Weekend Buzz: Dec. 31, 2025

Ready to celebrate New Year's? Here are numerous local indoor and outdoor options for you. We also feature new listings in local film, theater, visual arts, dance, and museums (musea?). And, a Joyous 2026 to you!

Celebrate New Year's!

Enjoy Watch Night in the City of Falls Church!

Tonight! ~ 100 Block, East Broad St., Dec. 31, 7:00 p.m. to midnight. Free.

Celebrate WATCH NIGHT Falls Church, Dec. 31, 2025, with changes – but, still all free!

New Year’s Eve Big Night in the City of Falls Church is held downtown on the 100 block of East Broad Street. The event is free and can be found easily near the intersection of Routes 7 & 29 and be enjoyed by people of all ages. Venues are primarily inside.

Early bonus – Enjoy a free special guided tour of the Historic Falls Church Episcopal (circa 1769) from 5:00 p.m. to 8;00 p.m. Special docents will lead tours of this iconic church. See the place where the Declaration of Independence, was read aloud to the citizens of Falls Church. Where George Washington and George Mason were active parishioners and served on the Church Vestry.

Restaurants in Area: Ireland's Four Provinces – Dogwood Tavern – the State Theatre – Thompson’s Italian – Clare and Don's Beach Shack

LIVE MUSIC on Multiple Stages!

The Historic Falls Church (115 E. Fairfax Street)

Historic 1769 Falls Church tours: 5 – 8:00 p.m.

Nineties to Current Rock: 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Randy Barrett & The Big Howdy (American Roots): 9:00 pm – 11:00 p.m.

The Falls Church Presbyterian Church (225 East Broad Street)

Concert for Kids, 20Kv: 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Northern Lights Dance Orchestra: 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Fairy Jennabelle Children’s Show: 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Performance by Local Singer Gabe Nassar: 9:15 p.m.

For more info go here. 

New Year’s Celebration with Twinbrooks at Claire & Don’s Beach Shack

Clare & Don's Beach Shack, 130 N. Washington St., Dec. 31, 9:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

🎉 Ring in the New Year at Clare & Don’s Beach Shack! 🎉

Join us for an unforgettable New Year’s Eve celebration featuring live music by the incredible TWINBROOKS! Get ready to dance, sing, and party your way into 2026 with great vibes, great people, and great tunes.

✨ Highlights:

• Live performance by TWINBROOKS
•  Champagne toast at midnight
•  One drink ticket
•  A festive, high-energy party atmosphere

Grab your friends and come celebrate the biggest night of the year with us ~ Let’s welcome the New Year together in style!

For tickets go here. 

New Year’s Eve at Solace Outpost

Tonight! ~ Solace Outpost, 444 West Broad Street, Dec. 31, 9:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. No cover, no tickets.

At 9:00 p.m., DJ 360 will start the countdown to 2026!

For more info go here. 

New Year's New Laughs Comedy Jam

DC Comedy Clubhouse, 2013 14th Street NW, Friday, Jan. 2. Doors open: 8:00 p.m. Show starts: 9:00 p.m.

By AmericaLaughAgain.

Kick off the new year with big laughs! Top comics, fresh jokes, good vibes — New Year's New Laughs Comedy Jam brings the funny.

🎉 Get ready for a high-energy comedy experience at the New Years New Laughs Comedy Jam, hosted by Chris Harrison, at the DC Comedy Clubhouse — the hottest comedy club in DC. Three nights of non-stop laughter, December 1, 2 & 3, this must-see event features national touring and headlining comedians, plus special guest performers bringing nonstop laughs.

🥳 Enjoy a full night out with hookah, food, and drinks available, plus DJ music and an after-party vibe to keep the energy going after the show. Doors open at 8:00 p.m., and the show starts at 9:00 p.m., so come early and get comfortable for an unforgettable night of comedy, culture, and celebration.

For questions and inquiries please contact 571-244-0175. The DC Comedy Clubhouse provides a safe environment for all laughers, we take pride in creating a relaxing and comfortable experience for our guests.

For more info go here.

Have You Resolved to Get Outdoors More in 2026?

Go with the Flow at Great Falls Park

Great Falls Park, LOCATION: LAT/LONG: 38.995941, -77.253351. Thursday, Jan. 1. For children ages 6-10 and adults. Free. Reservation required.

Explore the importance of water with this guided hike along the Potomac River which will last 30 to 35 mins. Learn about the journey water takes to allow us to cook, clean, and maintain our health and how you can help keep our water sources healthy. Intended for children 6-10, but all ages are welcome to join! 

This hike will start at 9:00 a.m. at Overlook 2 and will take place on North River Trail which is fairly flat and would be sustainable for devices with wheels. The program does take place outdoors, so please come prepared for the weather.

We ask that you RSVP by sending an email to GWMP_VSnorth@nps.gov with First Day Hike in the subject line, and group size in the body of the email. We hope to see you in the New Year! 

The Road Less Traveled at Great Falls Park

Great Falls Park, LOCATION: LAT/LONG: 38.993456, -77.254624, Thursday, Jan. 1, 1:00 p.m., Free. Registration required.

Meet at the parking lot immediately after the fee booth at 1:00 p.m. Duration: 30 minutes.

Join a ranger for a family-friendly, wheels-accessible hike covering the history of Old Carriage Road. In this half-mile round trip, learn about how this popular path used to be a vital roadway from the Canal Era into the 20th century. Meet at the lower parking lot.  

This hike will start at 1:00 p.m. at the parking lot immediately after the fee booth and will take place on Old Carriage Road. The program does take place outdoors, so please come prepared for the weather.

We ask that you RSVP by sending an email to GWMP_VSnorth@nps.gov with First Day Hike in the subject line. Please include the size of your group in your email! We hope to see you in the New Year! 

LOCAL FILM

In Honor of Black Excellence; Speaking in Tongues 

National Gallery of Art, East Bldg. Auditorium, Jan. 3, 2:oo p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Registration required.

Part of Film Legacies of the Black Arts Movement.

A program of four shorts made by artists influenced by and with a strong connection to the spirit and times of the Black Arts Movement, followed by a screening of Speaking in Tongues by Doug Harris.

Program:

Julie Dash’s Four Women eruditely pairs the title by Nina Simone with film of dancer Linda Martina Young as she embodies characters from the song, using gesture and movement to trace gender stereotypes and identities. (Julie Dash, 1975, 8 minutes);

Water Ritual 1: An Urban Rite of Purification, an excerpt of which is installed in the exhibition, was made in collaboration with performer Yolanda Vidato and examines Black women’s ongoing struggle for spiritual and psychological space through improvisational, symbolic acts. (Barbara McCullough, 1979, 6 minutes);

Air Propo, video documentation of a performance by Senga Nengudi and Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris at Just Above Midtown in 1981, thanks to a generous loan by the Museum of Modern Art;

The First World Festival of Negro Arts the official documentary of the festival held in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966. Over 2,000 writers, artists, and performers from Africa and the African Diaspora participated in the event. The film features Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Alvin Ailey, Aimé Césaire, Leopold Senghor, and many other artists, performers, and dignitaries from 30 countries. (William Greaves, 1966, 40 minutes);

Followed immediately by Doug Harris's 1982 avant-garde jazz film Speaking in Tongues. The film was funded by German Public Television and broadcast throughout Europe when it was first released. The now rarely seen work features saxophonist David Murray, percussionist Milford Graves, and poet-playwright and novelist Amiri Baraka, and serves as a tribute to Albert Ayler, a tenor saxophonist and leader in the free-style jazz movement before his mysterious death in 1970. (Doug Harris, 1982, analogue video to digital, 75 minutes).

Programmed in conjunction with the exhibition Photography and the Black Arts Movement: 1955-1985, open from September 21, 2025 to January 11, 2026.

With thanks to independent curator, writer, lecturer, and translator Greg De Cuir Jr.

To register go here. 

still/here; Rough and Unequal

National Gallery of Art, East Bldg. Auditorium, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Registration required.

Part of Film Legacies of the Black Arts Movement.

Join artists Kevin Jerome Everson (University of Virginia) and Christopher Harris (Princeton University) for a post-screening discussion with guest curator Greg De Cuir, Jr. about the influence of the Black Arts Movement on their filmmaking.

still/here is a meditation on the vast landscape of ruins and vacant lots that constitute the north side of St. Louis, an area populated almost exclusively by working class and working poor African Americans. Though it constructs a documentary record of blight and decay, still/here is a refusal of closure that dwells within the space of rupture and confronts the presence of a profound absence. (Christopher Harris, 2000, 16mm, 60 minutes).

Preceded by a presentation of Rough and Unequal, Kevin Jerome Everson’s two-screen 16mm film installation in which he explores the moon's waxing and waning. The work explores some of installation art's most compelling paradoxes: its ephemerality within concreteness and how spectators participate in its experiential and abstract dimensions. (Kevin Jerom Everson, 2017, 16mm, 12 minutes).

Programmed in conjunction with the exhibition Photography and the Black Arts Movement: 1955-1985, open from September 21, 2025 to January 11, 2026.

To register go here. 

LOCAL THEATER

Antony & Cleopatra

at the Shakespeare Theatre

Get Your Tickets Now! ~ Synetic Theater at Klein Theatre, 450 7th Street NW. Jan. 9 through Jan. 25.

Presented by Synetic Theater.

D.C.’s premiere physical theatre ensemble returns triumphantly to the Shakespeare Theatre with its epic wordless adaptation of Antony & Cleopatra. Featuring the unparalleled skills of the Synetic ensemble, this passionate love story is a collision of empires, as the ascension and assassination of Julius Caesar gives way to the sweeping love story of the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, and Caesar’s mighty captain, Antony. Vato Tsikurishvili and Irina Kavsadze star as the pair whose love shakes the foundations of empires.

When it first premiered in 2010, The Washington Post said “With its spectacular rendition… Synetic Theater unquestionably ascends to the first rank of Washington ensembles.” See for yourself Synetic’s stunning synthesis of original music, precision movement, wild acrobatics, and Georgian sword dancing – bringing to life one of the Bard’s most epic tales.

For ticket info go here. 

Guys and Dolls

Final Weekend! ~ Shakespeare Theatre Company, Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW. Through Jan. 4.

Based on a Story and Characters of Damon Runyon. Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser. Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Choreographed by Joshua Bergasse. Directed by Francesca Zambello.

The oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York just got busted and Nathan Detroit needs cold hard cash to get it up and running again. Enter high-roller Sky Masterson, who Nathan wagers can’t get a date with the straight- laced Sarah Brown, a Save-A-Soul missionary trying to rescue them all from sin.

Directed by Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse (Smash, Bull Durham), dance the night away to “Luck Be a Lady,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” “A Bushel and a Peck,” and more classic tunes in the must-see show of the holiday season.

Runtime: Approximately two hours and 30 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.

THIS WEEK ONLY, no fees for any performance of Guys and Dolls with code THANKS. *Enter code prior to selecting your seats. Code THANKS subject to availability. Cannot be combined with other offers or applied to previously purchased tickets. Valid on all seats and performances on sale now, and 3- and 4-Play Packages. Limit 4. Offer expires Sunday, NOV. 30 at 11:59 p.m. Note: The Box Office will be closed NOV. 27–28. Order online to guarantee your seats.

For ticket info and showtimes go here. 

Sylvia

Nova Nightsky Theatre, Falls Church Presbyterian Church, Memorial Hall, 225 E. Broad St. Through Feb. 6.

When Greg brings home a stray dog named Sylvia, his marriage takes an unexpected turn. A witty, heartwarming comedy about love, loyalty, and the messy joy of rediscovering connection — in marriage and in life.

For ticket info go here. 

A Christmas Carol

Last Show Tonight! ~ Ford’s Theatre, 511 Tenth Street, NW. Through Dec. 31.

Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Originally conceived by Michael Baron, this music-infused production captures the magic and joy of Dickens’s Yuletide classic, with familiar characters, ghosts and a children’s ensemble in the spirit of the holidays. Acclaimed actor Craig Wallace returns to play Ebenezer Scrooge in Ford’s annual tradition heralded as a “rich visual and vocal treat” (TheaterMania) and “infectiously jolly” (The Washington Post).

Duration: two hours including one intermission. Recommended for ages 5 and older.

For ticket info go here. 

Fiddler on the Roof

Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Through Jan. 26.

The iconic musical gorgeously staged in-the-round in Signature’s intimate setting and directed by Joe Calarco (Jesus Christ Superstar, Gypsy).

Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman, his family and their tight-knit community honor tradition but must contend with a changing world and a rise in antisemitism at their home in Czarist Russia.  

The glorious score with songs “Sunrise, Sunset,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” and “Matchmaker,” unite with exquisite dance in this classic of the musical theater canon filled with humor, heart – and life.

“One of the most glowing creations in the history of musical theater” ~ The New York Times

• Running time: approximately 2 hours, 50 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.
• Show will use flashing lighting effects, loud noises and theatrical haze.
• Show explores social and political issues including religious intolerance/threats, and has one scene depicting antisemitic violence.
• Recommended for ages 13+. Signature does not admit anyone under 6.

For more info go here. 

Hello, Dolly!

Final Weekend! ~ Olney Theater, Roberts Main Stage, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. Through Jan. 4.

"Some people paint, some sew ... I meddle!"

Dolly Gallagher Levi is a woman on the make. And what’s she making? Whatever you need. A husband? A wife? Dance lessons? Pierced ears? There’s never been a more indefatigable figure in American musical theatre, and perhaps that’s why the role has served as a vehicle for some of our greatest stars, from Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey, to Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler.

Now, the DMV’s reigning musical superstar, Nova Y. Payton (World Goes 'Round), takes on the title role of a musical that churns out laughs, songs, and over-the-top antics as fast as humanly possible… and then goes a little faster. Audiences of all ages are guaranteed a great time at this classic musical about love, second chances, and the magic of an adventure to the big city! 

Tickets: $42 - $133 (service fees inclusive).

Age Guidance: If this were a film, it would be rated PG.

For ticket info go here. 

LOCAL VISUAL ARTS

Kinship

Final Weekend! ~ Falls Church Arts, 700-B West Broad St. Through Jan. 4.

Check out Falls Church Arts's new all-media show, "Kinship," featuring "works that reference the bonds between or among communities, families, cultures, or other groups."

Juror: Glen Kessler

Location: Falls Church Arts Gallery and online.

Art Together

at Idylwood Studios

Idylwood Studios, 7617 Idylwood Rd.

One of Idylwood Studios’ goals in the New Year is to build community and one way we are doing that is by offering time together as a community at no cost. Come by — bring your current project or use our supplies to make something new. We would love to see you!

For more info go here. 

Wild Spaces by Lisa Green

Rare Bird Coffee Roasters, 230 W. Broad St. Free and open to the public. Through Jan. 11.

Local landscape artist Lisa Green will present her new solo exhibition, Wild Spaces, at Rare Bird Coffee Roasters in Falls Church from October 13 through Jan. 11.

Wild Spaces invites visitors to step away from the daily rush and reconnect with the rhythms of the natural world. Through her paintings, Green explores meadows, mountains, and coastlines where shifting light, rich textures, and open space create a sense of presence and wonder.

“Noticing wild spaces, whether they’re vast landscapes or a patch of meadow by the roadside, is essential to my everyday life,” says Green. “When we pay attention to the beauty around us, we build a sense of connection and responsibility. I hope these paintings encourage people to see and value the natural world so that it can be protected and enjoyed by others for years to come.”

The collection includes a range of colorful oil paintings and black and white ink wash paintings, from intimate 8x10 pieces to larger works up to 36x36 inches. All pieces are available for purchase through Green’s website, with QR codes onsite linking directly to the online shop.

Lisa Green is a Herndon–based artist whose work reflects her deep connection to the landscape. Her paintings are collected nationwide and recognized for their luminous color and sense of place.

The exhibition is free and open to the public during Rare Bird’s regular business hours.

For more info go to: www.lisagreenfineart.com.

Big Things for Big Rooms

Just Opened! ~ Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Dec. 20 - July 4, 2027.

Big Things for Big Rooms traces the development of immersive, large-scale artworks since the late 1960s. This presentation of 10 artworks — five on view for the first time at the Museum — is drawn largely from the Hirshhorn’s own collection. Organized in two parts, the exhibition offers a multi-sensorial investigation of how artists create installation works that expand the boundaries of an artwork and the role of the visitor. The first part introduces the development of “Environments,” expansive installations by pioneering artists such as Dan Flavin, Sam Gilliam, Robert Irwin (whose work defined the Light and Space movement), Lygia Pape, and Land artist Richard Long. The second half demonstrates how contemporary artists such as Paul Chan, Olafur Eliasson, Spencer Finch, Rashid Johnson, and Mika Rottenberg are expanding upon these foundational ideas in different ways, often using everyday materials. 

Organized by the Hirshhorn’s head curator, Evelyn C. Hankins, with the support of curatorial assistant CJ Greenhill Caldera.

For more info go here. 

A Bigger Piece

Renwick (SAAM), 1661 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Acquired for the permanent collection.

A Bigger Piece is from a series of still life paintings Joey Terrill began in 1997, the year he first tested "undetectable" for HIV thanks to new antiretroviral drugs. Looking for a way to express his complicated feelings about surviving into "the age of the AIDS cocktail" – when so many of his friends had not – Terrill found inspiration in the pop-art still lifes of Tom Wesselmann, paintings he felt both celebrate and critique American consumer culture.

Terrill seeks to "Mexicanize and queer-ize" the still-life format. His multilayered paintings include references to the artist's Chicano and gay identities: name-brand HIV medications always appear alongside food and other products arranged on a serape, or Mexican striped blanket.

The objects in A Bigger Piece form a word – can you make out the message encoded by the artist?

Answer: The word is “LOVE.” 

For more info go here. 

Holiday Sparkle Art Show

Last Weekend! ~ Reston Art Gallery, Open: Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5:00 p.m. Through Jan. 4.

For more info go here. 

Portrait of a Nation: 2025 Honorees

National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F Streets NW, First Floor, North Corridor, Through Nov. 8, 2026.

Established in 2015, the Portrait of a Nation Awards honor extraordinary individuals who have made transformative contributions to the United States and its people. This exhibition highlights the most recent recipients: Jamie Dimon, business leader, by photographer Jason Alden; Temple Grandin, distinguished professor, inventor and groundbreaking researcher of animal science, by artist David Lenz; Joy Harjo, internationally renowned poet, performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and 23rd U.S. poet laureate, by artist Joel Daniel Phillips; and Steven Spielberg, Academy Award-winning director, producer and writer, by artist Kate Capshaw.

“Portrait of a Nation: 2025 Honorees” is curated by Rhea L. Combs, director of curatorial affairs, and has been made possible through the Portrait of a Nation Gala Endowment.

For more info go here. 

Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass

National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center, National Mall, Fourth & Independence Ave. SW. Open Daily: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (except Dec. 25). Through May 29.

Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass explores glass art as a medium for Indigenous stories, designs, and contemporary issues. The exhibition traces 45 years of Native glass art and showcases approximately 120 artworks by 29 Indigenous artists. Also featured are works by Dale Chihuly, who established the first glass program at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, and collaborations between Native glass workers, Yolŋu (Aboriginal Australian) artists, and Māori artists. 

Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass was originated by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it was curated by Dr. Letitia Chambers and Cathy Short (Potawatomi). The traveling exhibit was curated by Dr. Chambers and is toured by International Arts & Artists.

For more info go here. 

Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750

National Museum of Women in the Arts, Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Last entry time is 4:30 p.m. Through Jan. 11.

Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750 showcases a broad range of work by more than forty Dutch and Flemish women artists, including Gesina ter Borch, Maria Faydherbe, Anna Maria de Koker, Judith Leyster, Magdalena van de Passe, Clara Peeters, Rachel Ruysch, Maria Tassaert, Jeanne Vergouwen, Michaelina Wautier, and more.

Presenting an array of paintings, lace, prints, paper cuttings, embroidery, and sculpture, this exhibition draws on recent scholarship to demonstrate that a full view of women’s contributions to the artistic economy is essential to understanding Dutch and Flemish visual culture of the period.

Women were involved in virtually every aspect of artistic production in the Low Countries during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. During this period, colonial exploitation and the international slave trade enriched Europe’s upper and middle classes, fueling demand for art and other luxuries. From celebrated painters who excelled in a male-dominated field to unsung women who toiled making some of the most expensive lace of the day, to wealthy patrons who shaped collecting practices, women created the very fabric of the visual culture of the era. Within a thematic presentation that considers the intertwined influences of status, family, and social expectations on a woman’s training and career choices, this exhibition demonstrates the many ways in which women of all classes contributed to the booming artistic economy of the day.

Whether their work was circulated within aristocratic social circles, sold on the open market, or commissioned by patrons, women shaped and molded the world around them from Antwerp to Amsterdam.

For more info go here.

The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

National Gallery of Art, East Building Concourse, 4th & Constitution Ave. NW. Through March 1, 2026. Admission free. Passes not required.

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art — the largest ever shown in North America.

Australian Indigenous art is a visual thread connecting more than 250 nations across 65,000 years. Explore its breadth and brilliance through nearly 200 works from the late 1800s to today.  

You’ll find ochre paintings made on bark, maps of the Central and Western deserts (so-called “dot paintings”), groundbreaking works in neon, video, and photography, and more. And you’ll meet iconic artists who maintain and reinvigorate Ancestral traditions — revealing the rich, living history of creativity behind the world’s longest continuous culture.  

Drawn exclusively from the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, The Stars We Do Not See features many masterpieces that have never left Australia — until now. We’re honored to debut this landmark North American tour. 

Introductory Tour:

Join us for an introduction to the exhibition The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art, featuring works of modern and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Explore a range of works, from ochre bark paintings and experimental weavings to immersive sound and video art, that reveal a rich history of creativity.

Meet at the East Building Information Desk. 

This tour will be given on December 6, and December 12, 2025, and January 10, January 23, February 7, and February 13, 2026.

For more info go here. 

The Mirage of Ancient Egypt: Exploring Ancient Egypt’s Legacy in Popular Culture

Mason Exhibitions, Fenwick Gallery, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax. Runs: Dec. 5 - Feb. 13, 2026.

Ancient Egypt fascinates us, yet most knowledge of this remarkable society is based on a fiction built upon Orientalism: a lens through which Western colonial powers judge Eastern cultures. These ideas harm modern Egyptians, whose history is no longer their own but a creation of the modern misunderstandings of the West.

This exhibit discusses this false view through three connecting themes. Consuming Ancient Egypt demonstrates how modern media and consumer culture intentionally exploits Ancient Egypt to create marketable products. Unwrapping Spirituality reveals how the West reimagines Ancient Egyptian spirituality to explore their own ideas of life, death, and the unknown. Undressing Orientalist Fantasies examines the over-sexualization of Ancient Egyptians in a variety of media. With this foundation, The Mirage of Ancient Egypt provides an opportunity to reflect on how society has shaped today’s interpretation of Ancient Egypt.

For more info go here. 

Joey Enríquez: as i look towards what could have been mine

Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, 3350 Wilson Blvd, Arlington. Through Jan. 25.

as i look towards what could have been mine is Joey Enríquez’s elegiac ode to the desert of the American Southwest, a place synonymous with the artist’s personal ethnography, familial ancestry, and, for the artist, a place where their soul is at rest. Taking viewers to the edge of ruins, both metaphorical and literal, Enríquez alludes to the deserts’ innate expansiveness through poetic prose, printmaking, sculpture, and found object installations.

Enríquez’s abstracted desert revels in paradox. Here, the desert is presented as both unforgiving and romantic: a place of last resorts, desolation, and death; but also a place lush with awe-inspiring grace and tranquility. Contrasting the remains of a ruined adobe structure with a broken stained glass window that looks out onto the vastness of an open pit mine, Enríquez places sun-bleached fragments of prose declarations atop hand-printed landscape vistas. These writings — all original and often confessional — allude to love, fear, and memories of the desert from the artist’s childhood. In its construction and tone, as i look towards what could have been mine aspires to the scale and reverence of a cathedral: monumental and imposing, yet intimate.

The desert reminds us of our mortality and of our place within the vastness of the universe. In as i look towards what could have been mine, the desert is at once a place of despair and a site of communion: with ourselves, with nature, and with love.

Joey Enríquez (born Simi Valley, CA, 1997), is an artist, designer, educator, and geographer in the Washington, D.C. area who uses image-making, sculpture, and community engagement as a practice of remembrance and critical fabulation. They focus on politics of land, body, and occupation in their work, and their practice is informed by archival research and reclamation of their own Nde (Apache) indigeneity. Enríquez earned their B.A. in Design from California Lutheran University (2018) and their M.F.A. in Fine Arts at George Washington University (2020). They’ve been awarded fellowships and residencies at Hamiltonian Artists in Washington, D.C. (2020–22), The Studios at MASS MoCA (2021), and MoCA Arlington (2022–present). Their artwork has been shown at The Kreeger Museum, Hamiltonian Artists, and Culture House in Washington, D.C.; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Arlington, VA; and Edge on the Square in San Francisco, CA. Enríquez’s practice has extended beyond their artwork into project support and graphic design for the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at GW as well as for the artist collective Related Tactics (Michele Carlson and Weston Teruya). Recently, after entering the field of geography, Enríquez was part of a team of geographers working with The Nature Conservancy (Maryland/DC chapter) towards completing a report to be presented to legislators and stakeholders titled “SEAFARE (Supporting Equitable Access to Funding for Adaptation Resources)” at the 2024 National Adaptation Forum in Saint Paul, MN. Enríquez has taught at the Corcoran at GW, American University, and George Mason University as an adjunct for the past four years. In their spare time, they’re an avid runner and motorcyclist.

For more info go here. 

Water's Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe

Closes Tomorrow! ~ National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth & Independence Ave. SW. Open daily, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (except Dec. 25.) Through Jan. 1.

Water’s Edge is the first major retrospective of the acclaimed Ho-Chunk artist. Lowe’s elegant, minimalist sculptures made of willow branches, feathers, and other organic materials evoke the rivers, streams, and waterfalls of the Wisconsin woodlands where he was raised and the canoes used to traverse them. His sculptures and sensitively rendered pastel and charcoal drawings reflect on cultural traditions, memory, and human relationships to place. Water’s Edge features 50 of Lowe’s sculptures, drawings, and paintings that explore the evolution of and themes within the artist’s work throughout his career. The exhibition brings to light rarely seen monumental works, significant pieces from public and private collections, including 28 from the National Museum of the American Indian’s collection. A companion catalogue offers a range of new perspectives, chronicling the artist’s life and development of his work with scholarly essays and reflections by artists whose work has been impacted by Lowe.

For more info go here.

Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 8th and F Streets NW. Free admission. Open Daily: 11:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Free admission. Through July 12.

Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work sheds new light on a beloved body of work by Anna Mary Robertson ​“Grandma” Moses (1860 – 1961). Grandma Moses used creativity, hope, and togetherness as tools for shaping a life that she metaphorically likened to ​“a good day’s work.” The artist’s fame made her a polarizing figure — beloved by the popular press and American public but belittled by the art world and critical press. This exhibition introduces the artist to new generations and examines her legacy in the context of America today.

Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work repositions Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860–1961) as a multidimensional force in American art, whose beloved painted recollections of rural life earned her a distinctive place in the cultural imagination of the postwar era. Drawing its name from Moses’ reflection on her own life as a “good day’s work,” the exhibition reveals how Moses’ art fused creativity, labor, and memories from a century-long life.  

Moses began painting in earnest in her late 70s and was 80 when gallerist Otto Kallir introduced her to the American public with her first solo exhibition in 1940. In her artworks, Moses melded direct observation of nature and personal memories, resulting in idiosyncratic, yet engaging, stories of America. “Grandma Moses” as the press would indelibly dub her, quickly became a media sensation, achieving a controversial celebrity status that surpassed the female artists of her day and remains compelling today. 

The exhibition is the culmination of a special collection initiative at the museum that began in 2016 and is anchored by 33 artworks from SAAM’s collection, including many of Moses’ most celebrated paintings. It is organized by Leslie Umberger, senior curator of folk and self-taught art, and Randall R. Griffey, former head curator, with support from Maria R. Eipert, curatorial assistant. 

A richly illustrated catalogue, published in association with Princeton University Press, is available for purchase ($60) in the museum's store and online.

For more info go here. 

Material Acts of Resistance: Michèle Colburn

Founders Gallery at Mason Square, Van Metre Hall Lobby, Mason Square Campus, 3351 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington. Open daily, 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Through Feb. 6.

Material Acts of Resistance: Michèle Colburn brings together a selection of mixed-media works that transform the materials of conflict into meditations on endurance, vulnerability, and dissent. Through the use of gunpowder, wire, thread, and burnt paper, Colburn reconfigures symbols of violence into gestures of reflection and renewal. Her practice explores how the act of making can itself become a form of resistance, translating the volatile into the contemplative, and the destructive into the poetic.

Courtesy Arlington Arts.

For more info go here. 

Out of Many: Reframing an American Art Collection

The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St., NW. Through: Feb. 15.

Special Exhibition

Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the United States, Out of Many: Reframing an American Art Collection is a celebration and examination of the beauty and complexity of this nation’s history. Presenting artists well-known and understudied from the permanent collection, Out of Many builds a dynamic story about how, from the early 20th century to the present, various artists have imagined and depicted the people, cultures, landscapes, and histories of the United States. To tell a more diverse constellation of stories, the exhibition includes artworks from the historic collections of African American art at Howard University Gallery of Art and The David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, among other institutions. 

For more info go here. 

“Bernard (Bernie) Boston Retrospective: A Photojournalist, Social Justice Advocate, and Family Man”  

McLean Project for the Arts, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean. Open: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Through Feb. 24.

McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) will open its next Atrium Gallery exhibition, Bernard (Bernie) Boston Retrospective: A Photojournalist, Social Justice Advocate, and Family Man, on Thursday, November 6, 2025, with an Opening Exhibition Reception from 4-6:00 pm. 

An award-winning photo journalist, Bernie Boston made history by becoming the first African American member of the White House press corps, covering every president from Truman through Clinton. Boston was a long-time McLean resident, and former Chairman of the McLean Community Center Governing Board (1977-1979). The Atrium Gallery exhibit will feature framed photographs from his fascinating, decades-long career. 

Phoebe Mills Farris, Ph.D. (Powhatan-Pamunkey) — a retired Purdue University professor emerita, photographer, and freelance art critic — curated the exhibition. 

‘We’re very excited about the exhibit. It’s something new for us, as we usually only work with living artists, and Bernie was more of a journalistic photographer than a strictly artistic one. We are delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate and build community with Historic Pleasant Grove Church,” said Nancy Sausser, MPA Artistic Director.

The exhibit is a collaboration between MPA and the Friends of Historic Pleasant Grove Church in McLean and will be held concurrently in MPA’s Atrium Gallery and at the Historic Pleasant Grove Church. An opening reception for the Pleasant Grove Church exhibition will be held Saturday, November 8, 2025, from 3-5:00 p.m., and will include light refreshments. Visit www.historicpleasantgrove.org to RSVP.

The MPA Atrium Gallery is available for viewing during McLean Community Center operating hours. The Historic Pleasant Grove exhibition is available for viewing December 7 and 21, from 2-4:00 p.m.; January 11 and 25, from 2-4:00 p.m.; and February 8 and 22, from 2-4:00 p.m.

Bernard (Bernie) Boston Retrospective: A Photojournalist, Social Justice Advocate, and Family Man runs through February 24, 2026. The McLean Project for the Arts Emerson Gallery Visit www.mpaart.org for exhibition information. To learn more about Bernie Boston, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Boston.

For more info go here. 

Rik Freeman: Wade in the Waters

The Phillips Collection, Phillips@THEARC Exhibition, 1801 Mississippi Ave., SE. Free and in-person. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 12-5:00 p.m., and second and third Wednesdays open until 8:30 p.m. Through Feb. 19.

Pioneering D.C. artist Rik Freeman has been creating paintings and murals that focus on the African diaspora for over three decades. Wade in the Waters features artworks that engage themes of history, community, resilience, joy, and faith. The power and rhythm of water flows through the paintings — from the beaches of Bahia to the Anacostia River — sharing stories of both survival and triumph. Through a kaleidoscope of narratives, the exhibition draws from several of Freeman’s series, exploring waterways and their connection to the diaspora over generations. 

About Rik Freeman 

A native of Athens, Georgia, Rik Freeman began his professional career as an artist in Washington, D.C. in 1989, painting numerous murals throughout the metropolitan area. Some of his most notable commissions are “Ode to Barry Farms” (2016), Barry Farms Recreation Center; “KNOWLEDGE” (2011), Dorothy I. Height Library, “Learn From Your Past” (2011), H.D. Woodson High School, “Shaw Rhythms” (2003), Washington Convention Center; “ARL@200” (2002), Arlington County Courthouse; and “A Libertade de Maria Felipe” (2012), library in Itaparica, Brazil.

Freeman has widely exhibited his works on canvas, including at the Honfleur Gallery, Hill Center, and the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum. From 2008-11, Freeman’s critically acclaimed series “The Chittlin’ Circuit Review,” based on the early history of Blues music, toured seven venues in seven states. Currently he's working on his series “Black Beaches During Segregation,” which began in 2022 with the support of the Honfleur Artist-in Residence fellowship and award. He is also continuing his series “BAHIA!,” about the African contribution to Brazil’s history and culture and based in part on his two residencies at Instituto Sacatar in Itaparica (2011 and 2015).

For more info go here. 

Material Witness

Rubell Museum DC, 65 i Street 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. 

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, Missouri). 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. 

LOCAL DANCE

Let's Dance! Free Classes, Demos & Specials

Forever Dancing Ballroom, 5818 Seminary Road, Suite B, Bailey's Crossroads, Jan. 3, 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. All ages. Free parking. Doors open: 11:30 a.m.

Presented by Forever Dancing L.L.C.

Discover the joy of partner dancing at the Forever Dancing Ballroom Open House! Free classes, demos, and special deals await!

Come join us at Forever Dancing Ballroom for a fantastic opportunity to Learn to Dance for FREE! Our Open House event is the perfect chance to dip your toes into the world of dance. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a complete newbie, everyone is welcome! Mark your calendars and get ready to groove with us. See you on the dance floor!

For more info go here. 

LOCAL MUSEUMS

The Cold War

Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center, 10209 Main Street, Fairfax. Through Jan. 9. Hours: Wed.-Mon., 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

This traveling exhibit from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History examines some of the major events of the Cold War. Between 1945 and 1991, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (also known as the USSR) battled for global dominance. The exhibit will be open through Jan. 9 at the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center.

For more info go here. 

Building Stories

National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW. Open: Thurs.-Monday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Entry: $10/Adult; $7/ Youth & Seniors; Free access to the Great Hall and Museum Shop.

Building Stories brings kids and adults alike on an immersive exploration of the world of architecture, engineering, construction, and design found in the pages of children’s books. Geared toward an intergenerational audience, with special attention paid to children in grades K-3 and their parents and caregivers.

Curated by the nation’s leading expert on children’s literature, Leonard Marcus, Building Stories is the first national exhibition to call attention to the built environment’s role as an important, and often overlooked, character in children’s literature. By activating these stories and their built worlds, and the early foundations for how we begin to understand our surroundings, Building Stories allows visitors to investigate the role the built environment plays in our own lives and communities — and how we can be agents of change for its more sustainable, equitable future.

The exhibition encourages visitors to interact with familiar classics and new favorites through hands-on activities, media installations, sketching, reading, and building stories of their own. Award-winning author/illustrators David Macaulay and Oliver Jeffers have collaborated on this exhibition to create original environments that will offer insight into their creative processes and engage visitors to better understand the worlds created in books and encourage their role in making a better world.

The exhibition’s primary educational program is the Building Readers Club. A collaboration with the DC Public Library and DC Public Library Foundation, the free club serves as a guide for families interested in further exploring the world of architecture, engineering, construction, and design found in the pages of children’s books.

For more info go here.

Light Up at the National Zoo!

ZooLights

Ends Saturday! ~ Smithsonian's National Zoo, 3001 Connecticut Ave., NW, Nov. 21 - Jan. 3, 5:00 - 9:30 p.m., Mondays - Saturdays.; 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Sundays. Last entry 30 minutes before end of event.

Celebrate the holidays at ZooLights! Enjoy twinkling lights and a festive atmosphere as this beloved winter classic returns to the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Journey through magical displays of glowing animal lanterns, watch live musical performances, sip hot cocoa and other festive treats, and explore the Zoo under the dazzling glow of one million environmentally-friendly LED lights.

ZooLights is a family-friendly, conservation-minded holiday tradition — each visit helps support the Zoo’s mission to save species and protect habitats worldwide.

General Admission: $9 per guest (ages 2 and up).

Parking: $30 per vehicle.

For ticket info go here. 

WINTER SPORTS

Ice Skating at the Sculpture Garden Ice Rink

National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink, 7th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Through March 1 (weather permitting).

Ice Rink Hours: Sunday–Thursday, 11:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Friday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.

Pavilion Cafe Hours: Monday–Thursday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; Friday–Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.

Fees: Purchase skating passes in person. We only offer advanced, online purchasing for season passes and skating lessons. Fees cover two back-to-back, 45-minute skating sessions that each begin on the hour. Ice maintenance happens the last 15 minutes of each hour. The last full session begins two hours before closing.

• $15: Ages 13+.
• $12: Ages 12 and under, 60+, military service members with ID, students with school ID.
• $250: Season pass.
• $7: Skate rental. Free lockers available first-come, first-served.

For more info go here. 

Compiled by Christopher Jones