Jan
10
Sat
Tea with Lady Washington at Mt. Vernon @ Mount Vernon
Jan 10 @ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Tea with Lady Washington
Saturdays, January 10, 17, 24, 31, and February 7. 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Join Lady Washington for tea as you discuss the news of the day!  Listen to her stories about life at Mount Vernon while enjoying a selection of lite fare prepared by the Mount Vernon Inn. Following tea, enjoy a self-guided exploration of the estate and decorative arts found in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. Tickets: $30 for adults, $20 for youth (12 and under), includes tea, lite fare, and general estate admission.

Jan
17
Sat
Tea with Lady Washington at Mt. Vernon @ Mount Vernon
Jan 17 @ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Tea with Lady Washington
Saturdays, January 10, 17, 24, 31, and February 7. 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Join Lady Washington for tea as you discuss the news of the day!  Listen to her stories about life at Mount Vernon while enjoying a selection of lite fare prepared by the Mount Vernon Inn. Following tea, enjoy a self-guided exploration of the estate and decorative arts found in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. Tickets: $30 for adults, $20 for youth (12 and under), includes tea, lite fare, and general estate admission.

Jan
24
Sat
Tea with Lady Washington at Mt. Vernon @ Mount Vernon
Jan 24 @ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Tea with Lady Washington
Saturdays, January 10, 17, 24, 31, and February 7. 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Join Lady Washington for tea as you discuss the news of the day!  Listen to her stories about life at Mount Vernon while enjoying a selection of lite fare prepared by the Mount Vernon Inn. Following tea, enjoy a self-guided exploration of the estate and decorative arts found in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. Tickets: $30 for adults, $20 for youth (12 and under), includes tea, lite fare, and general estate admission.

Jan
31
Sat
Tea with Lady Washington at Mt. Vernon @ Mount Vernon
Jan 31 @ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Tea with Lady Washington
Saturdays, January 10, 17, 24, 31, and February 7. 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Join Lady Washington for tea as you discuss the news of the day!  Listen to her stories about life at Mount Vernon while enjoying a selection of lite fare prepared by the Mount Vernon Inn. Following tea, enjoy a self-guided exploration of the estate and decorative arts found in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. Tickets: $30 for adults, $20 for youth (12 and under), includes tea, lite fare, and general estate admission.

Feb
7
Sat
Tea with Lady Washington at Mt. Vernon @ Mount Vernon
Feb 7 @ 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Tea with Lady Washington
Saturdays, January 10, 17, 24, 31, and February 7. 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Join Lady Washington for tea as you discuss the news of the day!  Listen to her stories about life at Mount Vernon while enjoying a selection of lite fare prepared by the Mount Vernon Inn. Following tea, enjoy a self-guided exploration of the estate and decorative arts found in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. Tickets: $30 for adults, $20 for youth (12 and under), includes tea, lite fare, and general estate admission.

Mar
1
Sun
Road to the Puppy Bowl @ Washington Animal Rescue League
Mar 1 @ 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

The second annual ROAD TO THE PUPPY BOWL is an all-star adoption event to help animals of all size, shape and breed find their forever homes, for half price! Those hoping to add a playful pup, a furry feline, a bouncing bunny or anything in between can join Animal Planet at their local shelter for a fun-filled event with photo ops, giveaways and overly adorable animals. The best part, Animal Planet is helping cover half the cost of all adoptions on March 1.

WHEN:            Sunday, March 1 from noon – 4 p.m.

 

WHERE:           Washington Animal Rescue League – 71 Oglethorpe St NW, Washington, DC 20011

 

HOW:              Visit http://roadtopuppybowlwashingtondc.eventbrite.com/ to register for the event and to be eligible for the waived adoption fees.

 

WHY:               Each February, the most anticipated sporting event featuring the cutest – and adoptable – players arrives on Animal Planet.  PUPPY BOWL has led to hundreds of adoptions over the past 11 years and is a key leader in Animal Planet’s ongoing mission to highlight the importance of animal adoption and responsible pet ownership. Now, the network is bringing the joy and goodwill of the big game to communities across the country on the ROAD TO THE PUPPY BOWL.

 

*NOTE: Adoption fees covered by Animal Planet are on a first-come, first-serve basis while select animals and funds remain.

The Wacky & Whimsical Tea for THEARC @ Ritz Carlton Hotel
Mar 1 @ 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

The Wacky & Whimsical Tea for THEARC is a fun-filled Sunday afternoon that will include high tea & tasty bites, a performance by the students of The Washington Ballet and circus-inspired games and activities for children of all ages and their families. The event will happen on March 1, 2015 from 2:00-4:00 pm at The Ritz Carlton Hotel of Washington, D.C.  Co-chairs for the Tea include Annie Lou Berman, Jessica Heywood & Elena Tompkins. Parents can enjoy a silent auction of the area’s most coveted experiences, a prize treasure trove and other fun surprises. All of the proceeds from the event will benefit the Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC).

Individual tickets are $90 for children and $160 for adults.

THEARC is a home away from home for the many underserved children and adults of East of the River, enabling them to participate in dance classes, music instruction, fine arts, academics, continuing education, mentoring, tutoring, recreation, medical and dental care, and other services at a substantially reduced cost or no cost at all. Aside from the eleven partner organizations operating at THEARC including: Building Bridges Across the River, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington’s FBR Branch, Children’s Health Center at THEARC, ArtReach at THEARC, Covenant House Washington, Levine Music, Lift-DC, Trinity University at THEARC, The Washington Ballet and Washington School for Girls; THEARC also holds the first full-service theater in Washington, D.C.’s Ward 8.   It was created to provide DC residents living east of the Anacostia River entertaining and enlightening experiences that can impact their lives and brighten their futures.

THEARC Theater also offers year-round programing including free Black History Month programs, an affordable Jazz concert series entitled Double Time Jazz at THEARC Theater, Show Time Tuesdays at THEARC – free summer movies & snacks for youth during the summer, Intermix Theater Festival – offering affordable theater seminars and workshops for artists and technicians, a paid internship in technical theater management and free holiday programing during the Fall and Winter months.

Mar
7
Sat
Nowruz: A Persian New Year Celebration @ Freer/Sackler Galleries
Mar 7 @ 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

The Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery will present its seventh annual “Nowruz: A Persian New Year Celebration” free family festival Saturday, March 7, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Throughout the day, visitors of all ages can learn, play and feast at a celebration encompassing both museums to mark Nowruz, the beginning of the new year of 1394 in Iran, Afghanistan and many other countries, coinciding with the first day of spring.

At 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., visitors can relive the Iranian music scene of the 1960s and 1970s with updated versions of classic songs made famous by the likes of Googoosh, Hayedeh, Pari Zangeneh and Parva, along with mesmerizing bandari-beat tunes by Zia Atabi. The band Mitra Sumara, based in New York, features Iranian American vocalist Yvette Perez (pictured below), and re-energizes Persian pop with influences ranging from salsa and disco to Nigeria’s Fela Kuti and Middle Eastern rhythms.Visitors will be able to hear storyteller Xanthe Gresham weave tales from Persian literary classics, learn about the Freer and Sackler’s rich collection of 19th-century Persian photographs, discover the meaning of colorful “Haft Sin” table displays and then make their own, watch a master calligrapher at work and dress up in traditional costumes for photos recreating a Persian painting. Other activities include “fire” jumping for good luck in the new year, backgammon and chess matches, face painting and a hands-on workshop in the ImaginAsiaclassroom for families to make crowns and shields inspired by the Shahnama (Book of kings). Docents will elaborate on important works in the exhibitions “Nasta’liq: The Genius of Persian Calligraphy” and “Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran” to offer glimpses of Iran’s rich artistic traditions.

Persian literature enthusiasts can enjoy book-signing sessions at the Sackler store for Two Parrots–a children’s book adapted from the poet Rumi’s celebrated work–signed by illustrator Rashin from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, signed by author Najmieh Batmanglij from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Persian cuisine by Moby Dick and thematic greeting cards will be available for purchase.

The annual event, celebrated in advance of the true holiday March 21, regularly draws crowds of 10,000 visitors, and is made possible by a gift from Jahangir and Eleanor Amuzegar.

On March 19, the new year celebration will continue with a free concert by Grammy-nominated artists Kayhan Kalhor and Shujaat Khan. In “Ghazal: Indian and Persian Improvisations,” the musicians will reunite for the first time in more than 10 years to perform their unique blend of Indian and Persian classical music.

The annual Nowruz lecture will take place March 29, co-sponsored with the Foundation for Iranian Studies. This year’s distinguished speaker will be Azar Nafisi, the best-selling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and Things I’ve Been Silent About. In the lecture, Nafisi will discuss her latest work, The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books.

FEATURED COLLECTIONS

On view at the Sackler until May 3, “Nasta’liq: The Genius of Persian Calligraphy” is the first exhibition to focus on one of the most aesthetically refined forms of Persian culture developed during the 14th-16th centuries: nasta’liq, a type of calligraphy so beautiful that for the first time the expressive form of the words eclipsed their meaning. Also on view will be “Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran” featuring one of the largest collections of luxury metalwork from ancient Iran. In the Freer Gallery, visitors can enjoy one of the finest holdings of Islamic art in the United States, with particular strengths in ceramics and illustrated manuscripts.

Iranian photographs from the Freer and Sackler Archives’ collection of more than 1,100 original 19th-century prints and glass-plate negatives by Antonin Sevruguin and other Persian photographers will screen for visitors throughout the day. The collection–the largest public holdings of Sevruguin’s photographs outside Iran–was recently digitized and cataloged in its entirety.

Bowl for a Cause @ Pinstripes
Mar 7 @ 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

An estimated 100,000 people live with Sickle Cell Anemia in the United States and millions are affected globally.

Join Policy TakeOver as they raise money in support of Sickle Cell Disease Association of America’s (SCDAA) mission for saving lives and increasing sickle cell disease awareness and advocacy. All proceeds will go to SCDAA. Policy TakeOver, is an organization and blog dedicated to improve, educate, and involve communities in health issues.

Cost: Your $33 Bowl for a Cause ticket purchase will include 2 hours of bowling, shoe rental and light hors d’oeuvres. Tickets are nonrefundable.
Tickets can be purchased athttp://www.policytakeover.eventbrite.com or http://www.policytakeover.myevent.com

Mar
28
Sat
Freer/Sackler Cherry Blossom Celebration @ Freer/Sackler Museums
Mar 28 @ 11:00 AM – 4:30 PM
On Saturday, March 28, the galleries will host a premiere event of the National Cherry BlossomFestival, “Cherry Blossom Celebration,” a free, family day where visitors can unleash their inner artist with Washington’s popular ArtJamz, take guided tours exploring nature in Japanese arts and browse vintage Japanese kimono for purchase. Anime fans can view classic sci-fi anime films, including the 3-D epic Harlock: Space Pirate, and meet legendary anime director Shinji Aramaki.

Throughout the spring, guests can learn about other well-known expressions of Japanese culture in “Zen, Tea, and Chinese Art in Medieval Japan”–such as Zen Buddhism, tea drinking and ink painting, which emerged in the 12th-16th centuries. Also on view will be  “Oribe Ware: Color and Pattern Come to Japanese Ceramics,” an exhibition on the renowned style that introduced vivid pattern and color to Japanese ceramics in 1605.  In addition, cherry blossom enthusiasts anywhere in the world can share the splendor of the season digitally with a new suite of free e-cards featuring artworks from the Freer and Sackler collections, available online.

Visit asia.si.edu/cherryblossom for the complete schedule of programs.