Join historian and author Garrett Peck on a walk though wartime Washington. Its stops include Pershing Park, the First and Second Division monuments, the D.C. War Memorial, the spot where sheep grazed on the Ellipse, and the site where thousands of women volunteered for the American Red Cross.
Learn the benefits of quiet time spent in touch with nature as Melanie Choukas-Bradley, a certified nature and forest-therapy guide and author of The Joy of Forest Bathing, leads a 2-hour walk in the Smithsonian’s beautiful Enid A. Haupt Garden.
The complex culture of South Asia has given rise to some of the world’s most remarkable artistic creations. Robert DeCaroli of George Mason University highlights the artistic traditions and historical changes within the Indian subcontinent from the earliest archaeological evidence to the onset of colonialism. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
Enjoy the beauty of an autumn morning on the 90-acre wooded oasis and national memorial in the middle of the tidal Potomac. Author and naturalist Melanie Choukas-Bradley leads a scenic walk around Roosevelt Island, focusing on its woodlands, wildlife, and history.
The best food in Cuba can be found in paladares, small private restaurants generally run out of family homes. Join chef and cookbook author Guillermo Pernot as he serves up a paladares-inspired meal at his D.C. eatery, Cuba Libre.
Inspired by the National Portrait Gallery’s Eye to I: Self-Portraits from 1900 to Today, this 3-session workshop examines the art of self-portraiture and puts techniques observed at the exhibition into practice to create beautiful, expressive self-portraits. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Merge recent findings on visual perception with familiar elements of art to discover how your landscape and still-life paintings can take on new and fresh creative edges.
Through lectures and drawing exercises, learn how Renaissance artists used the Golden Ratio, the Rule of Thirds, three-point perspective, and the Fibonacci spiral—as well as how these elements can provide dynamic visual interest to your own compositions, no matter the medium. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Three of the splendid “Charms” of Fairmount Park open their doors for a holiday-season guided tour, offering an intimate look at the lives of well-to-do Philadelphians of the Revolutionary period and the evolution of domestic architecture and interiors as the Federal era began. Bill Keene leads this tour.
Bring home the beauty of the Smithsonian’s inventive botanical holiday decorations when you create a wreath guided by a horticulturist from Smithsonian Gardens.
Bring home the beauty of the Smithsonian’s inventive botanical holiday decorations when you create a centerpiece guided by a horticulturist from Smithsonian Gardens.
