Summer Solstice Festival

Let’s celebrate the summer solstice in the National Gallery’s Sculpture Garden with our partners from the National Museum of Natural History!

Pack a picnic blanket, snacks, and spend the day with us. Educators from both museums will encourage artful connections with the flora and fauna around you. Check out specimens from the National Museum of Natural History’s education collection, enjoy a Storytime in the garden, and color your own nature scene inspired by the Sculpture Garden. Continue your creative journey with the acoustic sounds of the Onyx Club Boys and a tour with Ecologist Rea Manderino. Pick up a nature journal to inspire connections as you explore the exhibition Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World in the National Gallery’s West Building.  

This exhibit features specimens from the National Museum of Natural History’s collection and artworks from the National Gallery of Art. Interested in exploring more “Little Beasts” in Natural History’s collections? Head on over to the Natural History and check out the Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals on the first floor, Bone Hall on the second floor, and the O. Orkin Insect Zoo on the second floor!

In case of inclement weather, this event will be relocated to the National Gallery of Art’s West Building.

This event is part of Smithsonian Solstice Saturday.

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11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Drop-in Artmaking with National Museum of Natural History

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Storytelling with Mother Goose in the Sculpture Garden

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Sculpture Garden Guided Tour

12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m. Midsummer with the Onyx Club Boys and Michael Joseph Harris, guitar 

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Seeing Little Beasts: In the Garden with Rea Manderino 

2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. Midsummer with the Onyx Club Boys and Michael Joseph Harris, guitar