12/7-12/14
This week: Enjoy free museum access with a makers' market, see how two artists honor their elders through fiber and thread, and more.
This Week
Free Community Day and Makers’ Market [Community Event] December 7, 10 AM-5 PM | National Museum of Women in the Arts | FREE
Take advantage of free museum admission plus a holiday market featuring makers and artists in NMWA’s Great Hall. Shop handmade jewelry, art, ceramics, and vintage finds while exploring current exhibitions. The day also includes free drop-in art activities in the studio, a 45-minute Collection Highlights Tour at 2 PM, and open access to the Library and Research Center. It’s a highlight of NMWA’s best, packed into one accessible day. RSVP
Opening Reception: Predestiny [Gallery Opening] December 11, 5-7 PM | The Line DC | FREE
The calm before the storm, the breath before the scream. Xenia Gray’s quiet portraits and Sarah Bell Wilson’s secretive landscapes explore the phase when you can feel something coming but don’t quite know what it is yet. It’s a meditation on serenity and interconnectedness. This show invites the viewer to slow down and sit with uncertainty rather than rush toward resolution. Info
Community Open House: The Geometry of Undoing [Gallery Opening] December 13, 12-6 PM | Siren Arts | FREE
Jennifer DiZefalo transforms bold barn quilt patterns into contemporary abstract paintings in her first solo exhibition. Inspired by the eight-foot squared quilt blocks she saw on farmhouses during travels through the Poconos, DiZefalo reconfigures the traditional eight-point star by isolating small sections and shifting and rotating arrangements of shapes. Each fragment becomes a novel composition, investigating balance and rhythm. Her newest works revisit earlier paintings using the same improvisational method, which reflects the core of her practice: turning familiar patterns into something entirely new. Info
Opening Reception: Braids & Threads: Connecting Legacies [Exhibition Opening] December 13, 3-5 PM | Washington Project for the Arts | FREE
Monica Jahan Bose and Autumn Spears inaugurate WPA’s new Dupont Circle space with a collaboration that uses transgenerational skills to explore diasporic heritage: sewing and textiles (Bose), crocheting and hair braiding (Spears). Their ongoing conversations across generations (Gen X and Gen Z) have opened new directions in both practices. This installation and workspace invite community members to drop in and contribute their own stories and artistry. Info
Coffee & Collections: Photographer Rick Reinhard [Artist Talk] December 13, 11 AM-12 PM | Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum | FREE
For over five decades, Rick Reinhard has captured powerful images of DC residents at work, at home, and in their neighborhoods. Designated as “the go-to chronicler of D.C.’s Latino and activist communities,” his expansive body of work now lives in the museum’s collection. Join this conversation about the role of photography in documenting historic moments and sparking change. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from someone who has spent half a century bearing witness to the communities that make this city what it is. RSVP
Make It! Mt. Pleasant Holiday Market [Holiday Market] December 14, 11 AM-5 PM | Lamont Plaza | FREE
More than 70 artists and artisans fill Lamont Plaza and line Mt. Pleasant Street with pottery, paintings, home decor, and gifts for the holiday season. Presented by the Mt. Pleasant Artists Collective, the market features Author’s Alley, card-making for hospitalized children, carolers, and a visit from Santa. There has never been a better time to shop local, and this event makes it easy and fun. Info