Weekend Buzz: April 30, 2026
A great Spring weekend coming up for cool activities! Obviously, The Annual Racing of the Chihuahuas has everyone pulling their (own) hair out in anticipation! But there's also one last chance to dine with alpacas! Also, there's a new opportunity to take up robotics and 3-D printing with a lab tour. Solace Outpost and Clare & Don's have a nice lineup of live music to enjoy, several noteworthy shows are coming to GMU's Center for the Performing Arts, many local play productions are either opening or closing this weekend, Rare Bird has a new arts show, Fairfax's Spotlight on the Arts Festival moves into its final weekend, and now's your chance to join a Friday Beach Volleyball League at National Landing. Plus, all the latest in local music, dance, film, theater, and fine arts!
LOCAL MUSIC
Groovejet
Mark your calendars! ~ Clare & Don’s Beach Shack, 130 N. Washington St., Thursday, May 7, 5:30 p.m.
Music lovers say they love the GrooveJet Band for its stylish, classy, lively and innovative blend of New Orleans jazz, funk and other cool sounds.
For more info go here.
Split String Soup
Solace Outpost, 444 W Broad St., Saturday, May 2, 8:00 p.m.
"Split String Soup is an eclectic fusion of Americana and Bluegrass. Hailing from the darkest hollows of Northern Virginia, Split String is a veritable Soup of musical influences all mixed together. From traditional bluegrass to classic rock and country, and even a few contemporary influences, Split String Soup creates an eclectic Americana sound all their own."
For more info go here.
Try an Open Mic Night!
Settle Down Easy Brewery, 2822 Fallfax Drive, Falls Church. Every Tuesday, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
For more info go here.
International Jazz Day Concert 2026
George Mason University Center for the Performing Arts, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax, Thursday, April 30, 8:00 p.m.
George Mason Dewberry School of Music.
The Mason Jazz Department proudly presents a celebration of International Jazz Day, April 30, 2026.
Join us as we come together with the global community to celebrate International Jazz Day, a worldwide initiative led by UNESCO. This annual event unites people across cultures, countries, and generations through the power of jazz — honoring its roots, envisioning its future, and recognizing its profound impact on humanity.
International Jazz Day highlights the essential values of the music: peace, dialogue, freedom, equality, and respect for human dignity. It reminds us that jazz is more than music — it’s a force for intercultural understanding, cooperation, and social change.
Since its launch in 2012, International Jazz Day has traveled the globe — from Paris to Havana, from Sydney to St. Petersburg — celebrating jazz as a universal language. In 2026, the official global host city will be Chicago, Illinois, an iconic center of jazz history. This year’s celebration holds even greater meaning, marking the 250th anniversary of the United States and the centennial of one of jazz’s greatest pioneers ~ Miles Davis.
Tonight, the Mason Jazz Department is honored to add our voices to this worldwide chorus in a spirit of unity, creativity, and hope.
Tickets: $19: General Public; $14: Seniors; $9: Students. Prices include fees.
For ticket info go here.
A Night at the Opera ~ The Cathedral Brass
Stacy C. Sherwood Center, 3740 Blenheim Blvd., Fairfax., Saturday, May 2, 7:00 p.m.
The Cathedral Brass presents a program of opera and musical theatre favorites to celebrate Fairfax Spotlight on the Arts! The concert will feature guest artists Danielle Talamantes, a renowned and versatile soprano who has sung with the Metropolitan Opera, and Kerry Wilkerson, an exceptional bass-baritone performer and former member of the U.S. Army Men’s Chorus.
The concert will feature music from Mozart, Bernstein, Lloyd Webber, and Wagner, spanning popular works such as "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, The Magic Flute, Phantom of the Opera, Guys and Dolls," and "West Side Story."
No tickets required! Just join us and enjoy!
This is a 2026 Spotlight on the Arts Festival event.
For more info go here.
Equity Arc Festival Concert
Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons, Main Theater, May 3, 1:00 p.m.
Equity Arc presents our Festival Ensembles, featuring outstanding pre-college and collegiate musicians from nearly 80 cities across the United States.
Led by Rodney Dorsey and Lina González-Granados, the Equity Arc Wind Symphony and Pathways Orchestra will perform works ranging from Tchaikovsky and Florence Price to Jessie Montgomery and Carlos Simon.
This concert is presented as part of Equity Arc’s National Convening, showcasing the artistry of the next generation of classical musicians and the breadth of today’s orchestral and wind ensemble repertoire.
For ticket info go here.
Amy K. Bormet returns to Hillwood! Enjoy an outdoor concert inspired the current exhibition On Time: Giving Form to the Fleeting.
The Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, 4155 Linnean Avenue NW, Thursday, April 30, 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Jazz on the Lunar Lawn / Amy K. Bormet Presents “Time Travel”
Join Amy K. Bormet for an evening outdoor concert, "Time Travel," inspired by the special exhibition On Time: Giving Form to the Fleeting! The concert will feature classic songs and fresh new pieces about the passing of time, and understanding how it's measured through music. Traveling from Cyndi Lauper, Hindustani rhythms, to new jazz melodies her ensemble will transport the audience between eras and cultures. The group is led by celebrated bandleader, pianist, composer, and singer, Amy K. Bormet, and will feature fabulous jazz musicians from throughout the D.C. area.
Tickets: $30 non-member; $25 member; $10 student; $5 child (6-18). Free for children under 6.
Program Timeline:
5:30-6:30 p.m. | Explore Hillwood
- Enjoy Hillwood’s mansion, gardens, and greenhouse, and exhibition, On Time: Giving Form to the Fleeting
- Visit the museum shop and Merriweather To Go
6:30-7:30 p.m. | Concert on the Lunar Lawn
- Please bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets.
8 p.m. | Hillwood closes
Program Guidelines:
- This program takes place outdoors on the Lunar Lawn. (Please see the inclement weather plan below.)
- Please bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets. Picnicking is welcome.
- Merriweather To Go has sandwiches, light snacks, and beverages, including beer, wine, and champagne available by the glass or bottle.
- Hillwood’s liquor license does not allow patrons to bring in outside alcohol.
Inclement Weather Plan:
If inclement weather occurs, the program will be postponed to Thursday, April 30 with ticket purchasers notified of the change by 3:00 p.m. If inclement weathers persists, the concert will be live-streamed on Thursday, and all ticket purchasers will be notified and sent a link to the performance by 3:00 p.m.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Inspired by Shirley Horn, Geri Allen, and Duke Ellington, D.C.’s own Amy K. Bormet is a pianist, vocalist, and composer, seamlessly fusing elements of jazz, singer-songwriter, and the avant-garde, leading her to stages on national and international festivals. Her compositions have been performed by ensembles of all sizes, from a Swedish chamber choir, to the National Symphony Orchestra.
In 2011, to foster creative community spaces – by, and for, women and non-binary musicians – Amy K. Bormet created the Washington Women in Jazz Festival. She directs, finances, and performs with Washington Women In Jazz to celebrate the women and non-binary artists of D.C.’s renowned improvisational music communities. The festival, now in its 16th year, she collaborates with Leigh Pilzer, Biggi Vinkeloe, Shana Tucker, and more than 75 women and non-binary musicians from around the globe.
For ticket info go here.
Camerata RCO Concert
Dumbarton Concerts, 3133 Dumbarton St. NW, May 2, 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Royal Concertgebouw musicians pay homage to chamber music greats!
We close our 48th season with a triumphant return to our stage. The Camerata RCO, comprised of individual musicians from Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, was a smashing success in their last appearance with us, and they return with an eclectic and charming selection of chamber music essentials. We explore the nimble elegance of Mozart and the emotional depth of Brahms, and the program is crowned with an original arrangement of Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony, a broad and dramatic ode to the composer’s famously patriotic Czech identity. Come celebrate with us at the end of another sensational season.
W.A. Mozart: Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, (“Kegelstatt”)
Johannes Brahms: Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano
Antonín Dvorák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, arr. de Vlieger
Dumbarton Concerts is pleased to present a pre-concert talk by the artists of our current Dumbarton Concerts Gallery exhibition: Ennis Hodgson & Jeanette Bolden.
The performance will take place at 6:00 p.m. in the Dumbarton Church social hall, and is free and open to the public.
Learn more about the Dumbarton Concerts gallery here!
Purchase tickets to Camerata RCO here
$48 live in-person | $14 livestream
Dumbarton Concerts livestreams are available for 48 hours following the live performance. For more information about livestreams, visit “Concert FAQs” under the “Concerts” heading at the top of the page.
To purchase tickets go here.
LOCAL DANCE
Spring: Dance Innovations 2026
George Mason University, George Mason School of Dance, 4471 Aquia Creek Ln., Fairfax, Friday, May 1, 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, May 2, 7:00 p.m.
George Mason choreographers present a showcase of new dances performed by the George Mason Dance Company.
Tickets: $24 General Public, $16 Senior, $16 Student. Prices include fees.
For ticket info go here.
The Center Will Not Hold
George Mason University Center for the Arts, Concert Hall, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax, Saturday, May 2, 8:00 p.m.
A Dorrance Dance Production. Created by Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance.
The Center Will Not Hold is an innovative Dorrance Dance Production and collaboration by Bessie Award-winning choreographer and breakdancer Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie and MacArthur “Genius” Grant awardee Michelle Dorrance, “one of the most imaginative tap choreographers working today” (New Yorker).
In its Center for the Arts debut, the evening-length work features 11 performers and original music composed by Donovan Dorrance with live percussion by world-class drummer and percussionist John Angeles. The piece is deeply rooted in one or many street, club, and vernacular dances: house, breaking, hip hop, tap dance, Chicago footwork, Detroit jit, litefeet, Memphis jookin, and body percussion.
This performance is appropriate for all ages and will be audio-described.
Tickets: $65, $56, $41; half-price for youth through Grade 12.
Run Time: approximately 60 minutes, with no intermission.
Program is subject to change.
For ticket info go here.
An Asian American Dance Journey
Closes soon! ~ Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW, May 1, 7:30 p.m.; May 2, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; May 3, 2:00 p.m. Through May 3.
In honor of Asian American Heritage Month, Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company (DTSBDC) triumphantly returns to Woolly Mammoth with their signature grace in storytelling.
Exploring the inner emotional terrain of humanity, the world-renowned Company presents beloved pieces from their 33-year history repertoire with a special emphasis on the Asian American experience. The Company will perform the world premiere of “Drawing in Space” – a dance homage to the inveterate artist, Ruth Asawa.
The Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company creates and performs modern dances that explore diverse perspectives, histories, and traditions. The result is a shared audience understanding and empathy that attest to the transformative power of dance. It’s why the Company has been hailed by The Washington Post as “Not only a Washington prize, but a national dance treasure” and has been voted “Best Dance Company in DC” by Washington City Paper readers in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
For ticket info go here.
LOCAL FILM
The Oath of the Sword with Ten Nights in a Barroom
National Gallery of Art, East Building Large Auditorium, Saturday, May 2, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Part of Treasures of American Cinema: National Film Registry 2025 Selections.
Introduced by George Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Leader, Library of Congress.
Both films were recently restored by the George Eastman Museum and presented with new pre-recorded scores by Donald Sosin.
The Oath of the Sword is the earliest surviving film produced by Asian Americans, dating from a period when Japanese and Chinese Americans created production companies to produce films about and for their own communities. A derivation of the Madam Butterfly story, this silent film tells the story of two young lovers. Masao leaves to study in the U.S. and upon his return to Japan, finds Hisa married to another man, commencing a love triangle that turns tragic. (Frank Shaw, 1914, DCP, 31 minutes)
Ten Nights in a Barroom was produced by the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia and is the earliest of only two surviving films made by the company. Based on the stage melodrama adapted from Timothy Shay Arthur’s 1854 novel, this film features Charles Sidney Gilpin as an alcoholic who loses everything before redeeming himself. Released in 2015 as part of the “Pioneers of African-American Cinema,” a compilation produced by the Library of Congress, in association with the British Film Institute, George Eastman Museum, Museum of Modern Art, National Archives, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Southern Methodist University, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. (Roy Calneck, 1926, DCP, 63 minutes).
To register go here.
LOCAL THEATER
Bold New Voices Festival
Creative Cauldron, 127 E. Broad St., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Through May 9.
All tickets are FREE!
Creative Cauldron’s “Bold New Voices” initiative supports the development of new plays or musicals written by women and underserved voices. This is a safe space for all attendees. Join Creative Cauldron for a series of professionally staged readings and help us choose the final selection for our 2026-27 Season “Bold New Voices” production.
Sponsored by Diener & Associates, Certified Public Accountants. Principal Sponsor: John Wiant. Special Funding by ArtsFairfax and the Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church.
ABOUT THE SELECTIONS AND WRITERS
The C Word
Written by Sarah Lina Sparks | Directed by Sally Imbriano
The C Word follows the story of five girls waiting for a job interview to become associate curator at a museum. While waiting for the interview, they're unexpectedly trapped by the hysterical oracle (Hystoracle). In order to escape, they must choose someone to sacrifice as tribute to the C-monster.
Sarah Lina Sparks (she/her) is a proud Filipina playwright and recent UCLA graduate based out of Southern California. Her writing is largely inspired by her Filipino heritage, women, and the unique experience of coming of age in the new millennium.
Live From My Dad’s Couch
Written by Gaelyn D. Smith | Directed by A. Lorraine Robinson
Live from My Dad’s Couch is part stand-up comedy, part bad shower singing, coming together in a cabaret-style performance about the failure of the promises made to Gen-Z by those who came before us, in front of a live studio audience (you). From the set (her father’s living room) Gaelyn shares semi-autobiographical, very political, funny stories and observations of what it’s like to become an adult when the world (seems) to be falling apart.
Gaelyn D. Smith is an actor, writer, director, teaching artist, and digital content creator born and raised in Washington, D.C., whose work seeks to expand possibilities and add nuance to the representation of the Black experience.
His Girl Friday
Book by Danielle Moore | Music & Lyrics by Zachary Sloan and Danielle Moore | Directed by Matt Conner
His Girl Friday is a new musical comedy based on the classic Cary Grant / Rosalind Russell film of the same title (named to AFI's list of the 100 Greatest American Comedies). The film came properly into the adaptable public domain in 2024 when its source material, The Front Page, also entered public domain. Featuring a big band score, the piece is a love letter to screwball comedies and the importance of the fourth estate in combating corruption.
Danielle E. Moore (she/her) is a writer, composer, and producer. Danielle’s work Audrey: The New Musical, was a Regional “Bold New Works” premiere at Creative Cauldron in 2023.
Policarpa: Apocalypse Sur Amerikka
Written by Diana Burbano | Directed by Elena Velasco
In Policarpa: Apocalypse Sur Amerikka an inexplicable plague infests La Gran Colombia. Ingrid Bolivar – the brilliant, mad ex-wife of Colombia's leader – is the only one who knows that the plague is carried by a young women of the streets, whom she adopts and uses as weapons against the government. Policarpa, a girl with magical gifts, is supposed to be Ingrid's secret apocalyptic weapon. But when Policarpa falls in love with a top government official, she resists becoming an instrument of destruction and instead seeks to become a savior through sacrifice.
Diana Burbano was named as part of the Los Angeles Times’ “La Vanguardia” 2022. She's a Colombian immigrant, a playwright, an Equity actor, and a teaching artist. Diana’s play Ghosts of Bogotá premiered at Alter Theatre in 2020 just before the pandemic shut down.
For more info go here.
Musical Theater Ensemble: Songs for a New World
George Mason School of Theater, deLaski Performing Arts Building, Friday, May 1, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 2, 2:00 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. Free admission / Pay what you can. Contributions at the door support School of Theater.
Written by Jason Robert Brown. Directed by Erin Gardiner. Musical Direction by Joe Walsh.
In this abstract musical experience, characters take the stage to explore “the moment of decision,” each facing a critical choice that could change their lives. This vocally demanding score ranges through musical genres from pop to gospel to jazz, examining life, love, and the decisions that shape our futures. Intensely personal and highly dramatic, this class showcase highlights the soaring vocals and riveting stage presence of our School of Theater students as they embody these characters on the brink of transformation.
For more info go here.
Anthropology
Nova Nightsky Theater, Falls Church Presbyterian Church, Memorial Hall, 225 E. Broad St.
When a grieving woman builds an AI version of her late sister, she doesn’t expect the digital twin to start keeping secrets of her own. Anthropology is a gripping, heartfelt thriller about technology, loss, and what it means to be human.
For ticket info go here.
Teen Cyrano (with Pre-Teen 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf')
Gunston Middle School, 2700 S. Lang. St., Arlington, Saturday, May 2, 7:00 p.m.
Cyrano de Bergerac, a brilliant poet and soldier, possesses enormous wit, tremendous bravery, and an unmistakable feature – a nose that could rival the mountains. Lacking confidence and good looks, Cyrano is hopelessly in love with his longtime friend and endearing companion, Roxanne. He lives vicariously through the handsome Christian as he ghostwrites poetic love letters to his beloved, signed by his own romantic rival.
Synetic Theater’s clowning, commedia-inspired adaptation of the timeless masterpiece, Cyrano de Bergerac, takes audiences on a journey through the beauty of romance, loyalty, and sacrifice, reminding us that in the end, love is the only truth that truly matters.
This production will be preceded by our Pre Teen program’s fifteen-minute performance of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, directed by Synetic Company Member Maryam Najafzada. Please note, only the April 24, 25, and 26 performances feature the Pre-Teen performance. The second weekend includes Teen Cyrano only.
For more info go here.
I & You: The Musical
Just opened! ~ Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD, Thursday, April 30, 7:30 p.m.; May 1, 7:30 p.m.; May 2, 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; May 3, 1:30 p.m. Through May 24.
A musical adaptation of the popular play that combines the emotional power of The Fault in Our Stars with the literary wit of Dead Poets Society.
It's a school assignment she doesn't want, about a poem she hasn't read, with a partner she'll never forget. Anthony (J. Antonio Rodriguez of the Hadestown National Tour) turns up in Caroline’s bedroom one night with oatmeal cookies, a beat-up book, and a presentation assignment they’re supposed to create together: explore Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself.” Chronically absent with a serious illness, Caroline (Alex De Bard from Hello, Dolly! & Disney's Frozen) hasn’t been to school in a while… and can’t even remember meeting some kid named Anthony, which dials up both her suspicions and her “snark-o-meter.” But as the two get to know each other, they finally learn of the deeper mystery that brought them together. Whitman’s powerful poetry inspires the music and lyrics by American Idol veteran Ari Afsar, which expands the magic of Lauren M. Gunderson’s remarkable story.
Co-produced with McCarter Theatre Center. Based on the book and the play by Lauren M. Gunderson. Music and Lyrics by Ari Afsar. Directed by Sarah Rasmussen. Co-produced with McCarter Theatre Center.
For ticket info go here.
AGUARDIENTE: WHERE MAGIC TRANSCENDS BORDERS
Opens Tonight! ~ GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th Street, NW, Thursday, April 30, 8:00 p.m.; Friday, May 1, 8:00 p.m. Through May 24.
Book, Direction and Choreography by Luis Salgado (Puerto Rico). Music by Daniel Gutiérrez (Colombia).
ROOTED IN RHYTHM. CHARGED WITH MAGIC.
In this vibrant musical, two New York writers from Colombia and Puerto Rico return to their roots, rediscovering their Caribbean heritage through cumbia, bomba, currulao, and the magical realism of García Márquez.
En este vibrante musical, dos escritores neoyorquinos de Colombia y Puerto Rico regresan a sus raíces para reconectarse con la riqueza de su herencia caribeña, guiados por la cumbia, la bomba, el currulao y el realismo mágico de García Márquez.
For ticket info go here.
My Fair Lady
Vienna Theatre Company, 120 Cherry St. SE, Vienna, Evenings: May 1 and 2, 7:00 p.m.; Matinee: May 3, 2:00 p.m.
Adapted from George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion. Lyric and Book: Allen Jay Lerner. Music by: Frederick Loewe.
My Fair Lady is a musical about a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, who is transformed into a lady by Professor Henry Higgins through speech and etiquette lessons as part of a bet. The plot explores themes of class, transformation, and identity, culminating in a new relationship for Eliza as she becomes too refined for her old life but too independent to be Higgins's creation.
For ticket info go here.
The Book of Mormon
Broadway at the National
Closes soon! ~ National Theater, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, April 30, 7:30 p.m. ; May 1, 7:30 p.m.; May 2, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; May 3, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Through May 3.
The New York Times calls it “the best musical of this century.” The Washington Post says, “It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals.” And Entertainment Weekly says, “Grade A: the funniest musical of all time.” Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show calls it “Genius. Brilliant. Phenomenal.” It’s THE BOOK OF MORMON, the nine-time Tony Award® winning Best Musical.
This outrageous musical comedy follows the adventures of a mismatched pair of missionaries, sent halfway across the world to spread the Good Word. With standing room only productions in London, on Broadway, and across North America, THE BOOK OF MORMON has truly become an international sensation.
Contains explicit language.
For ticket info go here.
The Minutes
D.C. Premiere! ~ Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Select Mondays and Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. Through May 3.
Playwright: Tracy Letts. Director: Susan Marie Rhea.
Night falls on Big Cherry, U.S.A. — a seemingly ordinary town with secrets festering beneath its folksy charm. As the city council meeting unfolds in real time, tensions rise, alliances shift, and a routine agenda veers into chaos. What begins as civic procedure spirals into a gripping unmasking of buried truths — and a chilling question: How far would you go to protect your version of the truth? From the razor-sharp pen of Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts (AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY), THE MINUTES is a darkly hilarious, slow-burning thriller that peels back the patriotic veneer of American identity. Part biting satire, part psychological mystery, it exposes the rot at the heart of institutional power and the stories we tell to survive it.
For ticket info go here.
1776
Ford’s Theatre, 511 Tenth Street, NW, Through May 16.
Book by Peter Stone. Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards. Directed and Choreographed by Luis Salgado.
This popular American musical is an insightful, vibrant and humorous take on our founding fathers’ determination to do the right thing for their fledgling nation. As members of the Second Continental Congress struggle to reach consensus, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson argue for independence from the British monarchy. The ensuing debates defined our country. As we explore this historical moment through the evolving identity of America today, this robust, award-winning musical boldly brings our country’s beginnings to blazing life.
Duration: Three hours including a 15-minute intermission.
Recommended ages: 13 and up.
Accessible
Audio-Described Performances : May 2, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.
ASL-Interpreted Performance : May 9 at 1:00 p.m.
For ticket info go here.
Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest
Final Show! ~ Mosaic Theatre Company, 1333 H St. NE. Sold Out for All Shows Except Last Production: Sunday, May 3, 7:30 p.m.
Book & lyrics by: psalmayene 24. Music by KOKAYI. Directed by Reginald L. Douglas. Choreographed and Associate Directed by Tony Thomas.
Presented in partnership with the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation and Washington Performing Arts.
It’s time to make some Good Trouble! In this musical, Mosaic’s Playwright-in-Residence, Psalmayene 24, honors the legendary “Conscience of Congress”: the late Congressman John Lewis.
Focusing on the Congressman’s formative years of ages 18-28, Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest reveals the humanity and heart of this mighty historic figure. The musical explores how the murder of Emmett Till motivated Lewis to pursue a life of service, including leading the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, fighting for Civil Rights with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and working for nearly two decades in Congress.
A theatrical event not to be missed, Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest is both a galvanizing call to action and an inspiring reminder that we can all make a difference, no matter our age.
“[Young John Lewis] should not be missed” ~ BroadwayWorld Atlanta
“A rousing tribute” ~ Arts ATL
For ticket info go here.
A Good Day to Me Not to You
A Waterwell Production
Closes Sunday! ~ Arena Stage, Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle, 1101 Sixth Street SW, Thursday, April 31, 8:00 p.m., May 1, 8:00 p.m., May 2, 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; May 3, 6:00 p.m. Through May 3.
By Lameece Issaq. Directed by Lee Sunday Evans.
When a midlife crisis means rooming with nuns.
Drama Desk Award-winning actor Lameece Issaq teams up with two-time Obie-winning director Lee Sunday Evans on her wildly candid new play, which centers on the chaotic life of a 40-something dental lab tech who gets fired and moves into a woman's rooming house run by nuns. While there, she must come to terms with her unfulfilled path to motherhood and the untimely death of her younger sister, all while fending off her unpredictable and sometimes deranged cohabitants. A Good Day to Me Not to You is a deeply human and comedic one-woman show that “opts for all-out vulnerability, dissecting the psyche as if the stage were an operating table” (The New York Times).
- Running Time: Approx. 85 minutes without an intermission.
- Advisories: Contains adult language and mature content.
For ticket info go here.
LOCAL FINE ARTS
See ‘250 and Counting’ at Falls Church Arts!
Christopher Jones
Loida Velilla
Slices of Life
Now Showing! Rare Bird Coffee Roasters, 230 W. Broad St. Through Aug. 2. Free.
Loida Velilla's Artist Statement:
I have been painting in a variety of mediums, including acrylics and pastels. My focus is on mutuality of colors and design - including abstracts and bold impressionism. I work to instill a feeling of personal connection with each work of art, achieving a balance of color, design, overpainted highlights and drama. My art studios are in both Falls Church, Va. and Bayamon, Puerto Rico. I have conducted an interactive workshop at the Museum of Art in Bayamon, PR.
Instagram: @Loida_Artist; email: loida.velilla@gmail.com.
For more info go here.
Spotlight on the Arts Festival ~ Opening Night & Art Contest
Closes this Sunday! ~ Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons, Va. Through May 3.
You’re invited to “Opening Night at Spotlight!”
Join us for an evening of live entertainment, cocktail/light fare, and the 3rd annual Spotlight Art Contest, sponsored by Capital One Hall!
Enjoy musical performances by:
- Cristian Perez & Munit Mesfin
- The Sweet Adelines
- Fairfax Academy for Communications and the Arts MCT Student Artist Performance
- Spotlight Scholarship Award-Winning Pianists from George Mason University
YOU can choose our Art Contest’s Community Choice Award winner!
We received nearly 400 entries for our art contest this year! At Opening Night, our finalists’ artwork will be on exhibit and for sale*, and each Opening Night attendee will receive a ballot to vote. Who will win the Community Choice Award ($500)? Vote for your favorite!!
At Opening Night, we’ll also be announcing the New York Life Grand Prize ($1500), 2nd Place ($1000) the Student Artist Award ($500) winners, selected by a juried panel.
Dress however you’re comfortable! Casual, business casual, cocktail...
TICKET sales through through April 15. $35 General Admission.
For ticket info go here.
Kevin Jones:
Reflections in Black and White
Mason Exhibitions, George Mason University School of Art, Art and Design Building, 4400 University Drive, Suite 2050, Fairfax. Gallery Reception: Friday, May 8, 6-8:00 p.m. Through June 20. Free and open to the public.
Reflections in Black and White is a collection of drawings by Kevin Jones. Jones creates large-scale, highly detailed work based on reinterpretations of masterworks in the classical canon through the lenses of science fiction, comic books, and anime. Kevin’s work searches for new truths in the re-examination of classic work. His work uses the concept of Afro-Futurism as a way of engaging with the topic of Black erasure.
For more info go here.
Within Reach: Artists & the Built Environment
Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, 3550 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Main Level. Through May 24.
Featured Artists: Gerardo Camargo, Megan Mueller, and Nicholas Wisniewski.
Within Reach focuses on the physical, financial, and emotional relationships between people and the spaces they build. The artists whose works are included in the exhibition address the architecture of urban sidewalks, the labor that goes into the construction of single family homes, and the stories embedded in blocks of 19th century rowhouses.
Often working with found materials, the three artists in Within Reach create installation, collage, and intricate drywall carvings. By working directly with the materials of our everyday infrastructure, the artists emphasize the close physical relationship humans have with these environments. First and foremost, this infrastructure has been built to house and support human life. Beyond this immediate functionality, however, it often takes on other roles, being treated as a commodity, an investment vehicle, or a marker of social or economic status. These artists invite us to think expansively about the spaces we build for ourselves, how we value them, and how they shape our lives.
Curated by Blair Murphy, Senior Curator and Director of Exhibitions.
For more info go here.
The Art of Looking: John Cohen, Tenth Street, New York City
National Gallery of Art, 4th St. & Constitution Ave. NW. Friday, May 1, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Virtual session. Registration required.
Talks & Conversations
John Cohen’s Tenth Street, New York City is the inspiration for this interactive conversation. Join us for a one-hour virtual session and share your observations, interpretations, questions, and ideas about this work of art.
These conversations will encourage you to engage deeply with art, with others, and with the world around you as you hone skills in visual literacy and perspective-taking.
The program is free, open to the public, and is designed for everyone interested in talking about art. No art or art history background is required. Ages 18 and over.
To register go here.
Finding Awe: Sir Peter Paul Rubens’ Daniel in the Lions’ Den
National Gallery of Art, West Building, Main Floor, Gallery 45, Friday, May 1, 2:15 - 4:00 p.m. Registration required.
Talks & Conversations. Part of Finding Awe.
For centuries, artists have been commissioned to tell stories of the divine — works that aim to evoke awe, reverence, or passion in the viewer. Explore Rubens’ emotion-filled narrative works and reflect on awe’s role in spiritual life.
During this 90-minute pause from your daily routine, we’ll look slowly and mindfully at Sir Peter Paul Rubens’ Daniel in the Lions’ Den. You’ll be invited to look closely, wonder, and share your insights with the group. Together, we’ll learn “awe practices” that you can bring to your everyday life.
When the workshop is full, the registration button will stop working. Due to last-minute cancellations, check back on the morning of the May 1 or May 3 workshop for available tickets. Ages 18 and up. Questions? Email us at tickets@nga.gov.
"Finding Awe" is grounded in the National Gallery’s mission to welcome all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity. It offers new “awe practices” drawn from the research of Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California-Berkeley, director of The Greater Good Science Center, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (2023). Research shows that experiences of awe help support mental and physical wellbeing and open us up to greater creativity and deeper empathy. Explore awe at the National Gallery of Art.
To register go here.
Finding Awe: Georgia O’Keeffe’s A Black Bird with Snow-Covered Red Hills
National Gallery of Art, West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G6, Saturday, May 2, 2:15 - 4:00 p.m.
Part of Finding Awe.
The closer we look at details, the more abstract and universal things can become. Journey through the eyes of Georgia O’Keeffe as she synthesizes the natural world and invites us to think about the essentials of life.
During this 90-minute pause from your daily routine, we’ll look slowly and mindfully at Georgia O’Keeffe’s A Black Bird with Snow-Covered Red Hills. You’ll be invited to look closely, wonder, and share your insights with the group. Together, we’ll learn “awe practices” that you can bring to your everyday life.
When the workshop is full, the registration button will stop working. Due to last-minute cancellations, check back on the morning of the workshop for available tickets. Ages 18 and up. Questions? Email us at tickets@nga.gov.
"Finding Awe" is grounded in the National Gallery’s mission to welcome all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity. It offers new “awe practices” drawn from the research of Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California-Berkeley, director of The Greater Good Science Center, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (2023). Research shows that experiences of awe help support mental and physical wellbeing and open us up to greater creativity and deeper empathy. Explore awe at the National Gallery of Art.
To register go here.
Artist Talk: Alec Soth
National Gallery of Art, East Building Large Auditorium, Saturday, May 2, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Registration required.
Talks & Conversations.
Enjoy a presentation by artist Alec Soth, whose photographs are on view in the exhibition Niagara Falls: Mist and Majesty. Soth worked for over two years on the American and Canadian sides of Niagara Falls using a large-format 8x10 camera, capturing newlyweds and lovers, cheap motels, and pawn shop wedding rings. His pictures are a remarkable portrayal of modern love and its aftermath.
Alec Soth
Alec Soth (born 1969, Minneapolis, MN) photographs people and landscapes of suburban and rural communities, often during road trips throughout the Midwest and the South. He received international acclaim when his photographs were featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo Biennials. He has published over 30 books including Sleeping by the Mississippi (2004); NIAGARA (2006); Broken Manual (2010); Songbook (2015); I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating (2019); A Pound of Pictures (2022); and Advice for Young Artists (2024).
To register go here.
The Collaborative | Pyramid Atlantic
Imar Lyman ~ Echo/Location: Exploring the Extra-Sensory
The Kreeger Museum, 2401 Foxhall Road, NW. Through July 11.
The Kreeger Museum and Pyramid Atlantic Art Center are pleased to present Imar Lyman ~ Echo/Location: Exploring the Extra-Sensory, a solo exhibition featuring the work of Imar Lyman, on view at The Kreeger Museum through July 11. This exhibition is presented under The Collaborative, a program developed by The Kreeger Museum to support Washington-area artists.
Echolocation is a form of biological sonic radar. Used as a tool for some animals to “see” and navigate their environments, sound waves are emitted to avoid prey and find their way in the dark.
Echo/Location showcases D.C.-based artist Imar Lyman’s [Hutchins] (b. 1970) new body of abstract work. Bringing together mixed media collage, painting, sculpture and printmaking, his artistry is in conversation with artists Sam Gilliam and Frank Stella, masterworks that have anchored The Kreeger Museum’s Contemporary Gallery since 1994 when the Museum opened to the public.
Imar Lyman’s debut exhibition at the museum utilizes “echoes” from the past to navigate the current moment and propel different points of view forward. Several pieces featured invite participation, asking the viewer to consider how the artwork is presented or to explore its form and function — things which may not always appear obvious. Constantly pushing boundaries, he also pays homage to overlooked aspects of printmaking traditions. The culmination becomes an energetic loop of color, patterns, and materiality that blend time and our place within it.
For more info go here.
Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art
National Museum of African Art, 1400 Constitution Ave. NW. Through August 23.
Curated by Kevin D. Dumouchelle and Serubiri Moses.
We are here.
Artists’ voices are central to this exhibition, which is based on years of close collaboration and dialogue with African visual art practitioners who claim belonging in the LGBTQ+ community, however they define those terms. They're united by a simple, shared declaration: We are here and always have been and will be.
The exhibition is part of a larger research initiative, the Here Project, that seeks to document these voices. The artists in the Project practice across the entirety of the African continent and its global diaspora, using their work to speak their truths. Inviting us into their worlds, they share complex stories of openly claiming their identities, their histories, and their place. While their experiences are unique to them, they address issues that unite us all: the importance of family, of spirit, of standing up for oneself and others, of imagining the future, of making intimate connections, of finding belonging, of embracing potential, and above all, of experiencing joy.
Here is based on years of close collaboration and dialogue with these artists and their communities. Through their art, they invite us into their worlds, and share complex stories of openly claiming their identities, their histories, and their place. Here is in the largest exhibition on this subject to date, with nearly 60 artworks, demonstrating how they're a part of a larger story of African art history.
They are here. All that is left is for us to hear them.
Support for Here generously provided by the Fisher Arts Impact Fund.
For more info go here.
Mary Cassatt
National Gallery of Art, 4th Street and Constitution Ave. NW, West Bldg. Main Floor, Gallery 86. Through Aug. 30.
An intimate exhibition brings together rarely-seen treasures and iconic works by Mary Cassatt, marking 100 years since her death.
Mary Cassatt’s art and life reflect an independent spirit that defied expectations for women in her time. Explore three galleries in the National Gallery’s impressionist collection to look closely at how she worked. Some 40 paintings, drawings, and prints — largely drawn from our rich holdings of her work — show an artist shaped by tradition yet radically modern.
Admission is always free and passes are not required.
For more info go here.
Material Witness
Rubell Museum Washington DC, 65 I St SW, Through Fall, 2026.
Material Witness presents 30 of today’s most compelling and innovative artists employing non-traditional materials and processes. Squid ink, Coca-Cola, ostrich eggs, anointing oil, lipstick, discarded metal, and animal hides are several of the preformed, natural, and unnatural mediums incorporated into three-dimensional works that expand upon the storied legacy of assemblage—a critical approach to artmaking that was first formalized in the 1961 exhibition The Art of Assemblage at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.With echoes of land art, Arte Povera, abject art, and readymades these artists employ industrial waste, organic detritus, and mass-produced commodities to explore formal, environmental, political, and social concerns. Found objects in various entropic states provide the backbone for many of these works, illuminating cycles of consumption, decay, and renewal.Material Witness spans 23 galleries across the museum’s three floors and presents individual artist rooms as well as group presentations connecting artists who share similar materials and motives. For many of these artists, Material Witness represents their first exhibition in our nation’s capital or at the Rubell Museum.
For more info go here.
Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms
Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Galleries 23 & 24, 1050 Independence Ave. SW, Through July 26.
The tallest mountains on earth rise from the plains of northern India in a series of steep hills, snowy peaks, and narrow valleys. From the same Himalayan region arose some of the world’s most beautiful—yet least understood—works of art.
Discover the extraordinary beauty and unique history of paintings made for Hindu kings in India’s Pahari (hill) region between the 1620s and 1830s. Pahari artists worked in radically different styles ranging from lyrical and naturalistic to boldly colored and abstracted. Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms illuminates new scholarship on the collaborative artist communities in which most painters worked. Learn about the political, cultural, and religious contexts of these forty-eight exquisite works, and look closely to enter a world of fine detail that delights and astounds.
Of the Hills celebrates the remarkable collection of Pahari paintings the museum acquired from renowned art historian Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Ralph Benkaim. Some of these artworks have never been exhibited publicly before. We’ve brought these rare pieces into conversation with our historic collections and paintings on loan from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Of the Hills is accompanied by the major publication Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories and runs concurrently with Pahari exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cincinnati Art Museum.
For more info go here.
Nick Cave: Mammoth
Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), Open Daily, 11:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Through January 3, 2027. Free Admission.
In Mammoth, Nick Cave invites visitors to walk among the fantastical remains of these ancient creatures. His new project envisions a world animated by the power of the past and the transformative possibilities of the imagination.
Nick Cave (b. 1959) is renowned internationally for his work that surreally and seductively combines sculpture, performance, and fashion. Known for the exuberant Soundsuits that he originally created in response to racialized police violence, Cave has long been interested in the intersections of history and identity. With this new body of work, his scope is both broader and more personal. Cave explores his family’s history in rural Chariton County, Missouri, his relationship with the landscape there, and the nature of his own creativity. In doing so, he invites us to consider our connections with the natural world and the everyday objects that surround us.
In Mammoth, Cave remakes the museum’s galleries into an immersive environment marked by the crafted hides and bones of mammoths, a video projection of the long-dead animals come to life, and hundreds of transformed found objects — from vintage tools to his grandmother’s thimble collection — presented like paleontological specimens on a massive light table. By showcasing the ordinary and often forgotten bits and pieces of the world we live in, Cave’s work shines light on what we value and how we make meaning together. It evokes the lives and cultures we've lost, as well as the magical possibilities of a universe created through imagination and the humblest of materials.
Focused on the fundamental connections between people and their environment, Cave asks how we can begin to make sense of our relationship with a landscape that continues to evolve. How might we adapt, persevere, even thrive? As the contemporary world increasingly challenges what it means to be human, Cave envisions a space of both grief and possibility.
For more info go here.
Janet Loren Hill | Andrew Casto
Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, 12001 Market St. #103, Reston Va. Through July 25.
The exhibition will feature recent work by artists Janet Loren Hill and Andrew Casto. Hill’s shaped paintings present surreal characters moving through complex environments, tracing various global histories of coercion, labor, and the potential for rupture.
Casto’s recent work — whose formal language is based on a material study of geological processes translated into ceramic and mixed-media vessel forms — explores the connection between “macrocosmic” environmental change and interruptions in our often routine existence.
Visually, their work plays both against and with each other: painting vs. ceramic, large vs. small scale, use of texture, the absurd and the sublime, decadent color, and sometimes unnerving forms. Contextually, they share a use of humor and absurdity, varied references to the body, and commentary on our world.
For more info go here.
Miró and the United States
The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW, Through July 5.
Special Exhibition!
At the end of his life, Joan Miró maintained, “It was really American painting that inspired me.”
Co-organized with the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona, Miró and the United States explores the vibrant exchanges between Catalan artist Joan Miró (1893-1983) and the burgeoning American art scene in a pivotal moment of 20th-century art. This little-known yet decisive period of connection between Miró and American artists — including Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Lee Krasner, Norman Lewis, Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, and Adolph Gottlieb — was influential in the development of post-war art on both sides of the Atlantic.
For Miró, the United States represented new audiences and creative freedom. He had retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1941 and 1959, and traveled to the U.S. seven times between 1947 and 1968, during which he met artists in their studios, collaborated on prints and architectural projects, and closely followed exhibitions at galleries and museums. Featuring 75 works by more than 30 artists, this exhibition reframes Miró’s legacy, revealing how his dream-like pictures evolved through artistic dialogue and experimentation with his American counterparts.
For more info go here.
Teen Portrait Competition, 2025
National Portrait Gallery, 8th and G Streets NW, Second Floor, North Galleries. Through Aug. 30.
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is proud to present the winners and finalists of the 2025 Teen Portrait Competition!
Matilda Myers of Maryland and Kate Stermer of California have been announced as winners of the 2025 Teen Portrait Competition, a triennial event inspired by the museum’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The teen competition is open to students between the ages of 13 and 17 who reside in the United States and its territories. Ten finalists were selected from the 13 to 15 age group, and nine finalists were selected from the 16 to 17 age group. The selected works showcase the next wave of contemporary portraiture by teens. Myers received the top prize from the 13–15 age group, and Stermer from the 16–17 age group. The photographs by the 19 finalists will be on view in a video presentation on the second floor of the National Portrait Gallery through August 30, 2026.
Teens were invited to submit their photographic portraits through an anonymous open call. The museum received more than 1,100 entries from students in 48 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. The photographs were reviewed by the Teen Museum Council, a group of high school students from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia who aim to learn about museum careers while building a community for teens with interactive programs and events inspired by the Portrait Gallery’s collection. The council narrowed the submissions to 40 semi-finalists. Three members of the council, joined by artist Caitlin Teal Price, who is based in Washington, D.C., and New York, juried the competition’s final round to select the exhibiting artists and name the prizewinners.
Myers’ photograph, “Rest,” compares the masculine and feminine by showing a ballerina resting with a pickaxe. Stermer’s black-and-white portrait, titled “The Cost of Conformity,” depicts a teenage girl as a puppeteer manipulating the markers of success (cars) with marionette strings. Photographs by all 19 finalists prompt conversations about identity through the eyes of teens in the United States, and they address topical issues including tradition, mental health and sibling relationships. The photographs will be on view alongside the museum’s triennial “The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today” exhibition, featuring finalists of the 2025 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition by artists 18 and older.
For more info go here.
Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean
Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Arthur Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave. SW, East Building. Through Sept. 7.
At the dawn of time, the Hindu god Vishnu slept on a coiled serpent floating in the primordial ocean. There, he dreamed the universe into existence. This magnificent story of creation comes to life through the largest bronze ever cast in Southeast Asia, now on loan to us from the National Museum of Cambodia.
For the first time in centuries, you can experience this sculpture’s full monumental scale: a breathtaking six meters long (nearly twenty feet). Only the head and torso have been displayed since 1936, when the sculpture was found buried in a pit with dozens of loose bronze fragments. A team of international experts has recently conserved and reconnected the body’s remnants after decades of scientific research.
Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean presents this monumental masterpiece of Cambodian artistry and explores its rich context. Delve into the sculpture’s original island-like temple, the deep blue waters of the surrounding reservoir, and the ancient city of Angkor. Learn about water’s cultural importance as a mirror of the ocean of creation, and admire the exceptional bronze-casting and engineering skills of artists who lived a thousand years ago.
An exclusive film brings you to the present-day reservoir and its surrounding community. Cambodian American director praCh Ly shares a day in the life of a local fisherman, a merchant, and a young Buddhist monk. Titled Awkun (meaning “thank you” in Khmer), this film draws attention to the relationships that bridge sacred and urban spaces, from past to present.
For more info go here.
Basil Kincaid: Spirit in the Gift
Rubell Museum DC, 65 i Street SW. Through Fall, 2026.
Basil Kincaid: Spirit in the Gift marks the first solo museum exhibition in Washington D.C. for Kincaid (b. 1986, St. Louis, MO). Four large-scale quilted artworks created during the artist’s residency at the Rubell Museum in Miami in 2023 will be presented in the D.C. museum’s largest gallery. Kincaid’s work pays homage to the long history of quilt-making while exploring the relationships between identity, ancestry, and place. Some themes are deeply personal and autobiographical, others are more universal, but all evoke the joy inherent in the artist’s love for and nurturing of community. The entailed and labor-intensive process of creating these monumental works is balanced by an improvisational, spontaneous, and fluid quality that runs throughout them. The result is as indebted to freehand drawing and jazz music as it is to patchwork quilt making and embroidery.
For more info go here.
Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection
National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW. Through July 26.
Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection brings together approximately 80 works by nearly 70 of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Magdalena Abakanowicz, Cecily Brown, Sheila Hicks, Jenny Holzer, Julie Mehretu, Joan Mitchell, Faith Ringgold, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sillman, Lorna Simpson, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Pat Steir, Sarah Sze, Kara Walker, and Zarina. Featuring a wide variety of artworks from the past eight decades, including painting, sculpture, installation, textile, beadwork, and ceramics, the exhibition emphasizes connections between intergenerational and international artists who circumvent and upend conventions in art-making, embracing craft techniques, inventive methods, and alternative materials.
The exhibition is organized within seven sections that illustrate key thematic threads: Gestural Abstraction, Luminous Abstraction, Pixelated Abstraction, Disobedient Bodies, Of Selves and Spirits, The Power of Form, and Craft is Art. Each section juxtaposes works by emerging artists with the pathbreaking contributions of their predecessors, demonstrating how earlier generations anticipated contemporary perspectives on representation, identity, and power. Making Their Mark envisions art history as an interconnected web of influences and affinities among artists who subvert traditional narratives and hierarchies in a historically patriarchal field.
Many of the works on view question rigid and gendered distinctions between art and craft, eroding arbitrary and increasingly obsolete categories and value systems. Making Their Mark assembles significant works by artists whose innovative explorations demonstrate expansive vocabularies of art-making, highlighting the importance of prioritizing diverse perspectives to change the way art histories are told.
For more info go here.
MPA Berlage Arts & Education Studio: Yasmine C. Iskander: Life Through the Power of Color
McLean Project for the Arts, 1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean. Through June 7. Opening Exhibition Reception: Thursday, May 14, 7:00 -9:00 p.m.
Yasmine C. Iskander Gallery / Gallery Vivienne: Yasmine C. Iskander: Life Through the Power of Color.
Guided by her passionate inner life, Yasmine Iskander (1998–2024) expressed her world in brilliantly colored abstract paintings. She built compositions by alternately veiling and revealing shapes, applying washes that soften edges and then marking the plane with geometric or biomorphic elements that assert themselves with decisive clarity.
“My art expresses my feelings about the happy moments in my life, but also about the difficult times I've had, especially my many heart and brain surgeries,” Yasmine once explained. “When I paint, I feel strong, excited, exuberant and emotions flow as colors! I feel it in my heart. The colors and shapes that guide my work pop into my head. I use a range of vibrant colors.”
Yasmine’s visual responses were shaped, in part, by her deafness — a condition that sharpened other senses and altered the way she attended to the world. She cultivated a heightened visual attentiveness: a sensitivity to rhythm in form, to the cadence of color shifts, to the spatial qualities of layered shapes. “As a Deaf artist who wears hearing aids, I know that there are many ways to communicate. Colors are the most direct and powerful,” she said.
Rather than defining her work by limitation, this aspect of her life enriched it, producing paintings that feel attuned to subtler registers of perception. Her canvases translate experience into a distinct aesthetic grammar.
For more info go here.
Best Laid Plans: Unrealized Projects from the Archives of American Art
Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery, The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, 1st floor, 8th and F Streets, NW. Through Oct. 18.
Best Laid Plans examines unrealized projects preserved in the Archives of American Art. While centered on unfinished artworks, the exhibition also brings together proposals for publications, exhibitions, and other creative initiatives that, for various reasons, were never realized. Rarely exhibited or published, these materials often survive only in archival form. By foregrounding them, the exhibition reveals an essential dimension of the Archives’ holdings and introduces little-known — or entirely unknown — projects by influential artists and thinkers.
For more info go here.
GRAB BAG
Check Out Summer Events at West Falls!
WEST FALLS KICKS OFF SPRING & SUMMER EVENT SERIES IN COMMONS PARK
Weekly programming and signature events bring live music, fitness and community gatherings to Falls Church
- Dates: Every Friday starting Friday, April 17
- Time: 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
- Location: Commons Park
- Cost: FREE
- Details: Kick off the weekend with live outdoor performances by local and regional musicians. This weekly series brings a rotating lineup of talent to Commons Park, including local musicians James Stevens, Laura Farrell and many more!
- Dates: Every Thursday starting May 7 through June 11
- Time: 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
- Location: Commons Park
- Cost: FREE
- Details: Put your knowledge to the test every Thursday night at our weekly trivia tournament. Bring your crew, pick up dinner from one of our restaurants, and go head-to-head for weekly prizes and ultimate bragging rights.
- Dates: Every second Saturday starting May 9
- Time: 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
- Location: Commons Park
- Cost: $10
- Details: Start your weekend on a high note with an energizing outdoor class led by Barre3, with an all-levels workout that combines strength, cardio, and balance for a feel-good start to the day. Come with a mat and water, bring a friend, and make a morning of it by exploring local shops or grabbing brunch!
WHERE: Commons Park at West Falls, 201 W. Falls Station Blvd.
Last Chance to Chill Out with Alpacas!
Alpaca Happy Hour at Peruvian Brothers
Last Chance! ~ Peruvian Brothers, 1450 South Eads Street, April 30, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Come for the Alpacas, stay for the specials!
Peruvian Brothers is hosting happy hours in April with a few special guests. Friendly and fluffy mini alpacas will be on site between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. every Thursday in April. Come visit with these sweet and curious creatures and grab some delicious food and drinks from your favorite neighborhood Peruvian spot.
For more info go here.
Try a Poetry Reading & Workshop!
Poetry Reading & Workshop with Jennifer Kronovet
Mary Riley Styles Public Library, 120 N. Virginia Ave., Main Level Conference Room, Saturday, May 2, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Adults: 18+.
Registration is required for this event and it will close May 2, at 2:00 p.m.
Arlington Poet Laureate Jennifer Kronovet will share a selection of new work and lead a generative writing workshop designed for writers and non-writers alike!
After listening to poems, participants will write their own through an exploratory, low-pressure exercise. Come if you’re a seasoned writer or newly poetry-curious. All are welcome. If you can, please bring a notebook.
This event is co-hosted with Bards Alley Bookshop. Copies of the author's books will be available for sale at the program or you can reserve copies by calling Bards Alley at 571-459-2653.
About the Presenter
Jennifer Kronovet is the author of two poetry collections: The Wug Test (Ecco Press), which was selected for the National Poetry Series in the US, and Awayward (BOA Editions). Using the name Jennifer Stern, she co-translated Empty Chairs (Graywolf Press), the poetry of Chinese writer Liu Xia. She also co-translated The Acrobat, selected poems of experimental Yiddish writer Celia Dropkin. She edits Circumference Books, a new press for poetry in translation that she co-founded. She currently serves as the Poet Laureate of Arlington County in Virginia.
Jennifer Kronovet is a teacher at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, and has taught at Washington University in St. Louis, Columbia University, Beijing Normal University, Brooklyn College, and LaGuardia Community College. A New Yorker, she has also lived in Curaçao, Guangzhou and Beijing in China, and Berlin, Germany.
For info call (703) 248-5030 or contact: Paula Hawkins at phawkins@fallschurchva.gov, or phone (703) 248-5368.
Ready to Plunge into 3D Printing &/or Robotics?
Tour NOVA Labs ~ The Ultimate Workspace
NOVA Labs, 3850 Jermantown Rd., Fairfax. Saturday, May 2, 10:00 to 4:00 p.m. Show all dates. Free.
Step inside one of Northern Virginia’s most innovative creative hubs for a FREE guided tour of NOVA Labs. This immersive experience highlights the intersection of art, engineering, and entrepreneurship, where imagination becomes invention.
Participants will explore hands-on spaces dedicated to 3-D printing, robotics, CNC carving, digital fabrication, laser art, LED sculpture, woodworking, blacksmithing, glass making, and more. The tour offers a behind-the-scenes look at how makers, technologists, and artists collaborate to prototype ideas, build businesses, and spark community-driven innovation.
As part of Illumination 250, this event celebrates discovery in action, shining a light on the tools and technologies that empower creativity and expand what’s possible.
This is a 2026 Spotlight on the Arts Festival event.
For more info go here.
Try a Free Watercolor Workshop!
Free Art Workshop ~ Watercolors with Amanda Fletchersmith
Stacy C. Sherwood Center, 3740 Blenheim Blvd., Fairfax, Art Room, Saturday, May 2, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Registration is required - spots are limited!
Learn line and wash planning and techniques with Amanda Fletchersmith. In this workshop you will sketch your design from a reference object or from your imagination and then layer ink and watercolor to create your final image.
Supply list:
- Micron pens
- Watercolors
- Watercolor paper
- Masking tape
- Paint brushes
- Pencils
- Eraser
This is a 2026 Spotlight on the Arts Festival event.
Register for Art Workshop. For more info go here.
Try a Virtual Book Talk from the Library of Congress!
Made at the Library: Brooke Newman, The Crown’s Silence: The Hidden History of the British Monarchy
Virtual (online only), Monday, May 4, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. More information at zoomgov.com.
Part of Afternoons With the Library; Made at the Library.
Historian Brooke Newman of Virginia Commonwealth University will discuss her book, "The Crown’s Silence: The Hidden History of the British Monarchy and Slavery in the Americas," with Manuscript Division historian Julie Miller. Dr. Miller is the curator of the Library's ongoing exhibition, "The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution." Dr. Newman will describe her research for the book, and discuss her contribution as an advisor to "The Two Georges.”
Made at the Library is an event series highlighting works inspired by and emerging from research at the Library of Congress. Featuring authors, artists, and other creators in conversation with Library experts, this series takes a deep dive into the process of working with the Library’s collections.
To register go here.
Clear the Way! It's the Annual Running of the Chihuahuas!
The Wharf DC, District Pier, Saturday, May 2, Races Begin: 2:00 p.m. Events last until 5:00 p.m. Free.
Celebrate the 14th Annual Running of the Chihuahuas presented by Pacifico and emceed by Tommy McFly. The fun-filled and free event features the iconic Chihuahua races, a Pacifico Beer Garden, a DJ, and a giant inflatable Chihuahua for photo opportunities. Stop by the Tito's Chihuahua Lounge on Transit Pier for a cocktail made with Vodka for Dog People.
The highlight of the afternoon, the races feature over 150 Chihuahuas racing in groups of eight on a sixty foot racetrack. All the action is captured on a huge video screen and the winners take home pet-friendly gifts, prizes, and more! All race proceeds benefit Rural Dog Rescue – a non-profit organization dedicated to pulling dogs from high-kill rural shelters.
District Pier
2:00-5:00 p.m. — Pacifico Beer Garden, a DJ, and a giant inflatable Chihuahua for photo opportunities on District Pier.
2:00 p.m. — Chihuahua races begin, and continue throughout the event.
2:30 p.m. — Adoptable Pet Parade with Rural Dog Rescue.
3:15 p.m. — Dog Costume Contest (All breeds welcome).
4:00 p.m. — Cinco Says Challenge.
4:30 p.m. — Check Presentation and Final Chihuahua Race.
Transit Pier
1:00-1:45 p.m. — Racer Check-In on Transit Pier.
2:00-5:00 p.m. — Tito's Watch Zone with drinks and additional big-screen race viewing.
For more info go here.
Kids, Shall We Plunge?
WATER WE WAITING FOR?!
Potomac Overlook Regional Park, Nature Center, 2845 N. Marcey Road, Arlington. Next date: May 2, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Registration required.
Love everything aquatic and want to get wet?! In this program, participants will take part in all sorts of water-themed activities. With a NOVA Parks Naturalist, find amphibians in the frog pond, meet an aquatic turtle and watch them eat, go netting for eels at the stream, and race your own “pirate boats”!
- Program Fee: $12 per participant for ages 7 and up.
- Participants: Children must be accompanied by an adult. Any attendee over 7 (to include adults) is considered a participant.
- Registration: Registration closes the day prior to the program. All participants must register in advance.
- Please wear water shoes or shoes that can get wet. A change of shoes is recommended.
- Meet at the Nature Center.
For more info go here.
Wanna Hit the Beach… Volleyball?
Club Volo Friday Beach Volleyball
National Landing, Club Volo 223 23 Street South, Fridays, through June 5, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Get ready for the weekend with our Friday 4v4 Volleyball league at Club Volo National Landing!
*Captains, win your league and nominate your best player to represent you in our Spring Volleyball All Star Game at Club Volo*
Beach Volleyball (4v4)
- 4 players max on the court, 3 men max
- Minimum 2 players to start, at least 1 woman
- Games will be played with rally scoring, best of 3 (21-21-15)
- No gender rule for hits per side
To register go here.
Compiled by Christopher Jones
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