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

"Bopping at Birdland" by Romare Bearden, American Art Museum

Monday, March 28: March Film Screening: My Name Is Kahentiiosta

Kahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman, took part in a 78-day armed standoff in 1990 as a part of a land dispute between the Mohawks and the Canadian federal government. Arrested and imprisoned, she was detained longer than her peers because the prosecutor refused to let her stand trial using her native name. Learn about Kahentiiosta’s story and why she was prepared to die to protect the land and trees sacred to the Mohawk people of Kanehsatake. Free. American Indian Museum, 3:30-4:00 PM. This event repeats daily, except Wednesdays, through the month of March.

Tuesday, March 29: GE Aviation Lecture: “You Can Do This!” From Skyhawks over North Vietnam to Command of NATO Forces in Bosnia

As a naval aviator, Vice Adm. Leighton “Snuffy” Smith flew carrier-based light attack jet aircraft during multiple deployments to the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Western Pacific, and Indian oceans. This evening, he discusses some of his most critical challenges — from his jet combat missions over Vietnam to the command of the NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia. Free, but tickets required. Reserve tickets online or call 202-633-2398. Air and Space Museum, 8:00 PM.

Wednesday, March 30: International Sweethearts of Rhythm: Jazz and Civil Rights

In this event sponsored by the American History Museum, learn about the women of jazz in a discussion featuring the “International Sweethearts of Rhythm,” members of the Jen Krupa-Leigh Pilzer Quintet, film director Judy Chaikin and moderator David Baker (maestro, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra). See clips from Chaikin’s new film Girls in the Band and stay for  swing dancing and live music by the Jen Krupa-Leigh Pilzer Quintet. Please note this event will be taking place at Artosphere in Arlington, VA and NOT at the American History Museum. Free. Artisphere, 7:00 PM.

Thursday, March 31: Remembering Lena Horne

Tonight, the National Museum of American History and the National Portrait Gallery pay tribute to the life, career and civil rights legacy of the legendary entertainer Lena Horne. Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer of the PBS series American Masters, joins Horne’s daughter Gail Lumet Buckley in a discussion moderated by Smithsonian curator Dwight Blocker Bowers and George Washington University program producer Richard Golden. Afterwards, enjoy a special screening of the American Masters documentary Lena Horne: In Her Own Voice. Free. National Portrait Gallery, 6:30-9:00 PM

Friday, April 1: NanoDays 2011

Come on out to Spark!Lab and take part in NanoDays, a nationwide celebration of nanotechnology aimed at teaching the general public—particularly children—about nano 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. Free. American History Museum, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM

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

Umbrellas Triptych: Sanogawa Ichimatsu I (c. 1740s) by Okumura Masanobu. Image courtesy of the Freer Gallery and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art.

Friday, March 25: Disorder

Using footage taken by amateur filmmakers, director Huang Weikai stitched short segments together to create a one-of-a-kind documentary. The film captures the anarchy, violence and seething anxiety animating China’s major cities today, as urbanization advances at a breakneck pace. One man dances in the middle of traffic while another tries to jump from a bridge before dozens of onlookers. Pigs run wild on a highway while dignitaries swim in a polluted river. Such scenes, which can’t be shown on China’s heavily controlled television networks, reflect an emerging underground media in Chinese society. Mandarin with English subtitles. Free. Freer, 7:00 PM.

Saturday, March 26: Portrait Story Days: Pocahontas

If your knowledge of Pocahontas comes by way of the 1995 Disney cartoon—or any of the many popular myths about her that still pervade our culture—you owe it to yourself to visit the National Portrait Gallery for Portrait Story Day. Learn the real story behind the you Native American woman who married English settler John Rolfe and then create your own work of art. Ideal for young visitors accompanied by an adult. Free. National Portrait Gallery, 1:00-4:00 PM.

Sunday, March 27: Painted Parasols

As you tour the Freer and Sackler Galleries, pay special attention to the flower motifs in the clothes and accessories of Japanese women as they stroll through parks in springtime. Then, in the Freer courtyard, paint a paper parasol to carry as you visit the cherry blossom trees around the Tidal Basin. Free. Sackler Gallery, 2:00 PM.

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

Elizabeth Taylor (1955) by Sid Avery. Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Ron and Donna Avery © 1978 Sid Avery

Dame Elizabeth Taylor, actress and legend of the silver screen, passed away this morning at age 79. She suffered from chronic health problems and died at Cedars Sinai Hospital from congestive heart failure, a condition she was initially diagnosed with in 2004.

Born in London, Taylor began acting at the age of 12, scoring her breakthrough role of Velvet Brown in the 1944 film National Velvet, where she played an aspiring equestrian who illicitly competes in the Grand National Steeplechase. She became a major child star at MGM and was one of a few young actors who were able to make that difficult transition to adult roles. Maturing into a dazzling beauty with raven hair and violet eyes, Taylor was at her zenith during the 1950s and 60s, appearing in films such as Father of the Bride, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly Last Summer and Cleopatra, where she met her future husband Richard Burton. She took home Oscar gold for her performance as a call girl in BUtterfield 8 and for playing the disillusioned and acidic Martha in a cinematic treatment of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

In 1956, she appeared opposite James Dean in a screen adaptation of the Edna Ferber novel Giant. During filming, photographer Sid Avery captured a behind-the-scenes shot of the actress, currently on view at the National Portrait Gallery. “It is in the unscripted, candid moment captured in this image that Taylor’s extraordinary beauty is most striking,” says Ann Shumard, the Portrait Gallery’s curator of photographs. “Blissfully unaware of the camera, the 23-year-old actress raises her face to the Texas sun as she enjoys a break in the filming of Giant. Even in an unguarded moment, she is every bit the star whose beauty made her such a mesmerizing presence on the screen.”

Lamartine bracelet (1970) by Van Cleef and Arpels. Photo by John Bigelow Taylor, courtesy of the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum.

Taylor also had a longstanding love affair with jewelry and wrote a book about her collection and the stories behind her pieces. Currently on display at the Cooper Hewitt Museum’s exhibition Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef and Arpels is her lamartine bracelet that dates from 1970.

“Elizabeth Taylor had extraordinary taste in jewelry and a very fine collection,” says Sarah Coffee Coffin, a curator at Cooper-Hewitt. “The bracelet and earrings that go with them were both a present from Richard Burton that he bought her in Geneva in 1971.  He liked them because the cabochon amethysts went with her violet eyes.”

Her film career waned in the 1970s and in the 1980s she was a recurring figure on the daytime soap operas “General Hospital” and “All My Children.” It was also during this period that she poured her time and resources into AIDS charities in an era when it was still a taboo subject. She created the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991 to assist people living with the disease. And though she was absent from acting and made few public appearances in her later years, she kept in touch with her legions of devoted fans via Twitter, sending out messages until just days before she was admitted to Cedars Sinai Hospital on February 11.

Registration is now open for a new alternate reality game at the Smithsonian. Image courtesy of MIT.

Game On. Registration has now begun for the new Smithsonian-museum based alternate reality game, Vanished.

Developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with funding from the National Science Foundation, the game encourages students, ages 11 to 14, to kick their critical thinking skills into high gear to solve a mystery . The 8-week alternate reality game engages students to try to figure out the cause of an environmental disaster using games, puzzles, online challenges, museum visits and scientific deduction. While the gaming experience is online, players are also encouraged to investigate their immediate environs by visiting Smithsonian and Smithsonian affiliate museums to find information that will help them complete the game.

In online video conferences, Smithsonian scientists—forensic anthropologist Kari Bruwelheide, paleo-ecologist Conrad Labandeira, geologist Elizabeth Cottrell, entomologist David Roubik—will interact with the players to help them along in the game, as well as to give them a realistic idea about what it’s like to be a professional in the field, debunking some of the more pervasive cultural stereotypes. (There are more women in the field than you might initially think and yes, they do have hobbies and outside interests like the rest of us.)

“We want kids to go in and feel like investigators and scientists,” says MIT’s Caitlin Feeley, the game’s project manager. “This online mystery-solving community is a lot like a scientific community.”

Gamers will pool and discuss their ideas on moderated online forums, as a group they can challenge their own assumptions and rethink hypotheses and collectively solve clues.

The mini game Rover introduces players to a virtual archaeology site. Image courtesy of MIT.

Sidebar mini games available on the site teach scientific concepts that can be used to help solve the larger mystery. For example, in Rover, players can explore a virtual archaeological site and digitally dig up and examine artifacts in the Smithsonian’s collections, using observations to interpret data.

A few years ago the Smithsonian approached the Education Arcade at MIT, a group focused on finding innovative ways to use digital gaming as a teaching tool, about doing a game on museum education. ”It gets kids into museums with purpose,” says Feeley.

“Sometimes there are efforts to get kids engaged with museums that don’t actually get kids to think about why the exhibits are important or get them to integrate that into other things. They’ll do something like go on a scavenger hunt, write a report on what you saw—that kind of thing,” she says.

“In a lot of ways, solving a mystery, even if it’s a fictional mystery, teaches you a lot more about how to be a scientist than memorizing some stuff and copying it down on a test next week. Sometimes if kids don’t get a good science teacher, they get the unfortunate impression that science is just about memorizing a bunch of stuff. Why would you want to do that? We want kids to understand that it’s about problem solving, investigation,” says Feeley. “You make some hypotheses and if they don’t bear out, you take your investigation in another direction based on what you’ve learned. That’s true for mystery solving and it’s true for science.”

Visit Vanished to sign up. The free games begin April 4, 2011, all you need is a computer with an internet connection.

National Museum of Natural History intern Nora Besansky feeding a tarantula in the O. Orkin Insect Zoo (1977). Photograph by Richard K. Hofmeister. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Monday, March 21: March Film Screening: My Name Is Kahentiiosta

Kahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman, took part in a 78-day armed standoff in 1990 as a part of a land dispute between the Mohawks and the Canadian federal government. Arrested and imprisoned, she was detained longer than her peers because the prosecutor refused to let her stand trial using her native name. Learn about Kahentiiosta’s story and why she was prepared to die to protect the land and trees sacred to the Mohawk people of Kanehsatake. Free. American Indian Museum, 3:30-4:00 PM. This event repeats daily, except Wednesdays, through the month of March.

Tuesday, March 22: Naturalist Center

Explore this resource center of some 36,000 natural history and anthropological specimens where visitors, students, collectors, and natural history lovers can handle and study these objects, identify their own treasures, do research, draw, and more. The center is open year-round, Tuesday through Saturday and is closed on most federal holidays. Call 703-779-9712 (voice), 800-729-7725 (voice), or 202-633-9287 (NMNH’s TTY) for directions, information, and weather-related closings. Visitors must be 10 years of age or older to visit the main study gallery. A small Family Learning Center is available for younger guests. Groups of 6 or more admitted with advance reservations only; 2- to 4-week notice required. Please call to make reservations. The Naturalist Center is not located on the National Mall. Its address is 741 Miller Dr., Suite G2, Leesburg, Virginia. Free. Natural History Museum, 10:30-4:00 PM.

Wednesday, March 23: National Portrait Gallery Pop Quiz: Women’s History Month Challenge

Head out to the Kogod Courtyard to play the National Portrait Gallery’s new multimedia collection–inspired trivia game. In honor of Women’s History Month, tonight’s line of questions will be based on women in the National Portrait Gallery collection. Refreshments will be available for purchase. Free. National Portrait Gallery, 6:30 PM.

Thursday, March 24: Stargazing at the Public Observatory

The museum’s Public Observatory is open for special nighttime stargazing. Don’t miss this chance to see an array of celestial objects through a powerful professional telescope, as well as additional portable telescopes. Free. Air and Space Museum, 9:00-10:00 PM.

Friday, March 25: Live Tarantula Feedings

If you don’t get the heebie-jeebies from creepy crawlies, come on out to the Insect Zoo where you can observe a tarantula feeding, touch live insects and ask questions about any of the creatures living at the Zoo. Free. National Zoo, 10:30 AM. This event repeats year-round Tuesday through Friday at 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM, and on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM.

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

An artist's rendering of the 3D digitally reconstructed north, east and south altars of the South Cave in Northern Xiangtanshan, Image by Jason Salavon and Travis Saul

Friday, March 18: E.O. Wilson: Biologist, Naturalist, Writer, Professor and Environmentalist

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist E.O. Wilson played a key role in the development of the new field of chemical ecology in the 1950s and 60s. With William H. Bossert of Harvard University, Wilson created the first general theory of properties of chemical communication. This evening, he discusses his two recently published books, The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization By Instinct (W. W. Norton) and Kingdom of the Ants: José Celestino Mutis and the Dawn of American Natural History (Johns Hopkins University Press). Book signing follows. Free. Natural History Museum, 7:00-8:30 PM

Saturday, March 19: Conversation: Creating the Digital Cave

Have you visited the new, immersive digital display Echoes of the Past at the Sackler and have a “how’d they do that” moment? This afternoon, artist Jason Salavon and Freer and Sackler curator Keith Wilson discuss the fascinating process of creating a digital reconstruction of Xiangtangshan’s Buddhist cave temples and how Salavon was able to convey the site’s modern history of despoliation, preservation, and reconstruction. Free. Sackler Gallery, 2:00 PM.

Sunday, March 20: Portrait Story Days: Rachel Carson

Perfect for young visitors (accompanied by an adult, of course), drop in to listen to a story about a person who has influenced American history and culture and to create a special piece of art. Today, learn about Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring and founder of the modern environmental movement. Free. Portrait Gallery, 1:00-4:00 PM.

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

A frame from Superstardust HD, a downloadable game for the PS3. Image courtesy of the American Art Museum.

If you grew up with video games, and have piles of cartridges, diskettes and CD-ROMs lying around your home, you’ve more or less been curating your own personal exhibition of video game art in the comfort of your own home. But in your esteemed opinion, what games stand out as testaments to technological innovation or spectacular design? Coming to the American Art Museum next year, The Art of Video Games will be an exploration of how gaming has evolved as an art and entertainment medium over the course of 40 years.

But is it art? Can games seriously make the leap from toy store shelves to a museum? The answer is a qualified “yes” as far as exhibition curator and video game collector Chris Melissinos is concerned. “Video games allow for self expression, social reflection, intent and observer insight,” he says. “Due to its interactive nature, video games are an amalgam of art styles and mediums that allow for exploration, by the player or observer, of the artist’s intent or message. This exploration allows the player to internalize the message in a very personal and unique way. There is no other form of media, books, music, movies, or painting, that affords this opportunity. None. I have spent time in front of the paintings of Jackson Pollock and, while interesting, I found no self reflection or intent in them. I understand his technique, understand his intent, but it fails to move me at all. However, in the game Flower, there was a moment in the game where the music, visuals and actions transported me back to when I was a child growing up in New York that was so profound, it caused me to well up. It so happens that my personal reaction was in line with what the designer intended to convey. Between the two, Flower stands, for me, as a work of art.”

And for those of you who were similarly impacted by gaming, now is your chance to help decide which games will be included in the show. The games selected by the curators were milestones of a particular era or genre, received worldwide recognition and were innovative on a technical and visual level.

“I wanted the people who would come to see the exhibition to experience the reflection of their desires in the materials,” Melissinos says. “Not just the voice of the designers, artists and myself. Having the public vote on materials that we selected allows their participation and sense of community.”

And what’s Melissinos’ favorite game? “If I had to pick one, it would probably be Robotron 2084. In the Robotron world, robots and computers have become self aware and realize that humankind is the most destructive force against human existence. In an attempt to save the human race, the robots take over and control the population. You are there to save the last human family from this prison.”

While Robotron 2084 isn’t among the 240 game titles you can pick from, you have until April 7, 2011 to cast your votes and winnow down the list to 80 games. The Art of Video Games will open at the American Art Museum one year from today on March 16, 2012.

R2 shakes hands with its future roommate. Image courtesy of NASA.

Science fiction stories are littered with human-like robots that entertain our flights of fancy, such as the friendly, streamlined servant Robbie in Forbidden Planet. And when it comes to the robots that are actually being used in space, they are similarly machines of servitude, enhancing scientists’ abilities to explore our solar system. But NASA narrowed the gap between science fiction and science fact when they sent Robonaut 2 (R2), the first humanoid robot, into outer space. The Robonaut apparently has the ability to move its fingers purposefully, a capability called “dexterous manipulation.” It can hold tools and work alongside humans or go places where no man (or woman) has gone before.

“Many robots have operated in space as planetary scouts and rovers, and as extra eyes and arms for astronauts,” says National Air and Space Museum curator Dr. Valerie Neal. “Most of these robots look and act like machines, not like humans. Robonaut is a more sophisticated human-like robot that is capable of acting more like a human, to serve as a true assistant or partner. It is a dexterous robot; that is, it has arms, hands, and eyes that enable it to do certain useful motions, like holding equipment and handling tools. Robonaut is the first humanoid robot in space.”

A 300-pound Robonaut, R2B, was flown up to the International Space Station on February 24; however, it has yet to be unpacked so astronauts can put it to work. “The more capably it performs,” Neal says, “the more likely it will be able to enhance human activity while people live and work in space, first in orbit and maybe eventually on the Moon or Mars. As more is learned and capabilities are improved, future Robonauts might be sent to visit asteroids or farther planets and moons, in advance of (or instead of) human explorers. NASA is thinking of Robonaut as another member of the crew and will attempt to use it to do some of the tasks that astronauts usually do.” And in addition to outer space operations, this robot technology may also be used in the automotive industry here on Earth.

Visitors coming to the National Air and Space Museum on Wednesday, March 16 will see R2B’s identical twin, R2A. Accompanied by an operator, you will see a demonstration of the robot’s range of motion and ability to pick up and handle tools and respond to commands. The presentation will also include a video showing the R2 robots working with astronauts and engineers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center robotics lab. In the meantime, you can read more about NASAs robonauts and check out a “movie trailer” for this modern technological marvel, which makes it seem all the more unreal than the stuff we’re used to seeing on the screen.

Robonaut2 (R2) will conduct live demonstrations of its human-like motion and demonstrate its strength and dexterity. The robot’s NASA management team will also be on hand to answer questions. 10:30, 11:30 AM and at 1 and 2 PM at the National Air and Space Museum on Wednesday, March 16.

Five fossil human skulls show how the shape of the face and braincase of early humans changed over the past 2.5 million years. Photo by Chip Clark, Jim DiLoreto and Don Hurlbert. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.

Monday, March 14: Recreating Our Past: The Art of Human Origins

With only fossil records to go by, how do artists go about envisioning what our human ancestors looked like? In this Resident Associate Program event, paleoartists John Gurche and Karen Carr discuss the techniques and science behind their two- and three-dimensional hominid landscapes and likenesses that populate the Hall of Human Origins. Natural History Museum’s curator Rick Potts joins them to unveil the new recreation of Sahelanthropus, a 7 million-year-old hominid. Tickets are required. Rates are: $25 general admission; $12 for members; $12 for full-time students with valid IDs and docents for the Hall of Human Origins (must call 202-633-3030 to receive this rate). Tickets may be purchased online or at the Resident Associate Program box office which is located in the Ripley Center on the National Mall. Natural History Museum, 6:45-8:15 PM.

Tuesday, March 15: Community Development and the Arts: Future Possibilities for the East of the River Communities

Panelists from local community organizations and citywide arts activists discuss ideas to expand Anacostia’s creative horizons—from an arts district in old Anacostia to a creation of an arts avenue in Southeast. The panel discussion will be followed by an audience dialogue session. This forum is part of the “Call and Response: Community and Creativity Project,” which is documenting creative expression in Wards 7 and 8 in Washington, D.C. Free. Anacostia Museum, 7:00 PM.

Wednesday, March 16: Meet the Artist: Hans Op de Beeck

Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck explores our problematic relationships with time, space and each other through a variety of artistic media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, installation, photography, video, animated film and short stories. Today, he discusses his recent work, including his video Staging Silence (2009) which is on view in the related exhibition. Free. Hirshhorn, 7:00-8:00 PM.

Thursday, March 17: Women in Art Docent Tours

March is Women’s History Month and in celebration the Smithsonian American Art Museum is offering a special series of Women in Art docent-led tours. Free. American Art Museum, 5:00 PM. This event repeats every Thursday in March at 5:00 PM and on Friday, March 25 at 5:30 PM.

Friday, March 18: Subramaniampuram

This low-budget film was hailed for its careful reconstruction of the 1980s: long-haired men, bellbottoms and sounds of our recent past. Stripped of the nostalgia associated with costume drama, the film offers an unvarnished look at the friendship of five men living in the neighborhood of Subramaniapuram in Madurai. These unemployed lads squander long days on liquor and dodging the law. But instead of celebrating such youthful indiscretions, the film dissects how stagnant days infect the bonds between men. Political ambitions, murder and romance mobilize a downward slide into betrayals and shifting alliances, further heightened by wanton murder and stabbings. The film will be presented in Tamil with English subtitles. Free. Freer, 7:00 PM.

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

Studio Interior (1938) by George Ault. Image courtesy of the American Art Museum.

Friday, March 11: To Make a World Exhibition Talk

Come explore the vision of America realized by painter George Ault through the canvases on display in this brand new show. Alexander Nemerov, exhibition curator and Yale University’s Vincent Scully Professor of the History of Art, discusses what makes Ault’s paintings special, both as revelations of their own moment and insights into our time. Book signing follows. Free. American Art Museum, 7:00-8:00 PM.

Saturday, March 12: Stories from the Reef: Raising Awareness Through Community Projects

The Smithsonian Community Reef brings together mathematics, marine science, crafts, and community activism in an effort to raise awareness about the threats to coral reefs worldwide. Join us for a discussion about the impact of community projects on conservation with Margaret Wertheim, co-founder, Institute for Figuring; Rick MacPherson, director, Conservation Programs, Coral Reef Alliance; and members of the Luther Place and N Street Village Community. Free. Natural History Museum, 4:30-6:30 PM.

Sunday, March 13: Nowruz! A Persian New Year Celebration

Celebrate the Persian New Year with a full day of free activities. Back by popular demand are London-based storyteller Xanthe Gresham, performing new tales from the poetic opus the Shahnama (11 am, 1 pm, and 3:30 pm), and chef Najmieh Batmanglij who will sign copies of her cookbook Food of Life (1–3 pm). Family activities range from decorating eggs and making sabzeh boxes to creating Nowruz greeting cards and Shahnama masks, crowns, and puppets. While you’re at the museum, be sure to check out the companion exhibit Shanama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings. Free. Freer, 11:00 AM-4:00 PM.

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

Get in touch with your muse in this week's online poetry workshop. Lyric Muse (1912) by Paul Manship. Image courtesy of the American Art Museum.

Monday, March 7: March Film Screening: My Name Is Kahentiiosta

Kahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman, took part in a 78-day armed standoff in 1990 as a part of a land dispute between the Mohawks and the Canadian federal government. Arrested and imprisoned, she was detained longer than her peers because the prosecutor refused to let her stand trial using her native name. Learn about Kahentiiosta’s story and why she was prepared to die to protect the land and trees sacred to the Mohawk people of Kanehsatake. Free. American Indian Museum, 3:30-4:00 PM. This event repeats daily, except Wednesdays, through the month of March.

Tuesday, March 8: Washington Resigning His Commission: A History of Damage and Repair

Ferdinand Pettrich’s 1841 larger-than-life plaster statue of George Washington remains an impressive work of art—but it still manages to wow audiences thanks to diligent efforts to keep the piece looking its best. Get an inside look at what it takes to keep this sculpture in its prime through a talk with conservator Hugh Shockey, who will explain ongoing problems with the sculpture and discuss how it has been treated over the years. Free. American Art Museum, 12:30 PM

Wednesday, March 9: DISCOVERY THEATER, Balafon

The balafon, perhaps more familiarly knowns as the marimba, is an instrument that originated in the region of Africa now called Ghana, the Republic of Guinea, and Burkina Faso. They are used at festivals, funerals and celebrations to lift the emotions of people. It is also the name of a dance troupe guided by artistic director “Mama” Kadiatou Conte, a native of Guinea. In this performance suitable for people of all ages, Balafon West African Dance Ensemble brings to the stage an explosion of classical West African song, music and dance. Youngsters will feel the eternal rhythm of the drum, learn about the culture of Ghana, and might even be able to join in the dance. Tickets are required. Rates are $6 general admission; $5 children; $4 for members; $4 for children of members; $3 for children under age 2. Tickets may be purchased online or at the Resident Associate Program box office which is located in the Ripley Center on the National Mall. For groups of 10 children or more (ages 2-16) please call us at 202-633-8700 for a group discount. Discovery Theater, 9:00-10:15 AM.

Thursday, March 10: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk: Juliette Gordon Low

If you’re one of those people who know the Girl Scouts primarily by way of cookies, come on out for this week’s portrait talk where education specialist Geri Provost will introduce you to Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low through a painting by Edward Hughes. Free. National Portrait Gallery, 6:00-6:30 PM.

Friday, March 11: Sin Fronteras Online Poetry Workshop & Reading

In this online workshop sponsored by the Smithsonian Latino Center, write and share your poetry in an online forum moderated by Maria Miranda Maloney, publisher and author of The City I Love. Participants will need a Second Life avatar. Click here to get one! For more information go to http://latinovirtual.blogspot.com/ or e-mail Melissa Carrillo at Carrillom@si.edu. Free. Latino Virtual Museum Sin Fronteras Cafe, 9:00 PM.

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

T. Dale Stewart Measuring a Skull (1950). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Friday, March 4: I Am God (Naan Kadavul)

Director Bala has carved a name for himself by marching against all prevailing sensibilities in the Tamil film industry. His films speak of madness on the margins and the grotesque tragedy that accompanies it. The story is about Rudran, a fourteen-year-old boy, who is abandoned by his father to grow up amidst the madmen and mendicants in the holy city of Varanasi. He falls in with a tantric sect and becomes an aghori—not just a holy man but a ganja-devouring god in the flesh, able to mete out divine justice. His story becomes entwined with a group of lepers and wretches held captive by an evil ganglord. The story notches up its physical and emotional violence when Rudran goes head-to-head with the ganglord and ultimately shows that even the gods, in their infinite mercy, can be supremely cruel. Naan Kadavul won Bala the national award for best director in 2009. (dir.: Bala, India, 2009, 150 min., Tamil with English subtitles) Free, but seating is first come, first serve, Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art, 7 PM.

Saturday, March 5: Drop-in Workshop: Make Mail Art

Did you know that there’s a veritable art gallery hanging out in your mailbox? Drop by to create a postcard using the supplied arts and crafts materials and canceled international postage stamps, then send it on its way from the museum’s post office. Free. Postal Museum, 11:00 AM-3:00 PM.

Sunday, March 6: Forensic Anthropology Lab

The Forensic Anthropology Lab offers hands-on activities where visitors use real human bones to solve mysteries and learn that forensic fact is much more interesting than forensic fiction. Individuals are free to walk into the lab at any time. Children must be accompanied by an adult. School groups must make reservations three weeks in advance. For additional information and to make reservations, visit the Web at Forensic Lab or call 202-633-1085 or 202-633-9287 (TTY). Free, Natural History Museum, 11:00 AM-4:00 PM. From now until mid-June, the lab is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 1:00 and 5:00 PM and on Saturday and Sunday between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM.

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

Tony Conrad Conserves 1679 Painting (1976). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Monday, February 28: Ira Aldridge: The African Roscius

Tonight’s Cultures in Motion performance pays tribute to the life of celebrated 19th-century Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge. The play examines the life of an African American who was forced to emigrate to Europe in the early 1800s in order to practice his craft and who defied all the odds and soared to the highest heights of his profession. Free. National Portrait Gallery, 7:00 PM.

Tuesday, March 1: Tour: New on View

This continually changing tour is a great way to keep up with the Freer and Sackler Galleries’ ever-expanding holdings, and today, take an in-depth look at the newly reinstalled galleries of ancient Chinese jades and bronzes in the Freer. Free. Freer Gallery, 2:00 PM

Wednesday, March 2: Behind-the-Scenes Introduction to the Lunder Conservation Center

The Lunder Conservation Center is a special facility of several laboratories shared by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery where visitors can watch behind glass walls conservators examining, treating, and preserving artwork.

Today, get a behind-the-scenes look at the Lunder Conservation Center—the special laboratory facility where visitors can watch conservators examine, treat and preserve artwork—learn how museum conservators use science, art history, and skilled hands to preserve objects in both museums’ collections. Free, but please register at the Luce Foundation Center information desk (3rd floor, west wing, mezzanine) before 3 PM on the day of the program. Participants also meet here. This event repeats most Wednesdays year-round. American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery, 3:00-3:30 PM.

Thursday, March 3: Composers of the Caucasus: Continuum

Tonight, the New York-based ensemble Continuum performs rarely heard gems by composers from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Republic of Georgia. The full concert program includes Oleg Felzer’s Vestige, for clarinet, violin, and piano; Faradzh Karayev’s Postludium II, for piano; Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s Three Watercolors, for soprano, flute, and prepared piano; Alexander Aslamazov’s Napyev, for clarinet solo; Suren Zakarian’s In Statu nascendi—Seven Miniatures for String Quartet; Josef Bardanashvili’s Metamorphoses; Zurab Nadareishvili’s Cadenza for Viola; Sulkhan Tsintzadze’s Quartet Miniatures; and Giya Kancheli’s Psalm 23, for soprano and ensemble. Free, but tickets are required. Freer Gallery, 7:30 PM.

Friday, March 4: Historic Theater: Time Trials of Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold is generally remembered as a traitor—but has popular opinion clouded historical fact? Take a spot on the jury panel, meet Benedict Arnold and decide if this infamous Revolutionary War figure was a patriot or a total rat fink. These 20-minute interactive performances reveal the people behind the objects on view and the emotions in their stories. Free. American History Museum, 11:00 AM. This performance will repeat today at 1:00, 2:30 and  4:00 PM.

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

Portfolio of Eight Washington Photographers by Allen Appel. Image courtesy of the American Art Museum.

Friday, February 25: Bahcall Lecture: Revealing the Crab Nebula with the Hubble, Chandra and Fermi Space Telescopes

Ever since its discovery in the 18th century, the Crab Nebula has surprised astronomers and taught astrophysicists much of what they have come to take for granted about the universe. Today, astronomer and astrophysicist Dr. Roger Blandford discusses what we have learned about the Crab Nebula through observations made by the Hubble, Chandra, and Fermi space telescopes. Free, but tickets are required. To reserve your spot, use either the online ticket request form or call 202-633-2398. Air and Space Museum, 7:30 PM.

Saturday, February 26: 2011 Orchid Exhibit Family Day

With spring on the horizon, come celebrate one of the most famous families of flowers: orchids. Enjoy stamp art and calligraphy, have your photo taken with a human-sized orchid and learn how to pot an orchid to take home. Orchid experts from the Smithsonian and U.S. Botanic Garden are available all day to answer questions and to discuss unique plants from their collections that will be on display for this one day only. For those of you unable to attend, a selection of the museum’s vast collection of orchid plants will be on display until April 24, 2011. Free. Natural History Museum, 11:00-3:00

Sunday, February 27: Wild Orchids

If you haven’t yet had your fill of orchids after attending the Natural History Museum’s flower-themed event, come see calligrapher John Wang demonstrate painting orchids and try your hand with a paintbrush to render flowers and leaves. And while you’re here, be sure to tour the related exhibition The Orchid in Chinese Painting. Free. Sackler, 2:00 PM.

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