In DC for the Inaguration - Museums Ready

The NY Times is running an article on how some of the DC museums are preparing for the large crowds descending upon DC for the inauguration. Many many museums have been planning for years for the inaugural, but the expectations of large crowds are now even bigger. The Smithsonian is expecting 1 million people to visit their 8 museums during the inaugural period, more than 3 times the number for all of a typical January.

The article also lists museums, links and exhibitions, so if you are in town braving the cold and the crowds....

• NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART The only surviving set of portraits of the first five presidents by Gilbert Stuart is on view in one of the newly reopened American galleries of the west building.
• THE CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART During January the Corcoran is offering two-for-one admissions with a coupon from its Web site (corcoran.org). On view through Jan. 25 is “Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power” — featuring, appropriately enough, an image of Barack Obama taken during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
• THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION Visitors at the Phillips need simply to say the word “inauguration” to get two tickets for the price of one during January. The Phillips (phillipscollection.org) has organized two exhibitions especially for the inauguration. It has reinstalled the “Migration Series,” 30 panels painted between 1940 and 1941 by Jacob Lawrence, when he was just 23 and living in Harlem.
• THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS One of the first inauguration-related decisions the museum (nmwa.org) made was to rehang its permanent collection with works that Ms. Sterling, its director, said would “appeal to a broader spectrum of folks.” Now on view are many of the institution’s American paintings, as well as a 1937 Frida Kahlo self-portrait, the only example of her work in a Washington museum.
• THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION The National Portrait Gallery in downtown Washington — one of the many museums that make up the Smithsonian (si.edu) — will feature the street artist Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” poster of Mr. Obama.

To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.