museum

Mezzanine Café Reopens in the National Museum of Women in the Arts

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid via wikipedia

From a press release:

“The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is pleased to announce the reopening of its Mezzanine Café. Located in the museum’s elegant building at 1250 New York Avenue, NW in Washington, D.C., the café will be open for weekday lunches from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. The menu includes Caesar salads with smoked salmon or grilled chicken, a Wagyu burger, a roasted vegetable flatbread with marinated eggplant and a quiche du jour. Dishes run from $8–15.

The café owner Iliana Paravalou is joined by her husband Pantelis Paravalos and her parents Effie and Christos Damigos, who ran a café for The Star Ledger newspaper in Newark, N.J. for 15 years.

“We are honored to work alongside NMWA on its beautiful mezzanine level, which provides a lovely, relaxing atmosphere for patrons,” said Paravalou. “We provide excellent customer service and look forward to offering a menu of rotating seasonal items, including weekly specials inspired by Italian and French recipes. We craft in-house dressings and vinaigrettes and serve top-quality Wagyu meat.”

To welcome new patrons, the Mezzanine Café will offer a free coffee, tea or soda with purchase when the code “opening” is used through Nov. 8, 2013. Reservations are available at 202-628-1068. Walk-in customers are welcome. There is no museum admission fee in order to visit the café.”

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Photo courtesy of National Museum of Women in the Arts

Museum Minute Vol. 9 – African American Civil War Memorial and Museum

By Prince Of Petworth

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Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant and previously wrote about Lincoln’s Cottage.

Until recently, I didn’t realized there is an African American Civil War Museum tucked behind the African American Civil War Memorial off of U Street (it was actually kind of hard to find, 1935 Vermont Ave., NW). The name is a bit of a misnomer as it actually covers the African American experience from slavery through present day. The museum had lots of stories I had never heard such as the free African American women who were spies for the Union and voluntarily served as slaves in Confederate houses in order to gather information. In my opinion, you don’t hear a lot about women, let alone African American women, in most museums. It was refreshing and I really appreciated learning about it.

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The exhibits unfold much like a book and it’s heavy on text with some photos and a few objects. While very interesting and information heavy, be prepared to take your time and read as you go. Due to that, the museum may be better suited to older children. This Saturday, October 5 at 11 am (and the first Saturday of every month), the descendants of Civil War soldiers will present information on their ancestors and the process of researching their relatives. I recommend visiting for a different perspective than you’ll see at a lot of DC museums.

More Details on Anchorman Exhibit Coming to the Newseum

By Prince Of Petworth

From a press release:

“The Newseum has revealed the design of “Anchorman: The Exhibit,” which features props, costumes and footage from the 2004 hit comedy “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” The exhibit, created in partnership with Paramount Pictures, will open on Nov. 14, just weeks before the film’s highly anticipated sequel “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” hits theaters on Dec. 20.

Entering the exhibit, visitors will be greeted by a giant display case featuring the iconic burgundy business suit worn by fictional newscaster Ron Burgundy, played by Will Ferrell. Towering more than eight feet tall, the revolving display will provide a fitting entry point for this one-of-a-kind exhibit. Throughout the exhibit, visitors will see other reminders of Ron’s reporting prowess and personal style, including his license plate, which reads “IM #1,” three local Emmy awards for excellence in news reporting, his mustache brush, jazz flute and other classic props used in the hit movie. Props from “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” will be added to the exhibit shortly before the sequel’s Dec. 20 release.

The exhibit also will feature costumes worn by members of the Channel 4 News team, along with field reporter Brian Fantana’s (played by Paul Rudd) Sex Panther cologne, a stuffed prop version of Ron’s dog Baxter in Channel 4 pajamas, weatherman Brick Tamland’s (played by Steve Carell) eyeglasses and more.

Nearby, Ron will provide intros to the Newseum’s popular Be a TV Reporter experience, and budding news anchors can have their photos taken behind a replica of the Channel 4 News desk.

The exhibit also will explore the reality behind the film’s humor. Local TV news promotional ads from the 1970s will be on display along with photos of popular news teams of the day. Before today’s 24/7 news cycle, local TV anchors ruled the airwaves, and the anchor chair was for men only. But dramatic changes hit local TV news in the 1970s when women stepped up to the anchor desk, and news teams took over.”

ANCHORMAN FLOOR PLAN
Anchorman Floor plan courtesy of the Newseum

Museum Minute Vol. 8 – Family Day at President Lincoln’s Cottage

By Prince Of Petworth

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

This Saturday, September 21st the good folks at President Lincoln’s Cottage will throw a Family Day celebration complete with tours of the cottage and make-your-own top hats (140 Rock Creek Church Rd./Upshur). The festivities will also include a civil war encampment, period stories, live music, and a military drill team. I went last year and not only did I learn a bit about Lincoln, but I got to pet a goat, too.

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There was also pie. Yummy, yummy pie. The grounds have a gorgeous view of the city and, along with a tons of delicious food for sale, they’re cool with bringing your own picnic. On a more serious note, the current special exhibit “Can You Walk Away?” about modern human trafficking is excellent and worth seeing before it closes in December. Full disclosure, my friend curated the exhibit, but it really is thought provoking and you’ll probably need a hug afterwards. Or pie.

Rare da Vinci Exhibit at Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

By Prince Of Petworth

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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.

Museum Minute Vol. 7 – National Children’s Museum

By Prince Of Petworth

Nat'l Children's Museum

Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant and previously wrote about the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

I was pretty excited to take my kid to the National Children’s Museum at National Harbor, but after going once I won’t be in a hurry to return.  For starters, entrance for two adults and one kid over 12 months will run you $30.  That’s a lot of dough in the city of mostly free museums.  Once we got in and poked around we realized the museum is really small without all that much to it.  It kind of reminded me of a large, fancy daycare.  They’re trying to give the “exhibits” an educational spin, but really they’re run of the mill children’s activities.  For instance, one exhibit is about what people wear around the world, but it’s just pictures of kimonos, saris, and the like with cheap cotton kimonos, etc. the kids can try on.  The next area over features what people eat which is, again, just pictures and a few puzzles of international food along with a kitchen play area.  It felt chintzy and way overpriced, like paying to hang out at that one friend’s house whose parents bought too many toys.

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I should say that the kids all seemed to be having a good time and my daughter, who was probably a bit young for it at just under ten months, enjoyed the outing.  However, if you’re looking for an incredible children’s museum and don’t mind a drive, I highly recommend the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond instead.  Now that is an awesome museum which, for about the same price, is huge and has real educational exhibits as well as a nice IMAX theater.  In contrast, the National Children’s Museum (much like everything at National Harbor, as far as I can tell) was just designed to part you from your money.

This Weekend is the Final Free Summer Saturday at the Corcoran Gallery of Art

By Prince Of Petworth

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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 Vol. 6 – Bureau of Engraving and Printing

By Prince Of Petworth

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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.

Check out the Naval Museums via the Riverwalk in Navy Yard

By Prince Of Petworth

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Ed. Note: I stopped last Sunday and if you’re a history buff – you’ll love it. It’s really easy to find – just go to Yards Park and walk away from the baseball stadium to the huge Destroyer!

From a press release:

“National Museum of the United States Navy, Cold War Gallery and Display Ship Barry will be accessible through a new gate open to the public starting Aug. 1.

For the month of August, Naval History and Heritage Command along with the support of Naval District Washington, will offer free public access via the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail to the newly opened Cold War Gallery, the National Museum of the U.S. Navy and Display Ship Barry.

The only day the museums will not be open is on Mondays, due to the furlough restrictions.

Until this point, it has been a challenge for visitors to access these national treasures due to security requirements. However, a special agreement was reached to make a family-friendly option for museum goers, located within a 15-minute walk of the Nationals Park.

“We are very excited about the possibility of introducing even more of our neighbors to the rich history of the U.S. Navy,” said Capt. Jerry Hendrix, the director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, which is responsible for the U.S. Navy’s museums.

“There is something for everyone, from young children to our senior veterans.”

Signs placed along the Riverwalk will direct visitors to the Washington Navy Yard gate located near the Cold War Gallery. All adult visitors are required to present photo identification to enter. With the exception of Mondays, the museums and display ship will be open to visitors 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on weekends. (more…)

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