Smithsonian Sketchbook: In-person again

After a long hiatus on in-person programs due to COVID, volunteer Janet Hewitt describes her experience returning to the Smithsonian.

I recognized the sound the minute I heard it.  It was a helicopter, flying low. Metropolitan police, in neon vests, were politely stopping people on all four street corners behind the Smithsonian Castle building.

“Please don’t move,” was the cordial-but-firm request from police in full protective gear to the wide-eyed tourists– and me.  

I was on my way to a Smithsonian Associates, 4-session, outdoor art class titled Drawing DC Landmarks. It was my first in-person, studio arts volunteer assignment since the pandemic hit, and I was excited–even before the encounter with the mysterious DC important person.

Police on motorcycles were the front flank of the longest motorcade I had seen in quite some time (at least since Covid). And it proceeded royally down the empty six-lane stretch of Independence Avenue.

It was a presidential motorcade. The telltale signs were the flags with the presidential seal and Old Glory waving from the front bumper of a long black limo. I waved at the president (or whomever the occupant was), feeling glad I was early for my volunteer stint with a Smithsonian Associates drawing class that particular October morning.

And in that moment, I felt the buzz again, that old familiar rush of being in the heart of DC, on the Mall. It was really good to be back.

The Drawing DC Landmarks class was just the thing to reboot my in-person experience with volunteering for the Smithsonian Associates studio arts program. And it didn’t disappoint.

After the encounter with the presidential motorcade, things got even richer, even more iconic, just classic DC. The class meeting spot that day was the Founders Room just inside the National Gallery West Building. The handwritten notes in my sketchbook read: “10/15/21—Founders Room NGA: Floor to ceiling wood paneling, classic carved wooden mantel with marble, Blue Willow pattern Chinese ginger jars, Andrew Mellon portrait over the fireplace.”

The class was meeting to plot the day’s location for drawing both inside and out. Paul Glenshaw, the instructor, and Mïa Vollkommer, head of the studio arts program for Smithsonian Associates, were both present greeting the students. And joining us (figuratively speaking) was Andrew Mellon, in full patrician glory, his imposing portrait watching over the building that his fortune built.   

And in that room the feeling came rushing over me again. Here’s what I’d been missing, ever since the pandemic shut down in-person Smithsonian Associates studio arts classes! I missed that deeply satisfying feeling of being in the physical presence of art—and artists.

The students in the drawing class reflected the international reach of the Smithsonian. One was visiting from Malta. Others had a variety of accents, all with amazing artistic talents. And then there was me. Not exactly a beginner, but not that great either. (But Paul would never let you say that.) We were all offered an unexpected treat after the formal drawing session was over; students could stay for a few impromptu lectures on some of Paul’s favorite artworks in the gallery.  It was like getting an art history class on top of a drawing class. And Paul is an accomplished art historian whose lectures for Smithsonian Associates are quite popular.

I enjoyed my good fortune as we wove through ornate galleries hung with priceless masterpieces. We learned the back story of Jacques-Louis David’s portrait of The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries; John Singleton Copley’s painting of Watson and the Shark; and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth Regiment. At the end, no one wanted to go home.   

But on top of that, I had to pinch myself and remember this was only the second class. There were two more to go.

The setting for the opening class, fittingly, had been on the Mall, with two iconic DC landmarks as the backdrop—the Smithsonian Castle Building (opened in 1855) and the Arts and Industries Building (opened in 1881). But now the pressure was on to come up with the final two locations.  The class was polled and decisions made.  The Lincoln Memorial was a possibility, as was Union Station. Metro access was considered. But finally it was settled. The third class would meet at the Dupont Circle Fountain, a vision in marble and dedicated in 1921 to Samuel Francis Du Pont. The sunny Saturday we gathered it was bustling with protesters, dog walkers, a lone painter and a well-attended neighborhood dance class.

And then the final class met at the U.S. Navy Memorial, across the street from the classic National Archives building, completed in 1937.  A bronze statue of “The Lone Sailor” proudly watches over the memorial, which opened on October 13, 1987.

Both locations proved inspiring in their mid-fall finery, capping off four Saturdays of artistic indulgence by a class that couldn’t get enough of Paul’s instruction and the camaraderie of their fellow artists.

But before the final class was over, there was yet another only-in-DC moment.  As one of the students sketched on the Navy Memorial plaza an interested passerby commented on her work. It turned out to be the Archivist of the United States. How cool is that? A very powerful person is among the fans of your artwork.  It was just another DC moment.

Janet Hewitt volunteers with the Smithsonian Associates Studio Arts program. She is an award-winning financial journalist and freelance writer who lives in the DC area.

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