The National Museum of African American History and Culture is due to open to the public Sept. 24. (Photo by Michael Barnes, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)
Grand Opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration runs from September 23-25; the museum opens September 24. (Free)
Even if you didn’t snag a timed pass to visit the museum during its opening weekend, there will be plenty of other activities at Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration on the Washington Monument Grounds. This three-day festival will include musical performances, spoken word, oral history activities, evening concerts, a drum circle, storytelling, and interactive workshops from artists representing the histories and traditions of the African diaspora. Friday events run from 12 to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday events run from 12 to 9 p.m.
The Washington Monument grounds are located on the National Mall at Constitution Avenue and 15th Street NW.
Washington-area arts patrons benefit from a city full of free museums, but there are still institutions that require an admission fee. On September 24, a number of museums that normally charge will participate in the Smithsonian’s 12th annual Museum Day Live! These include the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Koshland Science Museum, Dumbarton House, the National Building Museum, the Newseum, and the Kreeger Museum.
Saturday, September 24 at participating institutions.
Artists in Conversation: Alison Saar @ National Museum of Women in the Arts. Artist talk on Tuesday, September 6 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. ($25 or $15 for members, seniors, and students; reservations required; includes light refreshments). Exhibit runs through October 2 ($10 or $8 for members, seniors, and students).
Join printmaker and sculptor Alison Saar in conversation about her current exhibit in the second and third floor galleries at NMWA. She’ll discuss her background, artistic process, and work in this show. Saar’s woodcut prints and wood sculptures often allude to the spiritual. They offer critiques of cultural stereotypes and depict people interacting with evocative objects such as snakes, frying pans, and knives. If you want to see the exhibit for free, go this Sunday, September 4 from 12 to 5 p.m. for their monthly Free Community Day.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is located at 1250 New York Ave NW.
(Courtesy of the Hirshhorn)
Robert Irwin’s All the Rules Will Change @ the Hirshhorn. Closes September 5. (Free)
This is your last chance to see installation artist Robert Irwin’s retrospective exhibit, the first museum survey devoted to his work from the 1960s. The show includes a historical survey of work from 1958 to 1970 (which includes abstract paintings, large sculptural pieces, and ephemeral installations) as well as a major new commission for which Irwin created an immersive installation in response to the museum’s architecture.
The Hirshhorn is located on the National Mall at the corner of 7th Street and Independence Avenue SW.
Art + Science: Digital Doppelgängers @ the Hirshhorn. Thursday, September 29 at 6:30 p.m. (Free)
The Suspended Animation exhibit at the Hirshhorn runs through February, but this fall, the Hirshhorn hosts Art + Science, a three part lecture series that furthers the aesthetic discourse with artists and research scientists who will investigate humanity and identity in the digital world. In September, artist Josh Kline and Stanford professor Matthias Niessner discuss face substitution, digital reality, and real-time video manipulation.
The Hirshhorn is located on the National Mall at the corner of 7th Street and Independence Avenue SW.
Laurel Hausler’s Strawberry Moon @ Morton Fine Art. Opens Friday, September 23 from 6 to 8 p.m.; Exhibit runs through October 6. (Free.)
Local painter Laurel Hausler has been a DCist favorite since 2008; see our previous coverage of her work with a studio visit and interview. Hausler’s paintings are beautiful, romantic, ghostly, and a little bit twisted. Don’t miss this chance to see her new work in person at the opening reception at Morton Fine Art on September 23.
Morton Fine Art is located at 1781 Florida Ave NW.
Nicole Salimbene’s Mending @ Flashpoint Gallery. Opens September 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. Exhibit runs through October 15. (Free)
D.C. artist Nicole Salimbene’s work stems from the practice of mindfulness, applying it to the act of threading a single needle. The exhibit encourages the viewer to contemplate the stitch-by-stitch process and explores meditation and mending as art medium, metaphor, and practice. Featuring thousands of threaded needles and tangled sculptural masses of thread, the work also fosters interaction through a table reminiscent of a tea ceremony where audiences are encouraged to thread their own needles and add to the work.
Flashpoint Gallery is located at 915 G Street NW.
If I Ran the Zoo: Dr. Seuss Unorthodox Taxidermy Show @Huckleberry Fine Art. September 9-11. (Free)
Throughout his 60-year career, Theodor Geisel created hundreds of political cartoons and advertisements, but we best know him as Dr. Seuss, author of The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and other fantastical childhood classics. Yet Geisel kept some of his most personal art work a secret, asking his wife Audrey to keep these under wraps under after his death. The North Bethesda gallery Huckleberry Fine Art is one of the few North American venues to exhibit Geisel’s series of sculptures called Unorthodox Taxidermy, with individual pieces called “The Carbonic Walrus,” “The Two-Horned Drouberhannis,” and the “Goo-Goo-Eyed Tasmanian Wolghast,” Stay tuned for a preview of this show, and a rare look at the Seuss you never knew, next week.
Huckleberry Fine Art is located at 12051 Nebel Street, Rockville, MD 20852
