Natural Happenings: Art & Nature

There are many, many hikes, bike rides, and other events on our calendar for this week - check it out. It caught our eye that three of the week's offerings are focused on art and nature:

The Audubon Naturalist society is offering a three-part Nature Photography Workshop. It starts Tuesday (tomorrow) night with a class, followed by a field trip to Great Falls on Saturday, and a follow-up to review your work on December 1. "Learn to see and appreciate the creative forms, patterns, and colors in nature," offers the description. The cost is $40 for members of ANS, and $56 for non-members.

The National Museum of Natural History is hosting a Draw-In (aimed at ages 10+) at its Naturalist Center in Leesburg on Saturday from 11:00 to 4:00. The Naturalist Center houses thousands of specimens that don't fit in the NMNH on the Mall, and many will be available for you to sketch. Professional artists will be on hand to demonstrate drawing techniques, answer questions, and offer advice, including a demonstration of coppersmithing at 1:30. Participants need to bring their own art supplies. Free.


Perhaps you'd rather observe art than make it. On Saturday, the Sierra Club is leading a hike through DC to look at several exhibits. They'll start at 2:00 at the National Geographic Museum with the "Polar Obsession" photo exhibit (free); then walk to Corcoran Gallery of Art to see the photo exhibit "Oil" ($10 entry fee); up to the Convention Center to see the "Windows into DC" exhibit, then down to Kennedy Center to see free 6 pm performance on the Millennium Stage ("and perhaps brain overload," admits the organizer). The final leg is a walk back to the Foggy Bottom Metro. For more info: Liz Guertin, eguertin@yahoo.com.