Cultural Tourism DC Calendar

Join us at a Garden Luncheon with lauded interior designer and author of Dazzling Design, Amanda Nisbet of Amanda Nisbet Design.

Nisbet, a self-described “color whisperer,” has an inherent ability to create spaces that are simultaneously comfortable and elegant.

Enjoy a lovely lunch with friends under the tent on the sprawling South Lawn, and a presentation by this design guru, who is based in New York City and Richmond. Nisbet is known for mixing seemingly opposite materials, styles, classic motifs, and contemporary idioms to create inspiring spaces that are beautiful, joyful and unforgettable.

Celebrate the opening of Whistler in Watercolor, the first in-depth examination of the Freer’s unparalleled collection of James McNeill Whistler’s watercolors, with Luce Fellow for American Art Kerry Roeder.

You’ve probably heard of Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, but there were plenty of other women who helped the United States gain independence. Meet a diverse array of historical figures through their work and records, and celebrate the women who made this country possible while you enjoy tea and pastries with your friends. All are welcome!

Included in the ticket price:

• Finger-sandwiches and pastries
• A tasting of teas popular in the 18th century
• Activities related to the theme
• Special access to objects from the museum collection

Explore the intricate artisanship and history of court robes worn by empresses of China’s Qing dynasty with Dr. Young Yang Chung. A scholar and master embroiderer, Dr. Chung is the author of Silken Threads: A History of Embroidery in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

Would you like to start your morning with some coffee, pastries, and a dash of American history? Then join us the first Friday of every month for our new Coffee with a Curator series! Every month the DAR Museum curators will highlight different objects in our Study Gallery collection, providing insights, pointing out significant details, and answering questions. This unique, informal environment provides the opportunity for in-depth, intimate conversations with curators about objects within their specialty.

In order to facilitate meaningful conversation and close-looking, this program is capped at 15 attendees. Coffee, tea, and pastries provided for all program participants.

This month, join Carrie Blough, Assistant Registrar/Associate Curator, in conversation about 18th century cooking tools from the DAR Museum collection. How were these tools used? What can they tell us about foodways of the period?

Grab a cup and let’s start the conversation.

The Levant is home to some of the most storied cuisines in the world, from the refined cuisine of Aleppo to popular street foods like falafel. Yet much of its centuries-old history remains unwritten, and there are few academic studies of its contemporary food cultures. What is Levantine cuisine historically, gastronomically, and culturally? Can studying the region’s food and foodways help us understand what constitutes “the Levant” or what counts as “Levantine,” and how it came to be? What does writing a region’s culinary history entail? This symposium aims to answer these questions and more with perspectives from history, anthropology, literature, and other disciplines.

The symposium is organized by Graham Pitts and Anny Gaul, with generous support from the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and the US Department of Education Title VI grant supporting the National Resource Center-Middle East/North Africa at Georgetown University.

12:30–2 pm: Food and Displacement: Cooking as Refuge, Resistance, and Memory
This panel discussion brings together scholars and documentarians to discuss the role of food in communities of displaced Syrians and Palestinians. From Vancouver to Gaza, food represents a means to earn income and disrupt stereotypes, a force of resistance against loss and oppression, and a source of comfort and hope when returning home becomes impossible.

2:15–3:45 pm: Writing Middle Eastern Cuisine: Recipes, Stories, and Politics
Join us for a roundtable discussion on food writing, featuring perspectives from journalism, cookbook publishing, and creative writing. Panelists will share advice and stories from their experiences writing about the diverse cuisines of the Levant. A tasting will follow.

4 pm: Tasting
Freer conference room

When historic furniture is put on display, most of the attention goes to the quality of the work and the master craftsman from whose shop the piece came. However, little is said about those involved in creating such a piece.  This talk will examine the role of enslaved craftsmen in Charleston cabinetmaking shops during the late eighteenth century and how wealthy Charlestonians’ desire for fashionable goods fueled the demand for this labor force.

Speaker: William Strollo, Curator of Exhibitions

Peek inside the Forbidden City and learn about the lives of Chinese empresses during the Qing dynasty with Jan Stuart, Melvin R. Seiden Curator of Chinese Art.

“Oh Captain, my Captain”–Walt Whitman’s words about President Lincoln and the Civil War continue to echo in our ears and in our pop culture. On Thursday June 13 at 6:00 PM at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office, discover the man behind the poetry, as Garrett Peck introduces us to Walt Whitman the poet, the nurse, the brother, the lover, the clerk, the myth, and the man.

Garrett Peck is the author of Walt Whitman in Washington, D.C.: The Civil War and America’s Great Poet. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and earned his M.A. at the George Washington University. He leads local tours, including the Walt Whitman Tour and Alexandria’s Historic Breweries Tours.

The pay-what-you-please program begins on June 13 at 6:00 PM at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum.

“Oh Captain, my Captain”–Walt Whitman’s words about President Lincoln and the Civil War continue to echo in our ears and in our pop culture. On Thursday June 13 at 6:00 PM at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office, discover the man behind the poetry, as Garrett Peck introduces us to Walt Whitman the poet, the nurse, the brother, the lover, the clerk, the myth, and the man.

Garrett Peck is the author of Walt Whitman in Washington, D.C.: The Civil War and America’s Great Poet. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and earned his M.A. at the George Washington University. He leads local tours, including the Walt Whitman Tour and Alexandria’s Historic Breweries Tours.

The pay-what-you-please program begins on June 13 at 6:00 PM at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum.

When is a play more than just a play? Join Liana Chen, assistant professor of Chinese language and literature at George Washington University, to explore the role of theater at the Qing imperial court. Performances, often commissioned and enjoyed by women, told stories from Chinese history and mythology but were also used as tools for political influence. This talk expands on themes and objects in the exhibition Empresses of China’s Forbidden City, 1644¬–1912.

Peek inside the Forbidden City and learn about the lives of Chinese empresses during the Qing dynasty with Jan Stuart, Melvin R. Seiden Curator of Chinese Art.

Peek inside the Forbidden City and learn about the lives of Chinese empresses during the Qing dynasty with Jan Stuart, Melvin R. Seiden Curator of Chinese Art.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the Peacock Room, a masterpiece of aesthetic decoration, with Luce Fellow for American Art Kerry Roeder. Before the Peacock Room became a work of art by James McNeill Whistler, it was the dining room in the London mansion of Frederick Leyland. Its shelves were designed to showcase the British shipping magnate’s collection of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. Whistler completely redecorated the room in 1876 and 1877 as a “harmony in blue and gold.” This extravagant interior has been on permanent display since the Freer Gallery of Art opened in 1923 and is one of the most beloved artworks in the Smithsonian.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the Peacock Room, a masterpiece of aesthetic decoration, with Luce Fellow for American Art Kerry Roeder. Before the Peacock Room became a work of art by James McNeill Whistler, it was the dining room in the London mansion of Frederick Leyland. Its shelves were designed to showcase the British shipping magnate’s collection of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. Whistler completely redecorated the room in 1876 and 1877 as a “harmony in blue and gold.” This extravagant interior has been on permanent display since the Freer Gallery of Art opened in 1923 and is one of the most beloved artworks in the Smithsonian.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the Peacock Room, a masterpiece of aesthetic decoration, with Luce Fellow for American Art Kerry Roeder. Before the Peacock Room became a work of art by James McNeill Whistler, it was the dining room in the London mansion of Frederick Leyland. Its shelves were designed to showcase the British shipping magnate’s collection of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. Whistler completely redecorated the room in 1876 and 1877 as a “harmony in blue and gold.” This extravagant interior has been on permanent display since the Freer Gallery of Art opened in 1923 and is one of the most beloved artworks in the Smithsonian.

How do 19th century quilts show their makers’ awareness of contemporary design trends and access to the latest technology of their day? Find out  how American quiltmakers were influenced by the arts and sciences from examples in the DAR Museum’s current exhibit, “A Piece of Her Mind: Culture and Technology in American Quilts.”

Speaker: Alden O’Brien, Curator of Costume and Textiles

What can Hannah Bloomfield’s handwritten recipe book from 1765 tell us about cooking and eating in the 18th century? We will explore this question while studying her life and recipes using her manuscript cookbook. Manuscript cookbooks are handwritten books containing recipes deliberately selected by the author, and carefully transcribed into a personal book. These books offer another way of understanding past lives and foodways, and also provide insight into the social and economic status of the middle and upper classes in early America.

Speaker: Carrie Blough, Associate Registrar/Assistant Curator