DC: Off the beaten path...

I totally neglected to mention visiting NGA's amazing exhibit, The Art of Power. It simply was an amazing achievement. NGA buddied up with the Royal Armory in Madrid (and others) to build an incredible collection of Imperial court armour; not only were there many nice, shiny suits of armour to see, but they were often coupled with paintings. I mean, paintings by masters, who copied those actual suits of armour to create paintings in which the figures wore suits of armour. Does that make sense?

Put another way, I've seen my fair share of painted knights/kings/etc., and have always wondered how much of the armour was the painter's imagination, and how much was model. This exhibit was so incredible because you could see the actual suit of armour that, say, Velazquez painted hundreds of years ago, and it's the same suit as you can see in the painting beside it and it's real and it's a foot away from me!!!! How such things can even survive history, let alone be in such beautiful condition and be assembled for such an exhibition, is really the greatness of museums. Well done, NGA curators.

Otherwise, a bout of not-altogether-healthiness has dampened my galavanting. I did attend a dance performance at the Kennedy Center, called Gimp. It was presented in conjunction with the Very Special Arts, and I'm glad I saw it -- quite poignant -- quite challenging.

By the way, if any AAd'ers have questions about how to apply for federal jobs, ask me! I spent all day in a conference about it. Really. It's so arcane that they block off six hours to explain it, en masse, to fresh interns. I guess I get it now. I also really "got" that in the world of SmAthsonian Human Resources, five days = 500 applications! It seems somewhat miraculous for anyone to get a SmAthsonian job, ever, and I'm glad I'm not one of the faceless thousands with a Master's in Art History (no offense to those with that degree).

Since last weekend was not actually my last in the dorms (this forthcoming shall be), I have compiled a very exciting list of less obvious things to do in DC. How many can I possibly accomplish? Try this on for size:

• Art Museum of the Americas (free!)
• Textile Museum (free!)
• Visit Arlington (cemetary, presumably free)
• Attend a Nats game (it's baseball and it's $10)
• Somehow attend the famously gory Museum of Health and Medicine (giant hair balls and the bullet that killed Lincoln, free)
• National Building Museum (free!)
• National Geographic Explorer's Hall... (photography exhibits, mostly free!)
• Science Museum / National Academy of Sciences ($3 with my UO ID... sweet)
• Luce Center (because I love it too much)
• Bike ride to Mt. Vernon (entails bike rental, 16 mile trail and $15 admission)
• Visit a gallery or two

And finally...

• International Spy Museum ($18... ugh)

or

• Newseum ($17.76... adorable price-gouge!)

Maybe I'm compensating for Le Week-end de Target, but my increasingly easy internship is leaving me with more and more energy to suck out of life. I guess that's mighty fine.

I am, on a more serious note, putting the time to good use -- I checked out a bunch of nerd-tastic books from the SI library, and have set up a meeting with Americans for the Arts. The American Association of Museums, mind you, has broken my heart with promises, promises, promises; and now radio silence. I guess I could storm the headquarters, but it's just an office, so it's not like I can walk around and absorb knowledge about the organization without a proper meeting. Maybe they'll pull through.

But seriously, and this will alarm my academic colleagues, I... am re-thinking my research proposal. Again. I know. I know. But ever since it followed me to DC (thanks, Patricia), I haven't had the energy to read it over again. Interesting, and I feel I've poked around quite a lot on the Internet this summer and read a lot about social networking, museums, and museum education... I guess I feel like I've learned a satisfactory amount about my subject through my own efforts this summer, so to spend nine months compiling that into a paper seems repetitive. I don't like being repetitive. I like fresh blood (academically speaking).

Which is why I'm really looking forward to Americans for the Arts. Seriously. Can improving the quality of people's lives be achieved through Facebook? Or rather, by providing kids with inspiring early experiences with the arts (via teachers who can access resources and administrators who value arts education)? As an arts adminstrator, I find myself pondering the reality of my profession, as experienced in the internship, and confronted with the question of what is truly, personally meaningful.

Research is just a big paper, I know, but it's also a platform to explore a field and ground your practice. I'd just like to be on very solid ground. And I'm paying good money to write that paper, after all.