Museums & Galleries
Many art lovers make their first stop at the National Gallery of Art. With paintings, sculpture and graphic arts dating from the Middle Ages to the present, the Gallery is comprised of two buildings, containing more than 100,000 works including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Western Hemisphere. The Gallery's outdoor sculpture garden displays post-World War II sculptures by internationally recognized artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg, plus an ice skating rink in winter and an outdoor fountain in summer.
Catch a hot photography exhibition or a showcase of inspiring works by American artists at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, located just one block from the White House. The Corcoran is the largest non-federal art museum in DC and was the first art museum to open in the city. Today, it is world-renowned for its permanent collection of 20th-century painting, sculpture and photography, featuring works by such artists as John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas.
Considered America's first museum of modern art, The Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle is noted for its Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including Auguste Renoir's "The Luncheon of the Boating Party." Works by El Greco, Chardin, Manet, Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso are also part of the collection, housed in what was once the private home of art collector Duncan Phillips.
The Kreeger Museum near Georgetown University, with works from the 1850s to the 1970s, can be considered a labor of love. The collection was acquired by Carmen and the late David Kreeger, who only purchased pieces that they could both agree on. Their pleasing tastes show in works by Picasso, Monet, van Gogh, Miro, Kandinsky, Renoir and many others. The collection is staged in the Kreegers’ private residence, a Modernist mansion with furnishings that reflect Mrs. Kreeger's native Puerto Rico.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts in downtown houses more than 3,000 works, spanning from the Renaissance through today's artists. Opened in 1987 in what was ironically once a former male-only Masonic lodge, it is the world's only museum dedicated exclusively to preserving and honoring the achievements of women in all disciplines, periods and nationalities. The museum also actively promotes women in the arts through various outreach and educational programs.
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden features modern and contemporary art from well-known artists of more than 30 nationalities, including Auguste Rodin, Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keefe. More than 60 works fill six "rooms" in the outdoor Sculpture Garden, including traditional figures by Rodin and Aristide Maillol and abstract sculptures by Alexander Calder and Mark di Suvero.
American art also has a strong presence in the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is dedicated to the display of American paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs and crafts, including works by photographer Ansel Adams and impressionist Mary Cassatt. Its sister institution, the Renwick Gallery, showcases American crafts from the 19th through the 21st centuries and is located across from the White House in a building designed by William Wilson Corcoran. The National Portrait Gallery houses portraits of distinguished Americans, from presidents and politicians to sports celebrities and actors.
Artistic Events
There’s more to the arts scene than major exhibitions and signature collections. Many art galleries of the Dupont Circle neighborhood host "First Fridays," extended gallery hours and complimentary wines on the first Friday evening of every month. Locals and visitors converge here to sip wine and discuss art with the gallery owners. If you can't wait until Friday, The Phillips Collection, also located near Dupont Circle holds "Artful Evenings," on Thursday evenings featuring live jazz music, cash bar, themed gallery talks and art lovers to socialize with. The Phillips Collection also holds Sunday evening concerts from October through May.
When a new exhibition opens at the Hisrhhorn, the museum caters to local gallery goers with Hirshhorn Afterhours, a late-night kick off party featuring live music, DJs, cocktails and a hip, sophisticated crowd.
DC’s arts scene comes to life with festivals. Each summer, the Shakespeare Theatre Company offers up a free production of a Shakespeare classic in Rock Creek Park during its Free for All. Nearly 20,000 people come out each July to see unconventional productions during the Capital Fringe Festival. The festival, designed to be an exposure outlet for fringe artists in the DC area, features hundreds of traditional and non-traditional performances including theatre, dance, spoken word, puppetry and even genres that are so edgy, they can't be categorized.
The National Gallery of Art opens the Garden Court in the West Building for its own Sunday concert series featuring classical music selections. The free concerts begin at 7 pm; the Garden Café stays open until 6:30 pm so that patrons can grab a bite prior to the show. Admission is free and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the Gallery's "Jazz in the Garden" series returns, featuring free live jazz performances by local musicians in the Sculpture Garden on Friday Evenings.
Both the Kreeger Museum and the Corcoran Gallery of Art combine art and music with their own concert series. At the Kreeger, the David and Carmen Kreeger concert series features young chamber music ensembles and complimentary wine. Visitors to the Corcoran can relax and reenergize at lunchtime by taking in free jazz concerts on the first and third Wednesday each month from July to September.
Theatre Scene
DC’s arts scene thrives on stage, with approximately 65 professional theatres in the metropolitan area producing more than 350 productions that run for more than 8,000 performances and play to more than 2,000,000 audience members.
While well-known institutions like the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are synonymous with DC theatre scene, savvy theatre-goers are discovering the city's vibrant arts community. The Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company operates out of a 268-seat theatre and arts education complex in downtown DC and was one of the first American arts organizations to offer "Pay-What-You-Can" shows to make theatre affordable to all. The theatre is also widely considered DC's most daring theatre company and is best known as one of the most influential small theatres in America.
The African Continuum Theatre Company works to illuminate the human condition and the African-American experience through a wide variety of productions, while serving as a training ground for emerging professionals. ACTCo is part of the Atlas Performing Arts Center.
A 150-seat black box theatre, rehearsal studio and home of Gallery H, the H Street Playhouse is currently home to performances by the Theater Alliance - an organization spearheading an attempt to revitalize the area in Northeast Washington surround the Playhouse. Other companies presenting works here include the African Continuum Theatre Company, Essential Theatre Company, Capital Renaissance Theatre and others.
Signature Theatre, located just outside the District in Arlington, Va., presents Broadway-quality productions and specializes in DC-area and world premieres, festivals and the works of Stephen Sondheim.
