a cross between an installation, a bookstore, and a critical art discourse lab.

Transformer is located at 1404 P Street, NW.

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Artist talk with Christie Neptune @ Hamiltonian Gallery. July 12 at 7 p.m. Exhibit runs through July 30. (Free)

Christie Neptune’s current exhibit at the Hamiltonian, She Fell From Normalcy, is the final installment of her series Eye Of The Storm. The exhibit uses writing and video to build a world stripped of the limitations of race, gender and class, particularly focused on how the system of whiteness affects the emotional and mental health of people of color. For the talk, the artist will discuss her work in conversation with Rhea L. Combs, PhD, Curator of Film and Photography at Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Hamiltonian Gallery is located at 1353 U Street NW.

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Artist Talk with Nicholas Shi @ Anacostia Community Museum. July 10 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Local artist Nicholas Shi’s work mixes the bright colors of Central America with simplicity of traditional Chinese painting and the boldness of contemporary American art. Shi will show examples of his work and talk about his artistic process.

The Anacostia Community Museum is located at 1901 Fort Place SE.

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Eames Armstrong’s Fog @ The 2016 Arts in Foggy Bottom Outdoor Sculpture Biennial. Performance on July 15 at 7 p.m. Exhibit runs through October 22. (Free)

If you haven’t checked out this year’s Arts in Foggy Bottom Outdoor Sculpture exhibit, head to the neighborhood on the evening of July 15th to catch a site-specific performance by Eames Armstrong. The exhibit features sculptures, new media installation, and performance art by fourteen artists, many of whom are local, and turns the front yards of private homes between 24th and 26th Streets NW, and H and K Streets NW into a fascinating and diverse sculpture exhibit. Armstrong’s performance, Fog, examines history and memory by writing text on brick paths using only a paintbrush and water.

For the performance of Fog, meet at 842 New Hampshire Avenue NW (at the yellow house on the corner of New Hampshire Avenue and I St. NW).