Smithsonian Associates Presents April Program Highlights

The April issue of the Smithsonian Associates’ program guide features a variety of educational and cultural programs, including seminars, lectures, studio arts classes, performances for adults and children and local and regional study tours. Highlights this month include:

Julia Ward Howe: Beyond the “Battle Hymn”

Monday, April 4; 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

National Museum of American History’s Warner Bros. Theater

Best known as the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Julia Ward Howe was also a powerful abolitionist and a noted proponent of women’s suffrage. Elaine Showalter, professor emeritus of English at Princeton University, has produced the first full biography of this remarkable figure, The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe (Simon & Schuster). She joins NPR’s Cokie Roberts for a conversation about Howe’s eventful life and times.

Under the Weather: How Climate Works

Thursday, April 14; 6:45 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center

Senior geographer at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Douglas Herman, explains the variable heating of the Earth by the sun, the global wind system and air pressure, the causes of precipitation and the distribution of moisture, the different effects of land and water on air temperature and pressure and how it all fits together in the global climatic system.   

The Man Who Made Gone with the Wind Glorious: William Cameron Menzies and the Art of Production Design

Saturday, April 23; 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., includes intermission.

AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd.

James Curtis, author of William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come, delves into the artistic and dramatic contribution that Menzies made to the 1939 movie spectacle, Gone with the Wind. Its indelible images are part of the production designer’s magic and moviegoers’ memories the world over. After the talk, the audience will watch the film in AFI Silver’s restored art deco theater. Civil War era-punch will be served in AFI Silver’s lobby during intermission.

The Shanghai Quartet with Guest Artist Wu Man, pipa

Co-presented by the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries and Smithsonian Associates

Tuesday, April 26; 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

National Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium

Two-time Grammy-nominated artist and member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, Wu Man, performs music for solo Chinese lute (pipa) and joins the renowned Shanghai Quartet for an all-Chinese program in this special Smithsonian appearance. The quartet includes Weigang Li and Yi-Wen Jiang, violin, Honggang Li, viola and Nicholas Tzavaras, cello.

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SI-168-2016