By Southwester Staff A new app-based walking tour from the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum leads users through Southwest DC while telling the story of the neighborhood’s redevelopment. “Before the Bulldozers: Historic Southwest D.C. Exposed” uses location-based storytelling, augmented reality and immersive audio to examine larger issues of housing inequality through the lens of Southwest. The […]
Young Readers: Why Should Dogs Have All the Fun?
By Kitty Felde There’s nothing like sharing a book with a friend. Especially if that friend has a tail and a lot of fur. Dogs are non-judgmental. They don’t criticize mispronounced words or sentences that take forever to finish. They just listen. Read-to-dog events have become part of regular programming around the country, including events at both […]
Till: The story that broke African American hearts and propelled the Civil Rights Movement
By Latrice Adams and K’Imani Rispus Richard Wright Public Charter School, Grade 11 Local students joined the cast of Till, an upcoming movie telling the heartbreaking but heroic story of Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, for a screening at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in September. The movie comes to theaters on […]
National Gallery of Art Presents Major Exhibit Showcasing Black Artists of the American South
By Sheila Wickouski A Man Can Be A Star by Thornton Dial, Jr. is itself a sparkling star in the constellation of artworks in the exhibition Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South at the National Gallery of Art, on view through March 26, 2023. Pop art sensibility and a political message meld […]
Arena Stage Announces Longtime Leader Molly Smith’s Final Show as Artistic Director
By Southwester Staff Arena Stage announced that My Body No Choice, a limited engagement staged in the run-up to the midterm elections, will be Molly Smith’s final production before she steps down as Artistic Director. Featuring monologues from eight of America’s most dynamic female playwrights, My Body No Choice explores the importance of bodily autonomy, […]
Young Readers: More Binge, Less Complaints
By Kitty Felde “It’s not that kids don’t like to read. It’s that they don’t like feeling like they’re forced to read.” That’s Eric Berman’s mantra. Berman is Teen Services Coordinator for the Alameda County Library in California. He says the key is getting reluctant readers hooked on something. Anything works, he says – comic books, graphic […]
Unity in Diversity Across New Exhibitions at National Museum of Asian Art
By Sheila Wickouski The Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary in May 2023. James McNeill Whistler’s “harmony in blue and gold,” the Peacock Room, had been on display since the gallery opened and is now accessible to the public again after a renovation. A new exhibit […]