Treasures of the Smithsonian Libraries
Thursday, January 15, 10:30 a.m.
Members Only: Rare Books Curator Leslie Overstreet will introduce some of the “Treasures of the Smithsonian Libraries,” products of past centuries when books were beautiful works of art. Books in the collection include famous first editions of Darwin, Linnaeus and Audubon and the special collection of James Smithson.

Botany Prints Over Time
Thursday, January 22, 10:30 a.m.
Members Only: Curator Leslie Overstreet will talk about the technologies of making and publishing botanical prints with a special focus on orchids. You will be in the rare book reading room and see volumes in early botany, woodcuts, hand-colored engravings and 21st-century digital photography.

Orchids, Through Darwin’s Eyes
Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 10:30 a.m.
Members Only: Experts from the Smithsonian Horticultural Division will conduct a tour of the 15th Annual Orchid Exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. In addition to live orchids, the tour will highlight excerpts from Darwin’s writings and extinct orchid specimens. This exhibit is being sponsored jointly with the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Explore the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Tuesday, February 3, 11:30 a.m.
Members Only: Explore traditional and non-traditional art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Tour begins with traditional American Graphic Masters and proceeds to the Lincoln Gallery, the museum’s showcase of contemporary multi-media American work. At the conclusion of the tour, we hope you will join us for lunch in the Kogod Courtyard Café (at members expense), and for 1:30 tour of the Luce and Linder Centers.

Discover Conservation Facilities at Smithsonian American Art Museum
Tuesday, February 3, 1:30 p.m.
Members Only: Discover the Lunder Conservation and Luce Foundation centers at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. These unique facilities allow visitors to see works not on display in the galleries, and to learn about art conservation.

Treasures of the Smithsonian Libraries
Thursday, February 5, 10:30 a.m.
Members Only: Rare Books Curator Leslie Overstreet will introduce some of the “Treasures of the Smithsonian Libraries,” products of past centuries when books were beautiful works of art. Books in the collection include famous first editions of Darwin, Linnaeus and Audubon and the special collection of James Smithson.

Botany Prints Over Time
Wedesday, February 11, 10:30 a.m.
Members Only: Curator Leslie Overstreet will talk about the technologies of making and publishing botanical prints with a special focus on orchids. You will be in the rare book reading room and see volumes in early botany, woodcuts, hand-colored engravings and 21st-century digital photography.

Orchids, Through Darwin’s Eyes
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.
Members Only: Experts from the Smithsonian Horticultural Division will conduct a tour of the 15th Annual Orchid Exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. In addition to live orchids, the tour will highlight excerpts from Darwin’s writings and extinct orchid specimens. This exhibit is being sponsored jointly with the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Bourgeois at the Hirshhorn
Wed., March 25, 10:30 a.m.
Members Only: Discover the exciting works of Louise Bourgeois, French-born artist who emigrated to the US in 1938. Inspired by avant-garde movements – surrealism, conceptualism, psychoanalysis, feminism -- her works encompass an array of images and materials, ranging from plaster, bronze, marble and wood to plastic, latex, wax, steel, toy doll fragments, electric lights, and found objects.