All upcoming programs

The Declaration of Independence is a peculiar document: a literary masterpiece that was written jointly by a committee of five people. In a full-day seminar, historian Richard Bell, a specialist in the American Revolutionary era, explores its origins, creators, purpose, and global influence. He examines how contemporaries perceived it, what transformations it triggered, and why it continues to hold significance.

In this workshop, students learn the basics of hand embroidery with a simple project and leave the class feeling confident in their ability to finish it with all they have learned.

In an afternoon of artistic experimentation designed to strengthen creative muscles and deepen skills in visual expression, explore five distinct modes of visual thinking—memory, observation, imagination, narrative, and experimentation—to complete eight expressive journaling exercises using the marking and mapping approach.

Beethoven never made it to the United States, but hundreds of important musicians and composers did. From early touring megastars like Adelina Patti and Paderewski to successful later refugee émigrés such as Rachmaninoff and Kurt Weill, America has long welcomed great artists. In a four-session series filled with musical excerpts, speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin explores the siren call of America to musicians.

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 A Sunburst Restrained by María Berrío.

Found in every region of the globe, embroidery is one of the world’s most widely shared forms of creative expression—and one of the most varied. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director of the Textile Research Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands, and author of The Atlas of World Embroidery: A Global Exploration of Heritage and Styles, guides audiences through this rich tapestry, exploring the materials, tools, designs, and symbolic meanings of embroidery, as well as the communities and individual makers who sustain these traditions. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

In October 1964, a campaign train dubbed the Lady Bird Special left Washington, D.C., bound for New Orleans. Lady Bird Johnson’s mission: to aid her husband, Lyndon B. Johnson, in territory roiling with animosity after his recent signing of the Civil Rights Act. Her train made 47 stops in eight states over four days. Historian Shannon McKenna Schmidt chronicles that journey into the Southern politics of the day.

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)