Field Trips – National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art provides a wonderful backdrop for capturing some unique images.  Let’s get inspired from our visit where we’ll immerse ourselves in over 150,000 pieces of art while making some of our own. Though this field trip is not guaranteed to make you famous from the art you create, it is guaranteed to entertain you on what might otherwise be a boring winter day.

Besides the art exhibits, you will find lots of interesting subjects including architecture, lines, colors, shapes, and street photo ops of people admiring the art in the East Building. Unlike the modern architecture of the East Building, the West Building’s neoclassical architecture provides a more traditional layout including two garden courts, a rotunda, and expansive hallways connecting them. While some museums are extremely difficult to work in, the National Gallery of Art offers a lot more space to spread out. That openness should make it easier to compose images to tell your story without annoying distractions.

If the weather is comfortably cool or the sun is just too nice to ignore, consider a visit to the Sculpture Garden which lies further West of the West Building. The outdoor exhibit opens at 11am, and in the winter, the Smithsonian drains the fountain in the center and converts it to an ice rink (weather permitting). Also outside and between the East and West Buildings you will find a cobblestone plaza with pyramidal skylights and a sunken fountain. 

More information about the gallery’s current exhibits is available on their website:

https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/current.html