The Gif t of Color

Limited-edition prints from the Smithsonian Associates Art Collectors Program capture brilliant and memorable worlds of color— and make great gifts for all occasions.

For details, visit ArtCollectorsProgram.org

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*Member pricing applies to Promoter level and above | For membership levels visit SmithsonianAssociates.org/levels

Designed for people who want more than just a getaway, Smithsonian Associates expert-led Study Tours offer one-of-akind in-person experiences—no matter how far from home you travel. They’re the perfect way to learn more about the places and topics that fascinate you, and you’re sure to discover plenty of new favorites along the way.

Please visit SmithsonianAssociates.org to view the FAQ on Health & Safety guidelines for in-person programs

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit Andrew Wyeth and the Brandywine Valley

Bus Tour

Andrew Wyeth had a lifelong link to the rural beauty of Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley, with connections to both family and art. A day-long visit to the Brandywine Museum of Art led by art historian Bonita Billman brings that personal landscape to life and offers an opportunity to view an exhibition of Wyeth’s works featuring many pieces that have not been exhibited before.

“Andrew Wyeth: Home Places” presents nearly 50 paintings and drawings of local buildings that inspired Wyeth time and again over 7 decades of his career. Among the previously unexhibited works are the early oil The Miller’s Son, painted when Wyeth was just 17 years old, and the watercolor Noah’s Ark Study, made at age 87—both depicting the same property, Brinton’s Mill.

Travel offsite to see Andrew Wyeth’s nearby studio, where he produced thousands of works of art from 1940 to 2008, and enjoy a boxed lunch at the museum’s Millstone Cafe.

Sat., July 1, 7:15 a.m.–7 p.m.; by bus; detailed tour information on website; CODE 1CD-016; Members $175; Nonmembers $225

Walking Tour

U Street

Shaped by History, Musical Legends, and Relative Newcomers

The U Street, NW, neighborhood has long been a vibrant corridor for the rich social, civic, and cultural life of Washington’s African American community. Join local guide Lynn O’Connell on a walking tour that focuses on the neighborhood’s history.

Begin at the African American Civil War Memorial, which honors the more than 200,000 African American soldiers and sailors who served during the Civil War. Then see sites for which U Street was dubbed the Black Broadway—including the legendary Howard Theatre and the Lincoln Theatre, which featured headliners such as Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and D.C.-born Duke Ellington.

Along the way, learn about the riots that started on April 4, 1968, following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Traverse the area known as Little Ethiopia, and discover murals featuring such history makers as Ellington and go-go legend Chuck Brown.

THREE OPTIONS: Sun., July 9 (CODE 1CS-A08); Tues., July 11 (CODE 1CS-B08); Thurs., July 20 (CODE 1CS-C08), 6–8 p.m.; detailed tour information on website; Members $45; Nonmembers $55

The Latest Buzz on Bees

Bees are nearly ubiquitous worldwide, busily pollinating on every continent except Antarctica. There are nearly 20,000 known bee species, and 4,000 of them are native to the United States. The Mid-Atlantic alone has nearly 500 species of native bees. Spend the day at three labs that research and support native bees and honeybees.

Begin the day at the United States Geological Survey’s Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab with wildlife biologist Sam Droege, who develops identification methods and conducts surveys of native bee species.

Then visit the University of Maryland’s Bee Lab to get up close and personal with honeybees. Suit up before visiting the onsite colonies with the Bee Squad, Karen Rennich and Mark Dykes. Learn about bee husbandry and the lab’s research on honeybee health and reducing colony losses.

After lunch at a local restaurant, spend the afternoon at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Bee Research Laboratory with entomologist Jay Evans for an inside look at the lab’s research on honeybee diseases. What exactly do busy bees do in their hive? Find out when you visit a glass observation hive.

Fri., July 14, 7:30 a.m.–5 p.m.; CODE 1CD-017; by bus; detailed tour information on website; Members $150; Nonmembers $200

Related program: Alien Worlds (see p. 27)

A Berkshires Summer Sampler

A popular summer retreat for Bostonians and New Yorkers for well over 150 years, the scenic and historic Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts are alive with music, art, and theater. Arts journalist Richard Selden leads a five-day tour that offers a splendid sampling of cultural attractions in the region, from writers’ historic homes to outstanding museums to music and theater performances.

Destinations with literary connections include Herman Melville’s evocative Pittsfield farmhouse, Arrowhead, and Edith Wharton’s elegant Lenox estate, The Mount. Visit the Clark Art Institute in picture-perfect Williamstown; MASS MoCA, a collection of contemporary galleries in a 16-acre former industrial complex; and the first-rate art museums at Williams College and Yale University. Be part of the audience at two intimate chamber music venues, Music Mountain in western Connecticut and Yellow Barn in Putney, Vermont, as well as for a performance of Blues for an Alabama Sky at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Sold Out

Sun., July 30, 6:30 a.m.–Thurs., Aug. 3, 9:30 p.m.; CODE 1CN-BER; by bus; detailed tour information on website; Members $2,050; Nonmembers $2,735

Please visit SmithsonianAssociates.org to view the FAQ on Health & Safety guidelines for in-person programs

Walking Tour

Inside Smithsonian Libraries

The Cullman Library

The largest and most diversified museum library system in the world, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives holds more than 2 million items in a network of 21 library research centers and an institutional archive throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, New York, and Panama. These rich resources are used by Smithsonian curators, staff, researchers, and scholars, as well as members of the public.

Guided by outreach librarian Erin Rushing, visit the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History in the National Museum of Natural History for a rare look at this research library, typically open by appointment only.

Upon arrival, tour Smithsonian Libraries and Archives’ newest exhibition, “Nature of the Book,” with the conservators who curated it. The exhibition focuses on books of the handpress era (from about 1450 to the 19th century) through the natural materials that went into making them.

This collection features contains approximately 10,000 rare volumes on the natural sciences, all published before 1840. Topics include botany, mineralogy, and zoology, and some of the books belonged to Smithsonian founder James Smithson.

TWO OPTIONS: Wed., Aug. 2, 9:30–11 a.m. (CODE 1CS-A09); Fri., Aug. 4, 9:30–11 a.m. (CODE 1CS-C09); detailed tour information on website; Members $40; Nonmembers $50

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit

Objects of Devotion

The Buddha Across Asia

Buddhism—and the art it inspired—helped shape the cultures of Asia. Today, its extraordinary art is a source of beauty and contemplation for audiences across the world. Join Robert DeCaroli, an art historian and specialist in the early history of Buddhism, as you spend the day exploring Buddhist and other Asian works of art in two major museum collections in the region.

Begin at the National Museum of Asian Art for a look at the museum’s holdings, focusing on objects showcasing the Buddha’s life story and early devotional practices as well as the schools and visual forms that developed in East Asia. Explore the permanent collections with museum docents and DeCaroli, cocurator of the Smithsonian’s recent exhibition, “Encountering the Buddha.”

After lunch, visit the Walters Art Museum’s newly installed “Across Asia: Arts of Asia and the Islamic World.” A private tour of the exhibition highlights the Buddhist art collection while exploring cultures and spiritual traditions across Asia.

While traveling by bus between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, DeCaroli provides insights and answers questions generated by the day’s experiences.

Thurs., Aug. 3; 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; CODE 1CD-018; by bus; detailed tour information on website; Members $155; Nonmembers $205 Related program: The Art of India: From the Indus Valley to Independence (see p. 29)

Architecture on the Nation’s Front Lawn

Walking Tour

Pierre L’Enfant’s 1791 plan for the National Mall envisioned a grand “public walk.” By 1900, that plan had been stymied and ignored. The far-reaching and critically influential McMillan Plan of 1902 reinterpreted the ceremonial core of the city, and much of what we see on the Mall today reflects that proposal.

Enjoy a morning walking tour and discover the Mall’s history, design, and architecture, from its earliest incarnation to the latest developments. Learn what happened to the museum park and the railroad station and its tracks and why the Mall does not align with compass directions.

Take in a wide range of architectural styles as you view the Smithsonian’s buildings—from the first permanent structure, the 1846 Castle, to the 2016 National Museum of African American History and Culture—as well as the National Gallery of Art and the Department of Agriculture. Styles range from the Castle’s Gothic Revival to the Arts and Industries Building’s exuberant Victorian architecture to the Natural History Museum’s Beaux Arts classicism. Compare the varied interpretations of Modernism expressed in the Hirshhorn Museum, American History Museum, Air and Space Museum, American Indian Museum, and African American History and Culture Museum. The tour concludes at the newest addition to the Mall, the Frank Gehry–designed Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.

The tour leader is Bill Keene, a lecturer in history, urban studies, and architecture. THREE OPTIONS: Sat., Aug. 12, 8:30–11 a.m. (CODE 1CS-A10); Fri., Aug. 18, 8:30–11 a.m. (CODE 1CS-B10); Sun., Aug. 27, 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. (CODE 1CS-C10); detailed tour information on website; Members $50; Nonmembers $70

Philadelphia: A Revolutionary City

Founded in 1682, Philadelphia has long played a critical role in American life and culture. Home to the First and Second Continental Congresses and chosen as the temporary capital, the city played a key role in America’s fight for independence and the formation of the United States. Join historian Denver Brunsman, an expert on Colonial and Revolutionary times, as you explore Philadelphia’s days as America’s former capital city.

Begin the day at the Museum of the American Revolution, located just off Independence Mall, for a guided tour of the collection and learn how soldiers, women, African Americans, Native Americans, children, and others experienced the tumultuous events of the Revolution through the stories and objects left behind. Enjoy a lunch-and-learn session with museum educators discussing Philadelphia’s days as a Revolutionary city.

After lunch, visit Independence Hall and stand in the Assembly Room where, in 1776, the Continental Congress declared American independence from Great Britain and, in 1787, the United States Constitution was debated and signed. Look closely and you can spot the Rising Sun Chair that Washington sat in while presiding over the Constitutional Convention. Just blocks away from Independence Hall, tour the Powel House, home of Samuel and Elizabeth Powel, who hosted convention delegates in the evenings for entertainment and intellectual discussions. Elizabeth—well-educated and intelligent—would become one of Washington’s closest confidants before, during, and after his presidency.

Sun., Sept. 10, 7:15 a.m.–8 p.m.; CODE 1CD-020; by bus; detailed tour information on website; Members $215; Nonmembers $265

Historic Chestertown

With a Cruise on the Schooner Sultana

Enjoy a full day discovering the Chesapeake Bay and its environs. The Sultana was a Boston-built merchant vessel that served for four years as the smallest schooner ever in the British Royal Navy. A 2 ½-hour cruise on a replica of the vessel is part of regional historian Hayden Mathews’ exploration of the rich heritage of Chestertown in Kent County, the oldest county on the Eastern Shore. On land, Chris Cerino, Chestertown’s former mayor, leads a walking tour of the town’s National Register Historic District, which includes many restored Georgian-style homes.

TWO OPTIONS: Sun., Sept. 10 (CODE 1ND-A05); Sun., Sept. 17 (CODE 1ND-B05); 7:45 a.m.–6:30 p.m.; by bus; detailed tour information on website; Members $210; Nonmembers $260

Sunrise Hikes at Great Falls, Virginia

Located just 15 miles outside Washington, the Great Falls of the Potomac is the most magnificent natural landmark in the metropolitan area. Rise early on an early-fall morning, avoid the crowds, and enjoy a small-group experience in the great outdoors with naturalist Keith Tomlinson.

The excursions at Great Falls National Park include a hike past Great Falls and into Mather Gorge, two of the area’s most remarkable geologic features. Learn the natural history of the area’s forest, observe a variety of birds, and learn about the effect of local land-use patterns on conservation efforts along the Potomac. The hike covers about 3 miles of hilly walking and rocky trails.

THREE OPTIONS: Sat., Sept. 23 (CODE 1NS-A02); Sun., Sept. 24 (CODE 1NS-B02); Fri., Sept. 29 (CODE 1NS-C02); 6:30 a.m.–9:30 a.m.; detailed tour information on website; Members $55; Nonmembers $75

Booth’s Escape Route

Fleeing Ford’s Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth traveled through Maryland into Virginia, where, a few days later, he was found and fatally shot. Historian Michael Kauffman retraces Booth’s escape route and reveals the personalities and intrigues surrounding the Lincoln assassination.

Stops include Ford’s Theatre; the house near Clinton, Maryland, belonging to Mary Surratt, who was hanged for her involvement in the plot; and the house of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, who set Booth’s broken leg.

Enjoy a seafood lunch at Captain Billy’s Crab House at Popes Creek Landing, near where Booth and co-conspirator David Edgar Herold crossed the Potomac. In Virginia, visit sites where they contacted local sympathizers and where Booth was captured and died.

Sat., Sept. 23, 8 a.m.–8 p.m.; CODE 1CD-021; by bus; detailed tour information on website; Members $170; Nonmembers $220

Please visit SmithsonianAssociates.org to view the FAQ on Health & Safety guidelines for in-person programs

Walking Tour

Dupont Circle and Embassy Row

During the late 1800s, Washington’s movers and shakers strolled the streets of Dupont Circle, where Massachusetts Avenue was the city’s premier residential address. Heiresses, industrial magnates, newspaper tycoons, and political elites built opulent mansions along the avenue, in architectural styles including Neoclassical, Beaux Arts, and Queen Anne. Designed to entertain and impress, these homes were filled with the finest artwork and furnishings money could buy.

However, this lavish lifestyle collapsed during the Great Depression, after which many of these magnificent mansions were sold and converted into embassies, social clubs, and offices. Join Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, on a walk through the neighborhood for views of grand homes such as the Walsh-McLean House (now the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia), Townsend House (now the Cosmos Club), Woodrow Wilson House (now a museum), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt House (now the residence of the ambassador of Mali).

THREE OPTIONS: Sat., Sept. 23, 1–3 p.m. (CODE 1CS-A11); Sun., Sept. 24, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. (CODE 1CS-B11); Fri., Sept. 29, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. (CODE 1CS-C11); detailed tour information on website; Members $45; Nonmembers $55 Related program: From Millionaires Row to Embassy Row (see p. 6)

World Art History Certificate elective: Earn ½ credit

The Met’s Magnificent Cloisters Museum and Gardens

Even if it weren’t the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to medieval art, the Cloisters’ location alone would inspire. It rises from a promontory high above the Hudson River, in Fort Tryon Park on the northern tip of Manhattan. The cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades are visible on the opposite shore.

The Cloisters’ architectural elements—including chapels, sections of monastic cloisters, and chapter house—date from the 12th through 15th centuries. They were brought from various sites in France and reconstructed between 1935 and 1938, when the museum opened to the public.

Its collections comprise medieval objects such as the illuminated book the Belles Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry; exquisite stained glass chapel windows; stone sculptures; painted icons; and a carved ivory cross. The Treasury exhibit space houses priceless pieces meant for liturgical celebrations, personal devotions, and secular uses.

Begin with a guided tour of the galleries, where you can view the allegorical Unicorn Tapestries, and the three gardens, which focus on horticulture in medieval Europe and were planted following medieval designs. Free time is available to wander through serene interior spaces or to sit and contemplate in one of the gardens.

Art historian Ursula Wolfman leads the tour.

Fri., Sept. 29, 7 a.m.–9:45 p.m.; CODE 1CD-022; by bus; detailed tour information on website; Members $230; Nonmembers $280

Exploring Frank Lloyd Wright

Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob, and Polymath Park

One of America’s most innovative architects, Frank Lloyd Wright experimented with new ways to design homes and integrate them into nature. Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob, and the houses at Polymath Park offer prime examples of his organic architecture. Visit all three locations on an overnight tour to the scenic Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, which is especially lovely colored in its autumnal palette. Tour leader Bill Keene, a writer and lecturer on architecture, urban history, and city planning, has a special interest in Wright.

Fallingwater, perhaps the architect’s best-known structure, was designed in 1936 as a mountain retreat for the Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh. Cantilevered over a waterfall, the home is one of the most dramatic and frequently photographed works of architecture. It is also the only major Wright house with its setting, original furnishings, and artworks intact. And it is one of 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States.

Constructed of Tidewater red cypress and native fieldstone, the house on Kentuck Knob almost appears to be part of the mountain on which it is built. It was designed by Wright in 1953 for the I.N. Hagan family and now houses furnishings and art of the current owners, Lord Peter and Lady Hayat Palumbo.

At historic Polymath Park near Fallingwater, view two houses designed for everyday living in the 1950s: the Usonian-style Duncan House and the Mäntylä House, both of which were relocated here.

Sun., Oct. 1, 7:15 a.m.–Mon., Oct. 2, 6 p.m.; CODE 1CN-FLW; by bus; detailed tour information on website; Members $535; Nonmembers $685

5-Day Tour

Theodore Roosevelt’s North Dakota Badlands, Bison, and the Making of a Conservationist

In 1883, Theodore Roosevelt looked to the Badlands of western North Dakota as a place where he could transform himself from an asthmatic 24-year-old New Yorker into a biggame hunter, rancher, and authentic cowboy. A year later, it took on new meaning as a place of refuge and solace after the deaths of his wife and mother.

Over the course of the more than three decades he lived or visited there, the Badlands did indeed transform Roosevelt into the kind of vigorous outdoorsman that he’d idealized as a youth—and that shaped his public image as president. Perhaps more importantly, this corner of the West turned him into a passionate conservationist dedicated to the preservation of the rugged landscapes and native wildlife of the place he described as “where the romance of my life began.”

Experience those landscapes—filled with dramatic vistas, vividly colored canyons, and wandering herds of wild bison—on a 5-day study tour led by author and naturalist Melanie Choukas-Bradley that brings you into the heart of Roosevelt’s Badlands and the national park that bears his name.

Sat., Oct. 7, 6 p.m.–Wed., Oct. 11, midday; CODE 1CN-NDK; detailed tour information on website; Members $1,865; Nonmembers $2,215; NOTE: Tour participants meet on site and are responsible for their own airfare.

Please visit SmithsonianAssociates.org to view the FAQ on Health & Safety guidelines for in-person programs

4-Day Tour

The Corning Museum of Glass: An Insider’s Adventure

Get a crystal-clear view of the history, art, and science of making glass at the Corning Museum of Glass. A four-day trip offers participants an insider’s experience and includes curator-conducted sessions and tours.

Curatorial staff members lead the group through more than 3,500 years of glassmaking history in the Ancient Glass, European Glass, and Contemporary Glass galleries. The newest special exhibition, “Dig Deeper: Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop,” spotlights insights into ancient glassblowing and glassmaking through the presentation of artifacts from a 4th-century glass workshop discovered in Jalame, Israel. Afterward, explore the many ways glass touches wine as it travels from the grape to your goblet in “Fire and Vine: The Story of Glass and Wine.” Take a guided tour of the Contemporary Art + Design Wing. Its 26,000-square-foot gallery— where a sophisticated system of diffused skylights supplies most of the lighting—is the world’s largest space dedicated to the display of contemporary art and design in glass.

A conservator leads participants behind the scenes to look at the work of the conservation lab. The group also is welcomed to the Rakow Research Library, the world’s foremost library on the art, history, and science of glass and glassmaking. Meet with collections and exhibits specialists to explore how the museum manages and displays its collections.

At the Innovation Center, learn about the science and technology behind innovations in glass through hands-on exhibits. Experience the fire and flow of glassmaking as you view a demonstration at the stateof-the-art Amphitheater Hot Shop. Included with your visit is the opportunity to try your hand at a seasonal glassmaking project, working one-on-one with artisans.

Wed., Nov. 1, 7 a.m.–Sat., Nov. 4, 8:30 p.m.; by bus; detailed tour information on website; CODE 1CNCOR; Members $1,180; Nonmembers $1,580

Smithsonian Art Collectors presents

The Art of Philip Guston

Inscapes: Words and Images was a 1976 city-wide festival held in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the collaboration of poetry and visual arts. To commemorate the festival, the Smithsonian commissioned Guston and poet Stanley Kunitz to create this collaborative work inspired by and featuring one of Kunitz's poems.

Philip Guston Now is on view through August 27 at the National Gallery of Art.

Inscapes: Words and Images, 1977 Poster | Retail: $35; Member: $20*

*Member pricing applies to Promoter level and above For membership levels visit SmithsonianAssociates.org/levels

Outdoor Adventures in Shenandoah National Park

Virginia’s fabled Skyline Drive weaves through the length of Shenandoah National Park, one of the region’s top draws for hikers. In a two-day active getaway designed for outdoor lovers, meet up and explore the Blue Ridge trails at the height of their fall beauty and stay at a historic lodge on Skyline Drive that offers magnificent panoramic views of the mountain landscapes. Naturalist and study leader Keith Tomlinson leads two moderate-level hikes in the park and presents an engaging evening program that offers insights into the area’s history, geography, geology, wildlife, and forest environment. Pack your hiking gear, meet on site, and experience the natural splendor of fall in an unforgettable way.

Sun,. Oct. 15, 11 a.m.–Mon., Oct. 16, 4 p.m.; detailed tour information on website; CODE 1NNSNP; Members $510; Nonmembers $680

2-Day Tour

Jewels of Queens

Arts journalist Richard Selden continues his series of overnight trips to New York City’s outer boroughs with this visit to the largest of all, Queens—home of the Mets, the U.S. Open, and two of the metropolitan area’s three major airports.

Among the jewels on the itinerary are Flushing Meadows Corona Park, site of the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs; the Museum of the Moving Image, a movie and television museum located in the historic (and reborn) Astoria Studio complex; the Noguchi Museum, where the full range of the Modernist sculptor’s work is displayed; and the Louis Armstrong House Museum. To sample the borough’s international cuisine, an Asian lunch in Flushing and a Greek dinner in Astoria are included.

The overnight accommodations spotlight one of the borough’s newest jewels: the TWA Hotel. Eero Saarinen’s landmark 1962 TWA Flight Center at Idlewild (now JFK) Airport has been restored and reimagined as a first-class hotel that celebrates the Jet Age glamour of the 1960s.

Sun., Nov. 12, 7 a.m.–Mon., Nov. 13, 9:30 p.m.; by bus; detailed tour information on website; CODE 1NN-QUE; Members $675; Nonmembers $835