DC 2

This might make you think... should people in DC have to pay taxes when they have no representation in Congress?

For all my "crafty friends",  I can just imagine this balloon flower as a May Day decoration, or in school colors, or birthday party!  There were 3 of these huge balloon flowers marking the entrance to Cherry Hill Park when we came back from sight- seeing one day for a wedding at the park.  Balloons are tied together at the back (no framework) and then glued to hold in place.

Metro

We rode Metro every day we were in Washington DC.  Scott and I both had a "smart card" we swiped to ride both Metro and the bus system.

William Wegman teamed up with NASA to put Dogs in Space in the L'Enfant Metro Station.

Dog walkers on the street in DC!

Chinatown Gate

Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery

Vaquero by Luis Jimenez 

Benjamin Franklin

by Joseph Duplessis - this is the portrait of Ben Franklin used on the $100 dollar bill.

Great Hall

Praised by Walt Whitman as the "noblest of Washington buildings" and the place of Abraham Lincoln's inaugural ball.  This Great Hall was also used as a hospital during the Civil War.  Walt Whitman visited the wounded soldiers every day - he brought fruit, biscuits, tobacco, and books to make life a little easier.  He read to the men and wrote letters to their families.

Stained glass dome

Can you imagine beds lining this hallway?

National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through the individuals who have shaped our culture.  The Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives reveal the American story.  All the presidents are represented; I chose a few that I especially liked to share with you!

George and Martha Washington

Gilbert Stuart was commissioned to paint these portraits but never finished them.  George Washington agreed to sit for the portrait only because Martha wanted it for herself.  However Stuart preferred it to an earlier one he had done, so he purposefully left it undone and used it as a model for numerous copies. The portrait of Martha Washington is the only known likeness of her as First Lady.

Bill Clinton

by Chuck Close

Chuck Close painted shapes to create the face of Bill Clinton.  Can you see his eye?

George Walker Bush

George H.W. Bush as a Horseshoe Player bronze sculpture by Pat Oliphant.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

by Elaine de Kooning

Richard Nixon

by Norman Rockwell

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

by Douglas Chandor

George Washington Carver

by Betsy Graves Reyneau

I think this is my favorite portrait in the entire gallery, it just speaks to me about this interesting man.  George Washington Carver born into slavery overcame racial discrimination to seek an education.  In his laboratory at Tuskegee Institute he created over 450 new commercial products ranging from library paste to margarine from previously untapped resources.  He encouraged cotton farmers to rotate their crops to restore nitrogen to the soil which made him a huge promoter of peanuts!

Rosa Parks

by Marshall Rumbaugh

Martin Luther King

Capitol Rotunda

by Constantino Brumidi, Study for The Apotheosis of Washington.

Lionel Hampton

Marilyn Monroe

by Andy Warhol, Marilyn invites you into this gallery.  

Cassius Clay

by Andy Warhol

Woman Eating 

Resin and fiberglass sculpture by Duane Hanson.

Can you see the different things used in this modern art?  Chair back?  Spindle table leg? 

Electronic Superhighway

by Nam June Paik

Folk Art

Giraffe made of bottle caps! 

Tiger, baboon, and gorilla by Felipe Archuleta

The animals are all carved and painted cottonwood with marble eyes.

NYC Central Park Playground Gates

These playground gates by Pat Manship tell two Aesop's fables; The Fox and the Crow and The Crane and the Peacock.

We the People...

Preamble by Mike Wilkins is made from vanity plates from all 50 states.

Library of Congress

The gold leaf Flame of Knowledge was glowing today!

Father Vincenzo Coronelli, 1650 - 1718

Father Vincenzo Coronelli was the most illustrious geographer of his time.  Can you see the United States?  Oregon, Washington, and California are a long island on this globe.

Celestial Globe made in the 1690's.

Tunnel from Madison Building to Library of Congress.

Senate Flag

The Senate is in session... we visited the Senate and the House of Representatives.  It was very interesting; the senators discussed early childhood education, Obama care, and pharmaceutical drug companies while our representatives debated asbestos legislation.

Capitol Dome and the Statue of Freedom