Meditation and Mindfulness

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspir......More

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Register and join the sessions here: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ Image:  Spring flowers, Kitagawa Sōsetsu (17th century), Japan, Edo period, mid-17th century, one of a pair of handscrolls; ink and color on paper, The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, Freer Gallery of Art, F2020.5.25.1a–b

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ONLINE: International Space Day Member Event Featuring author Andy Weir

Since its large-scale publication in 2014, The Martian has become a cultural phenomenon. In addition to its accolades, the motion picture of the same name was released in 2015 to great acclaim. In fact, The Martian inspired the largest number of applications to the ast......More

Since its large-scale publication in 2014, The Martian has become a cultural phenomenon. In addition to its accolades, the motion picture of the same name was released in 2015 to great acclaim. In fact, The Martian inspired the largest number of applications to the astronaut program than ever before in history. This program will explore its impact and revisit key scenes in conversation with Dr. Matt Shindell, NASM Curator of Planetary Science and Exploration, Earth and Environmental Science and author of For the Love of Mars. Andy Weir built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time. He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of such subjects as relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspir......More

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Register and join the sessions here: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ Image:  Spring flowers, Kitagawa Sōsetsu (17th century), Japan, Edo period, mid-17th century, one of a pair of handscrolls; ink and color on paper, The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, Freer Gallery of Art, F2020.5.25.1a–b

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SAAM Fellows Lectures

Join the 2023–2024 SAAM Fellows as they present new scholarship on a range of topics and time periods, media and messages. This multi-afternoon program will highlight a new generation of scholars who are engaging the Smithsonian’s collections and archives in order to te......More

Join the 2023–2024 SAAM Fellows as they present new scholarship on a range of topics and time periods, media and messages. This multi-afternoon program will highlight a new generation of scholars who are engaging the Smithsonian’s collections and archives in order to tell new stories about American art. The lecture will be held in person and online; registration is required.  Image/Credit: SAAM 2023–2024 Fellows, courtesy of subjects  

American Art Museum

Conservation Classroom: Discovering Amphibians

Discovering Amphibians Join us for this special program as we celebrate Amphibian Week. Learn about amphibians, get an up-close look at our Japanese giant salamander, and chat with an amphibian expert. Learn more about #AmphibianWeek here: ......More

Discovering Amphibians Join us for this special program as we celebrate Amphibian Week. Learn about amphibians, get an up-close look at our Japanese giant salamander, and chat with an amphibian expert. Learn more about #AmphibianWeek here: https://parcplace.org/education/ Grade/Learning Level: K-5 Standards:  K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-1, K-ESS3-3, 1-LS3-1, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS1-1, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-2, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4, 4-LS1-1, 4-LS1-2, 5-LS2-1 Program Details & Accessibility: Conservation Classroom is a collection of programs that include live virtual programs each month from September through May. These programs are designed for multiple groups of students to join and learn together. We welcome all audiences from individuals and home-schooling families to large groups and schools. Programs are hosted via Zoom in the webinar format. Individual participants’ audio and video will be disabled, but students can actively participate using polls, emoji reactions, Q&A, and chat to hosts. Program includes live captioning, American sign language (ASL) interpretation, and simulcast Spanish translation. The program will be recorded and posted on our website and emailed out to those who have registered approximately 48 hours after the program. ASL TIP: If you would like to see the ASL interpreter, we recommend joining on a computer instead of a phone or tablet so the interpreter will be visible the entire time.   Program Resources: Take your student’s learning further! All programs come with a collection of resources released at the beginning of the month, which can be found on the Zoo’s school programs page at https://nationalzoo.si.edu/education/school-programs The collection includes an “I Wonder…” video which is a great introduction to the monthly program topic, an activity that can be used during the program, an activity to use after the program, and a “Career Connections” video that connects students to a related STEAM career. Note: the program can be enjoyed without accessing the additional resources alone as well.

SAAM Fellows Lectures

Join the 2023–2024 SAAM Fellows as they present new scholarship on a range of topics and time periods, media and messages. This multi-afternoon program will highlight a new generation of scholars who are engaging the Smithsonian’s collections and archives in order to te......More

Join the 2023–2024 SAAM Fellows as they present new scholarship on a range of topics and time periods, media and messages. This multi-afternoon program will highlight a new generation of scholars who are engaging the Smithsonian’s collections and archives in order to tell new stories about American art. The lecture will be held in person and online; registration is required.  Image/Credit: SAAM 2023–2024 Fellows, courtesy of subjects  

American Art Museum

Meditation and Mindfulness

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspir......More

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Register and join the sessions here: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ Image:  Spring flowers, Kitagawa Sōsetsu (17th century), Japan, Edo period, mid-17th century, one of a pair of handscrolls; ink and color on paper, The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, Freer Gallery of Art, F2020.5.25.1a–b

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SAAM Fellows Lectures

Join the 2023–2024 SAAM Fellows as they present new scholarship on a range of topics and time periods, media and messages. This multi-afternoon program will highlight a new generation of scholars who are engaging the Smithsonian’s collections and archives in order to te......More

Join the 2023–2024 SAAM Fellows as they present new scholarship on a range of topics and time periods, media and messages. This multi-afternoon program will highlight a new generation of scholars who are engaging the Smithsonian’s collections and archives in order to tell new stories about American art. The lecture will be held in person and online; registration is required.  Image/Credit: SAAM 2023–2024 Fellows, courtesy of subjects  

American Art Museum

Meditation and Mindfulness

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspir......More

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Register and join the sessions here: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ Image:  Spring flowers, Kitagawa Sōsetsu (17th century), Japan, Edo period, mid-17th century, one of a pair of handscrolls; ink and color on paper, The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, Freer Gallery of Art, F2020.5.25.1a–b

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Sneak Peek | Whistler’s Language on Women’s Labor

Register here   This talk is part of the monthly lunchtime series ......More

Register here   This talk is part of the monthly lunchtime series Sneak Peek: New Research from the National Museum of Asian Art, where staff members present brief, personal perspectives and ongoing research, followed by discussion. This year, the online series focuses on the theme of word and image—including calligraphy, seals, inscriptions, manuals, narratives, and poetry—in the collections of the National Museum of Asian Art.    Diana Greenwold is the Lunder Curator of American Art at the National Museum of Asian Art and specializes in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American fine and decorative arts. She is particularly interested in stories of transnational exchange and the ways objects carry and transform culture. From 2014 to 2021, Diana served in various curatorial positions, ultimately as curator of American art at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine, where she spearheaded the reinterpretation of the Winslow Homer Studio. Her recent projects at NMAA include Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change and upcoming exhibitions about American landscapes and the history of the Peacock Room    Image:  Mme Pelletier, Blanchisserie, Paris, James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903), 1885, etching, ink on paper, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.16 

NHSA and the Zoo in the Classroom: Happy Birthday, Head Start

NHSA and the Zoo in the Classroom: Happy Birthday, Head Start!  Happy birthday; healthy bodies! How do animals keep their bodies healthy? Visit https://nationalzoo.si.edu/education/get-head-sta......More

NHSA and the Zoo in the Classroom: Happy Birthday, Head Start!  Happy birthday; healthy bodies! How do animals keep their bodies healthy? Visit https://nationalzoo.si.edu/education/get-head-start-smithsonian  for classroom activities supporting your Pre-K classroom's explorations of weather and space. Grades: Preschool; Young Children Standards: Supports Head Start ELOF Goals P-ATL-11; P-SCI-1; P-SCI-2; P-SCI-3; P-SE-6; P-SE-7 Get a Head Start with the Smithsonian Live Virtual Programs  "Happy Birthday, Head Start" is one of four virtual field trips to the National Zoo developed in collaboration with the National Head Start Association as part of the "Get a Head Start with the Smithsonian" project. These high-energy music and movement programs are designed to engage young children and support their teachers in engaging students with early science.  These programs are designed for multiple groups of children to join and learn together. Programs are targeted to Head Start classrooms but welcome all young children and caregivers from individuals and families to preschools, schools, or daycares. These programs can be enjoyed as standalone events but are also supported by additional activities you can use in the classroom or at home. These activities, which may include craft projects, science activities, discussion ideas, book suggestions, or additional video content, are developed by educators from across the Smithsonian, including: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden National Museum of American History National Air and Space Museum National Portrait Gallery National Postal Museum Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center Check out our webpage to access these activity collections, as well as recordings of and activity collections for past programs. https://nationalzoo.si.edu/education/get-head-start-smithsonian   "Get a Head Start with the Smithsonian" programs take place on Zoom in meeting format. Individual participants’ audio will be disabled, but video feeds may be turned on, if you choose. Children and teachers can submit comments and questions to the hosts during the program using the chat features. Some questions will be answered live, while others will be gathered and answered in a follow-up video emailed to participants.  If you have questions or special requests, please email [email protected].

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Meditation and Mindfulness

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspir......More

Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers on Tuesdays and Fridays. Friday sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collections as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Register and join the sessions here: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpdeuhqjItG9HB6wJ6vIhf5Vk-_Tm-RCtZ Image:  Spring flowers, Kitagawa Sōsetsu (17th century), Japan, Edo period, mid-17th century, one of a pair of handscrolls; ink and color on paper, The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, Freer Gallery of Art, F2020.5.25.1a–b

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