Grand Opening of American Art Museum & Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2006

Grand Opening of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.
The museums -- now known collectively as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture -- celebrate the momentous occasion with music and activities









Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2006
"Alberta at the Smithsonian"
"Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions"
"Nuestra Musica 2006: Latino Chicago."
The annual celebration of folk culture featured daytime and evening musical entertainment, crafts demonstrations, talks and food vendors on the Mall.
http://www.folklife.si.edu/festival/2006/schedule/alberta/june30.html

Cinco de Mayo Festival & Eastern Market Day

Cinco de Mayo is not only a Mexican holiday, but a shared day of pride and celebration for people from all over Latin America and the Caribbean. There were food, games, crafts, live music and performances by Maru Montero Dance Company. The festival was held on the Mall near the Sylvan Theater.


Eastern Market Seventh Street SE Washington, DC
A free day-long celebration of music on five stages, crafts, children's rides

Airshow

Skydiving and naval flight demonstrations, Blue Angles, Snow birds, a mass jump by the 82nd Airborne and aerial acrobatics will all take place this weekend at the Joint Services Open House and Air Show.

Maryland Day

Maryland Day university’s 150th Anniversary: more than 450 events, including tours, exhibits, live performances and sporting events.

One humongous birthday cake: the world’s largest strawberry shortcake (16 feet by 24 feet) and served up to 50,000 slices
Japanese Koto Ensemble with the Washington Toho Koto Society: koto—a string instrument that originated in China and came to Japan in the 7th–8th centuries
Live Sculptures by artists from Joe’s Movement Emporium
Maryland Opera Presented Selected Scenes from “Il Matrimonio Segreto”
Costume Showcase
Maryland Dance Ensemble: mini concert of dances
Maryland’s Annual RED & WHITE Spring Football Game Byrd Stadium
Enjoyed a day full of fun, learning and discovery

Spring Flowers in DC

U.S. National Arboretum
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/collections.html
It is hidden just off Route 50 (New York Avenue) into town for motorists taking the Baltimore-Washington Parkway
446 acres of fabulous flora and fauna, especially azalea and Asian collections, a virtual inner city park, are fascinating

National Capitol Columns stood at the east portico of the United States Capitol Building from 1829 to 1958
50-acre Brookside Gardens in Wheaton Regional Park, Silver Spring, MD
full of colorful flowers in bloom and a wonderful green house installed with interesting art works in shapes of animals. “The artfully landscaped grounds, woods, formal gardens, aquatic gardens, a Japanese Tea House and conservatories displaying flowering plants and exhibits that change with the seasons.”

http://www.mc-mncppc.org/parks/facilities/wheaton_regional.shtm

Renoir Returns at The Phillips Collection

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's masterpiece Luncheon of the Boating Party and other treasured paintings from a four-year international tour
Hands-on art projects for me to create my own boating hat
Gallery tours of the masterworks exhibition
Chalk artists and street performers created a Parisian boulevard atmosphere outside the museum
Roving performers portraying colorful characters from Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party

Spring flowers in downtown DC

Nearly 100 varieties of tulips can be seen in the "tulip library" near the north side of the Tidal Basin between the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. Since it was established in 1969, the tulip library has become a popular place to make comparisons of color and shape between different types of tulips planted in individually numbered beds.
Titanic Women's Memorial Washington, D.C. (Water Street, SW, near Washington Channel Park)
Within two weeks of the Titanic disaster, the women of America organized to create a lasting tribute to the men of the Titanic that gave their lives so others could live.
Washington DC Fish Market, Maine Avenue SE
A bustling seafood and fish market on Washington's waterfront. Crabs, lobsters and fish are sold from floating barges.