DC 2012 in Culture, Politics, and History

As the nation's capital, Washington D.C. is obviously a great place to observe politics and history. But it also provides many marvelous cultural experiences, too. Here is the list of our 2012 D.C. favorites in culture, politics, and history.

Favorite Art Exhibition - Major Museum Show

• Judy - Joan Miro: The Ladder of Escape (National Gallery)
• Me - The Shock of News (National Gallery)

Favorite Art Exhibition - Small Gallery Show

• Judy - First Ladies (The Fridge)
• Me - 13 Days, 13 Nights in 1962 (Civilian Arts Project)

Favorite Social Issues Art Exhibition

• Judy - Kathryn Cornelius: Save the Date (issues of women's roles and marriage at the Corcoran)
• Me - Manifest: Armed (issue of guns and violence at the Corcoran)

Favorite Art Talk by Exhibition Curator

• Judy - The Civil War and American Art (Smithsonian Museum of American Art)
• Me - Poetic Likeness: Modern American Poets (National Portrait Gallery)

Favorite DC Art Museum 

• Judy - National Gallery of Art
• Me - Smithsonian Museum of American Art

Favorite Cultural Exhibition

• Judy - Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion. Power at the National Museum of Women's Art
• Me - Pure Land: Inside the Magao Grottoes of China at the S. Dillion Ripley Center

Favorite Ethnic Exhibition

• Judy - African Cosmos: Stellar Arts at the Museum of African Art
• Me - The Golden Age of Muslim Civilization at National Geographic

Favorite Smithsonian Museum

• Judy - The American Art Museum
• Me - The Museum of American History

Favorite DC Museum (not part of the Smithsonian)

• Judy - National Archives
• Me - The Newseum

Favorite 2012 Historical Exhibition

• Judy - Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press at the Newseum
• Me - On the Brink: JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis at the National Archives

Favorite History Tour

• Judy - The White House
• Me - The Great American Scandal  Tour (all the dirty secrets of  DC)

Favorite Panel Discussion 

• Judy - Past, Present, and Future of Political Campaigns at the National Archives
• Me - The 30th Anniversary of Watergate Break-in with Bob Woodward at the Newseum

Favorite Book Store

• Judy - Barnes and Noble at Potomac Yards
• Me - Politics and Prose

Favorite Book Talk (non-fiction)

• Judy - Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill, former Secret Service agent
• Me - Fire in the Ashes by Jonathan Kozol

Favorite Fiction Book Talk (politically related)

• Judy - Jack, 1939 by Francine Matthews
• Me - The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen Carter

Favorite Book Talk about Presidents and Politics

• Judy - The Presidents' Club by Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs
• Me - Barack Obama by David Maraniss

Favorite Book Talk about local DC subject

• Judy - What It Was by George Pelecanos
• Me - Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City by Natalie Hopkinson

Favorite Recurring DC Event

• Judy - The Smithsonian Folkways Festival
• Me - The National Book Fest

Most Interesting Speaker of 2012

• Judy - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
• Me - David Simon, creator of The Wire and Treme

Most Fulfilling Political Activity of 2012

• Judy - working for the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama
• Me - same

Most Important Social Protest Activity of 2012

• Judy - participating in the 1st rally after Newtown against the NRA and its opposition to gun control
• Me - same

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips

Americans have an obsession with big anniversaries. And several of those were celebrated with multiple events in D.C. in 2012 which we attended. They included the 100th anniversaries of :

• the sinking of the Titanic
• The annual DC Cherry Blossom Festival
• the birth of social protest singer Woody Guthrie
• the birth of avant garde composer and artist John Cage

There was also a huge 200th anniversary series of events to commemorate the War of 1812.