National Portrait Gallery Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, Artist Maren Hassinger and More
IDENTIFY: Maren Hassinger with Charlotte Ickes
Wednesday, Oct. 7
5:30 p.m.
Join New York-based artist Maren Hassinger and Portrait Gallery Curator of Time-Based Media Art Charlotte Ickes for an online screening of Hassinger’s video “Birthright” (2005), sponsored by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative. “Birthright” unfolds around a central encounter between the artist and her uncle, whom she is meeting for the first time. The twelve-minute video documents Hassinger as she learns about her father’s family history – what the artist describes as a “history of a Black family in the aftermath of slavery.” During the virtual event, Hassinger will teach attendees how to twist newspaper, a meditative ritual she performs throughout the course of the video. This event anticipates Hassinger’s related performance next spring, which is commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery’s IDENTIFY series dedicated to performance art. The Zoom link will be emailed to participants upon registration.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!
Introducing... and Young Portrait Explorers will highlight portraits and stories of history makers from the wider Latinx community through October 15 in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Learn about these influential figures and expand your Spanish vocabulary!
Introducing...
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m.
YouTube @smithsoniannpg
Oct. 7: Marta Moreno Vega
Oct. 14: Sonia Sotomayor
Oct. 21: Sylvia Rivera
Oct. 28: Chita Rivera
Young Portrait Explorers
Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m.
Instagram @smithsoniannpg
Oct.6: Return to Aztlán
Oct. 20: Sonia Sotomayor
Día de los Muertos
Monday, Nov. 2
6:30 p.m.
National Portrait Gallery's steps
G Street entrance
Join the National Portrait Gallery in a celebration of life, memory, identity, and culture. This year's outdoor program invites visitors to remember loved ones and victims of COVID-19.
A special video and sound installation by D.C.-area artist MasPaz commemorates members of the Latinx community who have been lost during the pandemic. Visitors may contribute their own memories – in the form of artwork, photos, or other items – to an altar on the museum's steps.
The Edgar P. Richardson Lecture Series
Marking the Middle: Loïs Mailou Jones's Mid-Century Portrait Practice
Rebecca VanDiver, Assistant Professor of African American Art, Vanderbilt University
Tuesday, Oct. 13
5:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
During her lengthy career, African American painter Loïs Mailou Jones (1905–1998) created work in a variety of genres. Portraiture played a pivotal role in her artistic practice, from her days as an art student in 1920s Boston and her time in late 1930s Paris to her forty-five-year tenure at Howard University, and beyond. This talk will examine the ways in which Jones's mid-century portrait practice enabled the artist to mark her place in the middle of the increasingly Afro-Diasporic cultural and social scenes of Paris, Washington, D.C., and Port-au-Prince.
Suzanne Valadon: An Artist on View
Nancy Ireson, Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions and Gund Family Chief Curator, Barnes Foundation
Tuesday, Oct. 20
5:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
Marie-Clémentine Valadon (1865–1938), who began her career as a popular artist’s model after a difficult childhood, defied the odds to become a successful painter. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec even gave her the nickname “Suzanne,” after the biblical story of Susanna and the Elders, in which two old men prey on a beautiful bathing woman. Valadon began exhibiting her prints and drawings in the 1880s, and in the twentieth century enjoyed considerable commercial success. Reactions to her bohemian lifestyle, however, marred her critical reception. Thus, this lecture will explore how Valadon effectively exchanged one kind of scrutiny for another.
The Veil and the Rebozo: Fashioning Identity in the Self-Portraits of María Izquierdo
Nancy Ireson, Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions and Gund Family Chief Curator, Barnes Foundation
Mark Castro, Jorge Baldor Curator of Latin American Art, Dallas Museum of Art
Tuesday, Oct. 27
5:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
In her self-portraits, the painter María Izquierdo boldly proclaimed herself a member of the new generation of women artists that shaped Mexican culture after the revolution of 1910–20. By wearing clothing associated with Mexico’s Indigenous communities, Izquierdo joined her contemporaries in asserting the integral role of these Native cultures in Mexico’s new national identity. At the same time, her interest in portraiture and the utilization of her own, often ambiguous, visual language, set Izquierdo apart from the cultural production of the wider Mexican art world, which was driven by nationalist interests.
These three presentations are part of the Edgar P. Richardson Lecture Series, which is hosted by PORTAL, the Portrait Gallery's Scholarly Center. The Edgar P. Richardson Lecture Series takes place biennially and is made possible by the generous support of the Edgar P. Richardson Fund.
Additional Weekly Online Programs
The National Portrait Gallery is proud to host some of its many public programs online. These digital offerings range from story times for young children to art-making workshops for all ages. Tune in to the museum's social media channels to experience them firsthand.
Visit our website's Visit at Home page for more in-depth program descriptions.
Coming Soon
Art AfterWords: A Book Discussion
Tuesday, Nov. 10
5:30–7:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
The National Portrait Gallery and the DC Public Library would like to invite you to a virtual conversation about immigrant families, identity and storytelling. Join us as we analyze David Levine’s portrait of Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri from the new exhibition “Her Story: A Century of Women Writers,” and discuss the related book "Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations" by Mira Jacob. Participants are encouraged to explore the virtual exhibition before the event. DCPL cardholders can access "Good Talk" online.
Call for Entries
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2022
Calling all artists 18 and over! Ready for #Outwin2022? Starting October 5, you can submit a portrait to our sixth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The first-prize winner will receive $25,000 and a commission to portray a remarkable living American for our collection. For more details, visit portraitcompetition.si.edu.
Access
Audio Descriptions of America's Presidents
Encounter the Portrait Gallery's signature exhibition from a new perspective! Our detailed audio descriptions of select presidential portraits are geared toward those who are blind or have low vision, but anyone can enjoy them! Available on our website and on SmARTify. This free and easy-to-use app allows you to explore more than 1,000 artworks from the Portrait Gallery’s collection.
ASL Exhibition Tours
Check out past ASL tours on the museum's YouTube channel including one of "The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today," which is now on tour. Preview an online adaptation on the exhibition's website.
EDUCATION RESOURCES
The National Portrait Gallery is excited to host virtual student and teacher programs during the 2020–21 academic year. Our virtual student programs will run from October 1, 2020, through May 28, 2021. Teachers, choose the length of your student program (30, 45, or 60 minutes). For a complete list of Portrait Gallery student programs offered this school year, and to register, please visit our Student Program Page. Professional development workshop topics include political cartoons, women in science, portraiture as writing prompts, and a series of workshops for teachers in specific content areas. Keep checking our website as we’ll continue to add workshops throughout the year. Zoom links will be emailed to registered participants 24–48 hours in advance of the program.
Free—Registration required