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School Children in Front of NMNH (1950). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Friday, April 1: Home-School Open House

The Portrait Gallery Education Department hosts this home-school open house with mini-tours of special exhibitions, story time for children, hands-on arts activities and resources, including a Smithsonian Field Trip Kit. Free, but registration is required. Attendees should e-mail provostg@si.edu the number and ages of children, number of adults, and the city and state of residence. National Portrait Gallery, 11:30 AM-1:30 PM.

Saturday, April 2: NanoDays 2011

An ideal event for children, Spark!Lab hosts its third NanoDays—a nationwide celebration of nanotechnology aimed at teaching the general public about science and invention and the role it plays in our lives. Spark!Lab staff and docents help visitors conduct experiments and demonstrations, including: constructing a giant model of a carbon nanotube entirely from balloons; measuring height in nanometers and creating a liquid crystal display that changes color. You will also have an opportunity to talk with Dr. Heather Clark of Northeastern University about her work inventing nano glucose sensors. This event repeats on Sunday, April 3 at the same time and location. Free. American History Museum, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM.

Sunday, April 3: PHEON

Do you have what it takes to win control of a secret world? Test your ingenuity by exploring, creating and texting your way around American Art in this multimedia scavenger hunt. You will need a cell phone with text messaging enabled, comfortable shoes and a sense of adventure. Learn more about this text-based adventure game at Pheon.org. To play, sign up in the Luce Foundation Center between 2:30 and 4 PM. Free. American Art Museum, 2:30 PM-6:00 PM.

For updates on all exhibitions and events, visit our companion website goSmithsonian.com

Captain Felice Figus in front of his favorite fighter plane, the Macchi 202, c. 1942/1943. Photo courtesy of Federico Figus.

The Macchi C.202 Folgore is considered one of the best fighter planes Italy designed during World War II. There are only two remaining in the world—one is in the Italian Air Force Museum, and the other hangs in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum.

The aircraft, called the Macchi 202, is one of several artifacts, including a German Messeschmitt Me 262 and a Japanese Mitsubishi Zero, that the museum has in its collection documenting the Axis powers during World War II. But material from the Italian Air Force is sparse. Now, thanks to a generous donation of pilot uniforms and personal equipment made earlier this month, the museum has context to go with its Italian aircraft.

“We have a very large collection of captured German and Japanese materials from World War II in our collection,” said Alex Spencer, curator of the museum’s aeronautics division, but “very few articles relating to any kind of personal equipment for the Italians, so [the donation] was a very nice opportunity to correct the problem.”

A donation which sort of fell into their laps.

Recently, Federico Figus, an Italian-American from San Francisco, called the museum with a story. His father, Capt. Felice Figus, was an officer in the Italian Royal Air Force. For four years, he flew extensively as a fighter pilot during: the North African campaign, the Malta War, the Sicily campaign and six months in Russia before returning to Turin right before the end of the war.  A member of the 153rd fighter group, famously known as the Ace of Clubs, Captain Figus was one of the last pilots to fly the Fiat G55 fighter plane before the armistice in 1943. This was one of several planes he flew during the war including, his favorite, the Macchi 202. When Captain Figus died in 2009, at age 90, he left behind an impressive collection of uniforms and personal equipment amassed over 30 years during his distinguished career as a pilot. His son wanted to entrust the museum with his father’s collection.

“I realized early on the importance of the collection,” says Federico Figus. “There’s nothing like it anywhere in America, as far as I know.”

Earlier this month, his son, Federico Figus, and other members of his family were on hand to formally donate those items to the Air and Space Museum. “I knew that they were going to take care of my dad’s things better than anybody; better than I ever could for sure,” Figus says. “I don’t think there really is another air and space museum in the states that would be able to do this collection justice.”

A collection which meant a lot to his father, a “pilot’s pilot,” who was preoccupied in later years about what would become of his belongings after his death. “He kept everything in their original boxes, everything was kept really well. I think it was a sign that it was something treasured.”

Born in Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia, in 1920, Felice Figus distinguished himself early on as an athlete. He was small, his son says, but physically fit and incredibly fast. In 1930 1939, he became the national 100-meter and 4 X 100 meter champion for Italy and would have gone to the Olympics if the war hadn’t started in 1940. With two older brothers serving as officers in the Italian Air Force, it was a good fit for the young Figus, who was shot down once during the war and crashed one other time.

After the war, Figus learned English, which helped him secure a job with Italy’s main airline, Lai, now known as Alitalia, flying commercial planes. He would later marry an American actress and model he met in Italy in 1955 and start a family. But flying, his son says, was always his first love. “He was just so passionate about it,” Federico Figus says, “it was his life, it was more than life.” Capt. Felice Figus flew until 1980, logging 28,000 flying hours without ever taking a sick day. Federico Figus, who didn’t see his father much growing up, but had the occasion to fly with him, grew to understand this love and his father’s fearless nature.

“I asked him when I was kid, why don’t you have a parachute, Dad. And he said, ‘Well, if I had that parachute, I would jump out.’”

“He was a professional pilot,” Federico Figus says. “He survived the war, which is unbelievable because he had close to 800 combat flying hours.” And now, his uniforms and flying equipment from both Alitalia and World War II belong to the Smithsonian.

The donation was part of a series of events, themed “Italy @ 150,” sponsored by the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the sesquicentennial of Italy’s unification. Federico Figus hopes that his father’s artifacts will shed some new light on the Italian Air Force and that visitors will better understand the brave young men who fought on the other side in the war.

“He was a young man, thrown into an enormous world event that he obviously had no control over,” Federico Figus says. “Just like many young men from all over the world, he did his duty. He just did what he was supposed to do, or what he was told to do, and he did it to the best of his ability.”

Warm your hearts with animal cams at the National Zoo. Photo credit: Mehgan Murphy, Smithsonian's National Zoo. Photo courtesy of Flickr.

A few weeks ago, we were celebrating the arrival of March. And it seemed, for a time, that Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions were right —spring came early. Then it left, leaving a blast of cold winter weather in its wake. It’s cold out there. So, instead of giving you a list of the things you must come out and see at the Institution this week, the ATM team has scoured the National Zoo’s Animal Cams and come up with five you don’t want to miss.  It’s the perfect way to spend the day—enjoying some of the best attractions the Smithsonian has to offer, without leaving the warmth and comfort of the indoors.

Lions and Tigers- If you haven’t been following the updates of the seven lion cubs who were born at the zoo last year, you might be surprised to see just how big they’ve gotten. Take some time to check back in with the First Family of the Zoo—lions in winter. Both lioness dens have a camera, so toggle between Shera’s and Naba’s, to make sure you don’t miss anything as the lions move about.  Want to see more frisky felines? The Zoo’s got you covered with the Tigercam. The two tigers spend most of their day resting and sleeping, so catch them if you can.

Bears- According to the Zoo, there are less than 2,000 giant pandas living in the wild in China. While you may not be able to get there to see any, you can peek in on the two living at the zoo,  Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, anytime. We already know they love winter weather. See what else they do in their spare time. And don’t forget to check in on the Sloth Bears, it’s a sight you can’t bear to miss. (Ed note — groan)

Primates- A couple of weeks ago, the Zoo experienced a tragedy when Haloko, its oldest gorilla (and the only one born in the wild), died. Check out the remaining family of “our closest relatives,” on the Gorilla Cam. See any resemblance? You can also catch the Orangutans monkeying around in the Think Tank, “a place to think about thinking.”

Octopus- Watching the underwater Octopus Cam can feel a little bit like a game of hide and seek, but seeing the giant Pacific octopus, the world’s largest, reveal itself is totally worth the wait. See a live feeding everyday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. (EDT).

Naked Mole-rat- Yes, there is actually a Naked Mole-rat Cam at the Zoo. So, even if you are petrified of rodents (like I am), you probably can’t resist the temptation of seeing what they look like (and what they do) up close . You may not want to see it, but you can’t exactly look away. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget.

Happy hunting.

Ubaldo Vitali, 25th Anniversary Tea & Coffee Service, 2004 (glass by Leonard DiNardo). Collection of Janet and Ricardo Zapata. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Ubaldo Vitali (b. 1944) is “arguably the greatest living silversmith in the United States,” according to Ulysses Dietz, one of the curators of the new Renwick Gallery exhibition, History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational. Vitali is a go-to-guy for commissioned work from high-end houses like Tiffany, Cartier and Bulgari, as well as for restoration of antique silver pieces. Stylistically, he combines traditional craftsmanship and technique with elements of modern design.

As an artist, Vitali is constantly aware of the ever-changing interplay of light as it bounces off of the surface of his works, or as he puts it, “each object reflects its own structure, its own soul, its own personality.”

Italian-born and trained, Vitali came up in the old-school guild system in Rome, later emigrating to New Jersey in the late 1960s. And he maintains those roots, still a member of a Roman goldsmith’s guild. In fact, he’s the only member allowed to reside outside of Rome.

Vitali’s pieces are featured in the exhibition, along with works by three other artists—ceramic artist Cliff Lee, furniture maker Matthias Pliessnig and glass artist Judith Schaechter—that share his sensibilities regarding updating classical technique with modern style. He’ll also be giving an artist talk about his work Sunday, April 17 at 1:30 at the Renwick Gallery.

I caught up with Vitali at the press preview and found him to vaguely resemble an older, more Italiano version of George Clooney in his suit. It was almost difficult to imagine the elegant gentleman in front of me pounding sheets of silver and making the precious metal bend and melt. But initial appearances can be deceiving, and Vitali’s enthusiasm for his craft, as well as his humble nature, shine through when he speaks.

Silversmith Ubaldo Vitali at work. Photo courtesy of SAAM

What attracted you to working with silver, as opposed to, say clay, stone, or other metals?

I come from a family of silversmiths. I am the fourth generation. I went to my father and grandfather’s workshops since I was very young. However, all my studies were in the arts, and I was given the freedom to be a painter or a sculptor. But I guess it was in the blood. Silver was in the blood, and it always kept pulling me back.

You were trained in the old world-style guild system of silversmiths. Briefly, what is that like, and how long does it take to go from being an apprentice to a master?

The guild system is [now] more a symbolic thing. In the past, the role of the guild, besides controlling the metal, was to be insurance for the family. If you died young they would take care of your widow and the children. It was a system of support. Today we don’t need that anymore, so it’s basically symbolic. As far as apprenticeship is concerned, by the 20^th century, you don’t have to be an apprentice in order to become a master, at least in my field. But most of the people that start in this business are young, usually ten or eleven [years old]. They go maybe two, three hours a day, like in internships here. Then if you feel you have some kind of attraction to it, these people will become more and more involved.

Do you think traditional silversmithing has become a lost art?

Yes and no. Actually, it’s practiced more in the U.S. than the rest of the world, because you have so many colleges that offer courses. However, whenever you make something institutionalized, it loses a lot…When people come out of an institution, even if they have a Master’s, they will end up teaching, because it’s very difficult for a silversmith to establish an economically viable business. It’s almost impossible.

Do you think technology has helped or hindered the process of silversmithing?

In my shop, I use the oldest techniques…But on the same token, I have the latest technology, from hydrogen flames to induction melting, all kinds of microscopy. You name it, we have it. There is no reason to shut the door to technology–You embrace it.

History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitation 2011 is on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, located at Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W., through July 31. The show was curated by Nicholas R. Bell. The artists were selected by Bell, Ulysses Dietz, senior curator and curator of decorative arts at The Newark Museum and Andrew Wagner, editor-in-chief of ReadyMade Magazine.

This post was updated to clarify the role of the visiting scholars.

"Jazz is an art form that was born and nurtured and develop in the U.S. but was quickly adopted by people in countries around the world," says John Hasse. Image courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways

For the past three decades, when historians, critics and educators asked, “What is Jazz?” they turned to the 1973 Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, the landmark album by the late critic and Smithsonian historian Martin Williams. That six vinyl LP—an unprecedented collage of the “genre that revolutionized American music”— became so popular, it went double platinum.

The album became the standard for music educators across the country—college students used the set along with textbooks, or in some cases, in lieu of them.

But the collection went out of production in 1999, a huge loss to a community that had relied on its knowledge and breadth, says John Edward Hasse, curator of American music at the National Museum of American History.

Hasse, who says he grew up with the album and once critiqued it in an essay for the Annual Review of Jazz Studies, “knew first hand how valuable it was,” and began dreaming of a way to update and revive it. So did Richard James Burgess, the marketing director of Smithsonian Folkways, who came to the record label in 2001 with a similar vision.

“We wanted to continue to help the country better preserve, understand and appreciate these extraordinary parts of our musical heritage,” Hasse says.

Today, seven years after Hasse and Burgess first began the project and nearly 40 years since the release of the original album, the label releases Jazz: The Smithsonian Collection, a 6-CD, 111 track box set that chronicles jazz from its beginnings a century ago through the early 2000s.

But unlike its predecessor, which was compiled largely on Williams’ tastes and preferences alone, the new album takes a more democratic approach, Hasse says. This set has three producers (Hasse, Burgess and Folkways Director Daniel Sheehy), an executive selection committee (David Baker, Jose Bowen, Dan Morgenstern, Alyn Shipton and Haase) and the tracks were chosen with input from a international panel of 42 jazz critics, historians and musicians.

“How do you take something like three-quarters of a million jazz recordings and boil it down to 111 tracks?” Hasse says. “Going in, my desire was to have this not be the work of one person but to make it broader and more inclusive.”

The result is an album that touches more on Latin jazz, Afro fusion and other international genres, featuring tracks from Tito Puente, French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê, and Machito and his Afro–Cuban Orchestra. It includes those like Dave Brubeck, George Shearing and Mary Lou Williams who were left off the old album, Hasse says.

It still features those household names: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. But where they may have had five or six tracks on the original album, they each only have two or three on its successor—an attempt to include as many artists as possible, Hasse says.

“This album wasn’t about greatest hits: the recordings weren’t based on which were most popular, but on which had the most influence, or were the best representation of major artists, classics whose luster will be undimmed in 10, 30, 50 years,” Hasse says. “Aiming this primarily at students, I argued that we should try to expose student to as many different musicians and approaches as we could rather than doing something that would give a history of any one artist. This wasn’t a place to give a capsule history of anybody, but rather to expose them to as many different recordings, styles and musicians as we could.”

After the initial polls of experts around the world, Hasse and the rest of the executive selection committee began the painful process of deciding what would make the cut. They spent two years working from multiple cities, Hasse says, and twice convened for marathon sessions in New York, working at some points until 2 a.m. to revise the list.

It took several more years to get rights to all the songs, and quite a while longer to solicit the world’s best jazz writers for the accompanying 200-page album notes (really, a small book that’s worth the price of the album alone).

“We wanted to bring the album much more up to date, into the 21st century. Forty more years of music needed to be considered. We wanted to give more coverage to women, besides singers, and more Latin jazz musicians. This couldn’t be an anthology of world jazz but we could be more inclusive of it,” says Hasse.

Hasse hopes that like its predecessor, the album will open the doors for students and music lovers to explore a genre so symbolic of American culture. For those asking what jazz is – or what this album says about it – it provides a new answer, he says.

“Jazz is a global genre. Jazz is an art form that was born and nurtured and develop in the U.S. but was quickly adopted by people in countries around the world. It is today an international lingua franca, one that sounds very different in Cuba than it does in Africa or Norway. It’s an ever-changing river that has been fed by many tributaries, streams, that is constantly moving. It’s a river  so powerful and refreshing that people have been drawn to drink from its waters. I suspect as long as people are listening to Beethoven and Bach they’ll be listening to Armstrong and Ellington. The best of jazz will go on as long as anything produced. It’s for the ages.”

Test your knowledge with some Folkways-sponsored Jazz quizzes. There is  a 25-song version and the full 111-song ultimate challenge both of which test how many songs on the new album you know.