museum

Photo courtesy National Air and Space Museum

From the Air and Space museum:

“Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds
Opens September 13, 2013 through October 22, 2013

Admission is free, but timed tickets are required during the first week (September 13 through 19).

You may obtain free timed tickets at the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater or the museum store outlet inside the Independence Avenue entrance.

To reserve timed tickets in advance, call (866) 868-7774 or order tickets online. Service fees apply to advance online and phone orders. Please check this website for changes to this policy.

Leonardo da Vinci created masterpieces of art and sculpture. Equally remarkable, his aggregate achievements in engineering, mathematics, anatomy, geology, physics, music, military technology, aeronautics, and a wide range of other fields, not only stood without peer in his own time, but were strikingly prescient for the distant future. He recorded his forward-looking ideas in thousands of notebook pages, known as codices. He produced one codex entirely on flight in 1505-1506, the Codex on the Flight of Birds.

Among the many subjects Leonardo studied, the possibility of human mechanical flight held particular fascination. He produced more than 35,000 words and 500 sketches dealing with flying machines, the nature of air, and bird flight. In the Codex on the Flight of Birds Leonardo outlined a number of observations and beginning concepts that would find a place in the development of a successful airplane in the early twentieth century.

Hundreds of years before any real progress toward a practical flying machine was achieved, Leonardo expressed the seeds of the ideas that would lead to humans spreading their wings. This extraordinary document, exhibited outside of Italy only a few times, will be displayed in The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age gallery. The Codex exhibit will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to appreciate the genius of da Vinci in the same space as the Wright Flyer, which made the airplane a reality four centuries after the Leonardo produced the Codex on the Flight of Birds.”

Ed. Note: You can see all events here and you can schedule your own event listing here.

Edward Hopper. Ground Swell. 1939. Oil on canvas. 36 3/16 x 50 1/16 in. (91.9 x 127.2 cm). Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund, 1943. 43.6 courtesy Corcoran

From an email:

“FREE SUMMER SATURDAYS
Through August 31
Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th St. NW (Farragut West)

Through this Saturday of Labor Day weekend, visit the Corcoran for FREE admission, plus Gallery tours for families and all ages! Free Summer Saturdays is a chance to enjoy summer exhibitions and programming free of charge. In addition to the Corcoran’s permanent collection, special exhibitions on view include WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath, David Levinthal: War Games (now extended through October 27), and Ellen Harvey: The Alien’s Guide to the Ruins of Washington, D.C.“

Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant and previously wrote about Federal Government Museums.

Fun fact I learned on my tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing: Every 1 in 200 bills is actually a replacement for the original that wasn’t up to snuff in the printing process.  If you look closely, a replacement bill has a tiny, green star at the end of its serial number indicating that it’s a redo.  Monday through Friday BEP offers free tours of their printing facilities at 14th & C St., SW (head to the 15th St. side to pick-up your tickets before entering on 14th).  The tour takes less than an hour and kids as well as adults will love it.  Along with interesting historical facts, they showed us the new $100 bills debuting in October.  They look great with a lot more blue and a slightly three dimensional embedded strip. Nothing, however, beats the gift shop.  Who doesn’t want a pencil made of shredded money? Or, if you’re a high roller, you can get sheets of uncut bills that would make incredible, albeit expensive, wallpaper.  My one piece of advice is not to make the “do you give out samples?” joke.  Dude, it’s been done.

Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant and previously wrote about Alternative Museum Activities.

This is going to be a bit of an odd museum recommendation, it’s only a recommendation if you’re in the neighborhood and have ten minutes to kill. With that disclaimer in place I feel comfortable letting you in on the semi-secret that many federal agencies have mini museums that are cool in a very low expectations kind of way. Regrettably, the Forestry Service museum – which is awesome and has an animatronic Smokey Bear – is closed for renovations. However, the picture above is from just across the street at the Department of Agriculture (1400 Jefferson Drive, SW on the Mall) where they hand out free tomato seed packets, which makes a quick drop-in worthwhile. There’s also a neat model of the future China pavilion in the National Arboretum if you’re interested in their development plans.

Further down Independence Avenue just past 12th Street you’ll find the Department of Energy’s mini museum (1000 Independence Ave., SW). This one is clearly nicer and has some pretty neat explanations of the development of the atomic bomb. There’s also a full-size wind turbine and some interesting information on advancements in clean energy. All the federal building museums that I am aware of are accessible to the public during normal business hours. I’d love to hear about any others that are worth checking out.

Freer Courtyard

Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant and previously wrote about the Smithsonian Associates.

Sometimes I forget that, in addition to the typical walk-through museum experience, the Smithsonian provides tons of free space for quiet reflection, working, and socializing if you find the right spot.  I hadn’t been to the Freer in years, but recently a colleague suggested we have a meeting in the museum’s courtyard.  As you can see from the picture above, the courtyard is centered on a gorgeous fountain with chairs and benches surrounding it.  The sound of the water was incredibly soothing and it made a nice change from the typical depressing conference room.  It’d also make a great lunch spot if you work nearby.

Hirshhorn room

Although the Freer courtyard is quiet and shady, it’s probably a bit hot for this time of year. While looking for cooler options I came upon a room in the Hirshhorn with panoramic views of the Mall, a bank of comfy chairs, and two big conference tables.  In fact, there was someone working on his laptop at one of the tables.  It seemed like an ideal location if you’re the type who needs some noise to do work (although you’d probably have to provide your own hotspot if you need an internet connection).  A couple of other interesting spaces came to mind (specifically, the National Portrait Gallery’s enclosed courtyard, which is a great spot for a date and they serve wine).  I’d love to hear about any others I should check out in the comments.

Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant and previously wrote about the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

People were unexpectedly bitter about Pluto’s downgrade in planetary status. I learned this while attending a lecture by Mike Brown a few years back whose work led to Pluto’s change in stature. Part of the Smithsonian Associates program, lectures like this one, classes, and other events are held several times a week (prices vary from free to over $100). Upcoming events that look especially fun are a sleepover at the Museum of Natural History, cocktails based on literature, and behind the scenes with the FBI.  Lectures are often held at the Ripley Center, pictured above, which is just to the right of the Smithsonian Castle.  I like that many of the events are in the evening, which is easier for those of us coming from work than typical museum hours.  They have a little bit of everything and it’s a fun way to meet nerdy folks with similar interests.

Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant and previously wrote about the Hillwood Estate.

Situated on the grounds of Walter Reed Ft. Detrick, the National Museum of Health and Medicine is a strange jumble of anatomical oddities and battlefield medicine.  The small, free museum houses slides of Einstein’s brain, the bullet that killed Lincoln, a surgically removed hairball, skeletons of all types, an elephantiasis sufferer’s leg, and more Civil War era bone cutting saws than you can shake a stump at.  In addition to loads and loads of the macabre, right now they have an exhibit on traumatic brain injuries which covers both war related and civilian injuries, including the controversy of concussions in professional sports.

NMHM only takes an hour or two to explore, but the ability to say “you’ll never believe what I saw this weekend” is worth it alone.  The museum is suitable for hardy kids and adults alike, but be warned that there is a large viewing window tucked in the back where staff carry out their work on weekdays.  All of their work.  The museum also has virtual exhibits that’ll give you conversational fodder without even hauling your keister to Forest Glen.