Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for a course of three online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts. The sessions spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This writing session is inspired by The Green Door by Lois Mailou Jones.
Lift your voice in a choral program that celebrates memorable music across the United States. Conductor Melodia Mae Rinaldi leads the ensemble in arrangements of the hits you know and love. Songs may include favorites by Dolly Parton, Pete Seeger, Stevie Wonder, Irving Berlin, and others. No audition is required and rehearsals culminate in a free performance on June 15 for invited guests.
Along with Jerusalem and Rome, Spain’s Camino de Santiago was one of the three great destinations of medieval Christendom. After centuries of decline and neglect, this ancient pilgrimage sprang to life again in the last quarter of the 20th century, drawing millions of visitors every year. George Greenia, professor emeritus of medieval studies at William & Mary, highlights the history of this road of faith and its continued popularity as a religious and secular quest for those seeking spiritual clarity.
Contrary to his public persona as a purported scoundrel Frank Lloyd Wright was entrusted with commissions of more than a dozen churches and spiritual spaces for a wide range of religious groups, including Jewish, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Unitarian, and other communities. Wright expert Timothy Totten illustrates the architect’s' beliefs about the way worshippers should interact with each other and their faith, as well as the ways he differentiated each space for its specific congregation.
Monuments and memorials range from monumental and famous to obscure and in danger of being forgotten. Discuss tips, tricks, and strategies to take great photos of such structures, plus statues, fountains, mausolea, battlefields, obelisks, gravestone iconography, cenotaphs, fraternal organization symbolism, and murals.
Raphael, one of the High Renaissance’s great masters alongside Michelangelo and Leonardo, rose from Perugino’s apprentice in Urbino to the favored artist of popes and princes. In just two decades, he synthesized influences into serene compositions and ideal beauty, leaving a legacy of harmony and grace before his death at 37. Art historian Elaine Ruffolo explores his extraordinary ascent—from early apprenticeships under Perugino to encounters with Michelangelo and Leonardo in Florence, and finally to his crowning achievements in Rome. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Liguria is best known for its idyllic seaside towns along the Italian Riviera, from such famed locales as Portofino and Rapallo to humbler fishing towns like Camogli. Art historian Sophia D’Addio surveys the history of the capital city of the region, Genoa, as one of the major maritime powers of the Italian peninsula during the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. She also celebrates its chief culinary achievement: pesto. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Pull out your sketchbook and pencil to take an artful break as you explore the Smithsonian while drawing objects from vast and fascinating collections.
