Party Hats and Cake!

On this beautiful, sunny, and unseasonably mild winter day, Diggory and I drove downtown to help the Renwick Gallery celebrate its 40th birthday. Happy Birthday Renwick! The Renwick Gallery is located on Pennsylvania Avenue, at the corner of 17th Street NW, just one block west of the White House. It's pretty easy to find metered street parking on the weekends. We found an awesome spot on G Street, just a quick block and a half stroll to the gallery. (Just be prepared to shell out $4 in quarters for two hours, though most of the meters take credit cards now too.)

Image above: Postcard design contest winner Becca Kallem's beautiful watercolor of the Renwick's stunning facade.

When my husband Nathan and I first moved to the DC area, I worked out of the Renwick when the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was organizing the exhibition Grant Wood's Studio: Birthplace of American Gothic. The Renwick, as a result, will always hold a special place in my heart. So when my good friend, Katie Crooks, a public programs coordinator for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, of which the Renwick is a part, invited us to a party, we enthusiastically accepted! Plus, there was music, a hands on "touch table," a party hat craft table, and, of course, CAKE! How could we refuse?!

As you can see in the image above, there are a good number of stairs leading up to the front entrance of the gallery. You can carry your stroller up the stairs...I've done it with two people...but it's definitely safer and easier to take the handicap entrance. The ramp is located on the west side of the building, parallel to 17th Street. You'll enter on the basement level, get the once over by security, and take the elevator up to the first floor. There you can grab a brochure and view the current temporary exhibition. Now through May 6, 2012, you can see Something of Splendor: Decorative Arts from the White House. The exhibition features 95 objects from the collections of the White House - objects as varied as a gilded armchair from 1875 to a service plate from Reagan's 1982 presidential china - arranged roughly chronologically, giving the visitor a better sense of how the collection was built and how the objects were used throughout the history of the iconic home. The exhibition ends with a short film, At Home in the White House, and then, not surprisingly, you find yourself in the gift shop. The gift shop is small (but awesome!) and is a great place to find unique gifts. Just inside the gift shop, you'll find water fountains and a large restroom, the only one in the whole building with a changing table.

Here is Diggory in his party hat!

My favorite spot in the Renwick, by far, is the second-floor Grand Salon, with it's mid-1800's decor and it's dense arrangement of paintings hung salon-style. Conveniently, there are four maps in front of each of the four walls which identify the artist, title, and date of each painting. You'll find your old, beloved favorites and maybe a new favorite or two. There are also a handful of printed gallery guides available to provide more information on the artists.

Diggory with my dear friend Katie!

The second floor also displays works from the museum's permanent collection of contemporary craft and decorative arts, as well as a selection of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century paintings along the walls of the grand stair hall and in the Octagon Room.

The contemporary craft and decorative arts never ceases to amaze me. The workmanship, creativity, and mastery of materials is truly something awe inspiring. The Game Fish and Ghost Clock are stand-by favorites for most visitors, but I find myself drawn to the more utilitarian pieces, such as Albert Paley's Portal Gates, in the image below on the left. But maybe I'm a bit biased because of Paley's Iowa connections. He designed the work Transformation for Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, my home town. He also has pieces in Perry, Iowa, at National Harbor in Alexandria, Virginia (my current town), and at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

With our exploration of the museum complete, we said our goodbyes, packed up our party hat, and headed back to the car, taking just a few moments to stroll past the White House to soak up some sunshine. All in all, we had a fabulous afternoon, and the cake didn't hurt one little bit.