AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM

800 Key Highway
Baltimore
410-244-1900
avam.org

· Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity! — AVAM’s 19th original thematic exhibition is a timely and playful examination of the serious impact of technology on our lives, as seen through the eyes of 40+ visionary artists, cutting edge futurists, and inventors. (Through 8/31/14)
· A Very Visionary Star-Spangled Sidewalk — An installation, intended to be fun and informative, going up right on the public pavement running alongside the museum’s historic Federal Hill location in conjunction with Maryland’s “Star Spangled 200” National Bicentennial. (Through 9/30/14)
. The Visionary Experience: Saint Francis to Finster — American Visionary Art Museum’s 20th original exhibition champions life’s grand “Aha!” and “Eureka!” moments, held in common by Earth’s most dynamic and intuitive “evolutionaries:” inventors, scientists, America’s founding fathers, dreamers and saints; each touched by some lightening bolt of greater understanding, insight, grace and muse. (10/4/2014-8/30/2015)

ARTHUR M. SACKLER GALLERY

1050 Independence Ave. SW
202-633-4800
asia.si.edu

· Perspectives: Chiharu Shiota – The Japanese performance and installation artist brings a unique work to the Sackler pavilion, amassing mementos of persons lost and past moments in history through Shiota’s collection of discarded shoes and notes (8/30-6/7/15)

ARTISPHERE

1101 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington
703-875-1100
artisphere.com

· Art on the Art Bus: Maribeth Egan — In a rather unusual installation, Artisphere is offering a bus ride from Court House metro to Ballston, with artist Maribeth Egan showcasing her works to passengers and an after-ride reception at Republic Bar and Kitchen waiting at the destination. (Through 9/3)

THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART

10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore
443-573-1700
artbma.org

· On Paper: Figure Drawings from the Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection – Culling from more than 140 drawings by a variety of international artists in the Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection, this intimate exhibit features ten of the finest examples of drawings of the human figure, examining the varying approaches artists take in its depiction. (Through 9/14)

CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART

500 17th St. NW
202-639-1700
corcoran.org

· Mark Tribe: Plein Air — An exhibition of aerial landscapes, or computer-simulated images. Mark Tribe alters perceptions with his images that present landscapes from a “drone’s eye view” (Through 9/28)
· American Metal: The Art of Albert Paley – One of the world’s most distinguished metalsmiths, the exhibition traces the half-century career of Paley, from jewelry to large-scale sculpture (Through 9/28)

FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY

201 East Capitol St. SE
202-544-7077
folger.edu

· Symbols of Honor: Heraldry and Family History in Shakespeare’s England — An exhibition documenting the craze for coats of arms in Elizabethan England, a time when newly wealthy and successful families were eager to display their status — and when modern genealogy took root (Through 10/26)
· Elizabethan Garden Tour –- Explore Folger’s garden, filled with plants from the time of Shakespeare, inspired by references in the Bard’s works (Through 10/26)

HIRSHHORN MUSEUM & SCULPTURE GARDEN

Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW
202-633-1000
hirshhorn.si.edu

· Salvatore Scarpitta: Traveler — In the first solo showing of his work in the U.S. for a decade, Scarpitta’s postwar sculptures focus on linking art and racing, creating shaped canvases, hand-built car models and sleds (Though 1/11)
· Black Box: Oliver Laric — Video exhibition examining the notions of authenticity and individual authorship, from Disney’s reuse of character animations to a photoshopped publicity photo of an Iranian missile launch (Through 10/5)

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Thomas Jefferson Building
10 First St. SE
202-707-8000
loc.gov/exhibits/

· Herblock Gallery – Every six months the library presents a selection of 10 cartoons demonstrating the value of the late Washington Post editorial cartoonist’s pointed commentaries on the state of affairs (Ongoing)
· A Thousand Years of the Persian Book – Celebrating a millennium of the Persian language, with a selection of manuscripts and publications documenting its rich history and literary traditions (Through 9/20)

NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

Independence Ave at 6th St. SW
202-633-2214
airandspace.si.edu

· The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age – The 1903 Wright Flyer, the world’s first successful airplane, serves as the centerpiece of this exhibition (Ongoing)

NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM

401 F St. NW
202-272-2448
nbm.org

· House & Home — A long-term exhibition surveys houses both familiar and surprising, through past and present – including a same-sex couple – challenging ideas about what it means to live at home in America (Through May 2017)
· The BIG Maze — This maple plywood structure soars approximately 18 feet high and measures 60 feet by 60 feet. You can wind through the maze on the ground floor of the Great Hall and gain an aerial perspective from the second- and third-floor balconies (Through 9/1)
· Investigating Where We Live – An exhibition examining what defines Washington D.C., as told by local teenagers through art, photography and writing (Through 6/7/15)

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

3rd Street and Constitution Avenue NW
202-737-4215
nga.gov

· The Color of Nature – Fifteen examples of the more than 200 landscape watercolors donated to the National Gallery in the last decade, featuring beautiful landscapes as envisaged by the European artists who painted them (Through 9/14)
· Preservation and Loss During World War II –- A fascinating exhibition documenting the efforts undertaken by both sides during the war to preserve and evacuate works of art, told through photographs depicting those pieces lost to war and those safely removed from harm’s way. (Through 9/26)
· Degas/Cassatt – An exhibition celebrating the affinity between Cassatt and Degas, with the former commenting that the latter’s art “changed [her] life” (Through 10/5)

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MUSEUM

1145 17th St. NW
202-857-7700
ngmuseum.com

· Mars Up Close — Transport yourself to the surface of the red planet, with an exhibition featuring the latest stunning images of Mars’ surface as captured by the Curiosity rover. Explore full-scale models of the various rovers that have visited the planet and learn more about ongoing scientific experiments and the search for life on Mars (Through 11/30)
· Peruvian Gold: Ancient Treasures Unearthed – Ancient Peruvian society produced some incredible examples of objects and trinkets laden with gold, a celebration of the wealth of certain people at the time. Explore craftsmanship that could rival anything produced in ancient Egypt (Through 9/14)

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY

1400 Constitution Ave. NW
202-633-1000
americanhistory.si.edu

· American Stories – The American History museum’s newest signature exhibition features an engaging mix of artifacts telling the various stories of the country’s history, from the Pilgrims’ arrival to the historic 2008 election (Ongoing)
· The Early Sixties: American Culture –- A celebration of early ‘60s culture, featuring objects that showcased the clash between traditions and norms and the growing counterculture and community freedom. (Through 12/14)

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
202-633-1000
mnh.si.edu

· Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code — A review of the $3 billion effort to sequence the human genome (Through 9/1)
· The Census of Marine Life: A Decade of Discovery — A review of the most comprehensive inventory of known marine life every compiled and catalogued, which culminated in 2010 (Indefinite)

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

Independence Avenue and 4th Street SW
202-633-1000
nmai.si.edu

· Ceramica de los Ancestros: Central America’s Past Revealed – Ceramics made over the past 3,000 years, plus works made from gold, jade, shell and stone, illustrate the region’s richness, complexity and dynamic qualities (Through February 2015)

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS

1250 New York Ave NW.
2020-783-5000
nmwa.org

· Total Art: Contemporary Video – Women artists helped pioneer the concept of video art in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and this exhibition examines the inventive processes that helped sustain the position of women as leaders in the art of video, through immersive, experimental and often elaborate works (Through 10/12)

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

F and 8th Streets NW
202-633-1000
npg.si.edu

· Face Value: Portraiture In The Age Of Abstraction — Chuck Close, Alice Neel, Elaine de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol are just some of the well-known mid-20th century artists who defied the prevailing style of the day to focus on the face and figure, and in the process reinvented portraiture for the next generation (Through 1/11/15)

NEWSEUM

555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
888-NEWSEUM
newseum.org

· Make Some Noise: Students and the Civil Rights Movement — Exploring the new generation of student leaders that emerged in the 1960s to fight against segregation and for civil rights, from John Lewis, now a U.S. representative from Georgia, to Julian Bond, a former chair of the NAACP (Through 2015)
· G-Men and Journalists – Given public scrutiny of the FBI and CIA, a somewhat timely exhibit examines the tumultuous relationship between the FBI and news media, through a collection of photographs, newspapers and interactive displays (Through 1/4/15)

THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION

1600 21st St. NW
202-387-2151
phillipscollection.org

· The Journals of Duncan Phillips – An exhibition of excerpts from museum founder Duncan Phillips’ journals, including his writings on art, literature, foreign vacations and the dreams he held for the museum that would bear his name. A fascinating insight into one man’s passion for art (Through 2/27/15)

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

8th and F Streets NW
202-633-7970
americanart.si.edu

· Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image — Video and time-based artwork is the focus here, with a rotating collection that showcases the complexities of space and time both structurally and conceptually, representing multiple-media technologies that artists have engaged with since the 1960s (Through 2/15/15)

U.S. BOTANIC GARDEN

100 Maryland Ave. SW
202-225-8333
usbg.gov

· This Land is Your Land – A celebration of the diversity and beauty of the flora of the United States, as captured by the female photographers from the Garden Club of America, covering every region from mountain to plain (Through 10/13)

Correction: A previous version incorrectly stated some of the showings at the National Portrait Gallery. Metro Weekly apologizes for this error.