Open Studio: Happy Birthday, Hirshhorn!
Drop in for an art-making adventure inspired by our 50th birthday. Join Hirshhorn educators for interactive, hands-on activities inspired by a monumental artwork upon this monumental milestone.
We’re highlighting artist Mark Bradford and his masterpiece Pickett’s Charge. Open Studio activities will explore Bradford’s creative process, his materials, and what inspires him to make art.
Program Schedule: Ongoing art-making, Lower Level
- Collaborative art-making: Help us create a large-scale painting with paper inspired by Mark Bradford’s artistic process as an extra-special 50th-birthday present to the Hirshhorn!
- Paint with paper: Make your own miniature artwork incorporating photos, paper, rope, and more to take home.
- Open Play activities for kids: Build structures with blocks, make art with lines and layers, read, and play.
Fifty is too big a birthday for one day, or one cake. So, inspired by our “concrete doughnut,” building, we’re partnering with four fine bakeries: Rose Avenue Bakery, Founding Farmers Co. Catering & Events, Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken, and Just Fine Donuts. Between Thursday, Oct. 3, and Sunday, Oct. 6, one bakery will provide 50 doughnuts to be distributed to visitors, one per person, at 10 AM, until all have been shared.
Thursday, Oct. 3: Rose Avenue Bakery
Friday, Oct. 4: Founding Farmers Co. Catering & Events
Saturday, Oct. 5: Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken
Sunday, Oct. 6: Just Fine Donuts
Do this at home! Reveal the layers within a story that matters to you in an activity inspired by Mark Bradford. Instructions here.
No reservations or tickets required. Stroller parking is available in the Hirshhorn Lobby and on the Lower Level.
If there are access services or accommodations that can make your experience more inclusive (e.g., ASL interpretation, live captioning, etc.), please contact hmsgeducation@si.edu; 1–2 weeks’ advance notice is recommended but not required. For a group of 10 or more, please contact mcgettigant@si.edu to reserve a program in advance.
Storytime: Think Outside the Crayon Box!
We’re switching up Storytime to a drop-in experience while we prepare new exhibitions for spring openings. Join Hirshhorn educators any time between 10 am–noon; we will host read-alouds at 10:30 am and 11:30 am.
What materials do you use to make art? Contemporary artists often experiment with unusual materials. Join us for a close look at artist Mark Bradford’s Pickett’s Charge and a read-aloud of A Day with No Crayons by Elizabeth Rusch, then create some unusual art of your own!
Meet on the Third Level.
Do this at home! Meet the tinker tray. Much more than a vessel of materials, tinker trays encourage loosely structured, open-ended play while developing fine motor skills, creativity, and imagination. Instructions here.
ABOUT STORYTIME
Join Hirshhorn Kids on Wednesdays for a one-of-a-kind storytime experience! Each week offers a fun and fresh theme for our youngest artists and their adults. Get a fun and hands-on introduction to a new artwork each week, and participate in a joyful read-aloud filled with music, stories, and movement. Then, stay and play while your little artist creates. No reservations or tickets required. Nursing caregivers are welcome. Stroller parking is available in the Hirshhorn Lobby. If there are access services or accommodations that can make your experience more inclusive (e.g., ASL interpretation, live captioning, etc.), please contact hmsgeducation@si.edu; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required. For a group of ten or more, please contact mcgettigant@si.edu to reserve a program in advance.
Storytime: Think Outside the Crayon Box
What materials do you use to make art? Contemporary artists often experiment with unusual materials. Join us for a close look at artist Mark Bradford’s Pickett’s Charge and a read-aloud of A Day With No Crayons by Elizabeth Rusch, then create some unusual art of your own!
Meet in the Museum Lobby.
Do this at home! Meet the tinker tray. Much more than a vessel of materials, tinker trays encourage loosely structured, open-ended play while developing fine motor skills, creativity, and imagination. Instructions here.
ABOUT STORYTIME
Join Hirshhorn Kids on Wednesdays for a one-of-a-kind Storytime experience! Each week offers a fun and fresh theme for our youngest artists and their adults. Get a fun and hands-on introduction to a new artwork each week, and participate in a joyful read-aloud filled with music, stories, and movement. Then, stay and play while your little artist creates. No reservations or tickets required. Nursing caregivers are welcome. Stroller parking is available in the Hirshhorn Lobby. If there are access services or accommodations that can make your experience more inclusive (e.g., ASL interpretation, live captioning, etc.), please contact hmsgeducation@si.edu. 1-2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required. For a group of ten or more, please contact mcgettigant@si.edu to reserve a program in advance.
