It's a week jam-packed with openings, receptions, talks, films, and art markets, where small is the new big. more ›

The week ahead in art, including murals and beer, even more Warhol for those who haven't had their fill, new Christo and Jeanne-Claude works on view at the NGA, and more. more ›

Warhol, have your portrait drawn, the Phillips turns 90, new galleries to check out, and more -- all in this week's Arts Agenda. more ›

Michelle Obama may have stolen most of the headlines last week when she was announced as the honorary chair of next year's bigger, better National Cherry Blossom Festival. But if you ask me, I'm just as excited about the involvement of Peter Max, who was announced the same day as the official artist of the Festival's 2012 Centennial Celebration. more ›

Today marks the 165th birthday of the Smithsonian Institution -- so we thought we'd help celebrate with a collection of our favorite photographs from every museum, building or panda habitat the Smithsonian offers to Washington. more ›

While visual art events may be few and far between this week, the Dance DC Festival asks you to bring it. more ›

Exhibits on technology, the creative process, photo albums, the Civil War and an opening that directly appeals to the DCist commentariat -- all that and more in this week's Arts Agenda. more ›

This week's art roundup includes monkeys, symbolism, boobs, interaction, a celebration and a fight. more ›

The National Building Museum, which hosts interesting events like the SAVOR Craft Beer Festival and 24-Hour City Project, and is often considered one of the city's more plugged-in museums, will begin charging for admission to exhibits on June 27. more ›

The Phillips Collection opens two abstraction exhibits, Irvine Contemporary prepares to pack up and move, and much more in this week's Arts Agenda. more ›

Race to the South Pole, lawn games at an urban picnic, pilot talks, the history of pop-up books, and everything else that's opening in area museums this month. more ›

With this being the weekend that jump starts summer, the arts calendar is a little lighter than usual, though curiously full of science. more ›

Today, a coalition of over 100 ethnic and minority groups released the latest designs for the planned National Museum of the American People, which will "will tell the story of all of the people who became Americans, from the prehistoric period through today." The design of the museum, which organizers hope to erect at the end of L'Enfant Promenade, focuses on views of the Maine Avenue waterfront and the Washington Channel. more ›

>> Thursday's Phillips After 5 will lend special attention to the ongoing relief efforts in Japan. Gallery talks will explore the influence of Japanese art and Japonisme on the work of Pierre Bonnard with Japanese-inspired food and drink help set the mood. Guests will be asked to partake in a text-to-give rally and 50 percent of bar and membership proceeds, as well as designated visitor donations, will be given to the American Red Cross. Phillips Collection. $12. more ›

There are a lot of events and openings this Friday and Saturday. Are you ready? Let's go. more ›

>> Will D.C. soon be joining the ranks of fine art festival go-to locations like Miami and New York? The inaugural (e)merge art fair has been officially scheduled for September 22-25 at the Capitol Skyline Hotel. Behind the event, "a new vetted art fair that internationalizes the current groundswell of creative activity in DC," is Leigh Conner and Jamie Smith, of Conner Contemporary, and Helen Allen, former creator and Executive Director of PULSE Art Fairs. They'll be working with, among others, the Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art and the National Museum of Women in the Arts to create events during the fair. (e)merge is accepting applications from galleries, non-profits and unrepresented artists through May 2. more ›

It's obvious that the Smithsonian Institution doesn't keep up with Reddit. Otherwise, they probably would have realized that a set of Smithsonian advertisements -- created by two students in 2009 at Atlanta's Creative Circus and bearing the Institutions' name along with some clever copy -- were burning up the Internet before one of the designers tipped them off. more ›

>> Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck explores our problematic relationships with time, space, and each other through a wide variety of artistic media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, installation, photography, video, animated film and short story writing. He discusses his recent work, including his video Staging Silence, which is playing in the Black Box Theater. Tonight, 7 p.m. in the Ring Auditorium at the Hirshhorn. more ›

>> Jessika Tarr and Helen Glazer will discuss their work -- Monstrous and Clouds InFormation, respectively -- tonight at Hillyer Art Space. The work by both artists is surreal and dream-like. Tarr's illustrations are similar to those of German storybooks: dark and provocative, yet seemingly innocent in its imagery. Glazer's clouds examine the illusion of stability and ever-changing reality. 7 to 8 p.m. $5 - $10 donation suggested. more ›

Google's efforts to try and make leaving your house a thing of the past has taken yet another big leap with the introduction of Art Project, which allows users to virtually explore 385 gallery rooms in 17 museums around the world and peruse more than 1,000 high-resolution images. Art Project features some of the most foremost destinations for art lovers around the world, including Washington's very own Freer Gallery of Art. more ›

>> Hamiltonian Gallery presents the work of two Hamiltonian Fellows in a duo-show, Bound, opening on Saturday. Examining the limits of their medium, Katherine Mann and Selin Balci create vivid abstractions depicting growth within the confines of their materials. Mann's oversized works on paper are jam-packed with sequins, paint and ink, reflecting high-decorated elements found in systems of nature, and lead to a study of the sometimes conflicting intersection between growth and overabundance. Balci's laboratory-like approach creates more controlled micro-environments that incorporate biological materials derived from traditional laboratory processes, such as a bacterial culture in a petri dish, to convey a network of biological exchanges very similar to the boundaries of our own social systems. Opening reception Saturday, from 7 to 9 p.m. Mark your calendars for an artist talk on Thursday, January 27 at 7 p.m. Free. more ›

In 1921, Duncan Phillips opened America's first museum of modern art in his home, inviting visitors to become acquainted with the art and artists of his day. Founded in 1918, the museum officially opened to the public three years later, eight years before the Museum of Modern Art and two decades before the National Gallery of Art. more ›

It might be cold enough to freeze your toes (and other more sensitive appendages) off, but that shouldn't stop you from getting out there and seeing some art this week. more ›

>> Take a trip to South Africa at The George Washington University's Luther W. Brady Art Gallery and relive all the FIFA World Cup action you watched on TV. Three former G.W. students documented their travels this summer (as DCist did) through Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, and captured their own perspective on the largest soccer game in the world from the view of the first African country to ever host the tournament. See why South Africa Kicks starting today through December 17. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. more ›

This afternoon, the Smithsonian Institution responded to a highly controversial suggestion by two members of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to eliminate the Smithsonian's annual appropriation and institute an admission charge at all Smithsonian facilities. more ›

Fotoweek DC, the international photography festival, kicks off its third year this weekend. The event corrals photography lovers into exhibits, lectures and workshops all over town. This year they've moved their headquarters to the more central Corcoran Gallery of Art; they're still using their former Georgetown HQ, 3333 M Street NW, but now as the oxymoronically named Satellite Central, each with its own exhibits and programming. more ›

>> Critical Exposure presents their third annual silent auction and fundraiser Picture Equality 2010, of which DCist is a proud media sponsor. The event raises money to support youth empowerment programs to stir social change and school reform through photography. Help out some kids and add to your own collection while you're at it -- professional photographers from National Geographic, Getty Images and more have donated photographs for sale. Get your tickets for Thursday night's event here. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. more ›

>> On Saturday, all you bastards better head down to the Marie Reed Learning Center in Adams Morgan and mingle with the best of indie craft. For the seventh year running, Crafty Bastards, presented by the City Paper, returns to bring all the handmade goodness -- like all your favorite Etsy shops coming to one convenient location -- and you even get to meet the bastards who make it all, including Jay McCarroll (Project Runway's first-ever winner). Arrive early, bring lots of spending money (but pay your rent, first) and friends to help carry all your purchases and stick around awhile -- learn a new skill in Demo Square, the Hello Craft Make Something Awesome Area. Take advantage of the free bicycle valet courtesy of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. Don't forget about the ever-popular B-Boy Battle! Returning to the Performance Pit for the sixth year, these skilled and witty breakdancers compete for crowd support and bragging rights. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. more ›

Last weekend marked the unofficial beginning of the new art season, so expect lots of new events every week for awhile. Keep reading for this week's take. more ›