After 25 Years of Shaping Southwest Theater, Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith Set to Step Aside

By Sheila Wickouski Since 1998, Molly Smith has served as Arena Stage’s Artistic Director, racking up credits for directing, new play development and work with great playwrights that are now part of theater history. The completion of Arena Stage’s current season will mark her last in the role as she […]

National Museum of Asian Art Connects Environmental Art Across Centuries

By Sheila Wickouski Two exhibits of Indian prints and photographs now on view at the Smithsonian Asian Art Museum go beneath the surface to consider the underlying themes of environment, politics and emotions. What the works from almost three centuries apart share in common is the importance of water as […]

Arena Stage Rings in Holidays with Step Afrika!

By Sheila Wickouski From December 9-18, Arena Stage will host a festive, family friendly production called Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show.  Founded in 1994 by C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika! is the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced […]

Rubell Museum’s Inaugural Exhibition Showcases Powerful Artwork in Stunning Setting

By Sheila Wickouski The Rubell Museum DC, located on the site of the historic Randall School, opened its doors to the public in late October with an exhibit titled What’s Going On, a reference to the groundbreaking 1971 album by Randall School alumnus Marvin Gaye, who sang in the glee […]

Arena Stage Launches New Production of Catch Me If You Can

By Sheila Wickouski With a new production of Catch Me If You Can, Arena Stage adds to the list of acclaimed Broadway productions, Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game, Anything Goes and Disney’s Newsies, that have been brought to its iconic in-the-round Fichandler Stage.  The story of a charming con man, Frank […]

Glass and Light Inspire in New Exhibit at National Museum of the American Indian

By Sheila Wickouski Of the thousands of stories of Raven the trickster told by the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, international glassmaker Peston Singletary has chosen to tell one version from his Tlingit clan in the exhibition Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight now on view at […]

National Museum of Asian Art Reopens with Textile Exhibit

By Sheila Wickouski The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art reopened on December 18 with a special exhibition, Fashioning an Empire: Safavid Textiles from the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.  While the artistic traditions of the Safavid empire extended through architecture, poetry, and philosophy, this exhibition focuses on how textiles […]