14 Things to Do This Weekend in the DMV
Saturday looks like it is going to be rainy and cold, but Sunday is looking good. Luckily, most of the events this weekend are inside, so you’ll stay warm and dry.
Metro is going to be a mess this weekend with the Yellow Line operating every 15 minutes between Huntington and National Airport ONLY due to work on the bridge over the Potomac River. To add insult to injury, Yellow Line trains will not operate at all between 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sunday for an emergency drill with Blue Line trains running between Huntington and Largo Town Center and buses replacing trains between Franconia-Springfield, Van Dorn Street and Eisenhower Avenue stations. Blue Line trains will run every 15 minutes all weekend. Orange Line trains will single track between West Falls Church and Vienna every 30 minutes. Silver Line trains will operate every 15 minutes. Red Line trains will single track between Medical Center and Twinbrook with trains operating every 30 minutes between Shady Grove and Glenmont with additional trains between Farragut North and Glenmont from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Green Line trains will operate on a regular weekend schedule.
Subodh Gupta: Terminal
A new large-scale installation from internationally appreciated artist Subodh Gupta resides in the Sackler Pavilion. Terminal is made from towers of brass containers often found in India that are connected by thread, creating a glimmering landscape. The spires within the installation range from one to 15 feet tall, reminding one of architectural features found on churches, temples and mosques.
Daily through 2020 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt
Although cats are great for internet memes now, felines were spiritual beings in ancient Egyptian times and associated with divinities, as revealed in Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt. Cat coffins and representations of the cat-headed goddess Bastet are among the extraordinary objects that reveal felines’ critical role in ancient Egyptian religious, social and political life. Dating from the Middle Kingdom to the Byzantine Period, this exclusive exhibit mines the importance of the cat in society, including their status in religious and political life. You will see more than 80 works in the display, from statues and amulets to household items made to look like felines.
Daily from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. through Jan. 15 at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Beautiful Blooms: Flowering Plants on Stamps
The National Postal Museum highlights the role of the flowering plant on U.S. postage stamps over the last 50 years in its new exhibit, Beautiful Blooms: Flowering Plants on Stamps. See developmental and final artwork that shows how important design artwork is to the completion and production of a postage stamp. Common artistic themes, like the relationship between flowering plants and bees, will also be explored in the exhibit.
Daily through July 14 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Admission is FREE!
Tamayo: The New York Years
Tamayo: The New York Years examines the incredible influences between the work of Rufino Tamayo and the American art scene with 41 of his pieces, a first for a major museum. Tamayo was a Mexican artist who lived in New York City off and on for almost three decades, composing Modernist paintings that incorporated Mexican subjects into urban and dreamlike settings, as well as a series of animal paintings that receive a special focus in the exhibit. See how Tamayo was inspired by American artists like Jackson Pollock, and how the Mexican painter became a symbol of a 20th century shift in American art.
Nov. 3-Mar. 18 from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying American Workers
The work of famous artists like Winslow Homer, Dorothea Lange, Elizabeth Catlett and Lewis Hine will be on display in The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying American Workers, a new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. The face of the American laborer has undergone radical change over time, and this development will be showcased across several genres of art. Roughly 75 pieces will be on display, from child and slave laborers to miners, railway and steel workers, to the modern gradual disappearance of the worker. highlighting the gradual change of the labor landscape in America.
Daily from Nov. 3-Sept. 3, 2018, from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Korean Film Festival
Freer|Sackler’s annual Korean Film Festival launches Friday with a special after-hours event with a curator-led tour of the newly installed gallery of Korean art from 6-7 p.m. Enjoy free Korean bites from Esther’s Kitchen, a cash bar featuring signature cocktails from Tortoise and Hare and a K-pop dance party with Bae Bae from 5:30-9 p.m.. At 7:30 pm, catch a special screening of Okja, Bong Joon-ho’s dystopian comedy about a race to engineer the perfect genetically modified pig, followed by a live video Q&A with the director.
Nov. 3 from 5:30-9 p.m. at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Scott Kelly: A Year in Space
Smithsonian Associates bring astronaut Scott Kelly to town for Scott Kelly: A Year in Space, a conversation with NPR science correspondent Joe Palca. Kelly has participated in four space flights and holds the American record for most consecutive days spent in space. With his new book, Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery, guiding the way, Kelly will share stories and experiences that you will not hear anywhere else including what it feels like to be launched in a rocket, what happens to your body in zero gravity and what happens when you get a toothache 250 miles above Earth. He will also recount his year aboard the International Space Station, his childhood in New Jersey and what sparked his career, which changed his trajectory from an unfocused, below-average student to a record-setting astronaut.
Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st Street NW. Tickets are $25 for Smithsonian Associates members or $45 with an autographed book and $35 for non-members or $55 with a signed copy of the book.
Community Day
The National Museum of African History kicks off its new permanent exhibit, Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts with a Community Day on Saturday with games, storytelling, music, face painting, stilt walkers, henna tattoos and more. The new display features more than 300 works of art with broad thematic connections between African artworks from across the range of time, place and medium across seven rooms. Tours will be given by curator Kevin Dumouchelle at noon, 1 and 2:30 p.m. Visitors can create a folded accordion book between 11 a.m.-2 p.m., there will be a Q&A with award-winning authors and illustrators from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and you can meet the authors and get their books signed from 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Nov. 4 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 950 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Christmas Markets
The Czech Republic and Slovakia embassies both hold their Christmas markets on Saturday. The two embassies, located a mile apart in Van Ness, will have vendors selling glass ornaments, textiles, crystals, jewelry and wine, as well as children singing traditional carols. Each also promises holiday cookies and mulled wine, and the Czech Republic will have a nativity scene with live animals.
Nov. 4 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.at the Czech Republic Embassy, 3900 Spring of Freedom Lane NW and from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.at the Slovak Republic Embassy, 3523 International Court NW. Admission to both are FREE!
College Park Blues Festival
Lady D & the Rogue Johnsen Trio took first place in the D.C. Blues Society’s recent Battle of the Bands, while Patty Reese and Dave Chappell were named the best duo. Both earned spots at the annual International Blues Challenge in Memphis next year. The only downside? They have to pay their own way. To help out, the D.C. Blues Society is turning the 10th annual College Park Blues Festival into a “Memphis or Bust!” fundraiser with performance by both winners, the District’s Bad Influence Band and Colorado’s Lionel Young Band, which won the International Blues Challenge in 2011. The event also features vendors and a craft beer garden.
Nov. 4 from 6-11 p.m. at the University of Maryland’s Ritchie Coliseum, 7675 Baltimore Ave., College Park. Admission and parking are FREE!
Alcina
This tale of Alcina, a sorceress who, when tired of her subjects, turns them into stone or beasts from the Washington National Opera, will bring all kinds of magic to the Kennedy Center starting this Saturday. Handel’s baroque opera also concerns the knight Ruggiero, who has the power to overcome Alcina’s cruelty in this tale of enchantment, seduction and fantasy.
Nov. 4, 6 and 11 at 7 p.m., Nov. 8, 11, 14 and 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are $69-$195.
Words, Beats and Life Festival
Local nonprofit organization Words, Beats and Life sponsors this celebration of hip-hop culture. The day starts with a three-on-three break dancing competition featuring B-boy and B-girl teams from across the country, with finalists going head-to-head on the Millennium Stage at 6 p.m. Throughout the day, 30 local artists will create graffiti-inspired works of art while DJ Vico Vibez spins music to get their creative juices flowing. Food trucks will be on site all day.
Nov. 5 from noon-7 p.m. at the The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. Admission is FREE!
Del Ray Halloween Parade
Live music, pets in costume and spooky decorated homes make up the 21st Del Rey Halloween Parade, which was rained out last Sunday. The parade begins at Mount Vernon Avenue south of East Bellefonte Street and proceeds to the Mount Vernon Recreation Center fields at Commonwealth Avenue. Children, pets and strollers are invited to march and show off their finest and scariest Halloween garb. At the fields, goodie bags will be handed out with free hot dogs, apple cider and cookies. Mars Rodeo will perform and there will be games and activities for the kids.
Nov. 5 at 2 pm. Starting at Mount Vernon Avenue and East Bellefonte Street and finishing at the mount Vernon Rec Center fields, 2701 Commonwealth Ave., Alexandria. Admission is FREE!
On-Going Events
Ai Weiwei: Trace from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. through Jan. 1, 2018, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
Anthony and Cleopatra through Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $35-$79.
Architecture of an Asylum: St. Elizabeths 1852-2017 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 15, 2018, at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for seniors, students and children.
The Book of Mormon through Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are $59-$229.
The First Lady of Song: Ella Fitzgerald at 100 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through April 2, 2018, at the National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
The Faces of Battle: Americans at War, 9/11 to Now from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Jan. 28, 2018, at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Fantasy in Japan Blue daily through Nov. 12 from 10 a.m.-closing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Perform Arts’ Hall of Flags, 2700 F St. NW. Admission is FREE!
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: The Utopian Projects from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Mar. 4, 2018, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Marlene Dietrich: Dressed for the Image from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Apr. 15, 2018, at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death daily from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Renwick Gallery, 1700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Pajama Game through Dec. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Tickets are $50-$99.
Parallax Gap from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. daily through Feb. 11, 2018, at the Renwick Gallery, Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street NW. Admission is FREE!
Rick Araluce: The Final Stop daily through Jan. 28 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Renwick Gallery, 1700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry daily through Jan. 21 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
What Absence Is Made Of daily through the summer of 2019 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 7th 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.