Fine Art, Straight Up

Washingtonians who like a little substance with their alcoholic substances should check out tomorrow night's event at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The program, dubbed Hirshhorn After Hours, is designed to highlight "Gyroscope," the museum's most recent reinstallation of its permanent collection. Featured exhibits include "From Ordinary to Extraordinary," which focuses on art that uses non-traditional materials, and "Sculptors and Their Drawings," with works by Picasso, Giacometti and Matisse. Visitors can troll these displays, as well as a video installation by Hiraki Sawa, from 7 to 10 p.m. Cash bars in the lobby and Lerner Room will be open during these hours, serving drinks ranging from $2.50 to $7.

The Hirshhorn has held evening events before, but this one is a new frontier for the museum, according to spokeswoman Gabriel Ensholm, because of the caliber of speakers in attendance. At 7 p.m., Jim Hodges, the artist who created the piece now hanging from the museum's facade, will discuss his work in the Ring Auditorium. Seats for this event are expected to fill early. For those who don't get in to see Hodges, curators will be available throughout the evening to talk about selected works of art; director Olga Viso also will discuss the museum's new acquisitions at 9 p.m.

In his review in last Friday's Weekend Section, Michael O'Sullivan described parts of the new installation as "cerebral" and others as "purely about delight." So how's that for a different kind of happy hour?

--Julia