For Immediate Release: October 2, 2008
Media Contact: Marketing and Communication Department
2008 Festival of the Building Arts
WHAT
Join building and arts professionals at the National Building Museum's 15th Festival of the Building Arts and take part in a variety of fun-for-all-ages, hands-on activities celebrating the built environment. This year the festival will explore the practical and artistic, the traditional and innovating, as it highlights the many different and dynamic aspects of the building arts.
- Try practical skills such as bricklaying, nail-driving, and drywall finishing.
- Speak with experts including plumbers, roofers, carpenters, timberwrights, architects, and designers.
- Explore new construction techniques and materials, such as green roofs, straw bales, and lime putty.
- Work with artisans and designers who supply the finishing touches: woodworkers, furniture makers, gilders, art-glass designers, blacksmiths, and sculptors.
- Build a model to add to the Box City or create a small sculpture from nuts and bolts to take home.
- Sit behind the wheel of real construction vehicles.
NEW THIS YEAR!
Watch Pas de Dirt, a site-specific dance performance that examines the relationship between movement, architecture, and the tools we use to build our environment. Choreographed by Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and set to music from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, the cast includes propane-powered backhoes, their licensed operators, professional dance artists, and ballet students. Performances on F Street at 11:00 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:00 pm. (approx. 15 minutes)
The Festival of the Building Arts is presented by The Associated General Contractors of America, with generous support from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. FAMILY Magazine is the official media partner of the 2008 Festival of the Building Arts.
WHO
Most appropriate for children ages 5 – 13; accompanied by an adult.
WHEN
Saturday, October 11, 2008
10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Free; $5 donation suggested. Individual registration is not required. Scouts and other large groups should visit www.nbm.org to register.
WHERE
National Building Museum
401 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
(Judiciary Square Metro, Red Line)
IMAGES
Images available upon request
For more information, contact the Marketing and Communications Department, 202.272.2448, ext. 3458.
The National Building Museum is America’s leading cultural institution dedicated to advancing the quality of the built environment by educating people about its impact on their lives. Through its exhibitions, educational programs, online content, and publications, the Museum has become a vital forum for the exchange of ideas and information about the world we build for ourselves. Public inquiries: 202.272.2448 or visit www.nbm.org. Connect with us on Twitter: @BuildingMuseum and Facebook.
