Jazz in the Garden Returns This Weekend
Jazz in the Garden returns to the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden this weekend for its 19th season of a wide variety of jazz music from Brazilian folk, alternative modern, blues reggae and world steam punk to Afro funk, African fusion, Cuban charanga, Django guitar, New Orleans jazz and more. There is a 30-40 percent chance of thunderstorms through Monday, so if you will be outside enjoying the temperatures in the low-80s to 90 this weekend, keep an umbrella handy.
In preparation for the upcoming Metro shutdown south of National Airport all summer, there is work on five of the six subway lines this weekend with the Blue Line shut down completely and replaced by Yellow Line trains running between Franconia-Springfield and Greenbelt every 20 minutes. The Arlington Cemetery station will be closed with shuttle buses running from the cemetery to the Pentagon station. Yellow Line trains beginning at Huntington will single track between Braddock Road and the airport every 20 minutes, but to Mount Vernon Square ONLY. Red Line trains single track between Friendship Heights and Medical Center with trains operating every 16 minutes between Glenmont and Shady Grove and every 8 minutes from Silver Spring to Van Ness from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Orange Line trains single track between Cheverly and New Carrollton and run every 18 minutes. Silver Line trains will operate every 14 minutes and the Green Line will run on a regular weekend schedule.
Jazz in the Garden
Kick back and groove to the music with sangria in hand as Jazz in the Garden returns for its 19th season on Fridays throughout the summer, held in the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden. An eclectic mix of jazz musicians from the DMV lend a soundtrack to one of the city’s most idyllic scenes set around the sculpture garden’s central fountain. Take a picnic or buy food and drinks at the Pavilion Café or the carts outside. (No outside alcoholic beverages allowed.) This Friday’s concert is by Rob Curto’s Forro for All, which will play Brazilian folk jazz. Futurist will play alternative modern jazz on May 24 and Billy Price will perform blues and soul on May 31. Take This is a free seasonal tradition that you do not want to miss.
May 17 through Aug. 23 from 5-8:30 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden, Sixth and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Rirkrit Tiravanija: Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Green
For the first time, the Hirshhorn Museum presents the works of contemporary Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. The exhibit, Rirkrit Tiravanija: Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Green, turns the museum’s galleries into a communal dining space where visitors can enjoy curry and share a meal. A large-scale mural that will reference protests against Thai government policies will be drawn on the walls over the course of the exhibition. Documentary shorts from Thailand’s leading independent filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul curated exclusively for the Hirshhorn will also be shown throughout. The curry will be served Thursday–Sunday from 11:45 am–1:30 p.m. or until supplies last, every week during the run of the exhibition.
May 17 through July 24 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue and 7th Street SW. Admission is FREE!
Spring Wine Festival & Sunset Tour
This three-day celebration is sold out for Saturday, but you can still grab tickets for Friday and Sunday. Mount Vernon’s annual Spring Wine Festival & Sunset Tour includes tours of the property’s mansion and cellar, appearances by “George and Martha Washington” and live music by Sonyx on Friday, Bruce Ewan and the Solid Senders on Saturday and the David Bach Consort on Sunday on a beautiful lawn overlooking the Potomac River. You can also sample wines from 20 Virginia wineries. A fruit and cheese box is available for purchase to pair with your sips.
May 17-19 from 6-9 p.m. at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon. Tickets are $48 on Friday and $42 on Sunday.
JxJ
The Jewish CommunityCenter’s JxJ, which combines the former Washington Jewish Film Festival and the former Washington Jewish Music Festival with original cutting edge hybrid arts programming, continues this weekend throughout the city. The film festival, now 29 years old, offers a diverse lineup of international film premieres, panel discussions, Q&As and sneak previews shown at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Bethesda Row Cinema in Bethesda and E Street Cinema downtown D.C. The music festival celebrates its 20th year with international performances that will span classical, rock, jazz and much more at City Winery, the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center, Pearl Street Warehouse and Union Stage.
May 8-26 at various times and locations in D.C. and Maryland. Tickets are $13.50-$30 in advance and $16-$36 at the door.
Sooner/Later
Taking on romance, parenting, marriage and the metaphysical in one fell swoop, Sooner/Later is Mosaic Theater Company’s latest production. Nora is a single mother re-entering the dating scene with the help of her daughter, Lexie. After a series of bad dates, Griff, the dude at the local coffee shop who inadvertently witnessed Nora’s string of unsuccessful dates, emerges as a possible match – but of course, complications arise, including a foray into the spiritual realm.
May 15 through June 16 at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (except May 18) plus 7:30 p.m. May 20 and 11 a.m. May 17 and June 5 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20-$50.
Free Art Museum Day
The National Museum of Women in the Arts, the only major museum on the planet solely dedicated to celebrating the diverse achievements of women artists, opens its doors for free in honor of the Association of Art Museum Directors’ Free Art Museum Day. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to visit the museum without paying admission and enjoy stunning works by Frida Kahlo, Barbara Kruger and many others, as well as the new More is More: Multiples exhibit. In addition, the museum’s gift shop will offer a 10 percent discount on all items.
May 18 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Whistler in Watercolor
James McNeill Whistler, creator of the famous Peacock Room at the Freer Gallery of Art, was also a renowned painter of watercolors. With Whistler in Watercolor, the museum displays more than 50 of these pieces, including figures, landscapes, interiors and nocturnes, in this new exhibit that opens Saturday. Visitors can encounter the true breadth of Whistler’s artistic work when viewing these rarely seen paintings from the Freer’s collection, the world’s largest collection of Whistler’s watercolors.
May 18 through Oct. 6 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at Freer Gallery of Art, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Hawaiian Cultural Festival
See feather capes fit for royalty and martial artists practicing their moves at the Hawaiian Cultural Festival at the National Museum of the American Indian. The two-day event shines a spotlight on King Kamehameha, the leader who united the Hawaiian Islands in 1810 and earned the name “Kamehameha the Great.” Learn about the lua, traditional training for warriors as well as unique Hawaiian regalia. The action will happen in the museum’s Potomac Atrium and includes music, storytelling, kid-focused activities and scholarly presentations.
May 18 and 19 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
Colors
Italy’s Compagnia TPO and Teatro Metastasio bring this electric performance to the Kennedy Center’s Family Theater on Saturday and Sunday. Colors explores children’s perceptive, emotional and creative relationships to colors with a physical dance piece. A set featuring vibrant colors, fabrics, projections and sensors will support the movements on-stage. Performers will also interact with the audience, so kids may have a chance to get up onstage and interact with all of the colors themselves.
May 18 at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., and May 19 at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are $20.
The Peacock Room in Blue and White
Experience the Peacock Room at the Freer Gallery of Art in an entirely new light beginning Saturday. Blue and white Chinese porcelains and ceramics are arranged throughout the room, replicating its appearance when it served as the dining room of shipping magnate Frederick Leyland in London in 1876. For The Peacock Room in Blue and White, blue-and-white Chinese porcelains from the museum’s permanent collection dating to the Kangxi period fill the east and north walls of the room. On the south and west walls are 95 recently commissioned vases, bottles, jars and plates that were recently commissioned to fill the niches. James McNeill Whistler’s blue, green and gold patterns will combine with the blue and white colors to create the aesthetic harmony that the artist originally envisioned.
Beginning May 18 and ongoing from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Freer Gallery of Art, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Yoga on the Mall
For 14 years, the local yoga community has hosted the annual Yoga on the Mall to stretch it all out. There will be more than 20 yoga “pop-up experiences” hosted by local studios, including a yoga potluck, a singing bowl sound bath and family meditation from 10-11 a.m. The second hour is the main class, led by notable yogis from D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Remember to take your own mat.
May 19 from 10 a.m.-noon at the Lincoln Memorial. Participation is free, but donations are encouraged to cover costs.
Southeast Porchfest
With the popularity of Porchfest concerts in Adams Morgan and along Rhode Island Avenue NE, more and more of these events are sprouting up across D.C. neighborhoods. Southeast’s Hillcrest provides the houses and venues for Southeast Porchfest. The day kicks off with a kids party at Francis Gregory Library, featuring an elementary school drum line, nine-year-old DJ D Fire, face painting and crafts. Then hop around the neighborhood to catch a Bob Dylan cover band, live painting demonstrations, hip-hop and, of course, go-go. Remember to take your lawn chairs and walking shoes.
May 19 from noon-6 p.m. at various locations in Southeast’s Hillcrest neighborhood. Admission is FREE!
Ongoing events
All Work, No Pay from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. through February 2020 at the National Museum of American History, 1300 Constitution Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Animals, Collected from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.6 p.m. Sunday through Spring 2020 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Tickets are $7-$10.
LAST CHANCE! Annie Jump & the Library of Heaven at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NW. Tickets are $29.99 for adults and 19.99 for children and seniors.
The American Revolution: A World War from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through July 9 at the National Museum of American History, 1300 Constitution Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Americans from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through 2022 at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975 from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Aug. 18 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Baseball Americana from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday through July 27 at the Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. SE. Admission is FREE!
Capital Harvest on the Plaza from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Fridays through Nov. 22 at the Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Celebrating New American Gardens from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through Oct. 15 at the U.S. Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
The Children at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 2 p.m. and Sunday and 7 p.m. Sunday through June 2 at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW. Tickets are $20-$97.
Daguerreotypes: Five Decades of Collecting from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through June 2 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice across Asia from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Nov. 29, 2020 at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Enrico David: Gradations of Slow Release from 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. daily through Sept. 2 at the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue SW and Seventh Street SW. Admission is FREE!
LAST CHANCE! Evicted from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through May 19 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Admission is FREE!
Eye to I: Self-Portraits from 1900 to Today from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Aug. 18 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Fame, the Musical at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through June 9 at the GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $30-$80.
Flickering Treasures from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Oct. 14 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for seniors ages 60 and older, youth ages 3-17 and students. Children 2 and younger are FREE!
Game Change: Elephants from Prey to Preservation from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Feb. 1, at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
A Glimpse of Ancient Yemen from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Aug. 18 at the Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
God of Carnage at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through May 23 at Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets are $20-$50.
Good as Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Sept. 29 at the National Museum of African Art, 950 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Hoops from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 5 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for youth ages 3-17, students with ID and seniors ages 60 and older.
In Mid-Sentence from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Mar. 8 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
In the Library: Frederick Douglass Family Materials from the Walter O. Evans Collection from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (closed Sunday) through June 14 at the National Gallery of Art, Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
LAST CHANCE! Into the Woods at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday through May 22 at Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $27-$81.
It’s Hip to Be Square: The Mint Family from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through Nov. 31 at the U.S. Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Love’s Labor’s Lost at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 7 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday through June 9 at the Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $42-$85.
More is More: Multiples from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday through Sept. 22 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for people 65 and older and students, and children 18 and younger are FREE!
Nature’s Best Photography from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through September at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
LAST CHANCE! One Year: 1968, An America Odyssey from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. through May 19 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Outbreak from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through 2021 at the National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Perfume & Seduction from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday through June 9 at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for college students, $5 for children 6-18 and children younger than 6 are FREE!
Portraits of the World: Korea from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Nov. 17 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Postmen of the Skies: Celebrating 100 Years of Airmail Service from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through May 27 at the National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Admission is FREE!
Queens of Egypt from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through Sept. 2 at the National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, students and military, $10 for children 5-12 and children younger than 5 are FREE!
Recent Acquisitions from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Nov. 3 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. through Jan. 3, 2021, at the National Archives, 701 Constitution Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 31 at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are $12.71-$21.21 online or $14.95-$24.95 at the door.
Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Oct. 20 at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 950 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Sea Monsters Unearthed, Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through 2020 at the National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Section 14: The Other Palm Springs, California from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through January at the National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
Shaping Clay in Ancient Iran from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through September at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Subodh Gupta: Terminal from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through 2020 at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Superheroes from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. through Sept. 2 at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 1300 Constitution Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Tiffany Chung: Vietnam, Past Is Prologue from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Sept. 2 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Tosca at 7 p.m. May 20 and 25, 2 p.m. May 19 and 7 p.m. May 17 and 20 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are $35-$300.
Watching Oprah: The Oprah Winfrey Show and American Culture from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through June at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, 1400 Constitution Ave. NW. Admission is FREE, but timed passes are required.
The Way of the Kami from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. through Nov. 1 at the Freer Gallery of Art, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Welcome to the New World from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Spring 2019 at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are $24.95 for adults, $19.95 for seniors 65 years and older, $14.95 for youth from 7-18 at the door with a 15 percent discount when purchased online. Children 6 and younger are FREE!
What Absence Is Made Of from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through the summer of 2019 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.