Hey guys,

This post is coming a little late, but for good reasons. I am spending spring break in D.C., and so far it has been amazing. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity since I am visiting a multitude of memorials, monuments, and museums full of cultural and historical significance to showcase them in this post. I was thinking about finding an artifact from one of the museums to write about, but there were endless exhibits that captivated me; I just could not choose only one! So instead I want to talk a little about what I have seen so far, and what I think. Most of this week’s blog will be either opinion or experience. I think context is important, too, so I will certainly be discussing more factual aspects of the Smithsonian Institutes as well. I just want to share my wonderful experiences of the places I have been thus far!

Let’s introduce some background first.

There are a total of 19 museums, a National zoo, and a bounty of research facilities –all a part of the Smithsonian Institutes. All of them are based in D.C. Most of the museums are spread out between the Capitol Building and the Washington monument, so they are within walking distance of each other. The Smithsonian was proposed by a man named James Smithson. He introduced his idea in 1836, but it was not until a decade later that his request for the institute was granted by President Polk. Sadly Smithson passed away before the Institute was established in 1846.

Just to give everyone an idea of what all is offered, I am going to list all the buildings that are a part of the institute.

-African America Museum, African Art Museum, Air and Space Museum, Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center, American Art Museum, American Histoy Museum, American Indian Museum, American Indian Museum Heye Center, Anacostia Community Museum, Archives of American Art, Arts and Industries Building, Cooper Hewitt, Freer Gallery of Art, Hirshhorn, National Zoo, Natural History Museum, Portrait Gallery, Postal Museum, Renwick Gallery, S. Dillion Ripley Center, Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Castle, Smithsonian Gardens

Thankfully I have been able to visit a lot of these already. I want to go over what I thought about some of them. I will try to be brief because I will also show some of my favorite pictures!

The Natural History Museum:

This was the first museum I went to the other day. For some reason I was under the impression it would be about American history even though that is a completely separate museum. I was blown away by the exhibits. I would have to say my favorite was the mammal section. It showcased a wide variety of animals from all over the world, some I have seriously never heard of before. They were just fascinating and they had them all staged, some even in their environment. There was a cheetah or jaguar (can’t remember) sleeping in a tree with an antelope drapping over the branch. One giraffe was bent over like it was drinking water from a pond, while the other stretched out fully to eat leaves from a branch. And they would have the animals split primarily into the regions the came from. So they had rocks with creatures digging in the ground next to it or a cat sleeping on the rock. There was a tiger pouncing out at you from above when you walked in the doorway. The setup was phenomenal and I really felt like I learned a lot about new animals all over the world. They even had some of the dinosaur exhibit open. If you were not aware, they are introducing a full dinosaur exhibit next year.

Freer/Sackler Art Gallery:

“Where Asia Meets America.” You will see this bannered all around the building, inside and out. This was one of my favorite places. I am a little bias because I like Asian countries a lot. I was head-over-heels for the “introducing the Buddha” exhibits. I am in an Asian philosophy class, and really becoming influenced by Buddhism, so I adored everything that was shown. My favorite exhibit of all time was the Buddhist shrine that they had. They crafted a whole room that was adorned with Buddha figures, ritual items, and played this slightly creepy slightly pleasant humming. It was just breathtakingly beautiful and authentic. On the bottom floor there was a fountion that had a sculpture changed between the staircases going from the ceiling to the ground. Depending on where you stood, the design you saw could be characters in an entire different language.

The Nation Museum for American Indians:

This museum was astonishing and captivated me before I even got inside. The architecture is wicked cool. The first thing I see outside the main doors is this massive statue of a Native America dressed in tradition clothing and a fantastic headdress. Then when I walked inside I was flooded with this beautiful, clean, and fresh building design. There were scattered exhibits on the ground floor. The first few that I saw really caught my attention because the museum laid out the first few artifacts according to certain values. What I mean is that they would show an exhibit and explain how it connected to community, or how it exemplified leadership. Each artifact reflected a purpose that structured the goals of the museum, which was demonstrating the intricate culture of Native American tribes.

National Museum for African American History and Culture:

This museum was what I was looking forward to the most. Earlier this year the curator came to Penn State to talk about everything he went through to get the museum up and running. He walked us through some of the donations he received and artifacts her acquired. Honestly, some of the stuff had me in tears. I managed to snag a ticket today, and walked around the museum for a while. Sadly, I did not spend as much time there as I wanted to because I had another ticket for the Holocaust museum. But what I did see took my breath away. The architecture is glorious, and the curator explained it was inspired by ironwork from slaves in Louisiana. Each feature of the architecture related to traditional African architecture or art. They featured clothes from African Americans in Broadway shows. They had glass cases full of iconic outfits from even more iconic stars. I freaked out when I saw the Michael Jackson outfit…. especially because it was next to Prince. I am only disappointed because I did not have a chance to visit the memorial to Emmett Till. They had his original coffin on display, courtesy of the family. I think it also did a beautiful job highlighting some of the most influencial African Americans and showcasing huge successes that often go unknown or ignored. I would HIGHLY recommend this museum. I know I want to go back and finish off the tour as soon as I can.