Past Exhibitions

JEWISH WASHINGTON: SCRAPBOOK OF AN AMERICAN COMMUNITY

March, 2010 - August 28, 2010
 
A traveling exhibition curated by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington and presented in partnership with the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

In 1795, shortly after the site of the nation’s capital was selected, the first Jewish resident, Isaac Polock arrived in the new federal district of Washington. Over the next two centuries, he was followed by tens of thousands of Jews, all of whom have become a part of the history that this exhibition chronicles. Their lives and deeds tell a unique story of both a hometown and a capital city.

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2010 STUDENT ART SHOW

June 4, 2010 - August 28, 2010

DC Public School and DC Public Charter School student artwork will be on display at a citywide art exhibition featuring 42 works of art.  The work includes prints, drawings, mixed media, paintings, photographs, sculpture, and ceramics.  The student work ranging in grades Pre-K through grade 12.

A panel of jurors will select 10 works to be added the Commission's Art Bank
Collection, a collection of over 2000 works placed in public corridors of
District Government agencies. This collection supports the local artist community while preserving the city's rich art legacy for future generations.

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AMERICA'S SUBWAY: 40 YEARS OF METRO

April, 2010 - August 28, 2010
 
The story of Metro reveals much about the neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. and how they relate to each other.  The exhibit uses the story of this mass transit system  as a ‘vehicle’ to talk about the changing character of neighborhoods from Georgetown to U Street.  It explores how local businesses and residents have been affected by Metro’s construction or by the lack of Metro, and shows how the creation of this transit system has both reflected and changed the nature of Washington D.C. 

Daniel Freeman: The Man behind the Camera

October 26, 2009 to January 18, 2010

 Daniel Freeman dominated the photography business in Washington during the first half of the twentieth century along with Addison Scurlock, his friend and stiffest competitor. The competition between Freeman and Scurlock in some ways mirrored the competing philosophies of racial uplift held by Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.

The Man behind the Camera highlights the work and life of Daniel Freeman beginning with his arrival in Washington DC in 1881 at the age of thirteen. The exhibit explores how Freeman developed as a photographer and at the same time offers a rare glimpse into African American life during the first half of the twentieth century. Opening with his pastel drawings of prominent African American families in Anacostia and LeDroit Park, his portraits also include more famous local residents such as Frederick Douglass. Freeman’s work was sometimes rivaled and overshadowed by his friend Addison Scurlock; however, it is Freeman’s life and work as a photographer that chronicles the struggle and accomplishments of the local African American community only thirty years after emancipation.

Portraying Lincoln: "A Man of Many Faces"

February 7, 2009 to November 8, 2009

In celebration of the bicentennial observance of Abraham Lincoln's birth, Michael Fowler, guest curator, partnered with fellow Lincoln scholars and conducted a national search for original artwork honoring the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln.  The exhibition features widely diverse depictions of Lincoln as the "Great Emancipator" and as a "Man of Sorrows" including contemporary artistic expressions that reflect popular culture and the absurd.