The Smithsonian Resident Associates program hosts another interesting lecture tonight at the S. Dillon Ripley Center titled Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Cities in the Shadow: Rome, Delphi, Istanbul. DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area Monday: >> Tonight from 6:45 to 9 p.m., head to the S. Dillon Ripley Center for Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Cities in the Shadow: Rome, Delphi, Istanbul. Geologist Patricia Dickerson will be showing photos "taken by astronauts from......

When the Newseum opened this summer, some commentators reminded us that museums are places to house the archaic, outdated, and the useless—what a perfect place for print media! Hearing President George W. Bush speak at the dedication of the renovated and renewed Smithsonian National Museum of American History gave us that same feeling; in just a couple of months, he, too, will begin the tenuous fade into history and will eventually be remembered vaguely by......

Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents will host a momentous meeting Monday at the National Museum of Natural History at 1:30 p.m. It will be the first open public meeting with the organization's Board of Regents -- which is helmed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts, and includes Senators, Representatives, and private citizens -- since President James K. Polk established the Institution as a public trust in......

Last week, legendary chef and author Jacques Pepin came to the District as the last stop on a 16-city book tour to promote his new PBS series and corresponding cookbook, More Fast Food My Way. Chef Pepin arrived in D.C. on Tuesday, October 28 and had a hectic schedule that included cooking demonstrations, television appearances, and finally, a discussion the night of Wednesday, October 29 at the Museum of Natural History moderated by Washington Post......

The black-footed ferret is one of thirty endangered species housed at the CRC, where the new Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Education Studies program will be held. Photo Credit: Jessie Cohen/Smithsonian’s National Zoo The National Zoo announced today via their newsletter that their Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability has formed a partnership with George Mason University to develop a new conservation education program. The program will be available to George Mason's undergraduate and graduate students,......

Yesterday, DCist got the chance to preview the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's new Sant Ocean Hall, which opens to the public this Saturday. Our photographer, Meaghan Gay, said "It really is a very cool space. I am kind of a museum freak, and this blows away the Natural History museum in NY, or the one in Vienna for that matter. This is a totally interactive space, with video touch screens all around." The musuem......

This month the area's museums are chock full of celebrations, openings, anniversaries and festivals. Enough to keep your dance card filled and your brain active. >> The Natural History Museum describes the ocean as "a huge, awesome realm -- sometimes mysterious but always amazing." Their interpretation of the "awesome realm" will be shown in the long awaited opening of the Sant Ocean Hall on September 27. The exhibit represents the largest renovation in the......

Some of you may have stumbled upon a giant blue head on a crane at 9th and F Streets on your coffee run this morning. That 31 foot tall, 13,000 pound sculpture is the work of Roy Lichtenstein, the renowned American pop artist who died in 1997. Known for his bright, bold colors and old-school comic book stylings, Lichtenstein already has work all over D.C.; in fact, the National Gallery of Art has the largest......

Dig It! The Secrets of Soil exhibit photo courtesy of John Steiner, Smithsonian Institution. With August's abrupt arrival, summer session is almost over. Even if you’ve been done with school for ages, you may still want to keep that brain sharp, if only to make yourself sound interesting at parties. While most of the area’s galleries are a bit out-of-commission, the museums are still packing in the events. >> Recently opened on July 18......

Last week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) submitted a bill that would bring the Smithsonian Institution under the Freedom of Information Act and Sunshine Act, a position the Institution has eluded for decades. Anyone who's followed the scandals over the past couple of years, starting with former Secretary Lawrence M. Small's excessive expenses and eventual ouster in March of last year, knows that transparency is crucial to win back public......

The longrunning science fiction television phenomenon The X-Files will reappear after a six-year hiatus in a second film to be released in theaters next week. But the show that brought to life Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully and added "The Truth Is out There" and "I Want to Believe" to pop lexicon is also finally showing its age. This morning X-Files director/writer/producer Chris Carter was at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to......

Wednesday afternoon, the Smithsonian announced a call for architects to design the upcoming National Museum of African American History and Culture, to be erected in the five-acre space on Constitution Avenue between the Washington Monument and the Museum of American History. The building, which will occupy approximately 350,000 square feet, is expected to take three years to complete and cost $500 million. The full announcement is posted on FedBizOpps.gov. The Washington Times reports: At a......

As spring and summer roll in, D.C.’s museums offer a great way to get out of the heat and boost your brain power. And, after spending most of your free time relaxing at outdoor happy hours, who couldn’t use a brain boost? DCist has gathered some of May’s best museum exhibits and events. While some of the exhibits are long term, now’s as good a time as any to check them out, as we'll have......

The Washington Post has the full story today about Pilar O'Leary, the former head of the Smithsonian Latino Center, who resigned in February. Initially, O'Leary was lauded for her work at the Center when her resignation was announced, but since then, Acting Secretary Cristián Samper decided that as a higher-up in the Institution, her ethical violations since her hiring in 2005 were important to disclose to the public (spurred by a FOIA request put in......

April has been designated Jazz Appreciation Month ("JAM") at the Smithsonian and as a result, the month will be filled with concerts, lectures, and other assorted events to celebrate this great American art form. Here are just a few of many highlights taking place around town: >> The Smithsonian American Art Museum offers a museum jazz tour every Thursday at 4 p.m. and every Friday at 12:30 p.m. throughout the month. >> The Smithsonian Jazz......

Somewhat under the radar this past Saturday, the Smithsonian Institution announced what many of us have been waiting anxiously to hear: they've found a new Secretary. G. Wayne Clough, current president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, will officially take over the position on July 1. It was almost exactly a year ago today that former Secretary Lawrence M. Small took the hint and resigned in disgrace, leaving behind a legacy of questionable ethics by......

We were getting set to remind everyone that time is running out to catch the wildly popular Stephen Colbert portrait hanging at the National Portrait Gallery, but a spokesperson at the NPG has just told us they've decided to extend the run of the "painting" until April 1 - April Fool's Day. The portrait was hung on Jan. 16 between the 2nd floor bathrooms of the museum as part of a lengthy three-part gag......

As you know, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has been closed down for extensive renovations since Sept. 2006. Though originally slated to open this summer, The AP via WJLA reported yesterday that the museum won't be opening until at least the fall. That doesn't seem too much longer to wait for what should be some welcome improvements to the venue. The blue ribbon commission, whose report preceded the renovation, as well as a......

Many of you may have stopped by the Portrait Gallery to catch a glimpse of Stephen Colbert’s aptly positioned portrait, but did you have the time to take in the rest of the museum as well? Recently, DCist was given an insider’s tour of the National Portrait Gallery by Assistant Director of Exhibitions and Collections Management Claire Kelly. Unlike many other art museums which focus primarily on preserving and documenting art history, the work......

The Washington Post has a new nugget today in the story of the impressive spending habits of W. Richard West, Jr., retiring director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. In addition to the $250,000 in public money he used for luxurious travel expenses we noted last week, the Post reveals West commissioned a $48,500 portrait of himself (pictured left) that hangs in the patron's lounge of the museum. Some would argue that......