Updated: November 30, 2006

National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink Community Day

Washington Capitals' Donald Brashear and Boyd Gordon with skaters from the Fort Dupont Ice Arena Drew Arnett, Madison Hartke-Weber, Joelle Milton, skating director and instructor Terri Ann Lowenthal, and National Gallery of Art curator of northern baroque painting Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. in front of Hendrick Avercamp's A Scene on the Ice (c. 1625), Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund. © 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Photo by Ric Blanc

Washington, DC—On Sunday, December 3, 2006, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the National Gallery of Art will host a Community Day at its Sculpture Garden Ice Rink on the National Mall. Players from the Washington Capitals ice hockey team and Joe Reekie from Comcast SportsNet, along with the Capitals' mascot "Slapshot," and skaters from Fort Dupont Ice Arena will treat visitors to a fun-filled day of ice skating and hockey demonstrations.

Gallery staff will be on hand to distribute materials about NGAkids, offer tours of the Sculpture Garden, give short talks in the Gallery's West Building about Gilbert Stuart's painting The Skater, and provide free self-guided family audio tours of Dutch and Flemish art. Free hot chocolate will be available from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Pavilion Café, and the first 200 people in line will be able to skate for free between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. when performers are not on the ice.

Gallery curators Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. and Franklin Kelly will be on hand to answer questions about popular paintings in the Gallery's collection that depict the joys of ice skating.

Participating organizations include the Washington Capitals, Fort Dupont Ice Arena, DC Circulator Bus, the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID), and Guest Services, Inc.

Schedule of events:

10:30 am–2:00 pm
Free hot chocolate and education materials at the Pavilion Café

11:00 am–noon
First 200 in line at rental booth pay no admission to ice rink
Skate with Washington Capitals and National GAllery Curators
Rentals available for $3.00

noon–12:45 pm
Washington Capitals' demonstrations

12:30 pm
First tour of Sculpture Garden begins
(meet at 7th Street entrance)

1:00 pm–1:30 pm
Fort Dupont Ice Arena performances

First gallery talk on Gilbert Stuart's The Skater begins in West Building, Main Floor, American Collection, Gallery 59

1:30 pm–2:00 pm
Next 200 in line at rental booth pay no admission to ice rink
Rentals available for $3.00

2:00 pm
Second gallery talk on Gilbert Stuart's The Skater begins in West Building, Gallery 59
Free public skating ends; free hot chocolate ends

2:30 pm
Second tour of Sculpture Garden begins
(meet at 7th Street entrance)

3:00 pm
Third gallery talk on Gilbert Stuart's The Skater begins in West Building, Gallery 59

9:00 pm
Ice-skating rink closes

Washington Capitals' Donald Brashear and Boyd Gordon with skaters from the Fort Dupont Ice Arena Drew Arnett, Madison Hartke-Weber, Joelle Milton, skating director and instructor Terri Ann Lowenthal and National Gallery of Art curator of northern baroque painting Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. in front of Gilbert Stuart's The Skater (c. 1782), Andrew W. Mellon Collection. © 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Photo by Ric Blanc

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov. The Gallery is now on Facebook—become a fan at www.facebook.com/NationalGalleryofArt.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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