Up next on Shakespeare Hour LIVE! is a discussion of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, featuring Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright (“Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets”). From the Beautiful Youth to the Dark Lady, this episode will seek to dispel long-held myths (and perhaps celebrate a few) about one of the most studied and most mysterious bodies of poetry in the world: Shakespeare’s love sonnets. Why were they written? When? And to whom and what for? If ye seek answers to those questions (and more!), seek ye here.
Future episodes will focus on Training for Shakespeare, Falstaff: Hero or Villain?, and Shakespeare’s Last Act with guests Alec Wild, Senior Director of STC’s Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University, and Prof. Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, Ronni Lacroute Chair in Shakespeare Studies at Linfield University. More special guests will be announced soon.
The Tea: MovaKween
In this online series, women musicians perform original work via livestream on the first Friday of the month. Each session includes a short interview, conducted over a cup of tea, which explores the artist’s creative process. The Tea proudly welcomes MovaKween.
MovaKween hails from Baltimore, Maryland, and sings about her “inner-standing” of consciousness and expressions of love. With a life dedicated to healing and spiritual work, her music reflects her survival stories and journey as a new goddess on Earth. She is currently working on her debut album, titled Anu Kween, coming in spring 2021.
WHERE
Online, streaming on Facebook and nmwa.org
WHEN
Friday, May 7, 12–1 p.m.
PRICE
Free. No reservations required.
On Monday, May 10 at 7:30 pm ET, the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series at the Folger Shakespeare Library, in collaboration with The National Gallery of Art, welcomes poet Billy Collins.
This final reading of the 2020/21 virtual season, the 52nd season of this distinguished Series,
highlights this popular poet. Each year, the Folger Poetry Board, supporters of the O.B Hardison Poetry
Series, selects a distinguished poet to share their favorite poems from other poets and to read from their
own work.
This year’s Folger Poetry Board reader, Billy Collins, has been named “the most popular poet in
America” by The New York Times and is a former United States Poet Laureate. He is the author of several volumes of poetry, most recently Whale Day. His many honors and awards include the Poetry Foundation’s Mark Twain Award for Humor in Poetry.
Collins follows in the steps of noted poets Seamus Heaney, Rita Dove, Octavio Paz, Gwendolyn
Brooks, former British Poet Laureates Sir Andrew Motion, and Carol Ann Duffy, all former Folger
Poetry Board Readers, a designation which began in 1991 with Mr. Heaney.
This reading is free, but reservations are required. Register at www.folger.edu/poetry.
Enduring Images: Enslaved People and Photography in the Antebellum South
Tuesday, May 11, 5 p.m.
Online via Zoom
Closed captioning provided
Presented by Matthew Fox-Amato, Assistant Professor of History, University of Idaho
From the 1840s to the end of the Civil War, some enslaved people paid to have their photographs taken and then used these portraits to shape their identities and social ties. Slave narratives, newspapers and studio records reveal that some enslaved individuals bought images from local photographers, stowed images of sold family members in their cabins and carried images of family on their persons. Considering enslaved people as active agents of early photography, this talk examines what their photographic practices meant, especially in relation to the violent disruptions of the domestic slave trade. It also reflects upon possibilities for writing the history of portraiture when the relevant images are not available. Free—Registration required.
Kate Clarke Lemay, Portrait Gallery acting senior historian, will moderate the Q&A. This program is a part of the Greenberg Steinhauser Forum in American Portraiture and is hosted by PORTAL, the Portrait Gallery’s Scholarly Center.
Livestream Lecture | Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion
Thursday, May 13, 2021, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Colleen Hill, curator of costume and accessories at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (MFIT), explores the significant inspiration roses have provided to fashion designers and shares a look at the upcoming exhibition Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion, opening at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in spring 2021.
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008
Livestream Discussion with Artist Vladimir Kanevsky
Wednesday, May 26, 2021, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Join Wilfried Zeisler, chief curator, and Vladimir Kanevsky, artist, for a behind-the-scenes look of the exhibition The Porcelain Flowers of Vladimir Kanevsky. Explore Kanevsky’s home studio before asking questions in real time.
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008
FGIDC invites you to join us for Wine & Words, our biannual book club event, as we kick off summer reading with “Own It: The Secret to Life” by Diane von Furstenberg.
What You Will Need
To prepare for the start of the book club on June 2, we ask that you read “Own It: The Secret to Life,” so that you can participate in the discussion.
The event will be moderated by FGIDC board member Kristen Schott, the editor of Philadelphia Wedding, and a contributing writer to Northern Virginia Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She’ll have a glass of wine in hand for the event, and we hope you do, too.
While our first book club event will take place virtually, we plan to move to an in-person format in October at an exciting new location.
Those who register and attend our June book club will get exclusive access to pre-register and reserve their spot for October.
June 2 | 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET
Registrants will receive the Zoom link via Eventbrite email.
On June 17, the Embassy of Sweden will host a virtual artist talk with Swedish photographer Helene Schmitz about her exhibition “Dreamland,” currently on display in House of Sweden. The conversation will focus on Schmitz’s artistic practice and how art can shape and influence society. “Dreamland” is a photographic account of the extraction and depletion of natural resources, and consists of two photography series that examine human-induced changes in bedrock and forest in Sweden. Throughout the month of June, images from “Dreamland” are also projected on the glass facades of House of Sweden as part of the Focus on the Story International Photo Festival.
WHEN
Thursday, June 17, 2021
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (ET)
WHERE
This event is virtual. Please register here.
WHO
The conversation with Helene Schmitz will be moderated by Helene Larsson Pousette, Cultural Counselor at the Embassy of Sweden. Joe Newman, founder of Focus on the Story, will provide opening remarks.
For those who are not able to travel to the UK for Royal Ascot this June, Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown is holding a Royal Ascot Garden Party. On Friday, June 18th from 11:30 am until 3:00 pm, the Loggia and courtyard garden will be transformed into a Royal Ascot-themed park. All guests donning hats, fascinators and Ascot attire will be eligible to win prizes for most authentic, fabulous, and over-the-top.
Royal Ascot is the unmissable event of the British summer social and sporting season, five spectacular days in June where world-class horse racing, fashion, pageantry, and the finest food abounds.
Fairmont’s Royal Ascot Garden Party will offer guests four options to enjoy dining on royal fare, sipping champagne, Pimm’s Cups, and gin & tonics in designated enclosures. Large screens will showcase Royal Ascot scenes, and guests will enjoy pop-ups by Michael Kors and TheArtofHats Studio of Leesburg. Land Rover of Alexandria* will showcase two new Land Rovers for photo ops in the hotel’s driveway.
Executive Chef Jordi Gallardo and Executive Pastry Chef A.J. Thalakkat are creating Royal Ascot-inspired afternoon tea and picnic baskets with many of the Royals’ favorite recipes.
~Royal Picnic Enclosure – $53 per person
A 5-Course Picnic Basket
Champagne, Gin & Tonics & Pimm’s Cups are available for purchase
~The Royal Enclosure – $ 65 or $139 with limitless Moët for 1.5 hours per person
Royal Afternoon Tea Fare
~The Queen Anne Enclosure – $199 for two
A 5-course Picnic Basket of Royal Favorites
A Bottle of Veuve Clicquot
~The Royal Suite Enclosure – $10,000 for 10 people~
A Private Suite with Balcony overlooking the festivities
Private Chef
Private Butler
Royal Picnic Fare
Limitless Veuve Clicquot
Royal Ascot Sway Bags
Michael Kors Georgetown will feature fashions and a pop-up shop with seasonal couture and handbags. Elena Wittman, of ArtofHats Studio will present an elegant art of millinery, (hat making). Hats and headpieces will be available for sale and a few for photo ops. She will also talk about which headpieces to wear for various events.
Life-sized cutouts of the Royals will create perfect photo opportunities, staff members will don hats fit for the Royal Ascot, and prizes will be given for most creative fascinators, hats, and overall Royal Ascot Garden Party attire. Prizes will be provided by Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown, Land Rover of Alexandria, and Michael Kors Georgetown.
Tickets are available on Eventbrite http://fairmontwashington.eventbrite.com
June 20 – Summer Solstice Drag Brunch
Hedy’s Rooftop
Hours: 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
It’s the longest day of the year. Make the most of it with us on Hedy’s Rooftop. We’re kicking off the summer with two seatings for our first-ever Drag Brunch. Sip summer cocktails and lip-synch along with from some of DC’s most fabulous performers, including host Crystal Edge and featuring tunes from DJ Tezrah. [LINK]
