America by Air, the newest permanent gallery opened by The National Air and Space Museum, encompasses the entire history of flight and air travel in the United States, starting in 1914 and leading up to today. We know what you’re thinking, “Isn’t that what the whole museum is about?” And yes…it is. So Air and Space has managed to create an exhibit that is, in fact, a microcosm of itself, which is so damn postmodern…

The newest exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is not exactly a headliner for the museum, seeing as it is housed in just one small room inside an already existing exhibit. Despite not receiving top billing, Discovering Rastafari has made the absolute most of of its limited allotment, filling it to the brim with the colorful images and stories of a vibrant faith. The exhibit’s hand-painted sign draws you in, clashing with…

Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave These days, we are not used to seeing reminders of war in our everyday lives. With a new exhibit that opened this weekend, the Smithsonian American Art Museum takes us back to a time when it would have been hard to forget, even for a moment, that we had soldiers dying overseas. Over the Top is a collection of American posters created during World War I to advertise so-called…

Written by Morgan Hargrave It is usually not a good sign when a museum’s first display details how popular it used to be. It seems the National Museum of Health and Medicine is decades removed from its glory days, when it was called the Army Medical Museum and resided in a series of more prestigious locations around D.C. It attracted between 450,000 and 765,000 visitors per year during the 1960s before being moved away from…

Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave Museum exhibits are usually necessarily limited in focus, attempting depth rather than breadth. The few that are not so restrained tend to overwhelm their patrons, losing them in an ambush of Too Much Information. Yet the National Museum of the American Indian has managed to avoid this pitfall in three exhibits that aim to define the entire histories, cultures, and guiding philosophies of indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere….

Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave It is entirely possible that the only people who visit the National Building Museum are intrepid tourists who have strayed from the Mall, or perhaps those only there to count the ridiculous number of columns in the Great Hall. It would be a shame if this were actually true, since the NBM has plenty to offer. Of particular note for tourists and locals alike is an exhibit, Washington: Symbol…