Note: All submitted events must be approved before they appear in the calendar.

free

Views Navigation

Event Views Navigation

Today

Free Coffee at Compass Coffee by Tend

Compass Coffee 1351 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007, Washington, DC, United States

WHAT: Tend will take over local favorite Compass Coffee to bring Washingtonians free coffee, featuring two exclusive mint-inspired drinks to celebrate the modern dentistry's DC launch: a Vanilla Mint Cold Brew and a frozen, blended drink, the Vanilla Mint Vienna. WHERE: Compass Coffee Georgetown (1351 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007) and Compass Coffee Roastery (1535 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001) WHEN: Friday, August […]

Wampanoag Celebration

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Watch members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), both of Massachusetts, as they share their culture and history in a virtual celebration of […]

Free

“Without A Whisper”: Film Screening and Virtual Discussion

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the National Museum of the American Indian is presenting “Without A Whisper,” a film about the untold history of Native women’s influence on the […]

Free

Raven and the Evolution of Glass Artist Preston Singletary

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Join us in person. Meet renowned Tlingit artist Preston Singletary, who will talk about his art and evolution as an artist, and his inspiration for the current exhibition “Raven and […]

Free

Summer Concert: Texas Chainsaw Horns, June 16th

Glen Echo Park 7300 MacArthur Blvd Glen Echo, MD 20812 7300 MacArthur BLVD, Glen Echo, MD, United States

Join the Glen Echo Park Partnership for FREE Thursday evening Summer Concerts in the Bumper Car Pavilion! With almost a dozen members, the band draws on a wide variety of influences, ranging from Ray Charles and James Brown, to ZZ Top and The Tower of Power. Their main focus is the tight, five-piece horn section […]

Free

Summer Concert: CarpathiaDC, June 30th

Glen Echo Park 7300 MacArthur Blvd Glen Echo, MD 20812 7300 MacArthur BLVD, Glen Echo, MD, United States

Join the Glen Echo Park Partnership for FREE Thursday evening Summer Concerts in the Bumper Car Pavilion! Washington DC’s Premier Central & Eastern European Folk Dance Ensemble. RSVP not required. There is no check-in at this event.

Free

Summer Concert: CarpathiaDC, June 30th

Glen Echo Park 7300 MacArthur Blvd Glen Echo, MD 20812 7300 MacArthur BLVD, Glen Echo, MD, United States

Join the Glen Echo Park Partnership for FREE Thursday evening Summer Concerts in the Bumper Car Pavilion! Washington DC’s Premier Central & Eastern European Folk Dance Ensemble. RSVP not required. There is no check-in at this event.

Free

Summer Concert: Ampersand, July 7th

Glen Echo Park 7300 MacArthur Blvd Glen Echo, MD 20812 7300 MacArthur BLVD, Glen Echo, MD, United States

Join the Glen Echo Park Partnership for FREE Thursday evening Summer Concerts in the Bumper Car Pavilion! A family-friendly, upbeat musical group that soars with tight vocal harmonies and the driving, chunky sound of traditional instruments. RSVP not required. There is no check-in at this event.

Free

Labor Day Arts Show

Glen Echo Park 7300 MacArthur Blvd Glen Echo, MD 20812 7300 MacArthur BLVD, Glen Echo, MD, United States

The 51st Annual Labor Day Art Show at Glen Echo Park will be held in the historic Spanish Ballroom from Saturday, September 3 through Monday, September 5, 2022 from 12pm […]

Free

America In Flanders Fields

Tudor Place

Dr. Dominiek Dendooven and Pieter Trogh, researchers and curators at In Flanders Fields Museum, explore the history of the US presence in Europe during WWI.

Native Veterans Celebration

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

This two-day dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial includes performances by musical artists, presentation of colors by the Native American Women Warriors, hands-on activities, films, and a veterans hospitality suite. The Memorial flame will be lit from 5-6 PM. Hands-on Activities 10 AM-4PM Films 11 AM, 1 PM AND 3 PM | Rasmuson […]

Free

Winter Blast: A Weekend of Indigenous Games

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Games can be fun as well as teach important life skills. Visit the National Museum of the American Indian and join Jeremy Red Eagle (Sisseton Wahpeton) from the International Traditional Games Society, Julia Garcia (Aymara), and members of the Native Hawaiian school Hālau O‘Aulani, sharing Indigenous games from the Great Plains, Bolivia, and Hawai’i.

Free

Winter Blast: A Weekend of Indigenous Games

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Games can be fun as well as teach important life skills. Visit the National Museum of the American Indian and join Jeremy Red Eagle (Sisseton Wahpeton) from the International Traditional Games Society, Julia Garcia (Aymara), and members of the Native Hawaiian school Hālau O‘Aulani, sharing Indigenous games from the Great Plains, Bolivia, and Hawai’i.

Free

Film Screening: Prey

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

(USA, 2022, 100 mins.) Director: Dan Trachtenberg, (Rated: R) Naru, a skilled warrior of the Comanche Nation, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly evolved Predators […]

Free

Cherokee Days Festival

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and enjoy the three-day festival featuring storytelling, traditional flute music, traditional games, demonstrations, music, dance performances, and hands-on activities in the […]

Free

Living Earth Festival 2023: Native Nations Confronting Climate Change

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

From water scarcity to floods and erosion, Native nations are addressing climate change across Indian Country. During the Living Earth Festival, join the museum for a weekend of conversations, demonstrations, […]

Free

Native American Veterans Film Screening: Corridor Four

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Corridor Four challenges the image of the American hero in a heartfelt portrait of 9/11 first responder Isaac Ho‘opi‘i (Native Hawaiian) as he works to put the traumatic experience behind […]

Free

In-Person Pride Family Day

Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian American Art Museum G Street NW &, 8th St. NW, Washington DC, DC, United States

Celebrate with your chosen family at SAAM’s Pride Family Day in the Kogod Courtyard and march to the beat of DC’s Different Drummers. Then dance to the sounds of Afro-Brazilian […]

Free

Weeding Out Invasive Plants

Tudor Place

Join fellow garden lovers and the Tudor Place garden team for a morning pulling weeds on the South Lawn. Learn to identify non-native, invasive species of plants and help the garden team on their mission to keep them out of the historic garden. Suggested attire includes long pants and sleeves, gloves and sturdy boots or […]

Free

Twilight Tour of Arts in Foggy Bottom

842 New Hampshire Ave. NW 842 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, United States

On September 9th, Arts in Foggy Bottom invites you to join them under the stars for a special performance by an NSO member and composer Michael J. Evans to celebrate […]

Free

Block Party

Capital Jewish Museum 575 3rd Street NW, Washington, DC, United States

Fall in love with DC’s newest museum as we continue our grand opening celebrations with a neighborhood block party! We’ll kick off the High Holidays with live music, workshops and […]

Free

Land/Landbase/Landscape

National Gallery of Art, East Building 150 4th Street NW, Washington, DC, United States

Join us for a conversation with artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith about her vision in curating The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans and the exhibition's central theme of Indigenous reverence, study, and concern for the land. She will be joined by artists G. Peter Jemison and Neal Ambrose-Smith; as well as Elizabeth […]

Free

Weed Wrangle

Tudor Place

The Weed Wrangle® is a one-day, area-wide, volunteer effort to help rescue public parks and green spaces from non-native invasive species through hands-on removal of especially harmful trees, vines and […]

Free

“Poetry is a country”

National Gallery of Art, East Building 150 4th Street NW, Washington, DC, United States

"Poetry is a country” will bring celebrated poets from across the nation together to premiere original poetry inspired by works in the National Gallery of Art's collection. These free, annual events will take place on Saturday, September 23, and will open with a keynote address by Ada Limón, the 24th US Poet Laureate, who was […]

Free

Mondrian’s Dress

National Gallery of Art, West Building Located between 3rd and 9th Streets along Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20001, Washington, DC

Join an in-depth presentation on issues of authorship and (mistaken) identity raised by Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 series of so-called Mondrian dresses. Nancy J. Troy, Kress-Beinecke Professor at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, will examine the galvanizing force of fashion in making Mondrian’s style widely available and instantly recognizable in visual […]

Free

Converse with a Conservator: Alma Thomas

Smithsonian American Art Museum F Street and 8th Street NW, Washington DC, DC, United States

Join SAAM’s Paintings Conservators for a conservation-focused tour through the exhibition “Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas”. Participants will be able to explore the works while getting insight into the working methods and painting materials of this beloved Washington Color Field artist. Learn how Thomas achieved her visual effects in her large-scale works, and how […]

Free

“Lift”

National Gallery of Art, East Building 150 4th Street NW, Washington, DC, United States

Join us for a post screening discussion with Oscar-nominated filmmaker David Petersen and Steven Melendez, artistic director of the New York Theatre Ballet. Filmed over ten years, Lift tells the often-unseen story of homelessness in America through a group of young homeless and home-insecure ballet dancers in New York City. After performing all over the […]

Free

Art Bites Gallery Talk

Smithsonian American Art Museum F Street and 8th Street NW, Washington DC, DC, United States

Join SAAM’s research fellows for this lunchtime series of gallery talks as they share new discoveries about artworks on view. Learn the stories behind these objects and how each one tells us about America’s ever-changing culture. Tyler Shine, the Will Barnet Foundation Predoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, discusses Alma Thomas’ “Red Azaleas […]

Free

Sanrizuga – Heta Village

National Gallery of Art, East Building 150 4th Street NW, Washington, DC, United States

Shinsuke Ogawa (1935-1992) was one of Japan’s leading documentarians who inspired generations of non-fiction filmmakers to practice and participate in the power of dedicated, collective filmmaking. Ogawa lived and worked for years within the rural Japanese villages he and his collaborators documented, immersing themselves and forming deep relationships within the communities to film the everyday […]

Free

Magino Village – A Tale/ The Sundial Carved with a Thousand Years of Notches

National Gallery of Art, East Building 150 4th Street NW, Washington, DC, United States

Shinsuke Ogawa (1935-1992) was one of Japan’s leading documentarians who inspired generations of non-fiction filmmakers to practice and participate in the power of dedicated, collective filmmaking. Ogawa lived and worked for years within the rural Japanese villages he and his collaborators documented, immersing themselves and forming deep relationships within the communities to film the everyday […]

Free

Artist Raven Chacon in Concert and Conversation

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Artist Raven Chacon (Diné) is joined by Joy Harjo, Candice Hopkins, Ange Loft, Laura Ortman, and Olivia Shortt to present selections from his work, For Zitkála-Šá (2020). A Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Chacon dedicated this portfolio of scores to contemporary Native American and First Nations women to celebrate their contributions to music. Following this piece, a […]

Free

Dorothea Lange: Seeing People

National Gallery of Art, East Building 150 4th Street NW, Washington, DC, United States

Join us for an introductory presentation on Dorothea Lange: Seeing People by exhibition curator Philip Brookman. Brookman is consulting curator in the National Gallery’s department of photographs, and former chief curator, head of research, and senior curator of photography and media arts at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (1993–2014). A signing of the exhibition catalog […]

Free

In-person and Virtual Artist Conversation with Geo Neptune and Lily Hope

Smithsonian American Art Museum F Street and 8th Street NW, Washington DC, DC, United States

Join “Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023” artists Geo Neptune (Passamaquoddy) and Lily Hope (Tlingit) in conversation with Darienne Turner, assistant curator of Indigenous Art of the Americas at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Neptune, a skilled basket maker and activist, explores themes of generational consciousness while incorporating sacred Native American mythology into their […]

Free

“Musical Thinking” Gallery Talk

G Street Lobby, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Go in-depth with Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media at SAAM, as she discusses the years-long curatorial process behind Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies. Learn about her reasons for featuring selected artists and video art, with a special focus on auditory artworks and how they merge together in this evocative and emotionally […]

Free

Art Bites Gallery Talk

G Street Lobby, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Join SAAM’s research fellows for this lunchtime series of gallery talks as they share new discoveries about artworks on view. Learn the stories behind these objects and how each one tells us about America’s ever-changing culture. Kelly-Christina Grant, the Terra Foundation Predoctoral Fellow in American Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, discusses Loïs Mailou […]

Free

Ciné-Concert: The Blood of a Poet

National Gallery of Art, East Building 150 4th Street NW, Washington, DC, United States

New score performed live by Matthew Nolan and Erik Friedlander The Blood of a Poet (Le Sang d'un Poète), the first part of Jean Cocteau’s Orphic Trilogy, is considered one […]

Free

Blossom to Beverage: The Story of Chocolate

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Saturday and Sunday, February 17–18, 10:30 AM–5 PM National Mall The story of chocolate begins with a small cacao tree rooted deep in the history of Mesoamerican culture. Learn the […]

Mother Tongue Film Festival: Frybread Face and Me

National Museum of the American Indian Fourth Street & Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, United States

Frybread Face and Me follows two adolescent Navajo cousins from different worlds as they bond during a summer on their grandmother’s Arizona ranch, learning more about their family’s past and […]

US Navy Band at Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center

Cultural Arts Center, Montgomery College 7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD, United States

Join us for an unforgettable evening of music with your United States Navy Band, led by guest conductor Dr. Rebecca Phillips. This special concert, taking place on April 12, 2024, […]

Free