Media Advisory – Photo Op Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China Celebrate the Lunar New Year With a Family Festival
WHAT:
Chinese New Year Family Celebration at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
WHEN:
Saturday, Feb. 1
11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Lion Awakening Ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
WHERE:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Kogod Courtyard
Enter at Eighth and G streets N.W.
WHO:
Stephanie Stebich, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Minister Li Kexin, deputy chief of mission
the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
Ring in the Year of the Rat at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with a variety of performances and activities. The colorful and joyous Lion Awakening Ceremony is highly anticipated by museum visitors each year. In addition, local performers will present traditional Chinese ribbon dancing and acrobatic yo-yo routines. A magician from the city of Shenzhen will present an interactive magic show. Artists, also from Shenzhen, will demonstrate ink finger-painting, wood printing and how to make shadow puppets and dough figurines. The Confucius Institute at George Washington University will offer calligraphy demonstrations, and the Confucius Institute at George Mason University will demonstrate the art of Chinese cut paper and good luck envelopes. A complete schedule of events is available online.
Interested media should RSVP to americanartpressoffice@si.edu. Photographers and film crews are welcome.
The Chinese New Year Family Festival is presented in partnership with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio and Television, and is part of the Lunar New Year DC celebration with the Freer and Sackler and the Kennedy Center.
About the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the flagship museum in the United States for American art and craft. It is home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. The museum’s main building, located at Eighth and G streets N.W., is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The museum’s Renwick Gallery, a branch museum dedicated to contemporary craft, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W. and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Check online for current hours and admission information. Admission is free. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Website: americanart.si.edu.
