Smithsonian.com

Randall Rosenthall's wood sculpture of the February 2009 issue of Smithsonian magazine. (Courtesy of the artist.)

What stood out most to artist Randall Rosenthal about the February 2009 Smithsonian magazine cover was that behind the side-by-side portraits of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were two different shades of black.

Paying attention to such subtle details is what’s helped make Rosenthal, a trained painter, architect and carpenter, a success in both the craft and fine arts world.

From his Long Island home, Rosenthal creates wooden replicas of newspapers, baseball cards, and stacks of hundred dollar bills out of solid blocks of wood. He then hand-paints the sculptures to resemble, say, a post-election day Washington Post, or a legal pad complete with scribbles.

“From 6-feet away, they look dead-on real,” Rosenthal says. “And when you get close you have to convince yourself that they’re not.”

After reading and enjoying the Smithsonian article about what unites Darwin and Lincoln, Rosenthal took out a block of solid wood and whittled it to look like the February 2009 issue stacked on top of two old magazines, mailing address and subtitles included.

It took Rosenthal two weeks to complete the sculpture–a week to carve and a week to paint. Getting Lincoln right was a challenge, though Darwin was easy, Rosenthal says, “all you need is the white beard.”

He brought the work to the Smithsonian Craft Show held last weekend, where it was popular with attendees. It was not the first time Rosenthal flattered us. The long-time subscriber won “Best in Show” with a similar piece at the 2006 Craft Show.

And as the quality content of Smithsonian magazine expands to the Web, we at Around the Mall can’t help but wonder whether Rosenthal will consider a woodblock replica of Smithsonian.com for 2010.

Duke Ellington, by Tony Bennett, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery

Today is the 110th anniversary of Duke Ellington’s birth here in Washington, D.C., and to commemorate it, Tony Bennett presented the National Portrait Gallery this morning with his painting of the jazz great. Ellington, who Bennett says was “so gregarious” when they first met at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, was a mentor to him.

Bennett recalled how the Duke once advised him to, “Do two things. Don’t do one.” For Bennett, the one thing, which the vast majority of people know him for, is his singing; the second, which may come as a surprise, is painting.

“I describe myself as a perpetual student of learning how to paint,” said Bennett. Once he started doing it on a daily basis, it changed his whole life for the better. When he was burnt out from singing, he would start to paint. “It would be a big lift,” he said. And when he was tired of painting, he’d sing. “It created a state of perpetual creativity,” said Bennett. “There is no need for vacation or to retire.”

He’s quite an accomplished painter too. This will be his third painting accepted by the Smithsonian. The first, a portrait of Ella Fitzgerald, is in the National Museum of American History collections, though not currently on display. The second, a landscape of Central Park, is on view in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. And, as of today, Duke Ellington is hanging in the New Arrivals hall of the National Portrait Gallery.

The watercolor portrays Ellington with what Bennett has described as a “look of divine serenity on his face.” In the background is a bunch of pink roses. “Every time he wrote a song that he thought I might like to record, he sent a dozen roses,” said Bennett.

Barack and Michelle Obama at the inaugural parade

Today marks President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office. To celebrate the occasion, the American History Museum presents its new exhibition, “I Do Solemnly Swear: Photographs of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.” This collection of more than 30 images—snapped by both professional and amateur photographers—documents the week leading up to Obama’s historic inauguration, which thanks to the proliferation of digital cameras, is most likely the most-photographed inauguration ever. You can get a sneak peek at the exhibition by way of our photo gallery—but, if you’re able, be sure to check out the entire show, which goes on display beginning this morning at the American History Museum through July 12.

Chinese mitten crab

The Chinese mitten crab is one of the ocean’s more fashionable invertebrates. With a sleek four-inch wide shell, a light brown-olive green color, and thick mats of hair on its pair of white-tipped claws, it seems odd that a looker like that would have environmental scientists so concerned.

But the mitten crab, native to East Asia, is slowly invading East Coast waters. It doesn’t pose a physical threat, however, its squarely an ecological matter. Once established, the crab quickly reproduces and soon hundreds are clogging fishing equipment and power plant cooling systems. They can also out-compete local species, like the Maryland blue crab.

Fortunately, we haven’t reached a high-level crab threat yet. Forty-four mitten crabs have been formally identified in the eastern United States since 2006. They were found primarily in the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and more recently the Hudson River and New Jersey.

Scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center are asking sharp-eyed beachgoers, fishermen and crabbers for help to capture and collect information about the invasive mitten crabs. “At this point we’re trying to understand if they’re here and what that might mean ecologically,” scientist Gregory Ruiz recently told HometownAnnapolis.com.

Though, they’re not the easiest crabs to locate. Mitten crabs live in both freshwater and saltwater,
can burrow underground and are able to leave the water and walk around obstacles while migrating.

If you catch a mitten crab, do not throw it back alive. Note the precise location and date where the animal was found. Take a close-up photo of the crab and send it to SERCMittenCrab@si.edu. If possible, freeze the animal on ice, or preserve it in rubbing alcohol, and call The Mitten Crab Hotline at 443-482-2222.

Inventor William Lawrence Murphy (1856-1957) began tinkering with hideaway beds while living in a one-room apartment in San Francisco in the late 19th century. He was falling for a young opera singer and courting customs at that time would not permit a lady to enter a gentleman’s bedroom. But according to family legend, Murphy’s limited finances and a strict moral code didn’t spoil his chance at love. His invention allowed him to stow his bed in his closet, transforming his one-room apartment from a bedroom into a parlor.

The couple married in 1900.

Today, the Murphy bed, a bed that can be folded into a cabinet, is a household brand. National Museum of American History’s Assistant Collections Manager Robyn J. Einhorn researched the bed’s place in American history for her second master’s thesis.

The Murphy bed’s increasing popularity came “because of a combination of good timing, a quality product, and an inventive marketing strategy,” Einhorn writes, “A housing shortage, brought on by large population spurts in the country resulted in the building of smaller homes.”

More often slapstick rather than theses, see Charlie Chaplin take on a finicky Murphy bed above. The bed continues to make us laugh in films like, Police Academy II (1985) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) as well as television’s “Family Guy.”

William Murphy first patented his bed in 1911. His design placed a full-sized mattress on a metal frame that hid in a closet during the day and easily converted a dressing room, sleeping porch, or parlor into an extra bedroom at night. Through the 1920s, newspaper advertisements for apartments used the Murphy bed as a selling point.

Though Murphy beds are often pricier than their normal counterparts, “[they] continue to fill a need in living spaces of today, whether it is for small city apartments or suburban homes of empty nesters turning a college student’s old bedroom into an office/guest space,” Einhorn says.

– Additional reporting by Daniel Friend, Inside Smithsonian Research

District of Columbia War Memorial, courtesy of Flickr user Avelino Maestas

The Smithsonian Institution may not be legally responsible for the upkeep of the National Mall, but it certainly considers the green space between the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial precious turf. After all, the Mall, long called “America’s Front Yard”, literally is the Institution’s front yard, with doors to many of its buildings opening up onto the park.

So it’s no surprise that we here at ATM have been following the ups and, well, mostly downs of the current state of the Mall. First, it was the all-too-vague definition of the Mall and its purpose. Later, the Mall in all its glory for Obama’s inauguration, and then the subsequent dust bowl created by the trampling of so many feet and renovation budget cuts.

But now, there’s a victory to report! Last week, the Interior Department announced that $56 million of the $76.8 million going to Washington, D.C. parks from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is earmarked for the National Mall. The Washington Post reported that more than $30 million will go to improving the murky Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, $7.3 million will be used to restore the abandoned District of Columbia War Memorial for World War I veterans (between the reflecting pool and the Tidal Basin) and several million will go to fixing the slowly submerging seawall near the Jefferson Memorial.

With over $400 million in overdue maintenance, it’s a start.

Jitterbugs III (1941) by William H. Johnson. Image courtesy of the American Art Museum.

Monday, April 27: Operation Babylift: Saving Children from the Vietnam War

In April 1975 American humanitarian workers in South Vietnam worked to evacuate orphaned children to North America, Europe and Australia just as North Vietnamese were sweeping through the region. Operation Babylift transferred approximately 2,500 children to the United States, changing the nation’s “complexion” and ushering in an era of international adoption. This event will feature guest speakers who were a part of the airlift operation, as well as photographs and other artifacts. Free. Hirshhorn Museum, 6:30 PM

Tuesday, April 28: Brig. Gen. Dan Cherry and Nguyen Hong My: A Pilot and the Enemy He Shot Down: General Electric Aviation Lecture

In April 1972, Brig. Gen. Dan Cherry (USAF, ret.) was operating in North Vietnam when he shot down an enemy aircraft flown by Nguyen Hong My, who survived. Thirty-six years later, the two pilots who fought on opposite sides of the war met face to face. Come to the Air and Space Museum to hear a lecture where both men talk about their experiences. This program is preceded by a screening of the IMAX film Dogfights: Hell Over Hanoi and succeeded by a book signing. Free, but tickets are required. To reserve a ticket, please use the online Ticket Request Form or call 202-633-2398. National Air and Space Museum, 7:00 PM

Wednesday, April 29: Chops: D.C. Film Premiere and Conversation with Director Bruce Broder

Come enjoy the DC premiere of the movie “Chops,” which follows three high school jazz bands that go to compete in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2006 Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival. Director Bruce Broder will be available after the screening to discuss his film. Repeats today at 5:30 and 8:00. Free. American History Museum, 3:00 PM

Thursday, April 30: Great Communicators: Eudora Welty: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk

Eudora Welty’s photography was recently featured in Smithsonian —so if you’re in the DC area, come out to the National Portrait Gallery to see a photograph of this great woman of letters taken by Mildred Wolfe. Researcher Warren Perry is on deck to provide a wealth of insight into the image and the context in which it was taken. Free. National Portrait Gallery, 6:00 PM

Friday, May 1: Cabaret with Tomson Highway: Performance

What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play! Life is a cabaret, ol’ chum—come to the cabaret at the American Indian Museum. Playwright and novelist Tomson Highway will be joined onstage by singer/actress Patricia Cano and sax player Leigh Pilzer for a perfectly marvelous night of musical entertainment. Tickets required. Rates are: $20 general admission; $15, members; or call 202-633-3030. American Indian Museum, 7:30 PM