With more than 80 working theatres and some of the most world-renowned art collections and museum exhibitions in the world, everyday is a good day to explore the arts & culture scene in Washington, DC.

Museum Exhibtions... Now Showing

Gyroscope (through January 4): In celebration of the Hirshhorn Gallery's 30th anniversary as a collecting museum, Gyroscope marks the first time since the museum's inauaguration that the entire complex - galleries, garden and plaza - is devoted strictly to works from the permanent collection.
Hirshhorn Gallery. www.hirshhorn.si.edu.

Genome: The Secret of How Life Works (through January 4): An interactive exhibition that explores the mystery of the human gene, the mapping of the genome and gene research. Highlights include a 25-foot model of the double helix and a video screen that lets visitors navigate a map of a cell.
Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building. www.si.edu/ai.

The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting (through January 11): This installation at the National Gallery of Art's West Building is the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to genre painting - scenes from daily life, real and imagined - in French art and the Old Regime.
National Gallery of Art. www.nga.gov.

Whistler's Greatest Etchings: The 1889 Amsterdam Set (through February 1): This exhibition allows visitors to retrace the development of Whistler's artistry by comparing fourteen rare Amsterdam impressions with major examples of the artist's earlier work as a printmaker.
Free Gallery of Art. www.asia.si.edu.

Museum Exhibitions...Coming Attractions

W. Eugene Smith (January 31-April 14): The first museum show in Washington, DC of W. Eugene Smith's photographs, the exhibition constitutes a focused retrospective of the signature images by this famed LIFE magazine photo-essayist and respected practitioner of social documentary photography.
Corcoran Gallery of Art. www.corcoran.org.

Verrocchio's David Restored: A Renaissance Bronze from the National Museum of the Bargello, Florence (February 13-March 21): The National Gallery of Art will host one of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance in its first visit outside the United States. The sculpture will be displayed according to the artist's original design, with the head of Goliath outside David's right foot. The sculpture will be displayed among other works that underscore the themes of David and Goliath and complement the sculptor's work.
National Gallery of Art. www.nga.gov.

The Quilts of Gee's Bend (February 14-May 17): Featuring 70 quilts dating from the 1930s to 2000, The Quilts of Gee's Bend, include quilts made from everyday fabrics: corduroy, denim, cotton sheets and well-worn clothing. Most of the quilts are of the type known as piece, strip or patchwork, yet their vibrant color schemed and abstract compositions vary widely from the ordered regularity associated with traditional Western quilt-making.
Corcoran Gallery of Art. www.corcoran.org.

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Theatre...Coming Attractions

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Art's Opera House has just reopened after a major renovation. The improved space includes added seating, a larger orchestra pit, a new sound system and updated interior design. The Kirov Opera, based on Alexander Pushkin's narrative poem, will take the stage beginning December 16. 202-467-4700. www.kennedy-center.org.

Festival of France (Jan-May): The Kennedy Center celebrates the impact of French arts on the world with the Festival of France. The festival will include performances in traditional and contemporary dance, theater, music, film, plus literary readings and visual arts exhibitions. Performers slated to appear include world-renowned pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Jean-Yves Tibaudet, duo pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque, and soprano Renée Fleming. 202-467-4700, www.kennedy-center.org.

The York Realist (December 3-January 11): Awarded the 2002 Critic's Circle Award for Best Play, The York Realist sold out in London last winter and is now making its U.S. debut. Set in Yorkshire, the play is the love story of two men in the 1960s and the internal and external obstacles that keep them apart. The Studio Theatre. 202-332-3300. www.studiotheatre.org.

Cooking with Elvis (December 16-January 11): Lee Hall, author of Billy Elliott, presents a comedy about a British Elvis impersonator, his wife, daughter, and the uphpeaval the family is thrown into with the appearance of a handsome young baker into their lives. Woolly Mammoth Theatre. 202-289-2443. www.woolly-mammoth.net.

Melissa Arctic (January 23-February 29): Playwright Craig Wright puts a new spin on the Bard's classic, A Winter's Tale. Melissa Arctic is set in modern-day Minnesota and tells the tale of three tangled lives that are forever changed by jealousy and doubt. Folger Shakespeare Theatre. 202-544-7077. www.folger.edu.

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