Mostly Virtual Arts Round Up, July 9, 2020
By • July 9, 2020 0 1167
The options for cultural “enterscreenment” continue to multiply. Those venturing out can augment their reality on the National Mall or visit niche museums in Frederick and (starting July 17) Middleburg. Bastille Day is Tuesday, so French cuisine would be apropos this weekend. For details, click on the headings below.
Hirshhorn Museum: Augmented Reality Public Art
“Liberty Bell,” a public art project utilizing augmented reality, was unveiled on July 4 in Boston; Charleston, South Carolina; Philadelphia; Rockaway, New York; Selma, Alabama; and Washington, D.C. The D.C. iteration — geolocated above the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — is presented by commissioning organization Art Production Fund in partnership with the Hirshhorn. Invisible and inaudible when not experienced via the free 4th Wall app on a smartphone or tablet, artist Nancy Baker Cahill’s piece is a monumental 360-degree color drawing, animated and richly sonorous.
Glen Echo Park: Streaming Roots Concert
Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture will stream a free concert by locally based roots band Ruthie and the Wranglers — described as “Loretta Lynn meets the Ramones at a Dick Dale party” — on July 9 at 7:30 p.m. on Facebook Live. Viewers can support Glen Echo Park and the artists by contributing to a virtual tip jar.
Brasserie Liberté: Bastille Day Specials
A few days before Bastille Day (le quatorze juillet), Brasserie Liberté, 3251 Prospect St. NW, will celebrate France’s fête nationale with champagne specials all day on July 11, plus crepes from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a live accordion performance from noon to 2 p.m. Other French dining options in Georgetown include: La Chaumiere, 2813 M St. NW; Chez Billy Sud, 1039 31st St. NW; and Bistrot Lepic, 1736 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
Goethe-Institut: Streaming Dance Film
As part of the Goethe-Institut’s Pina Bausch Tanzfilme, “Die Klage der Kaiserin (The Complaint of an Empress),” the only film directed by the pathbreaking choreographer, will be available for complimentary streaming for 48 hours starting at noon on July 11. Released in 1990, the film is a portrait that explores the seasons, the need to be loved and the fear of the end.
M Institute for the Arts: Online Master Class
M Institute’s New Era Voice Festival is a monthlong series of online events connected with classical singing. On July 11 at 4 p.m., tenor James Valenti will lead a master class, “Life on the Road and Things We Weren’t Taught in School.” Trained at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and Westminster Choir College in Princeton, Valenti made his professional debut at age 25 at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as Rodolfo in the Franco Zeffirelli production of “La bohème.” Since then, he has performed at major theaters, opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, winning the Maria Callas Debut Artist Award from Dallas Opera in 2009 and the Richard Tucker Award for operatic excellence in 2010, among other honors.
Smithsonian Associates: Zoom Art History Class
“African Art Through the Centuries,” a Smithsonian Associates class (1H0523S) offered on five consecutive weekdays via Zoom, will begin on July 13 from noon to 1 p.m. Art historian Kevin Tervala will explore the continent’s artistic expressions from the vibrant paintings found in Stone Age caves to the works of contemporary artists acclaimed worldwide. Tuition is $70 ($60 for members).
American Art Museum: Online Conversation
On July 15 at 1 p.m., Eleanor Jones Harvey, senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, will discuss the mastodon skeleton at the center of the exhibition “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture.” Admission is free but registration is required.
Politics and Prose: Graphic Novel Author and Illustrator
As part of Politics and Prose’s free online event series, author Laurie Halse Anderson and illustrator Leila del Duca will discuss their new graphic novel, “Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed,” on July 15 at 7 p.m. In this timely story about the refugee experience, teenage activism and finding the love and strength to create change, Anderson and del Duca reimagine Wonder Woman’s origins. Suitable for age 14 and older, “Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed” is available for online purchase for $16.99.
AU Museum: Online Gallery Talk
John James Anderson, curator of “Yuri Schwebler: The Spiritual Plane,” and Jack Rasmussen, director and curator of the American University Museum, will give a free online gallery talk via Crowdcast about the exhibition on July 16 at 12:30 p.m. Schwebler, a conceptual artist who died in 1990, transformed the Washington Monument into a sundial in 1974. Click here to view the exhibition, presented by the Alper Initiative for Washington Art.
Museum of Civil War Medicine: Open
The National Museum of Civil War Medicine, 48 E. Patrick St. in Frederick, Maryland, is now open on weekends. Walk-in hours are Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is also open daily for tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. by reservation on a first-come, first-served basis (last tour at 3 p.m.). To reserve, call 301-695-1864 or email alyssa.watson@civilwarmed.org. Admission is $9.50 for adults, $8.50 for seniors and military, $7 for students and free for age 9 and under. Masks and six-foot social distancing are required. The Pry House Field Hospital Museum and the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum remain closed at this time.
The National Sporting Library & Museum, 102 The Plains Road in Middleburg, Virginia, will reopen on Fridays and Saturdays beginning on July 17. One-hour timed tickets for museum admission at 2 p.m. (11 a.m. for members, admitted without charge) is $5 and must be purchased in advance. Visitors to the museum, dedicated to equestrian, angling and field sports, are required to wear masks and adhere to posted social distancing and capacity guidelines.
