+Added July 11: The National Capital Cactus and Succulent Society will have a Cactus Show on Saturday & Sunday, August 2 & 3 in the Brookside Gardens Visitors Center Auditorium. For more information about the Cactus & Succulent Society, visit www.washington-dc.cactus-society.org/
Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland is exhibiting the Summer Conservatory Display – Some Like it Hot! through September 21 in the north house of the Conservatory. The setting suggests the tropics of South America and Asia and features colorful plants that thrive in heat and humidity.
The annual Wings of Fancy- World of Flight, Live Butterfly Exhibitis on display at Brookside Gardens through September 21. Asian, Costa Rican and North American butterflies fly freely among tropical flowering nectar plants in this international exhibit. Please note that the exhibit may close during extreme heat advisories or during emergencies. The ‘Wings of Fancy’ Hotline is 301.962.1453
A 'Wild Horses' Daylily in front and a yellow, spider daylily named 'Kindly Light' behind it - Photo courtesy of the The National Capital Daylily Club - Click to enlarge
The U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) is exhibiting One Planet – Ours! Sustainability for the 22nd Century, now through October 13. The annual summer exhibition focuses on how sustainability applies to gardens and the landscape. An exhibit titled “Cool Globes” ties the exhibition themes together using over 40 sculptures of "whole-earth" solutions.
The USBG will have a Family Day, featuring the theme of the exhibition titled One Planet - Ours! on Saturday August 16. Visitors can hear native stories about plants, help to create a straw bale house, learn how to cook with sunshine, identify an invasive plant from home, make a hand-held wind turbine, learn about sustainable and green garden design, and meet experts on “sustainability.” Visit www.usbg.gov/education/events/index.cfm
The USBG is exhibiting Medicinal Plant Traditions of the KwaZulu-Natal through November 23. More than 80% of the people in South Africa rely on their local medicinal plants, most of which are collected in the wild, while some are cultivated. The exhibition features a traditional Zulu market scene, where whole plants, fruits, seeds, stems, roots, leaves, and bark are offered for sale.
An image from the exhibition of China’s Forgotten Fleet: Voyages of Zheng He - Comparison of one of the Ming Treasure ships, measuring approximately 400 feet long, to one used by European explorer Vasco de Gama, about 74 feet - courtesy of the National Geographic Magazine - Click to enlarge
The National Geographic Museum has been having exhibitions to complement the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. China’s Forgotten Fleet: Voyages of Zheng He, on view through September 7, tells the story of a great Chinese armada which sailed nearly a century before Christopher Columbus. Over three decades, the great Admiral Zheng led his fleet of ships to the South Pacific, Persian Gulf and Africa. The exhibition features objects, maps and ship models from two Chinese museums to explain Chinese navigation and shipbuilding methods.
Shaolin: Temple of Zen, featuring Photographs by Justin Guariglia, is on view through September 7. The photographer gained permission from the secretive warrior monks of the Temple, a Chinese Buddhist sect dedicated to preserving a form of Kung Fu, to create a record of their arts; the temple also marks the birthplace of Zen Buddhism. He photographed the monks in their 1,500-year-old Buddhist temple over the past eight years, and the exhibition includes video as well as still pictures.
+Added July 20: Odysseys and Photographs—Masters From the National Geographic Archives will be on exhibit at Explorers Hall in DC, August 13-January 4, 2009. It will be a behind-the-scenes look as four legendary photographer-explorers recorded their unique views of the 20th century and established the National Geographic tradition of photographic excellence. The work of Maynard Owen Williams features Greenland in the 1920s.Luis Marden’s work shows “a different side of the Caribbean.” Volkmar Wentzel recorded views of his travels to India. Tom Abercrombie photographed an evolving Middle East. Each photographer used his perspective and style to tell stories of a changing world. Visit www.ngmuseum.org
+Updated July 19: Woodrow Wilson House, Washington’s only Presidential museum, has extended the display of The Presidential Dish: Mrs. Woodrow Wilson and the White House China Room, through January 25, 2009. The exhibition celebrates the 90th anniversary of the creation of the unique room in the White House in 1917 by First Lady Edith Wilson (1872-1961). Visit www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org
Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens is exhibiting The President's Table: American Presidential China, in the F.M. Kirby Foundation Gallery through January 21, 2009. The exhibition showcases over 100 pieces of porcelain from the McNeil Americana Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The collection is one of the finest of its kind outside of the White House.
+Added July 7: Mount Vernon is giving away china through August 31! The event celebrates the ongoing exhibition titled “Setting the President’s Table: American Presidential China.” Visitors to the estate have a chance every day to win a reproduction of a piece of porcelain featuring the Martha Washington “States” pattern. With a retail value of $45, the popular reproduction is boxed with a Washington family recipe and a certificate of authenticity. The drawings take place daily at 3 p.m. in the Shops at Mount Vernon. A grand prize winner, whose name will be drawn on August 31, will receive an Entertainment Set valued at $750, courtesy of Woodmere China. The set will include a teapot, pedestal cake plate, creamer, sugar bowl, four cups and saucers, and four dessert plates.
A piece of china in Martha Washington's "States Pattern" - Image courtesy of Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens - click to enlarge
At center, President and Mrs. Reagan, who is wearing the yellow dress featured in the exhibition titled “Setting the President’s Table….” - Photo courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Library, and at left and right, the dress as it appears in the exhibition in The Donald W. Reynolds Museum at Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens - Click to enlarge
+Added July 16: The Donald W. Reynolds Museum at Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens has added an evening dress worn by former first lady Nancy Reagan to the exhibition titled Setting the President's Table: American Presidential China. The dress will be on display through January 21, 2009. Designed by James Galanos, the dress is a dark-yellow organza two-piece evening gown with a yellow snakeskin belt. The outfit was worn twice by the first lady during her husband’s presidency.
George Washington’s Distillery & Gristmill, which is three miles from the main Mount Vernon Estate, will be featured in events on Saturday & Sunday, August 9 & 10 marking the anniversary of the historic Whiskey Rebellion. The events will recall the time when Washington issued a proclamation that called out the militia to enforce federal taxes on whiskey production. There will be re-enactments and tours of the Gristmill and Distillery, where costumed workers can be seen operating the equipment. Visitors can taste food made from cornmeal, and purchase meal ground at the Gristmill. There will also be a recreation of a military encampment, militia drilling, music, open-hearth cooking, and more. Visit www.mountvernon.org/calendar/index.cfm/fuseaction/event/calID/157/
The Folger Shakespeare Library is exhibiting Now Thrive the Armorers: Arms and Armor in Shakespeare’s Time in the Great Hall through September 9. Shakespeare's works “are filled with arms and armor both as literary images and as objects, evoking themes of knighthood, warfare, personal conflict, and honor.” The exhibition features a selection of arms and armor from the Higgins Armory Museum in Massachusetts. The exhibition was curated by Jeffrey Forgeng. To read more about the Higgins Armory Museum, visit www.higgins.org/ To read more about the exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Museum, visitwww.folger.edu/woSummary.cfm?wotypeid=1&season=c&woid=433
The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery is exhibiting Herblock’s Presidents: “Puncturing Pomposity” through November 30. Herbert Lawrence Block, who drew cartoons under the name “Herblock,” particularly enjoyed depicting U.S. Presidents. The exhibition includes some of his presidential cartoons which appeared in the Washington Post for 56 years - most of the 20th century. Visit www.npg.si.edu
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is exhibiting The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Legendary Botanist Richard Evans Schultes through October 31. Schultes (1915–2001) explored the Colombian Amazon during the 1940s and early 50s, when the tropical rainforests were immense and people there relied on plants for medicinal and religious purposes - as well as for sustenance. The exhibit is based on Wade Davis’ and Chris Murray’s book titled The Lost Amazon, including thirty-eight of Schultes’ photographs, with quotations from the authors. Visit www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/Lost%20Amazon/index.html
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is displaying The Honor of Your Company Is Requested: President Lincoln's Inaugural Ball, a small exhibition celebrating the President’s second inaugural ball, through January 18, 2009 in the Reynolds Center. The ball took place in the historic building on March 6, 1865, near the end of the Civil War and just six weeks before Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater. Artifacts on display include a copy of the invitation to the ball, the menu, engravings illustrating the night's events and more. Visit www.si.edu/visit/whatsnew/nmaa.asp
Ford’s Theatre introduced a new program of scripted walking monologues titled History on Foot in June, and the program will continue on select days through August 23. The tour will tell the story of the events surrounding the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at the theatre on April 14-15, 1865. The “investigation” of the crime will begin at Ford’s and continue on foot for some 90 minutes, ending at the White House. The route is about 1.4 miles long. A costumed actor will portray Detective James McDevitt, a real detective who was on duty at police headquarters on the night of the assassination. He will lead the group to the relevant sites and explain the clues which were found, leading to the arrest of the perpetrators of the Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy. Visit http://www.fords.org/Performances/
The Smithsonian National Postal Museum is exhibiting Part II: Rarity Revealed: The Benjamin K. Miller Collection, through December 12, 2009. The stamps were donated to the New York Public Library in 1925 and comprised the first complete collection of U.S. stamps ever assembled. Visit www.postalmuseum.si.edu/millercollection/index.html
Woodrow Wilson House, Washington's only Presidential museum, is displaying an exhibition titled The Presidential Dish: Mrs. Woodrow Wilson and the White House China Room, celebrating the 90th-anniversary of the creation of the unique room in 1917 by First Lady Edith Wilson (1872-1961). The exhibition will be on display through August 4. Visit www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org
A distiller working in George Washington’s Distillery & Gristmill - Photo courtesy of Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens - Click to enlarge
The interior of George Washington’s Distillery & Gristmill - Photo courtesy of Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens - Click to enlarge
+Added July 12: The Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film at the National Archives will screen the 2004 ABC News Production titled History Declassified: Nixon in China in the William G. McGowan Theater at noon on Wednesday, August 6. The screening will, in part, complement the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. The documentary “tells the unknown story behind one of the greatest diplomatic coups in history—President Richard Nixon’s historic trip to China in February of 1972.” Some of the information detailed in the film was hidden from the public for 30 years. The 45-minute program won the 2005 Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in News & Documentary Research. Michael Kurtz, Assistant Archivist for Records Services, will welcome the audience and introduce special guest Senior Analyst William Burr from the National Security Archive, who will then introduce the film and answer questions from the audience. Visit www.archives.gov/dc-metro/events/
In the photo at right, President Nixon is shown meeting with China's Communist Party Leader, Mao Tse-Tung, 02/29/1972 - Item from Collection NS-WHPO: White House Photo Office Collection, 01/20/1969 - 08/09/1974 - Click to enlarge
The National Archives is exhibitingRunning for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman through August 17 in the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery of the National Archives. Forty-two original pen-and-ink drawings are featured in the exhibition, which is timed to coincide with the 2008 presidential campaign. Berryman’s cartoons illustrate candidates’ campaigns from beginning to end. Visitwww.archives.gov/press/press-kits/berryman-cartoons/
The Newseum, the new venue in downtown DC whose mission is to provide a forum where the media and the public can gain a better understanding of each other, is displaying its first major changing exhibit, G-Men and Journalists: Top News Stories of the FBI’s First Century, through June 30, 2009. The exhibition explores the role of the media in shaping the FBI’s image and the complicated relationship between the press and the agency. The desk, chair and office accessories that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover used from 1924 to 1972, are on exhibit, as is the cabin in rural Montana where the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, lived and was arrested. Visit www.newseum.org
The International Spy Museum will present a program titled The FBI at 100: Beyond the Turf Wars on Monday, July 21. The topic will be the turf wars that existed for many years between the FBI and the CIA. The relationship was so strained that then-Director J. Edgar Hoover cabled his field offices “to discontinue all contact with the local CIA office." Things began to change in later years, when collegiality emerged during the infamous Ames Case. In the upcoming program, two intelligence insiders, Philip Mudd and Burton Gerber, will discuss Agency-Bureau relations in the past, present, and future. Visit http://spymuseum.org
The Montgomery County Historical Society is exhibiting Good Advice in the Beall-Dawson House in Rockville through September 21. The exhibition surveys almost two hundred years of American books which aim to help readers improve their lives. There are books on etiquette, medicine, household management and more. The display includes calling cards, white gloves, patent medicines, and marked linen. Breakfast, a vignette-style exhibit, is online throughout the Beall-Dawson House in conjunction with Good Advice. The vignettes feature a family breakfast, a formal breakfast, breakfast in bed, breakfast preparation and even George Washington’s breakfast. Visit www.montgomeryhistory.org/bdh-exhibits.html
A section of the Berlin Wall Gallery on display at the Newseum - photo by Maria Bryk/Newseum - Click to enlarge
A vignette from the Montgomery County Historical Society's exhibit titled "Breakfast in Bed" - Click to enlarge
Marjorie Merriweather Post's "Marie Antoinette" dress - Image courtesy of Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens will celebrate Bastille Day and Marjorie Merriweather Post’s love of 18th-century French decorative arts with a French focus throughout July. Mrs. Post’s rarely-seen Marie Antoinette costume will be featured in a special display in the French Drawing room, along with a portrait of Mrs. Post dressed as the queen. An audio tour of the mansion titled “Kings, Queens and Soup Tureens” will be available, and visitors can step outdoors onto the French Parterre to experience “a touch of France.” Visit www.hillwoodmuseum.org/programs.html
The French Parterre at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens - Click to enlarge
