ICYMI: Highlights from the week that was March 3 – March 9, 2019
No one can keep up with everything, so let us do it for you. We’ll gather the top Smithsonian stories from across the country and around the world each week so you’ll never be at a loss for conversation around the water cooler.
This week was full of news about renovations, innovations, conversations and some sky-high, red-sequinned “Kinky Boots.”
Photo Coverage: KINKY BOOTS Gets Inducted Into Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History!
Broadway World, March 6
Callum Francis, Cyndi Lauper and Andy Kelso. (Photo by Monroe George)
Just last night, the cast and creative team of Kinky Boots had something to say ‘yeah’ about! Smithsonian Institution representatives, Abbe Raven and Anthea M. Hartig stopped by to formally induct the show into the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Check out photos from the onstage ceremony below!
The winner of six 2013 Tony® Awards, including Best Musical, Kinky Boots features a Tony® Award-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, a book by Tony® Award-winner Harvey Fierstein and direction and choreography by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell. Kinky Boots tells the uplifting and heartwarming tale of Charlie Price, a young man reluctantly taking over his family’s struggling shoe factory and looking for a fresh idea. Charlie meets and finds inspiration in Lola and together, they discover that it takes a good friend to make a great pair. Read more from Broadway World.
Google partners with NASA and CERN to create massive online exhibit honoring science
From the story of the Big Bang to the story of the chip, Once Upon a Try promotes the history of invention
The Verge, March 6
Screenshot of Google Arts & Culture/ Once Upon a Try.
Google’s Arts & Culture division, the team behind the viral art-matching selfie trend from last year, has partnered with museums from around the world to create a collection of videos and images dedicated to honoring science and human discovery.
The Once Upon a Try project is available both online and within the Google Arts & Culture app on Android and iOS. Built in collaboration with groups such as NASA, CERN, and the Smithsonian, it features over 200,000 artifacts from around the world. Here are some of our favorite “exhibits”: Read more from The Verge.
Cheetah dies at Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
The Northern Virginia Daily, March 6
The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal recently oversaw the death of a 13-year-old female cheetah.
On Feb. 19, Amani, a 13-year-old female cheetah who had lived at the institute for around 10 years, was euthanized. Her kidney functions were declining, and her appetite had decreased in the month before her death, a news release from the biology institute states. Read more from the Northern Virginia Daily.
The National Zoo won’t build security checkpoints, but still is adding fences
Greater Greater Washington, March 5
Proposed Vehicular-Rated Ornamental Fencing (representative sample from another facility) by National Zoo / NCPC.
There won’t be security checkpoints at the entrance to the National Zoo, after many residents spoke up against earlier renderings that showed the possibility in the future. The zoo is, however, moving forward with plans to close some of its entrances and add stronger perimeter fences.
According to the presentation before the National Capital Planning Commission, the zoo now has three “primary” entrances, at Connecticut Avenue at the top of the zoo, the bottom entrance near Beach Drive and Harvard Street, and one by the largest parking lot on the north side. It also has 10 “secondary” entrances, mostly gaps in the fencing along North Road between the other parking lots as well as one along the Rock Creek trail. Read more from Greater Greater Washington.
Smithsonian Anacostia museum to close for renovations through mid-October
The museum will temporarily shut its doors this month, but will continue its programming across D.C.
Curbed Washington DC, March 4
Rendering of the Anacostia Community Museum renovation project Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution
Heads up, D.C. museum enthusiasts: The Anacostia Community Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution, will close for more than half a year for a $3.5 million overhaul, beginning on March 15. The museum is expected to reopen in “mid-October,” per a release.
The Smithsonian says the renovation work will improve a myriad of the facility’s features, including its accessibility, parking lot, entrance, lighting, and HVAC system. As part of the project, workers will install barriers along the museum’s perimeter, which in turn will close its sidewalks and driveways. The site will get a new multiuse plaza and a community garden. Read more from Curbed.
REDress exhibit highlights epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women
Haunting outdoor art installation by Canadian artist Jaime Black is on display at Washington DC museum
The Guardian, March 7
he REDress Project, an outdoor art installation by Métis artist Jaime Black at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC. Photograph: Katherine Fogden/National Museum of the American Indian
Thirty-five red dresses hung on winter-bare trees lining the Riverwalk along the National Museum of the American Indian. A woman pushing a stroller stopped to watch the garments twist in the wind, staring at the smallest dress in the collection – one that would fit a little girl.
The REDress Project is a haunting outdoor art installation in Washington DC by Canadian artist Jaime Black meant to symbolize the epidemic of violence against indigenous women and girls.
“Every visitor will have a different experience with the dresses,” said Machel Monenerkit, the deputy director of the National Museum of American Indian. “But you cannot walk through this installation and not have some emotional experience.” Read more from The Guardian.
Smithsonian museums roll out Aira accessibility technology
Smithsonian visitors who are blind or have low vision will soon be able to access to innovative and groundbreaking new technology.
Blooloop, March 7
Starting this spring, the Smithsonian will roll out Aira technology, which uses guests’ smartphone cameras or smart glasses to get free on-demand verbal descriptions.
Aira blends artificial intelligence and augmented reality, connecting visitors to trained sighted live agents who can remotely view what’s in front of or near the visitor.
The agent helps the visitor to navigate the museum, guiding them to and describing specific objects and whole exhibitions, and leading them to restrooms/toilets, cafes and shops.
Aira, described as having vision in your pocket, will be available at all Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C., as well as the National Zoo. Read more from BlooLoop
Wetland mud is ‘secret weapon’ against climate change
BBC News, March 6
Salt marshes may lock carbon in the soil. (Photo courtesy of University of Wollongong)
Muddy, coastal marshes are “sleeping giants” that could fight climate change, scientists say.
A global study has shown that these regions could be awoken by sea level rise.
Sea level is directly linked to the amount of carbon these wetlands store in their soil, the team reports in the journal Nature.
Researchers studied the carbon locked away in cores of wetland mud from around the world.
They say that the preservation of coastal wetlands is critical for mitigating global warming.
The team was led by scientists at the University of Wollongong in Australia. Read more from BBC News
You Can Now Get Married at the Smithsonian! Here’s Our Quick Guide to the New Venues
Washingtonian, March 6
The Smithsonian Castle is among the Smithsonian spaces now available to rent for weddings. Photo by Robert Lyle Bolton via Flickr.
We’d been hearing murmurings for months, but it’s official: The Smithsonian has finally opened for social events—and that includes weddings.
While corporate sponsorship and cohosting of events have long been allowed in many of the Smithsonian-affiliated spaces, directors of each museum now have the discretion to expand their rental offerings by choosing to allow more broadly defined corporate, meeting, and nonprofit events, as well two new categories of events: “personal social events for adults such as weddings, memorials, anniversary celebrations and birthday parties” and “personal social events for youth such as birthday parties, prom parties, etc.” (Note: “Political activities,” according to the press release, are still not permitted.) Read more from The Washingtonian.
Hirshhorn hopes to create ‘new front door’ to the Mall with a redesigned sculpture garden
The Washington Post, March 11
A rendering of a redesigned Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden off the Mall. (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden)
Seeking to raise its visibility and welcome more visitors, the Hirshhorn Museum plans to redesign its sunken sculpture garden to create an expanded entrance on the Mall and directly connect the artsy oasis to the museum’s main plaza.
“This is an opportunity to create a new front door for the Hirshhorn on the Mall,” said Hirshhorn Board Chairman Dan Sallick. “You have 25 million people walking on the Mall every year and right now our garden is largely invisible. Read more from The Washington Post.
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Posted: 11 March 2019
