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St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a National Historic Landmark, was designed in the 1870s by Calvin T.S. Brent, Washington, DC’s first black architect. Learn more about famous black architects and how they shaped the city in “Master Builders”at the Anacostia Community Museum on Sunday.

Friday, April 5: Japanese Design Weekend

Get a taste of Japan’s rich artistic history this weekend with a three-day celebration of the country’s art and design. Exhibits like , tours and a lecture by acclaimed Japanese printmaker Ayomi Yoshida set the stage for numerous hands-on activities, including Japanese bookbinding and chance to help create an audiovisual Japanese lantern installation with students from Virginia Tech. And bonus: The Tokyo in the City food truck and Mr. Miyagi’s Food Truck will be outside the museums from 11 am–3 pm on Saturday. Free. Through Sunday. Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Saturday, April 6: Poetry Month Family Day

Celebrate today:
National Poetry Month.
Tours and open mics!

That’s our haiku for National Poetry Month, which the National Portrait Gallery kicks off today with poetry workshops, a DC Youth Slam Team performance, tours of  Poetic Likeness: Modern American Poets and a short open mic session for children. Stop by to see if you can be a better poet than we are! Free. 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. National Portrait Gallery.

Sunday, April 7: Master Builders: A Documentary Featuring African American Architects in the Nation’s Capital

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 15th and Church streets, Sterling Brown’s house, Rock Creek Baptist Church—many prominent and historical buildings in Washington, DC were built by African-American architects, who helped to shape the city as we know it today. Master Builders, by filmmaker Michelle Jones, tells the untold story of past and present African-American masters’ contributions to the city. A panel discussion will follow the film with Jones, NoMa historian Patsy Fletcher, former dean of Howard University’s School of Architecture Harry G. Robinson III and others. Free. 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Gerhard Richter (above) is one of the world’s most accomplished living painters. Watch a documentary about him and his creative process at the Hirshhorn Museum this Thursday. Photo c.1970 by Lothar Wolleh, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Tuesday, April 2: Sousa on the Rez

John Philip Sousa was a late Romantic era American composer famous for his military and patriotic waltzes—not necessarily the type of music you would expect to hear on a Native American reservation. It turns out, however, that his tuba- and trumpet-heavy marches have been part of many Native American cultures for more than 100 years. “Sousa on the Rez” (2012) is a 30-minute documentary directed by Cathleen O’Connell that explores this little-known Native music scene. Free. 11 a.m. American Indian Museum.

Wednesday, April 3: Creative Workshop with Tamara Thomas

Feel an itch to be a little creative? Local artist Tamara Thomas is on-site today to help museum visitors craft their own unique piece of takeaway art. A range of artistic materials provided—just bring your imagination. Free (reservations required, call 202-633-4844). 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Thursday, April 4: Gerhard Richter Painting

Gerhard Richter is one of the most highly regarded visual artists alive today. The German-based painter, photographer and glass artist, now 81, has had a robust career of producing both photorealistic and abstract works that have defied expectations of style and explored illusionistic space in contemporary art. Gerhard Richter Painting is a 2011 documentary by Corinna Belz that follows the Richter as he prepared for his 2011-12 retrospective. It interweaves scenes of the artist at work, archival footage and interviews with art scholars and the artist’s contemporaries. In the film, Belz says of Richter,   “I think the challenge of working on camera attracted him to [being on film], creating new rules and new situations and then making it look easy and graceful.” See a trailer here. Free. 8 p.m. Hirshhorn Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Reusable water bottles, like those above, are good for the environment. Instead of throwing away your disposable plastic bottles, bring them to the Anacostia Community Museum on Wednesday to turn them into art. Photo by Larry Kwan, courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Tuesday, March 26: Join the Student Sit-Ins at the Greensboro Lunch Counter

Four black students sat at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960 and helped to change the course of American history. By refusing to leave when the staff declined to serve them, the students inspired “sit-ins” around the South in protest of racial segregation. Today, travel back in time to join the Civil Rights Movement with a historical reenactment of a civil disobedience training session, delivered from a 1960s manual and alongside a section of the lunch counter from the Greensboro, NC store. (Just be sure to return to 2013 before the museum staff kicks you out.) Free. 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on most Tuesdays-Sundays through March 31. American History Museum.

Wednesday, March 27: Water Bottle Art

Save the environment in style! Turn your water bottle(s) into something beautiful today in a water bottle art extravaganza that will help teach the environmental hazard of disposable plastic bottles (here are five reasons plastic water bottles are dangerous). DC-based artist Jay Coleman is on site with markers, paint, colored paper and other art materials for you to decorate your bottles, which he will use to create a work of art. Free, but reservations required (call 202-633-4844). 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Thursday, March 28: Through a Female Lens

See America’s history through the eyes of its women today on a tour highlighting artworks that capture major moments in the nation’s past from female perspectives. Artworks range from colonial portraiture to contemporary works, and reveal how we can understand the past differently when it is framed by people other than the men who wrote America’s history books. Free. 12:30 p.m. American Art Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Nam June Paik’s “Electronic Superhighway” (he coined the phrase). See a curated selection of short films by the video artists on Wednesday at the American Art Museum. Photo by ekai courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Tuesday, March 19: Verbal Gymnastics

Poet, playwright and Verbal Gymnastics founder John Johnson is in the house this morning to help you unlock your inner poet. In line with his mission to use the arts to tackle troubling social issues, Johnson will show participants how to use their personal observations of and experiences in their communities to create original verse. Free. 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Wednesday, March 20: The Films of Nam June Paik

Nam June Paik (1932-2006) was an avant garde musician, installation artist and the world’s first video artist. The American Art Museum opened a retrospective of his career earlier this year (see some of his work at his website), and this evening curators at the museum will introduce a series of short films and video works by the multi-media pioneer. Free. 6:30 p.m. American Art Museum.

Thursday, March 21: Wahzhazhe: An Osage Ballet

The history of the Osage people comes alive this afternoon through a unique medium–ballet. The performance features the traditional dance, music and design of the Oklahoma-area Native people, and shows the triumphs and tragedies of their complex history, from their relocation from their homeland on the Osage River to the discovery of oil on their reservation to their lives today. Free. Daily at 3 p.m. through March 23. American Indian Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Chahārshanbe-Sūri, Iran’s Festival of Fire, falls on the Wednesday before the Persian New Year. Join in celebrating Iran’s unique New Year traditions this Saturday at the Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Friday, March 15: Movie Night!

Tired of $10 movie tickets? Smithsonian has three free films on tap tonight. Rebels with a Cause (2012, 72 min, USA, directed/produced by Nancy Kelly and Kenji Yamamoto; trailer here) tells the story of pioneer environmental activists who saved California’s coastline from suburban development in the 1950s. Market Imaginary (2012, 54 min, USA, directed by Joanna Grabski; trailer here) investigates Dakar’s Colobane Market, a major market in the West African city that is deeply embedded in the local economy and culture. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002, 129 min, Korea, directed by Park Chan-wook, Korean with English subtitles; trailer here), follows a hearing-impaired factory worker who turns to an illegal organ-trafficking ring to get a new kidney for his dying sister, then goes on a quest for vengeance when he is cheated. All films free. In respective order: 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Anacostia Community Museum, African Art Museum and Freer Gallery.

Saturday, March 16: Persian New Year Celebration

When Americans celebrate their new year, they watch a ball drop. Persians jump over fire. Chahārshanbe-Sūri, the Festival of Fire, preludes Nowrūz, the Persian New Year, which welcomes the beginning of spring. Today, learn about Iran’s exciting new year traditions while enjoying Persian songs, dances, games and food. You can even practice some (fake) fire jumping of your own! Fun for the whole family. Free. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Sunday, March 17: Hok-Noth-Da Story Time for Families

Hok-Noth-Da–Did you hear? People often remember stories their parents told them for their entire lives. Because they make such an impression, stories are ways for families and cultures to pass down important lessons for generations. Today, a Native museum staff member passes down lessons from different Native communities throughout the Western Hemisphere by reading children’s stories by or about Native people. Open to children ages 4 to 8. Free. 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. American Indian Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.