Newsdesk

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence,” a major exhibition examining the history of women’s suffrage in the United States opening March 29. The seven-room exhibition will feature more than 120 portraits and objects spanning 1832 to 1965 that explore the American suffrage movement and the political challenges women have faced. “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence” is a centerpiece of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative called “Because of Her Story.”

The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has announced that artist Charline von Heyl’s critically acclaimed exhibition, “Snake Eyes,” has been extended through April 21. The exhibition, which was organized in collaboration with the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany, is the artist’s largest U.S. museum survey exhibition to date, comprising more than 30 large-scale works that highlight von Heyl’s innovative artistic development.

Smithsonian Gardens and the U.S. Botanic Garden will open the 24th annual orchid exhibition, “Orchids: Amazing Adaptations,” in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, Feb. 16. On display through April 28, the exhibition explores how orchids have adapted to a variety of habitats and how humans can work to protect them.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has begun the first major phase of the renovation of the building on the National Mall with the closure of nine galleries. Lane and sidewalk closures around the building on Jefferson Drive and Seventh Street began in early January and will remain in place for the next three years.