Arts Post: March 6, 2011 - March 12, 2011

Shop or play at Kate Spade's new website

(Screengrab from katespade.com) Designer Kate Spade launched a new katespade.com that looks more like a lifestyle blog than an e-commerce shopping site. Their new website allows readers to "shop" or "play," a model whereby half the website is devoted...

By Katherine Boyle  | March 11, 2011; 11:16 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Fashion  
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Smithsonian pledges to open an American merchandise shop

The skirmish over product origins between the National Museum of American History and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was settled this week when the museum promised to open a gift shop devoted to made-in-America products. Sanders had expressed his displeasure at...

By Jacqueline Trescott  | March 11, 2011; 9:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Jacqueline Trescott, Museums, Smithsonian  | Tags:  American manufacturing, National Museum of American History, Sen. Bernard Sanders, U.S.merchandise at the Smithsonian  
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Jefferson bible gets rehabbed

The Jefferson bible. (National Museum of American History)When Thomas Jefferson was 77, he went back to a project he had been thinking about for decades. Sitting in Monticello, using candlelight and a knife, he cut New Testament verses in four...

By Jacqueline Trescott  | March 10, 2011; 6:43 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (9)
Categories:  Museums  
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Lockheed Martin gives U.S. Army Museum $10 million

The plans for the National Museum of the U.S. Army are marching right along. Lockheed Martin Corp., the global company based in Bethesda, pledged $10 million this week for the museum's education center.With that promise, the museum has raised $55...

By Jacqueline Trescott  | March 10, 2011; 6:30 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Jacqueline Trescott, Museums  | Tags:  $10 million to future Washington museum, Lockheed Martin, National Museum of the U.S. Army  
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Mary Surratt and "The Conspirator"

Hollywood producer Webster Stone entered the world of museum exhibition design with the adrenaline rush he brings to his movies. "We wanted to break it down just like a movie. There's the conspiracy. There's the attacks. There's the arrests," said...

By Jacqueline Trescott  | March 9, 2011; 6:30 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Films, Jacqueline Trescott, Local Arts and Culture, Museums, Washington exhibitions  | Tags:  Mary Surratt, national crime and punishment museum, Robert Redford, Robin Wright, The Conspirator, Webster Stone  
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Phillips stacks the abstract deck with Kandinsky and Stella

The Phillips Collection is opening its summer season with solo shows by two celebrated modernists: Wassily Kandinsky and Frank Stella. For Washington museum-goers, it has been quite a while since both artists had individual shows at the city's major museums....

By Jacqueline Trescott  | March 9, 2011; 4:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Contemporary Art, Jacqueline Trescott, Museums, Washington exhibitions  | Tags:  Frank Stella, Phillips Collection, Washington exhibitions, Wassily Kandinsky  
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Classical music new fashion trend

(Photo by Sara Jaye Weiss) The Plaza's Terrace Foyer looked like Fitzgerald's take on an East Egg boudoir. Maroon-lipped models grasping flutes of Veuve stood like sculptures in the gilded hall, balancing fur stoles and sparkly gowns that seemed...

By Katherine Boyle  | March 8, 2011; 6:54 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Fashion  
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Smithsonian dispatches curator to collect from Wisconsin debates

The National Museum of American History, always on the outlook for current materials, has dispatched a curator to Wisconsin to judge whether signs and buttons from the ongoing labor debates are museum-worthy. Barbara Klark Smith, a curator with the museum's...

By Jacqueline Trescott  | March 8, 2011; 6:10 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Jacqueline Trescott, Museums, Smithsonian  | Tags:  Barbara Klark Smith, National Museum of American History, political history collection, smithsonian Institution, Valeska Hilbig, Wisconsin labor debates  
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Kennedy Center offers Cate Blanchett, hip-hop, 'The Addams Family'

Blanchett arrives for the Academy Awards last month. (Getty)The Kennedy Center is stretching its artistic offerings in the 2011-2012 season to attract younger audiences with performers such as hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari and vocalist Nellie McKay. At the press conference...

By Jacqueline Trescott  | March 8, 2011; 12:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (8)
Categories:  Kennedy Center  
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'Wicked' online wait for Kennedy Center tickets

A metaphorical house fell on the Kennedy Center's online portal Monday when pre-sale tickets for the 10-week run of the musical "Wicked" became available at 10 a.m. Some members were unable to purchase tickets at the appointed time -- despite...

By Dan Zak  | March 7, 2011; 5:29 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (11)
Categories:  Kennedy Center  
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LVMH acquires Bulgari

Something is rotten on Avenue Montaigne and it's not just the demise of Galliano's career. Bridget Foley, executive editor of WWD, called the mood in Paris reminiscent of Alexander McQueen's death in 2010. But maybe this dark cloud is a...

By Katherine Boyle  | March 7, 2011; 1:04 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Fashion  
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