The Smithsonian Institution is preparing an exhibit featuring Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs’ more than 300 technology patents on the National Mall with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The exhibit opening May 11, entitled “The Patents and Trademarks of Steve Jobs: Art and Technology that Changed the World,” will be on view through July [...]
The Washington National Cathedral will be offering tours of its unique stone carvings for the first time since the building was damaged by an earthquake last year. Tours exploring more than 100 gargoyles perched on the cathedral’s facade will begin again Sunday at 2 p.m. The gargoyles include monsters, dogs and horses, as well as [...]
The Presidents Gallery by Madame Tussauds is adding a figure of Lady Gaga to the Washington wax museum and is inviting visitors to join a Gaga-inspired costume contest. The Gaga figure is set to arrive at the museum Monday. The wax figure depicts the pop star in a one-shoulder, black latex body suit with huge [...]
With the White House home to two First Daughters, the city is stirring with activities for even the youngest DC visitors. Packed with dozens of free, kid-friendly attractions, Washington, DC is an ideal destination for a fun, educational family vacation. And even as the District’s traditionally historic sites continue to amaze and inspire, DC’s new [...]
Clara Barton’s downtown Washington office, where she led an effort to trace missing soldiers from the Civil War before she founded the American Red Cross, has survived since her death 100 years ago and will soon become a museum, organizers said Thursday. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., will lead the [...]
Montana State University announced MSU has been invited to participate in the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. celebrating the 150th anniversary of the nation’s land-grant university system and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Festival takes place Wednesday, June 27, through Sunday, July 1, and Wednesday, July 4, through Sunday, July 8, outdoors on the National Mall [...]
In the midst of the vibrant Washington DC metropolitan area you’ll find Gaithersburg, Maryland, an historic enclave of 60,000 residents in what was once an area of farms, granaries and mills. Today, with an array of housing, dining, shopping, transportation, educational and recreational amenities, Gaithersburg residents enjoy the best of both worlds – the familiarity [...]
A weeklong street arts festival is being planned for May 6-12 around Washington that will include jugglers, political puppet theater and a circus-punk marching band. The Kennedy Center announced a festival schedule for “Look Both Ways: Street Arts Across America.” It will include performances at Eastern Market, Half Street near Nationals Park, Farragut Square, the [...]
Washington is getting ready to celebrate 100 years of its famous cherry blossom trees, and the trees’ head tender said Thursday that peak flowering season is expected at the end of March. National Park Service chief horticulturalist Rob DeFeo predicted the peak bloom date for the pink and white flowers will be between March 24 [...]
Steve Jobs Presentation – Wikimedia
The exhibit opening May 11, entitled “The Patents and Trademarks of Steve Jobs: Art and Technology that Changed the World,” will be on view through July 13 at the Smithsonian’s Ripley Center.
Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough says it will feature materials from the patent office and archival material from the Smithsonian’s collections. It will include a 1985 Apple Macintosh computer, mouse and keyboard; a 2005 NeXT computer; a 2010 Apple iPod; and copies of 312 documents.
Jobs died last year of complications from pancreatic cancer.
By BRETT ZONGKER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP)
www.washingtondctravelrecreation.com
National Cathedral Gargoyle – Wikimedia
Tours exploring more than 100 gargoyles perched on the cathedral’s facade will begin again Sunday at 2 p.m. The gargoyles include monsters, dogs and horses, as well as “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader.
The cathedral had to suspend the tour, as well as other regular events, following a 5.8-magnitude earthquake on Aug. 23. The quake caused stonework to fall from the building’s towers and other damage. The cathedral reopened to the public in November.
Repairs are expected to take years. As of February 2012, the cathedral had raised $2 million toward the estimated $20 million restoration.
WASHINGTON (AP)
www.washingtondctravelrecreation.com
Wax Sculpture of Lady Gaga at Madame Tussauds London
The Gaga figure is set to arrive at the museum Monday. The wax figure depicts the pop star in a one-shoulder, black latex body suit with huge platform shoes. Her hair is styled in the shape of a bow. The figure is on loan from the Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas through the end of June.
When the figure is unveiled Monday morning, the museum will be giving away an iPod and iTunes gift cards to visitors wearing the top five costumes inspired by Gaga. Fans dressed in Gaga outfits also will receive free admission.
WASHINGTON (AP)
www.washingtondctravelrecreation.com
Wild West Shooting Gallery at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment
And even as the District’s traditionally historic sites continue to amaze and inspire, DC’s new exhibitions and attractions are doing their part to engage the city’s family visitors with interactive experiences. In addition to the city’s most famous family-focused attractions, here’s a list of some surprising spots for young explorers.
KID-FRIENDLY MUSEUMS AND ATTRACTIONS
Ford’s Theatre – Center for Education and Leadership
Housed in a building directly across the street from Ford’s Theatre and acquired by the Ford’s Theatre Society in 2007, the Center for Education and Leadership features two floors of permanent exhibits addressing the immediate aftermath of Lincoln’s death and the evolution of Lincoln’s legacy; a Leadership Gallery floor to be used for rotating exhibits, lecture and reception space; two floors of education studios to house pre- and post-visit workshops, after-school programs and teacher professional development; and a distance-learning lab outfitted with state-of-the-art technology that will allow Ford’s to engage students and teachers nationwide and around the world. Like the historic theatre across the street, the Center is an essential destination for local and national visitors—from schoolchildren to scholars, from curious tourists to Washingtonians seeking a thought-provoking experience.
International Spy Museum – Spy in the City and Operation Spy
The International Spy Museum, located in Penn Quarter, offers interactive experiences sure to engage older kids (12+). They can test their skills while exploring DC neighborhoods in Spy in the City, a new GPS-based experience where participants, equipped with a GPS Ranger handheld device, embark on a series of exciting self-guided outdoor missions in DC neighborhoods. And in the hour-long Operation Spy, participants enter a fictional country, take on the role of U.S. intelligence officers and engage in high-energy missions where they’ll need to “feel, think, and act” like real spies. A permanent gallery featuring interesting spy tools like sabotage weapons and secret writings round-out the museum’s intriguing offerings.
Library of Congress – Young Readers Center
The Library is home to a cozy space devoted to young readers. The Young Readers Center, located in the historic Thomas Jefferson Building, allows families to have a “read-aloud” experience, where they can choose books from an up-to-date collection of non-circulating titles or participate in family-friendly reading programs. The Center’s media room also allows visitors to view webcasts of young adult and children’s authors who were featured at the National Book Festival.
The Crime Museum – CSI Experience
For older children interested in forensic science, the CSI Experience at The Crime Museum, located in Penn Quarter, is as close as you can get to a day in the life of a crime scene investigator. Finding themselves in the middle of a fully intact crime scene, visitors begin an investigation, gathering vital clues to determine what happened when, where, why and by whom. Discover the wonders of an autopsy and learn how to solve crime through the use of forensic science technology such as ballistics, blood analysis, fingerprinting, and dental and facial reconstruction.
Washington National Cathedral
While the National Cathedral is a Christian church in Cleveland Park that holds Episcopal services, it is also open to people of all faiths and offers a full roster of programming for the whole family. Take a tour to explore the whimsical stone gargoyles and grotesques that decorate the Cathedral. Or make a stop in the Children’s Chapel, where everything from the chairs to the organ is designed to the scale of a six-year-old child. The beautiful grounds offer almost 60 acres of open space where children can play and a large gift shop features unique gift items for kids to take home.
Capitol Visitor Center
Opened in December 2008, the Capitol Visitor Center has been conceived as an extension of the Capitol that welcomes visitors to the seat of American government. At nearly 580,000 square feet, the Capitol Visitor Center is the largest project in the Capitol’s 215-year history and is approximately three-quarters the size of the Capitol itself. The entire facility is located underground on the east side of the Capitol so as not to detract from the appearance of the Capitol. Tours of the Capitol will begin and end at the Visitor Center and advance reservations are recommended to tour the Capitol.
The Presidents Gallery by Madame Tussauds Washington, DC
DC’s Presidents Gallery by Madame Tussauds gives off a distinctly “Washington” vibe from its downtown location, and gives parents the perfect opportunity to give kids a taste of politics without the crowds on the National Mall. They’ll especially love the opportunity to sit behind the desk in a perfect replica of The Oval Office, or to take pictures with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill or even President Obama and the First Lady. In February 2011, Madame Tussauds added a new presidential gallery, making it the only spot in the U.S. where you could stand face-to-face with all 44 presidents.
Clara Barton – Wikimedia
The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., will lead the effort after signing an agreement with the General Services Administration to open the Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Office Museum.
Barton’s office is a Civil War time capsule, said George Wunderlich, the group’s executive director. It’s where she hired a staff to help track down the fates of at least 22,000 men in the war. In total, Barton’s office responded to more than 63,000 letters from grieving parents and families with $15,000 in government funding over four years.
“She was doing this at a time when women weren’t allowed to do anything,” Wunderlich said. “She bucked the system.”
The office now stands behind a restored facade in a revitalized section of downtown next door to a Starbucks. From 1920 to 1990, a shoe store occupied the first-floor space. The third-floor office suite was left mostly untouched for decades. Barton’s office and small sleeping quarters are still marked with the No. 9 and a carved mail slot to receive letters.
The discovery was made in 1996 when the government-owned building was slated for demolition. Carpenter Richard Lyons was sent in by a contractor to make sure no one was living in the space before it was torn down. Lyons said he kept hearing a noise in the front room and felt something touch his shoulder when he went to investigate. That’s when he noticed a letter hanging through a crack in the ceiling.
“Get rid of it,” a supervisor told Lyons when he reported the find, fearing it would halt the demolition. “Throw it away; don’t go to the GSA.”
“I was more determined then,” Lyons said.
He said he spent months researching the materials and eventually alerted a historian with the National Park Service through backchannels so that he wouldn’t face retribution for stopping the government demolition. Eventually, the National Park Service announced the find in 1997.
Wunderlich said the rare find is one of the most important places in Washington related to the Civil War. Barton’s effort was the forerunner to the larger POW/MIA effort to locate missing soldiers.
“That’s her legacy,” he said. “She was not just a nurse, she was a humanitarian relief specialist.”
On the bloody battlefield, Barton was known for tending to wounded soldiers. She was also an innovator in using an ambulance process to evacuate the wounded, which are systems still used today, said Air Force Col. Roseanne Warner. Warner visited the site and commands a medical group at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington.
Barton was born in North Oxford, Mass., in 1821 and worked as a teacher and government worker before tending to soldiers in the Civil War. She went on to establish the American Red Cross in 1881 but insisted on a change in the International Red Cross mission to include relief for natural disasters.
The museum plans to create the Clara Barton Institute to offer training in her philosophy and how it applies to today’s medical relief efforts, supply organizing, and command and control, Wunderlich said. It already offers a training program for military medical personnel.
The group must raise $4.75 million to preserve and operate the site as a museum. Officials hope to open a storefront space in late 2012 or early 2013, followed by galleries in Barton’s office as soon as next summer. The government has committed $1 million for renovations.
By BRETT ZONGKER
Associated Press
A view of the 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The Festival, which began in 1967, occurs for two weeks every summer on the National Mall and attracts more than 1 million visitors. Photo by Jeff Tinsley, Smithsonian Institution.
The Festival takes place Wednesday, June 27, through Sunday, July 1, and Wednesday, July 4, through Sunday, July 8, outdoors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. All events are free. Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day, with special evening events such as concerts and dance parties beginning at 5:30 p.m. The festival is co-sponsored by the National Park Service.
Montana State University and its Museum of the Rockies will present a public
exhibit titled “Dinosaurs Under Montana’s Big Sky,” an interactive look at
its world-class paleontology program. Museum staff will talk with visitors
about what it’s like to be a paleontologist and explain the work being done
in the field, labs, classrooms and abroad.
Visitors to the exhibit will see live demonstrations of dinosaur fossil
preparation and have the opportunity to touch real dinosaur bones and
participate in family-oriented teaching activities. The exhibit will focus
on the Folklife Festival sub-theme of “Transforming Communities,” including
information on ways in which research at MSU is transforming communities in
Montana and around the globe through outreach programs, traveling
exhibitions and more.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation to establish the
land-grant university system and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Today,
the land-grant mission of “knowledge with public purpose,” is evident in
research, learning and community engagement projects that make the world
safer, healthier and more sustainable. The 2012 Folklife Festival program
“Campus and Community: Public and Land-grant Universities and the USDA at
150″ celebrates 150 years of partnership between universities, the USDA and
communities.
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am Montana State University will be among
the premier land-grant universities in the nation celebrating the creation
of the land-grant university system. This was a truly historic accomplishment in the nation’s history; one that transformed America by making higher education accessible to the sons and daughters of working families throughout the United States,” said MSU President Waded Cruzado.
“Campus and Community” will focus on four themes that reflect the current
work of public and land-grant universities and the USDA: reinventing
agriculture, sustainable solutions, transforming communities and building on
tradition. Each theme will allow visitors to interact with university and
USDA staff, professors, students and community members highlighting exciting
research and engagement projects. From master gardeners to Hawaiian
traditional healing, from managing invasive species to helping communities
recover from natural disasters, the program will cover an array of ways
universities and the USDA put research into action every day.
The program will also feature Smithsonian U., where visitors can listen to
short informative talks by master teachers; the Test Kitchen, which will
include cooking demonstrations using ingredients raised or researched at
agricultural experiment stations; The Commons, an area promoting dialogue
about important issues affecting universities, the USDA and communities; The
Justin S. Morrill Performing Arts Center, a large stage where student groups
and other regional groups will showcase world class music and dance, from
mariachi to Hawaiian hula; the Learning Laboratory Family Activities Center,
where families can experience hands-on art and science activities; and
Alumni Hall, an area for graduates of public and land-grant universities and
USDA programs to reconnect with each other and share memories. Visitors will
also be able to visit the Festival Marketplace to purchase crafts, food
items and popular books and recordings relating to the universities and the
USDA.
More than twenty-five land-grant and public universities will participate in
this year’s festival, including a consortia of Historically Black Colleges
and Universities and Tribal Colleges in the land-grant system and Hispanic
Serving Institutions.
Sponsors:
“Campus and Community: Public and Land-grant Universities and the USDA at
150″ is produced in partnership with the Association of Public and
Land-grant Universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Participating universities include the University of California, Davis; the
University of Florida; the University of Hawaii; the University of Illinois;
Indiana University; Iowa State University; the University of Maryland;
Michigan State University; Mississippi State University; the University of
Missouri; Montana State University; Oregon State University; the University
of Tennessee; Texas A&M University; Washington State University and West
Virginia University. The University of Vermont is a contributing university.
About the Festival:
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, inaugurated in 1967, honors tradition
bearers from across the United States and around the world. With
approximately 1 million visitors each year, the festival unites performers
and visitors in the nation’s capital to celebrate the diversity of cultural
traditions. It is produced by the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and
Cultural Heritage. The festival’s website is www.festival.si.edu.
This story can be found on the Web at:
http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=11122
Gaithersburg City Hall – Wikimedia
Today, with an array of housing, dining, shopping, transportation, educational and recreational amenities, Gaithersburg residents enjoy the best of both worlds – the familiarity and comfort of a small town community surrounded by the exciting urban atmosphere of our nation’s capital.
With one of the highest educated labor pools in the country, Gaithersburg is in a unique position to attract industry leaders. Here you’ll find Hughes Network Systems, IBM, Lockheed Martin, MedImmune, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and many other leading information technology and biotechnology companies.
In May you’ll find the Gaithersburg Book Festival, in September it’s time for Celebrate Gaithersburg in Olde Towne. October brings the lively Oktoberfest in the Kentlands celebration, while in December you can ring in the holidays with the spectacular drive-through Gaithersburg Winter Lights Festival.
With so much going for it, it’s no wonder that this City is nationally recognized. In 2010 Gaithersburg came in at #25 on CNN / Money Magazine’s national list of “Best Places to Live.” And in 2008 and again 2009, BusinessWeek ranked Gaithersburg #1 in Maryland on its annual list of “Best Places to Raise Your Kids.”
Founding families and new residents from around the globe continue to work together with businesses, service organizations and government officials to proudly maintain this unique sense of place. It is a place that’s easy to call “home.”
The Kennedy Center announced a festival schedule for “Look Both Ways: Street Arts Across America.” It will include performances at Eastern Market, Half Street near Nationals Park, Farragut Square, the Old Post Office Pavilion and elsewhere.
At the Old Post Office, a nighttime performance will feature San Francisco’s Project Bandaloop. The dance company uses surfaces of buildings as a base for its choreography.
The festival is part of an arts access program to give audiences a chance to engage in the arts in more ways and more places.
Kennedy Center: http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/festivals/11-12/lookbothways/
WASHINGTON (AP)
Washington DC Cherry Trees - USDA photo by Scott Bauer
National Park Service chief horticulturalist Rob DeFeo predicted the peak bloom date for the pink and white flowers will be between March 24 and March 31. The peak date is defined as the day when 70 percent of the blossoms on the trees are open. The trees, which are expected to start blooming March 22, attract about a million visitors to the nation’s capital each year.
“I can assure you, you’re not going to see a late bloom. It’s impossible,” said DeFeo, who has helped tend and monitor the cherry trees for the past two decades and has only been wrong about the bloom dates three times.
DeFeo said cherry blossom trees survive for about 50 years, but the city still has just over 100 of the original 3,000 trees given to the city by Japan in 1912. Those original trees are near the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial which opened in August. Thousands of other trees have been replaced or grown from the original trees’ genetic line.
“Like life, the blossoms come, they bloom, they’re gone. Short but sweet,” DeFeo said.
A celebration that accompanies the blossoming trees, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, is scheduled to run from March 20 to April 27, a five-week festival instead of the usual 16 days. During that period, museums will feature exhibits on Japanese artwork and culture, nearly 100 area restaurants will offer cherry and spring-inspired dishes and drinks and the city will host a parade April 14. In addition, both the United States and Japan have created a commemorative postal stamp to mark the anniversary.
JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) _
“Titanic: 100 Year Obsession” will highlight the work of Robert Ballard, who co-led a team that discovered the shipwreck site in 1985, and James Cameron, who made the film “Titanic.” Cameron has organized 33 dives to the Titanic site.
The exhibit will examine the ship’s development and engineering, as well as its beautiful features. It will include a detailed scale model of the ship, as well as a working model of the engine room and a recreated radio room. Replicas and props from the film will be on display.
The exhibit announced Monday opens March 29 through July 8.
