The Center of DC

Now that I've been in the DC area for about 3 months, I have finally begun going downtown to see some of the sights. Two Saturdays ago I visited the National Museum of American History. It was a great museum and really we only scratched the surface. I went down there with a few friends because Jen Pike had seen an article in the newspaper about a new exhibit there. Well, we came to find out the new exhibit was actually in the American Art Museum. Still, we enjoyed the one we went to even though we didn't get to see the exhibit that day.

This summer there's a guy that I became friends with in the ward who is here for the summer doing an internship on Capitol Hill. Part of his internship is giving tours of the Capitol building, so I told Bryce that I wanted him to give me a tour sometime during the summer! Last Sunday I brought it up and he said he actually was going to do one that Saturday for some friends, so I could join. Bryce gave us a great tour and we got to skip all the lines for waiting to get into the Capitol building. It was so nice to have such a small group of us.

This star markes the very center of DC (originally). Apparently the roads were planned around this point. It made me laugh and I made the comment that I didn't think the road system was based of anything!

Bryce told us about the paintings done on the rotunda as well as the frieze about part way up. They were done by Constantino Brumidi when he was in his 70's. One thing Bryce showed us that was pretty cool was the Brumidi Corridors. They are these hallways of frescos painted by him and they are not part of the typical tour. I thought it was pretty cool because when I think frescos I think Italian Renaissance, not early America.

This was one of my favorite portraits we saw in the Capitol building. It's Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress. I loved the attitude in this picture, so I had to try myself. I don't think I've got it down quite the way she does though. I need a bit more sass and a better outfit!

Title Piece of the Exhibit. Charles Willson Peale's "Artist in His Museum"

Then we headed down to Chinatown and after a great lunch, I went with Jen Pike and Mike Neary to the American Art Museum to see the exhibit we missed last week. I loved it! I got to see quite a few things I'd studied in college. I think it was a lot more interesting for me having the background knowledge that I did about the significance of many of these works and artists. I think the exhibit emphasized the innovation of Americans as well as the early American penchant for learning and progress, and the reverence for nature.