First Saturday: November

Fun for kids

Storytime

Atrium, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Let’s play together while reading aloud the children’s book Not a Box by Antoinette Portis in English and Spanish. We welcome all ages, especially our youngest visitors and nursing parents.

Fun for Kids

Sketching Lab

Atrium, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

All ages welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult.
First come, first served

Visit our sketching lab to activate your imagination and ideas. Then, add your sketch to our community display to showcase your creativity. 

Fun For Kids

Drop-In Artmaking

Atrium, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

All ages welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult.
First come, first served

Drop-in artmaking is a great way to try your hand at creating art in an informal, relaxed environment. Artmaking activities are designed for all ages and abilities.

Fun for Kids

Kids' Play Space

Atrium, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Children must be accompanied by an adult.
First come, first served

Designed for our littlest art lovers. Play, build, sort, and stack in a hands-on space.

Fun for Kids

Pop-Up Library

Study Center Atrium, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Enjoy special selections from the National Gallery of Art Library along with quiet activities for kids.

Library Talk

Life in the Impressionists' Paris: An Overview of the Library Exhibition

Study Center Atrium, 12:00 p.m. – 12:20 p.m.

Join us for a short introduction to the library's installation of approximately 40 photographs and prints complementing Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment.

Film: Fall Cine-Concerts

Early Max Fleischer Animations: Koko the Clown

East Building Auditorium, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Live accompaniment by Ben Model, piano.

Join us for a special screening of Max Fleischer’s landmark Out of the Inkwell, a program of silent, animated short films with Koko the Clown. Renowned early animator Max Fleischer and his studio were behind iconic cartoon characters like Betty Boop and Popeye. They also pioneered notable techniques that shaped the history of animation, including the Rotoscope, which made the first realistic animation possible, and the Rotograph, which composited live action with animation, both of which are showcased in this screening. Recent restorations of titles like The Boxing Kangaroo (1920) and Jumping Beans (1922) will be presented thanks to Fleischer’s grand-daughter Jane Fleischer Reid and Mauricio Alvarado.

Art Films and Special Screenings

1874, The Birth of Impressionism

East Building Auditorium, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Produced on the occasion of the Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment exhibition and with the support of Musée d’Orsay and Arte Film, this new documentary takes a hybrid approach to the early story of that radical group of French painters known as the impressionists. Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Morisot, Degas, Sisley, and Pissarro are all represented through period scenes that dramatize key moments in their early careers, while a 3D rendering of the remarkable April 15, 1874, exhibition on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris allows viewers to experience the revolutionary paintings as they were first beheld. (Julien Johan and Hugues Nancy, 2024, French with English language subtitles, DCP, 90 minutes)