Jan. 20, 2004

Dateline

GW's Guide To Happenings Throughout Metropolitan Washington

Ongoing Events
GW Exhibition “Treasures from the Jewish Cultural Renaissance in Germany, 1898-1938.” The Kiev Judaica Collection hosts an exhibition of some of the most significant works from the German Jewish Cultural Renaissance, 1898–1939, in GW’s Gelman Library, room 710 through spring 2004. For more information contact Amy Stempler at 994-2675 or E-mail astemp@gwu.edu.

Exhibition “Faith and Form: Selected Calligraphy and Painting from Japanese Religious Traditions” The exhibition features works from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto collection, which contains examples of Buddhist-inspired calligraphy and painting. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery through Feb. 8. For more information contact 357-4880, ext. 219, or visit www.smithsonian.org.

Exhibition “A Brush with History: Paintings from the National Portrait Gallery” Seventy-five paintings of Americans, including works by some of the most important portrait painters the nation has produced, are on view. The portraits reflect the range of the gallery’s collection. Through Feb. 8. For more information please call 357-2700 or visit www.smithsonian.org.

$ Exhibition “Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business” Over 40 women entrepreneurs from the colonial era to the end of the 20th century including salon-founder Elizabeth Arden, professional artist Sarah Miriam Peale, and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, will be represented by over 200 documents, photographs, audio recordings and interactive displays. At the National Museum for Women in the Arts through Feb. 29. Admission $5 for adults, $3 students/people 60 and over, free for NMWA members/youth 18 and under. For more information call 783-5000 or visit www.nmwa.org.

Exhibition “Thomas Trevelyon’s Pictorial Miscellany (1608)” Thomas Trevelyon’s elaborately-illustrated miscellany is essentially a history of England and the world since the beginning of time. Covering an astonishing range of subjects, including a picture calendar with the occupations of each month, a gazetter, Old Testament history, and proverbs and epigrams. At the Folger Shakespeare Gallery, Jan. 22 – May 23, Monday through Saturday 10 am–4 pm. For more information please call 544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

Exhibition “Life in Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust” Using artifacts, film, photographs and oral testimony, the exhibition explores the dangers and dilemmas that children and parents confronted in choosing a life in hiding. At the Holocaust Memorial Museum through May 2004 from 10:30 am–5 pm. For more information call 488-6133 or ahollinger@ushmm.org.

Exhibition National Museum of the American Indian Welcome Center Exhibition The exhibition, originally on view in the Welcome Center near the construction site of the new museum on the National Mall (opening Sept. 21), gives visitors a chance to see what the completed facility will look like. Through October 2004.

Tuesday / Jan. 20
$ Lecture “Manet and the Sea” John Zarobell, assistant curator of European painting and sculpture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, discusses the aesthetic innovations of Edouard Manet’s sea paintings. The exhibition is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from Feb. 15–May 30. Lecture starts 6 pm in the Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum. General admission $18, members $15. For tickets and information call 357–3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

$ Book Club National Book Award Winners in Fiction This year’s Smithsonian Book Discussion Group features six powerful novels by National Book Award recipients, ranging from the historical novel to Yiddish-style tales, from stark realism to lyricism. Listen to short lectures, then discuss these works in informal, guided roundtable conversation. GW’s own Susan Willens, assistant professor of English, leads the discussion group. Six sessions (Also Feb. 17, March 16, April 6, May 11, June 8, 7–9 pm). General admission $135, members $90. Smithsonian Castle, Commons. For more information call 357-3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

Wednesday / Jan. 21
$ Performance “The Four Temperaments” The Washington Ballet will commemorate 20th-century choreographer George Balanchine and his 100th birthday with a program dedicated exclusively to his works at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. Highlighting the program is the first act of Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” complete with the zany antics of Puck and a frenzy of ethereal fairies. In addition, the tribute includes the classic, “Sonatine,” and his most famous black and white ballet, “The Four Temperaments.” Through Jan. 25. Tickets range $29–$80 and can be purchased by calling the Kennedy Center box office at 467-4600 or at www.kennedy-center.org.

Thursday / Jan. 22
$ Lecture “Ken Auletta on the Business of News” The New Yorker columnist responsible for “Annals of Communications” since 1992, Auletta shares his eagle-eyed view on the perpetually uneasy marriage between public service and private business. His new book, “Backstory: Inside the Business of News,” will be available for signing after the program. 8 pm in Carmichael Auditorium, American History Museum. General admission $20, members $15. For tickets and information call 357–3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

Friday / Jan. 23
$ Concert “Colors of Brazil: The Sounds of Monica Salmaso” Monica Salmaso and her band — Benjamin Taubkin (piano), Calto Marcondes (percussion) and Teco Cardoso (sax/flutes) — draw on the tradition of Brazilian music, chants by unknown composers and the songs of Afro-Brazilian traditional composers and singers and works by modern composers such as Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo, to convey a new sense of Brazilian textures. 7:30 pm at Voice of America. General admission $24, members $19. For tickets and information call 357-3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

$ Weekend Seminar “Fin-de-Siecle Vienna: A Flourishing of Art and Culture” Discover the vibrant artistic world of late 19th-century Vienna, with art historian Mariana Carpinisan as your guide. Welcoming remarks are by Her Excellency Ambassador Eva Nowotny. In collaboration with the Embassy of Austria. Friday reception at the Embassy of Austria, 3524 International Court, NW, from 7–8:30 pm; Saturday seminar at the S. Dillon Ripley Center 10 am–1 pm. General admission $115, members $70. For tickets and information call 357–3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

$ Theater Melissa Arctic Romance and joy are resurrected from grief through the redemptive power of art in the world premiere of “Melissa Arctic,” Craig Wright’s new play inspired by Shakespeare’s romance “The Winter’s Tale.” At the Folger Shakespeare Gallery through Feb. 29. Ticket from $25–48. For more information call 544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

Saturday / Jan. 24
$ Half-Day Seminar “Swooning With Valentino” Emily W. Leider, author of “Becoming Mae West,” pulls back the curtain on a life that took Rudolph Valentino from Apulia in southern Italy to “Falcon Lair” overlooking Beverly Hills, and a career that began with taxi dancing in New York City and ended in international apotheosis. Her new biography, “Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino,” will be available for signing after the program. 2–4:30 pm in the Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum. General admission $35, members $30. For tickets and information call 357–3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.

Sunday / Jan. 25
$ Seminar “Figure Drawing with Speed and Accuracy” In art, the human figure has always been venerated as one of nature’s greatest creations. Whether you are a beginning or continuing student, this course is designed to help you develop your skill in capturing the human form on paper. Artist Trinka Margua Simon emphasizes techniques such as foreshortening, volume and anatomical study. At the S. Dillon Ripley Center through March 21 at 1 pm. For more information call 357-3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

$ Film “Women at Work: Hollywood Films the Businesswoman” the National Museum for Women in the Arts Film Coordinator Max Alvarez presents portrayals of Hollywood businesswomen, drawn from films such as “Fatal Attraction,” “Working Girl,” “Broadcast News” and the silent comedy “The Clinging Vine” (1926) whose female protagonist is so immersed in her work that she has to re-learn “feminine” traits. In conjunction with the exhibition “Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business.” 2 pm; $6 general admission, $5 members, students, visitors 60 and over. For more information please call 783-5000 or visit www.nmwa.org.

Monday / Jan. 26
$ Seminar “The Birth of Our Universe” A two-part presentation by Alan Dressler, a scientific staff member of the Carnegie Institution’s Observatories in Pasadena, CA. As the culmination of work that began with the Carnegie Institution’s Mount Wilson 100-inch telescope, which Edwin Hubble used to prove the existence of other galaxies in 1924, Dressler describes how astronomers recently have been able to view galaxies 10 billion light years from Earth, by analyzing light that left those stars only a few billion years after the Big Bang. Cosponsored with the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 6:30–9 pm in the Carnegie Institute of Washington Auditorium. General admission $25, members $20. For tickets and information call 357–3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.

Tuesday / Jan. 27
$ Seminar “Introduction to Calligraphy: The Foundational and Uncial Scripts” Instructor Caroline Gillin explores the elegance of a hand-lettered invitation, place card or letter which cannot be matched by a machine. Learn about the development of the Roman alphabet and study the foundational and Uncial scripts. Sessions at the S. Dillon Ripley Center are through March 16 at 10:15 am. Eight, 2 1/2 hour-long sessions. Resident members $183, general admission $228. For more information please call 357-3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

$ Seminar “Forensic Science and Crime Solving” This course, taught by FBI crime lab experts as well as Smithsonian physical anthropologist and FBI consultant Douglas Ubelaker, looks at the state-of-the-art components in forensic examination, including DNA analysis; fingerprint, firearms or tool marks identification; hair and fiber examination; bomb disposal; shoe-print analysis; and more. At the National Museum of Natural History through March 2 at 6 pm. Resident members $78; general admission $123. For more information please call 357-3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

Wednesday / Jan. 28
$ Lecture “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater” Franklin Toker demonstrates what makes Fallingwater remarkable, and analyzes the house as a supreme example of Wright’s concept of organic architecture. Includes a slide-tour of the house showing the structure, its interiors, and its Wright-designed furnishings. Toker describes life in the US in the 1930s, when Fallingwater was built, linking Franklin Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo, Albert Einstein and Henry B. Luce to the history of the house. Toker’s book “Fallingwater Rising: Frank Lloyd Wright, E.J. Kaufmann, and America’s Most Extraordinary House” will be available for signing after the lecture. 6 pm in the Carmichael Auditorium, American History Museum. General admission $15, members $12. For tickets and information call 357–3030 or visit www.ResidentAssociates.org.

$ Master Class “Celebrity Portrait and Fashion Photography” Curtis Knapp, a fine-art and commercial photographer and the author of nine books, offers the ins and outs of celebrity portraiture and fashion photography. Explore the entire portraiture process, from original concept to the refinement stages, which include lighting set-ups, film choices, personality issues and digital output or print considerations. Eight, three-hour long sessions starting at 6:30 pm through March 17. General admission $470, members $425. S. Dillon Ripley Center. For more information call 357–3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

Thursday / Jan. 29
$ Award Ceremony “James P. Comer — Why Schools Must Help Children Grow, and How” The Seventh Annual Smithsonian McGovern Award. One of the country’s foremost child psychiatrists and authorities on child development, James P. Comer, receives the John P. McGovern Behavioral Science Award. Comer will discuss how the natural family networks and communities that once nurtured children have been greatly weakened by rapid, massive and pervasive changes in science and technology. 7 pm in the Meyer Auditorium, Freer Art Gallery. General admission $15, members $12. For tickets and information call 357–3030 or visit www.residentassociates.org.

$ Theatre “The Phantom Lady” by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Calderon’s cloak-and-danger play tells how a young widow’s love for a brave stranger is thwarted at every turn. A comic classic of the Spanish Golden Age. Through March 7 at the Warehouse Theater at 1201 Seventh St., NW. For more information please call 234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org.

$ Workshop “Orchids in Watercolor” Learn how to paint a variety of orchids utilizing the extensive and exotic collection at the United States Botanic Garden. The class will emphasize color mixing, composition, value, texture and lighting to portray accurate botanical paintings of orchids. Individual attention will be given. All levels of students are welcome. A materials list will be mailed prior to the first class. Orchids in Watercolor will take place on Thursdays through April 1 from 9:30 am – 3 pm. The program costs $450 per person and registration must be made by calling the US Botanic Garden at 226-4082. For more information call 225-8333 or visit www.usbg.gov.

Friday / Jan. 30
Theater “Looking Over the President’s Shoulder” Ford’s Theatre presents the Washington premiere of “Looking Over the President’s Shoulder,” the story of Alonzo Fields, an African American who dreamed of becoming an opera star but, instead, became chief butler at the White House. Written and directed by James Still. Through March 7. For more information please call 638-0896 or www.fordstheater.org.

Lecture “Industrial Strength Plants: Products from Plant Sources” Find out about plant-based alternatives to petroleum-based products for home and industry. The Agricultural Research Service, USDA’s in-house research agency, has developed bio-based products as diverse as diesel fuel made from soybeans to super-slurper — a corn starch product that soaks up 2000 times its weight in moisture. At the US Botanic Gardens from noon to 1:30 pm. Registration must be made by calling 226-4082. For more information call 225-8333 or visit www.usbg.gov.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu

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