Artomatic opens tonight, May 18, at 6pm. Artomatic 2012 is a month-long art festival in the DC area that is “by artists, for everyone,” with no charge for admission or workshops.
This year’s event is a Crystal City office building scheduled to be demolished, featuring 10 floors of art by more than 1,000 artists. of every medium. Visual art, music, performance, film, fashion, and more are highlighted. Workshops, tours, seminars and other events are held all month long.
Special events for kids – click the links for full description and to RSVP/reserve your child’s spot for these completely free programs:
Directions
Hours: Open through June 23 Wed. and Thurs. noon-10pm, Fri. and Sat. noon-1am, Sun. noon-5pm, closed Mon. and Tues.
This Sunday, take a stroll with your family for an important cause, Research Down Syndrome (RDS), and in memory of a beloved local son, brother and small but mighty RDS champion who passed away this year.
A Walk for Flynn
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 9:00 AM
North Lake Center at 15101 Bauer Drive in Rockville, Maryland (this is the holding school for Beverly Farms ES, previously known as Manor Lake ES).
Donation: $20 per person. Make checks payable to Research Down Syndrome (RDS)
RSVP: Maureen Haynos at jep873@aol.com
What to Wear: Navy Blue and Kelly Green – Team Flynn colors!
Rain Date: Sunday, June 2.
Why We Come Together: To honor and remember Flynn Thomas Fry. We want to help keep Flynn’s spirit alive, and also contribute the family’s favorite charity, Research Down Syndrome (RDS).
Walk Details:
The Walk for Flynn will take place around Lake Frank, located in the Manor Lakes neighborhood off of Bauer Drive. After our walk, we will provide a light breakfast for everyone before they head off to their other Sunday activities.
The walking paths around Lake Frank are not hard to maneuver, and there are only a few hills to climb. The entire walk around the lake is about four miles, with a few interesting creek crossings on big stones. For the seasoned walker/hiker, it takes about an hour. We will have an alternate route that is shorter and easier for the less-seasoned walker and children.
Photo credit: Sam Kittner/Newseum
FRIDAY APRIL 27
On Friday, April 27, the Newseum will open the HP New Media Gallery, an interactive experience that uses the latest technology to allow visitors to physically step into a social network that shows media’s powerful impact on our world. Live Twitter feeds fill touch-screen monitors and connect visitors with trending news stories. The 2,500-square-foot gallery is the first permanent addition to the museum since its grand opening in 2008.
As visitors enter the gallery, they are directed to the “Check-In” area, where they can post photos of themselves to screens in the gallery and comment on events of the day. At two 11-foot-wide interactive touch walls, visitors are encouraged to explore dozens of important news events and viral videos, including the first Twitter reports of the 2008 China earthquake and the Facebook posts that fueled the Egyptian revolution in 2011.
In the “Choose the News” area, visitors can flip through the latest stories and build custom news pages, then publish them to a large video wall. The “Game Zone” features motion-tracking technology that allows visitors to use hand gestures to test their knowledge of social media.
SATURDAY APRIL 28
Fenton Street Market returns to Veterans Plaza in downtown Silver Spring on April 28, from 10:00am – 4:00pm! Every Saturday through October 27, over 60 local vendors a week will showcase their wares: original artwork, handmade and imported crafts, antiques, jewelry, furniture, vintage clothing, unique services such as acupuncture and henna tattoos, and much more. Community programming will include a screen printing demonstration by Pyramid Atlantic, an interactive model train exhibit by the Riverdale Model Train Club, and music by market favorites Snakehead Run and Israel Dempsey. Veterans Plaza is located in front of the Silver Spring Civic Building, at the intersection of Fenton St. and Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring, MD 20910.
SATURDAY APRIL 28 & SUNDAY APRIL 29
USA Science and Engineering Festival
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.
April 28: 10:00am-6:00pm
April 29: 10:00am-4:00pm
Admission FREE
This huge and awesome free festival which features over 3,000 hands-on science and engineering activities, and more than 100 stage shows on six stages! It’s a science loving family’s dream! Attendees can operate state-of-the-art robots; converse with astronauts, Nobel Laureates, storm chasers, science celebrities like Bill Nye the Science Guy or the MythBusters and even scientists of the past; fly a fighter jet simulator; enter a virtual reality environment, be a CSI agent and so much more. Students can also leave with information about science and engineering scholarships, internships, mentorship and future jobs.
Before you go, be sure to download the FREE USA Science and Engineering Festival App. It lists all activities, stage shows, 36 Featured Authors, and gives you a map and more. The app is available for both iPhone and Android.
Highlight for Young Kids
Visit the PBS Kids Sid the Science Kid Booth for fun hands on activities for children all day, a photo opportunity with the Sid the Science Kid costume character, see Sid the Science Kid will perform his “Science is Everywhere” singalong on the Curie Stage on Saturday at 10:50am and 12:50pm and Sunday at 10:00am and 11:50pm, and be entered to win a Sid the Science Kid collection of merchandise drawing each day.
Also, leave a comment on this post to win one of TWO copies of the Sid’s Backyard Campout DVD! The winners will be randomly drawn in one week.
Have a fabulous weekend!
This Saturday April 28 is FAMILY DAY at Glen Echo Park
Glen Echo Park’s Family Day is full of free events abound from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. including face painting, music and dance performances, magic shows, a youth art exhibition, family dancing, T-Ball Extreme, tours by National Park Service rangers, and more. If you have attended in the past, new to this year’s event is storytelling. There is also cake and lemonade for all.
Family Day marks the opening of the Park’s historic Dentzel Carousel carousel for its 92nd season. Visitors will enjoy many FREE activities, Carousel rides are $1.25/person. The Park’s new Ballroom Café will be open — operated by the Brown Bag — and will serve lots of tasty and healthy fare.
While at Glen Echo Park, head to The Puppet Co. to relax and take in a show!
Pinnochio
Thursday at 10 am
Saturday at 11:30 am and 1 pm
Sunday at 11:30 am and 1 pm
Half life-size rod puppets, performed in the Italian “Commedia del Arte” style, tell Carlo Collodi’s story of what it means to be “real.” Share the trials and tribulations of the little live puppet as he finds in one adventure after another that the “easy way” isn’t always the right way. Deemed, ”One of the most exquisite productions to ever grace our theater,”by the Smithsonian’s Discovery Theater. Running Time: 45 minutes; Recommended: K through Grade 6. Tickets $10.
Tiny Tots – Mother Goose Caboose
Saturday at 10 am -Geared towards tots age 0-4. The Tiny Tots program is designed for the youngest theater patrons. The lights stay on, the doors stay open, and everyone has a great time! All individuals must have a ticket, including babes-in-arms. Tickets $5.
Mother Goose introduces us to her friends, including Leonardo the Lion, in the opening number. There’s Kelly – a near-sighted duckling, a chorus line of puppies, performing bears, and Molly the cow and her calf who jump over the moon. Mother Goose makes a final appearance to close the show and say goodbye to her friends. Running Time: 30 minutes; Recommended: 0 – 4; Producer: Bob Brown Puppets.
Playhouse Puppetry Slam
Saturday 7 – 8:15pm and 9-10:15pm
Leave the children at home! The Puppet Co. Playhouse presents its adult-friendly programming with another popular “Playhouse Puppetry Slam.” A ”Slam” is a showcase of vignettes presented by amateurs and professionals alike, performing both edgy and provocative works that might not be seen in any other venue. Content ranges from the raunchy and risqué to the tender and tear-jerking, in a fast-moving succession of both rough and polished acts. Limited seating.
Age: 17 and up, 13-16 must be accompanied by an Adult or Guardian. (12 and under not admitted)
The Puppet Co. Playhouse
7300 MacArthur Blvd
Glen Echo, MD 20812
Phone: (301) 634-5380
Website: www.thepuppetco.org
E-Mail: boxoffice@thepuppetco.org
Please visit www.thepuppetco.org/directions/ for directions to the venue.
Disclosure: The Puppet Co. and Creative MoCo, of which both Glen Echo Park Partnership of the Arts and The Puppet Co. are members, are advertising partners of this website. However, in support of these performing arts non-profits in which I believe and which enrich local families’ lives, they receive a highly reduced advertising rate as well as whatever promotional support I can give.
Listen to Your Mother makes its Washington, DC debut on May 6, 2012 from 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Listen to Your Mother DC is live readings by local writers on the beauty, the beast and the barely-rested life of mothers. In celebration of Mothers Day, 14 women will read their personal stories about the humor and the heartbreak that go hand in hand with motherhood.
This production is dear to my heart, not only because it features so many of close personal friends, but a portion of proceeds from theticket sales will benefit our beloved late friend Susan Niebur‘s personally-designated charity, the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Produced by Kate Coveny Hood and directed by Stephanie Stearns Dulli, the cast includes hilarious and poignant pieces by DC’s most accomplished writing mothers:
Chrissy Boylan
Sarah Braesch
Nicole Crowley
Anna Whiston-Donaldson
Stephanie Stearns Dulli
Lindsay Felix
Lis Fogt
Devra Gordon
Cindy Green
Kate Coveny Hood
Monica Sakala
Elena Sonnino
Sue Wagner
Jean Winegardner
May 6, 2012
2-3:30 PM
The Synetic Theater at Crysal City
1800 South Bell Street
Arlington, VA 22202
(click here for driving directions)
Tickets are $18 and available for purchase online.
Children welcome, but please be advised that a small amount of subject matter or language may be unsuitable for all ages. Please email us listentoyourmotherdc@gmail.com with questions or concerns.
