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The Air and Space Museum’s Ask and Expert Lecture series is at it again this Wednesday with a look into the life of Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov. Photo courtesy of Eric Long, Air and Space Museum

Monday August 1 Artistic Monday

Don’t let the Monday blues creep in today. Join the Freer and the Sackler Galleries for ExplorAsia instead. Come to galleries 6 and 7 of the Freer at 1:30 to delve into the arts of Japan in Seasons: Arts of Japan. Explore paintings of cranes and owls. Marvel at the beauty of cherry blossoms or the paintings of the Japanese samurai as you discover the sights, sounds and activities of the seasons in Japan. Listen to beautiful poetry or create your own whimsical verse. Children are invited to act out what they see in the paintings and are encouraged to explore how a Japanese screen is made and used. This two-hour event is free and family-friendly so come for an hour or two.

Tuesday August 2 Make a Doll

Head down to the Anacostia Community Museum for a fun activity. Come to the program room of the museum at 10:30 where artist Camilla Younger is facilitating a workshop that invites visitors to create doll pins from a variety of crafts materials. After the dolls are complete, explore the exhibitions Anacostia has to offer. This event is free and visitors are invited to swing by the program room anytime between 10:30 and 12. For reservations call 202-633-4844.

Wednesday August 3 Russian Cosmonauts

This Wednesday at noon head to the Air and Space Museum for a special event. Meet at the museum seal in Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100 on the 1st floor of the museum take part in Ask an Expert Lecture Series. This Wednesday, join presenter Cathleen Lewis from the museum’s Space History Division as she explains the history, collections and the personality of Gherman Titov. Born in Verkhneye Zhilino, Titov was chosen as Russia’s second cosmonaut. He flew the Vostok 2 mission that launched in August of 1961, completing his mission in less than 26 hours after orbiting the earth 17 times. The 25-year-old cosmonaut was the youngest person to ever fly in space. After learning about Gherman Titov, explore the rest of Fifty Years of Human Flight.

Thursday August 4 Explore Ancient Central America

During the late 19th-century, travelers, scientists, politicians and archaeologists returned from Central America with never-before-seen artifacts. Numerous pieces ended up in museums or private collections, but regardless of their final resting places, the collections have helped define a unique history of Central America. This Thursday, join the Smithsonian Latino Center for the symposium, “Collecting Ancient Central America: Museums, Explorers, and Archaeologists in the Pursuit of the Past.” Come to the Rasmuson Theater on the first level of the American Indian Museum at 7 to take part. Keynote speaker Dr. John Hoopes of the University of Kansas will explain how individuals and institutions, as well as social and political factors have impacted the collecting of objects from Belize, Guatemala and Panama. This event is free, ending at 8:30.

Friday August 5 Dinner and a Movie

Friday is date night, so come to the American Indian Museum for dinner and a movie. Grab some dinner at the Zagat-rated Mitsitam Cafe  between 5 and 6:30 then head into the Rasmuson Theater at 7 for the world premiere of “Always Becoming,”  a new film by Santa Clara Pueblo artist Nora Naranjo-Morse. The film explores issues of Native identity, place and memory through the creation of modern sculpture. After the screening stick around for a question and answer session with director Nora Naranjo-Morse. Dinner is à la carte from the cafe, but the screening is a free event, seats are limited so be sure to register.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian Institution events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide.

No. 5, by Takiguchi Kazua, image courtesy of the Sackler Gallery

Basking in the glow of reflecting pool on the underground fourth level of the Sackler Gallery, is a collection of ceramic arts that represents significant trends in Japanese pottery from the 1930s onwards—a period in which traditional workshop masters took on new roles as studio potters, reviving ancient firing and glazing technology in attempts to create new expressive forms of art.

A mere dozen or so pieces show how ceramic artists of this era departed from conventional ideas of function to hand create more sculptural forms, essentially giving up the potters wheel that had been the staple of Japanese pottery.

The new exhibition “Reinventing the Wheel: Japanese Ceramics 1930-2000,” which opened July 23, is a celebration of the museum’s imminent 25th anniversary. (The gallery opened to the public in 1987, five years after Arthur M. Sackler, the museum’s founder, left his collection of 1,000 masterpieces of Asian art.)

“The purpose of the exhibition was to show some of the best pieces from the collection of modern and contemporary Japanese ceramics,” says curator Louise Cort. “I wanted to highlight these pieces. Most of the pieces have never been seen before so it’s a chance for people to see new things.”

The gallery glows with light that comes from multiple hidden sources. It is an underground space yet natural lighting seems somehow to pierce the three floors overhead and highlight the pieces in the cases. Deep blue and sky-colored pottery blended into the blue tiles of the reflecting pool. Earthy tones of dusty red and green glazes enriched the space as the architectural columns and sounds of running water elicited the feeling of being in a sunlit forest. It was a peculiar feeling, being so far below the surface but seeming to be perched atop the sunlit atrium.

“I chose absolutely what I thought were the most outstanding pieces in the collection. I had a limit on the number of pieces that could be used because of that very peculiar architecture in that space so I had to cut down the list until pieces would fit into that limited number of cases. I wanted pieces that looked good together, and I wanted to show, as much as possible, pieces that people had never seen before. So it was a combination of the goal of the exhibit and the practical matter of what pieces looked good together or next to each other,” says Cort.

Form is obviously ranking high over function, these pieces would not be found on a dinner table. Precise edges and symmetry are replaced by uneven curves, even just blobs. But their simple elegance and beauty can not be disputed.

A curious metallic-silver ceramic, entitled No. 5 by Takiguchi Kazua’s, seems to be sprouting a head and arms. The label says that the artist stretched a single sheet of clay to make the piece, in hopes of evoking a human or animal body.

“We sat and talked about the way in which the role of the potters wheel came into question among many potters in the mid 20th-century, and as people felt that they wanted to move beyond the cylindrical, symmetrical form that one gets from making a pot on the potters wheel and treat ceramics as sculpture or treat it, at the very least, as asymmetrical. And that title, Reinventing the Wheel, popped out,” says Cort.

The caldonian gecko, one of the zoo's many reptiles. Photo courtesy of Mehgan Murphy/National Zoo

Friday July 29 Can You Take the Heat?

This Friday break out of the usual and visit the Natural History Museum for a special treat. Come to the Ocean Hall on the first floor of the museum at 12 for the Discovery Theater’s “Real Cost Cafe.” Become a guest “chef” on a Food Channel-type television show with a TV chef “host” and assistant. Try on the chef hat for size and see if you can take the heat as viewers learn how everyday choices at restaurants and fish markets can affect our ocean resources. Afterwards, journey through the Ocean Hall to explore more about aquatic life. This event is free and is fun for the whole family. Can’t make it at 12 p.m. ? The event repeats at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. as well.

Saturday July 30 Reptile Discovery Day

Don’t spend one of the last precious summer weekends indoors. Come to the National Zoo for a chelonian celebration for Reptile Discovery Day. Come to the Reptile Discovery Center at 11 a.m. to meet the Zoo’s turtles, tortoises, lizards and the other fascinating reptiles that call the Zoo home. Talk to the Zoo scientists who are working to save reptiles and amphibians in the wild and learn about their current research and rescue projects. Stick around for animal demonstrations throughout the day. This three-hour event is free and family-friendly, offering educational activities and fun programs for children and parents alike.

Sunday July 31 Get Creative

This Sunday escape the heat at the Anacostia Community Museum. Come to the Program Room of the museum at 1 for a chance to get creative with the Paper Mosaic workshop. In this workshop, participants will be able to learn about the work that goes into creating beautiful mosaics. After the introduction, dig in and create your own unique picture with small bits of colored and patterned paper to replicate a mosaic image from the museum. This event is free and lasts two hours but reservations are required so call 202-633-4844 to save a spot. Can’t make it today? Swing back by Anacostia on August 20 for a repeat of this workshop.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian Institution events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide.

Owney on a mail bag, courtesy of the National Postal Museum

Monday July 25 Harry Potter Time

Make this Monday magical by coming to the Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center‘s Airbus IMAX Theater for a trip into the wizarding world. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II has come to the Airbus Theater, presenting the Chosen One in all his wonder on a sky-high IMAX screen with six-channel digital surround sound. Join other Muggles as you watch Part 2 of the epic battle between the good and evil forces in the wizarding world. Will Harry defeat Lord Voldemort? Will the wizarding world be safe again? The stakes have never been higher as the Harry Potter saga comes to its close. This film plays daily at 4:30, 7:15 and 10. Tickets can be purchased at the box office prior to the show or online.

Tuesday July 26 Portraits Alive!

Try something new this Tuesday at National Portrait Gallery, head out for Portraits Alive. Meet in the F Street lobby at 2:15 to begin this new twist on portrait viewing. Watch as local teenagers lead a theatrical tour that brings the Portrait Gallery’s collections to life through an original, student-written play. Made possible by DC’s 2011 Summer Youth Employment Program, the teen guides take visitors on a memorable journey incorporating a variety of portraits throughout the gallery and perform biographical portrayals of the subjects represented in the photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints of the museum. This event is free and fun for the whole family so don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the subjects in the Portrait Gallery.

Wednesday July 27 Celebrate Owney the Postal Dog

At the Postal Museum this Wednesday, there is cause for celebration. Beginning at 11, check out the First Day of Issue Ceremony for Owney the Postal Dog. Owney became the unofficial mascot of the Railway Mail Service in the 19th-century when the scruffy pooch climbed aboard a rail train and traveled the nation for nine years, garnering fame and glory.  Now the U.S. Postal Service and Postal Museum are celebrating the issuance of a Forever Stamp in honor of Owney. Join museum staff and supporters at 11 for the First Day Issue Ceremony and remarks. Then at noon have some fun with the Owney Festival. Enjoy hands-on activities including making an Owney tag, sorting mail in the Rail Way Post Office, creating a stamp collection and more. At 2 join Dirk Wales, author of A Lucky Dog: Owney, U.S. Rail Mail Mascot, for a book talk. Afterwards be one of the first museum visitors to see Art of the Stamp: Owney the Postal Dog, featuring the original stamp art and Owney himself, newly conserved and ready for the spotlight. This is a free event that the whole family can enjoy. 

Thursday July 28 Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Get out of the heat this Thursday and come to the Anacostia Community Museum for Part 1 of “Stories from the Negro Leagues.” Come to the museum’s Program Room at 10:30 for a presentation by David Haberstich, curator of photography in the American History Museum’s Archives Center, and Dwayne Sims the founder and CEO of the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame. The first Negro League was formed in February of 1920 in Kansas City, Missouri. The appeal of the Negro League soon spread throughout the country as leagues were created in the Midwest and the South. Listen as Haberstich and Sims lead a discussion about Addison Scurlock‘s images of Negro Leagues figures and Howard University sports. After, explore the related exhibit Separate and Unequaled: Black Baseball in the District of Columbia. This event is free and family-friendly.

Friday July 29 Meet an Astronaut

Come out to the Air and Space Museum this Friday for a chance to meet Al Worden, one of the astronauts of Apollo 15. Visit  the Moving Beyond the Earth Gallery, gallery 113 on the first floor of the east wing, at 11. Listen as Worden discusses and signs copies of his book Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut’s Journey to the Moon to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 15 space flight. Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the fourth mission to land successfully on the moon. It is considered by NASA as the most successful manned flight ever achieved. Join Worden at 11 for a book talk moderated by space history curator Allan Needell. A question-and-answer session will take place following the discussion as well as a live webcast. Beginning at 12:30 Worden will host a three hour book signing and festivities will end at 5. This is a free event and copies of Worden’s book are available for purchase in the museum store.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian Institution events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide.

Visitors participating in the "Forensic Friday" event at which a child's cast iron coffin and other skeletal remains from the Richards Family Crypt are analyzed by Dr. Doug Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide. This Friday’s guest is the FBI Explosives Unit. Photo courtesy of Chip Clark/NMNH.

Friday July 22 Meet the FBI Explosives Unit

Try something different this Friday with a trip to the Natural History Museum for Forensic Friday. Meet in the Forensic Anthropology Lab on the northwest end of the 2nd floor, inside the exhibition Written in Bone, at 10:30. There join forensic scientists from the FBI’s Explosives Unit as they study new cases and those from the past. Listen as they explain the art of the forensic science of improvised explosive devices, incendiary devices and their respective remains. Ask the investigators your own questions and observe the basic methods of their work as you watch them analyze new cases. After, explore the related exhibition, Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake. This event is free and fun for the whole family. Can’t make it at 10:30? Forensic Files is offered again today at 1.

Saturday July 23 Catch a Summer Concert

When the July heat cools in the evening hours, head over to the American Indian Museum this Saturday for a night of music. Meet in the Welcome Plaza outside the main entrance of the museum at 5 for the Living Earth Concert. The concert is in conjunction with the Living Earth Festival and features three performances that are emceed by guitarist Stevie Salas. Tonight’s concert presents the Pappy Johns Band from the Six Nations of The Grand River of Ontario, Canada. The groups music is an infusion of blues and rock ‘n’ roll. Also playing are the family band, Plateros from the eastern agency of the Navajo Nation in Tohajilee, New Mexico. Don’t miss Gregg Analla, Isleta and Laguna Pueblo, musicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico. This free summer concert lasts until 7.

Sunday July 24 An Afternoon of Poetry

This Sunday venture to the Anacostia Community Museum for Gullah Inspirations, an afternoon of interpretation, preservation and community connections. Go to the museum’s program room at 2 for the event, “Composition in Genre and Culture: The Teen Spoken Word.” Listen to some of the most prominent of young writers, participants in the “Composition in Genre and Culture: Summer Teen Writing Workshop,” as they share their poetry and their stories. Listen as they explain their works and give inspirational reflections on the Gullah Culture. After, explore the related exhibition, Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner Connecting Communities through Language or check out more of the Gullah related programs to explore the Gullah and Geechee culture. This event is free but come early to guarantee a seat.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian Institution events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide.