Here are a few exhibits and museums you might be less aware of, all good for showing friends and out-of-town visitors, and all open at least through the holidays.
Get an impression of how much the city has changed over the decades at the . It鈥檚 a collection of photographs by Bill Barrett, Chris Earnshaw and Joseph Mills that details the streetscapes of the downtown area over the 1960s, 鈥�70s and 鈥�80s. It runs through Feb. 12, and while you鈥檙e there you can check out a more contemporary take on the District in the Investigating Where We Live 2016 exhibit, featuring photographs, artwork and writing to define D.C. as they see it.
The museum is at 401 F St. in Northwest. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for kids 17 and under.
(Above:聽A business at 1102 G St. in Northwest, near what is now Metro Center, advertised its liquidation sale in relation to the coming of Metrorail. 漏 Chris Earnshaw, courtesy National Building Museum)
(Chris Earnshaw, courtesy National Building Museum)
Chris Earnshaw, courtesy National Building Museum
sounds like a snoozer, suited only to dedicated philatelists (if you don鈥檛 know, you aren鈥檛 one), but it鈥檚 a fascinating look at the way the Postal Service helped establish the country in its early days, and the exhibit dedicated to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is a gas. Did you know they arrest nearly 8,000 people a year for crimes ranging from mail fraud, mail theft, drug trafficking, assaults on postal workers and robberies of post offices? Get out; you did not. For that matter, did you know that 鈥渁 village at the bottom of the Grand Canyon eats most of its mail?鈥� All right; you鈥檙e just lying now.
The museum is at 2 Massachusetts Ave. in Northeast; it鈥檚 a Smithsonian museum, so admission is free, and it鈥檚 open every day but Christmas from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Image courtesy of Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum; photo by Eric Long, National Air and Space Museum)
(Eric Long, National Air and Spac/Eric Long)
Eric Long, National Air and Spac/Eric Long
has two exhibitions going, including Wanderer/Wonderer: Pop-Ups by Colette Fu, who works in the medium of the pop-up book, but in a wildly complex way that echoes both her Chinese heritage and her life in Philadelphia, where she lives.
The museum is at 1250 New York Ave. in Northwest; admission is $10 for adults, $8 for students and senior citizens and free to those 18 and under.
(Photo: Colette Fu, Dai Food, from the series 鈥淲e are Tiger Dragon People,鈥� 2008鈥�13; Artist鈥檚 book with color prints, 25 x 24 x 11 in. open; NMWA; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Book Arts Fellows; 漏 Colette Fu; Photo by Lee Stalsworth)
(Copyright Collette Fu; photo by Lee Stalsworth)
Copyright Collette Fu; photo by Lee Stalsworth
The centennial of many of the events of World War I are still coming up, so the exhibit at the of American artists鈥� paintings, drawings photos and cartoons on the war as it happened carry particular historical weight. They range from ornate recruitment and war-bond posters to battle photos that still pack a punch. The exhibit is in the Graphic Arts Galleries of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St., Southeast. It鈥檚 open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; you can see the pictures as well.
(Courtesy Library of Congress)
WASHINGTON — The District is loaded with art and history museums, with dozens of exhibits that you, friends and out-of-town visitors can wander through for hours. Here are a few you might be less aware of, all open at least through the holidays.
Rick Massimo came to 草莓传媒, and to Washington, in 2013 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child.聽He's the author of "A Walking Tour of the Georgetown Set" and "I Got a Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival."
