Hank Aaron Coming to National Portrait Gallery

Hank Aaron by Ross Rossin (via rossinfineart.com); oil on canvas, 48x48in

Arguably the best baseball player in the world, ever, will be in DC this weekend. Hank Aaron, the former all-time Major League Baseball home run leader, will be at the Smithsonian Institution on Saturday. The National Portrait Gallery is hosting Aaron in order to formerly receive his portrait by artist Ross Rossin. Aaron, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, will be interviewed by author and journalist Howard Bryant. The portrait is actually already hung, and is on the first floor of the Gallery.

Aaron held the MLB record for most home runs hit from 1974 until 2007, when the record was surpassed by San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds. Bond's record (762 home runs) appears safe for a while; the next closest active players are Alex Rodriguez (654), Manny Ramirez (555), Albert Pujols (492), and Adam Dunn (440). While I admire Bonds, his too-close-but-not-totally-verified links to performance enhancing drugs means that I personally consider Aaron, with 755, the greatest American home run hitter of all time.

From the Smithsonian:

What: Live interview with Hank Aaron hosted by Howard Bryant of ESPN and portrait of Aaron by Ross R. Rossin on view in first-floor gallery

When: Saturday, February 8, 2014 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Where: Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium, National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and G streets NW

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery hosts a living self-portrait with baseball star Hank Aaron in celebration of his 80th birthday. ESPN’s Howard Bryant will host the interview in the museum’s Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium. A portrait of Aaron by Ross R. Rossin was recently installed on the first floor of the museum.

Aaron is senior vice president of Atlanta National League Baseball Club Inc. Before joining the Atlanta Braves’ front office, Aaron enjoyed a 23-year major league career. He holds more major league batting records than any other player in the game’s history. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982. Aaron has received numerous civic awards, including the Presidential Citizens Medal, awarded by President Bill Clinton, and the Medal of Freedom, awarded by President George W. Bush. With his wife Billye, he is the founder of the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation.

Guest interviewer Howard Bryant is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine. He wrote The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron (2010). A journalist for 23 years, he was previously a columnist at the Boston Herald and covered the New York Yankees for the Bergen Record and the Oakland A’s for the San Jose Mercury News. He has also been the sports correspondent for National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition with Scott Simon since 2006.

Your Body of Art: Tattoo Lecture at Smithsonian

Photo/Tattoo by Kurt Fagerland

One of my favorite tattoos was done by friend and master artist Amy Black of Richmond VA. If you know me, you know that I really love it and take good care of it; as would anyone who made a big, awesome, artistic investment like this one. I love getting tattooed and the only restriction is, well, $$$. And time, I guess. 

A few months ago, Ms. Black was a panelist of an event hosted by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts called "The Art of Tattoo." This presentation examined the historical affections of popular tattoo symbols. No kid gloves; the Museum was treating tattoos and body art like any other legitimate visual art forms. I think it's very cool that major institutions of art and culture are beginning to take a serious look at tattoo culture in a smart and engaging way.

The conversation has  now reached DC. The Smithsonian Institution is hosting a tattoo themed talk next week. "Tattoos: Your Body of Art" is scheduled for Thursday April 18, 2013 at the Ripley Center (1100 Jefferson Drive, SW). The program is $20 for members and $30 for general admission.

The conversation looks to be pretty wide ranging and includes a tattoo anthropologist / television show host and the owner of DC's British Ink, among others. You will get to listen to some great stories and inspiration and perhaps have a chance to share your own. 

Just as an aside; sometimes there isn't a story behind a tattoo. And that's OK. I have a few without "a story." People get upset that there isn't deep meaning each individual piece. OK. Get over it. Every now and then you dream a weird idea and boom, a week later it's right there on your forehead. Nah, just kidding. I usually wait at least a month.

On the flip side, others I have are rich with historical significance and a couple have some personal connection to friends and family. Either way, the art has to shine through. That's what this talk is about. I love hearing people spin a yarn about their tattoos. Storytelling with visuals.

Here are the details for the Smithsonian talk:

What: Tattoos: Your Body of Art Evening Lecture. 

When: Thursday, April 18 - 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. - $20 Members / $30 Gen. Admission

Where: S. Dillon Ripley Center. 1100 Jefferson Drive, SW. Metro: Smithsonian (Blue/Orange Lines)

National Museum of African American History and Culture Breaks Ground Today

Design concept for NMAAHC building.

On Presidents Day, I decided to visit a new exhibitition at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty is located on the second floor and is open until October 14, 2012. The exhibit examines individual slaves and the families of slaves who worked on properties under Thomas Jefferson's ownership -- all in and around Monticello. Through fairly detailed family mapping charts, artifacts, and photographs, the exhibit explores familial connections between those who were Jefferson's slaves (as much as we know), including individual people as well as slave family connections to the President himself.

I've been to Monticello many times and appreciate all they have done to illuminate the man, his philosophy, his home/personal life, and his place in American history regarding the office of the President. I am also glad to see near a complete focus on the actual slaves this time, as opposed to treating them as the backdrop to Jefferson's success and rise to prominence. 12 of the first 18 Presidents of the United States owned slaves, 8 while in office. We should be so lucky to scrutinize this aspect of their lives in such detail, and in the public realm.

Although housed in NMAH, the exhibition is a joint venture between Monticello and the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC.) The National Mall's newest edition will have a groundbreaking today at 10:00AM. The $500 million dollar project is on track for completion in 2015 and they're still seeking private funds (covering about half) towards design and construction costs.

Two years ago I wrote about the designs being considered for the museum. This outstanding design from the Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup was chosen.

The site is the southwest corner at the intersection of 14th and Constitution NW; almost between the NMAH and the Washington Monument. Here's the approximate spot on Google Maps. This is the site of the groundbreaking today. Exciting news that I don't suppose will be replicated anytime soon. There are no solid plans for another Smithsonian on the Mall at this time and I don't foresee any for the near future. If you are able to attend the groundbreaking, keep me updated or send photos to me at @The42BusDC.

Another Cool Project Via Bluebrain

Bluebrain, who were behind the Dupont Boombox Experiment, are back for more creative music fun. They've created a new music track that will be available for free on their website starting, well now. And here's the cool twist. It's been engineered by Bluebrain specifically to accompany you through the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Sant Ocean Hall. Ocean Hall, which opened in late 2008, was the largest renovation and installation in the Museum's nearly 100 year history.

The music track is mostly ambient, but there is structure and some mood changes as the piece progresses. Total time is about 17 minutes and a half. I guess it totally depends on if you're a reader of the information panels or not, but if you're like me, you could just press play and take in the huge replica of North Atlantic Right Whales, giant squid, and the rest of the 23,000 square foot exhibit and be happy.

A nice getaway from the screaming kids, pushy grandmas and bickering, terribly dressed married couples from the Midwest (sorry, bad memory).

You can download the mp3 file from the Bluebrain website here. Perfect for a rainy day, or whenever you get a chance to visit Federal Washington for 17 minutes or so. Enjoy.

New Museum Designs Are Cutting Edge

A new museum is scheduled to open on the National Mall in 2015. And yesterday, I took a trip downtown to view the proposed designs for it. The Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture will be located at the corner of 15th and Constitution Sts NW. It will be one of the first landmarks visible to visitors entering DC by way of 14th Street. The Smithsonian tasked six architect and design teams to create the initial vision of what the museum will look like. These are not the final designs. Once a firm is chosen, the designs will be modified and will have to pass through a series of reviews by several entities which oversee these sorts of additions to the DC architectural cannon.

Here are some photos of each of the six models. The Washington Post has additional renderings and the full story. I can find good things to say about each of the designs, but my initial favorite is the Devrouax & Purnell + Pei Cobb Freed & Partners design. The models are on display with additional information about each presentation. See them at the Smithsonian Castle.

Wraps Come Off of Museum, Flag This Friday

I've literally been counting the days leading up to the reopening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Back in 2006, I was saddened when the original building closed and doubted a Smithsonian claim that it would reopen by July 4, 2008. But they weren't that far off! It looks like the time off was well spent. The new iteration is set to open this Friday, November 21, 2008. The renovations totaled $85 million, including a whopping $39 million coming from the private sector.

Originally opened as the Museum of History and Technology in 1964, it's well traveled corridors, gift shops, restrooms, galleries, and eateries needed updating and refreshing. Travel guides and books often cite the Air & Space Museum as the Mall's most popular, but I prefer American History with its breadth of exhibits highlighting many facets of the American experience through the years. The Museum has given life to the Civil Rights Movement, the eradication of polio, emergence of the internet age, every American war from Revolutionary to Iraq/Afghanistan, our love affair with transportation, musical traditions, the Wizard of Oz, Julia Child's kitchen, science and American ingenuity and so many others. Along with the National Archives, the Newseum and the Capitol Visitor's center, the National Museum of American History is a must-visit for history and civic students, young and old.

One of the main attractions will be, if it wasn't before, the Star-Spangled Banner, the very old, very fragile and very large flag that inspired the National Anthem. It flew over Baltimore during the War of 1812, so it's been around a few years, and the Smithsonian has been working to preserve and study it for more than 100 years. The flag now has it's own sterile environment inside a $2.5 million specially designed room within the Museum. It will lie at a near flat 10 degree angle so visitors can get a glimpse. This flag is definitely not fit to be flown anymore, but I'm sure it will get the VIP treatment at the Museum and top billing on news and promotional items.

Festivities start Friday at 8:30AM with remarks and ribbon cutting at 10:00AM. The first 1,814 (as in 1814, year of the Battle of Baltimore) guests will receive a free Museum related gift. Festivities will continue throughout the weekend and I suspect it'll be busy, although November is typically a slow tourist month. However, if teachers all over the country have been waiting for this Museum to reopen with as much enthusiasm as I have, expect crowds. After this Friday (open until 7:30PM) the Museum will be open daily from 10:00AM-5:30PM. Its located at 14th Street and Constitution Ave NW, close to Fed Triangle and Smithsonian Metro stations.

Kogod Courtyard

National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum. 9th and G Streets NW.

Hirshhorn: Art Quickie

Busy weekend! I have a few neat posts in the works, but for now, take my advice and stop by the Hirshhorn. We visited yesterday and I realized that I'd nearly forgotten that its an oasis on the Mall. The one the tourists seem to pass up and the locals like myself seem to visit not quite often enough. I get spoiled, lunching at the National Gallery of Art so often. A hard-knock life life, I know... If you have a few minutes for lunch or just find yourself downtown take a few minutes and check out downstairs at Hirshhorn.

Black Box is usually my favorite, featuring a short film which loops repeatedly throughout the day. Either visitors walk away satisfied because they think they "get it," or completely bewildered. Often, I think I'm the only one who sits through the entire film, as was the case yesterday (I think the film was just over 10min). Its art people, take it as it is... The current film is A Laundry Woman, Yamuna River, Delhi by the Korean artist Kimsooja. No point trying to explain it. Also downstairs is a collection of some of the recently acquired pieces of the museum, titled Currents. The curators did a great job of showing the various types of artwork which the museum collects, even if much of it may never see additional exhibition time. That's where shows like this come in handy. There's no real theme or rhyme or reason, just interesting pieces used to show off the collection. Anyway, if you just want a quickie of new art and don't have time to lounge (or are on lunch), hit downstairs at the Hirshhorn. A diversion well worth your time.

Would You Stand in Line to See This?

Well I did. Apparently, I had waaaaayyyy too much free time over the holiday weekend. I trekked down to the National Portrait Gallery to take a glimpse (and a photo) of the Stephen Colbert portrait. The comedian is "featured" in a particularly bad rendition of himself on the second floor of the National Portrait Gallery. Its downtown. Take the 42 bus to the last stop at 9th and G Sts NW, then walk one block to the F Street entrance of the NPG. Go upstairs one flight and the painting will be on the right. Its positioned in between two bathrooms, as you can see in the photo.

You'd think all of the eager, young minds in this second photo were in line to see the epic Landsdowne portrait of President George Washington, but alas, they were way more intrigued by the Colbert. The line was formed for those taking a photo of the portrait. Taking a picture of a picture. Yes.

The Portrait Gallery agreed to the "arrangement" only after Colbert was rebuffed by the National Museum of American History, which thankfully is closed until later this year. Not sure they would have gotten away placing Colbert's likeness next to its other rarified, historical, American classics such as Seinfeld's puffy shirt, John McClane's Die Hard wares, or Archie Bunker's Chair