The Anacostia Community Museum

Mardi Gras Family Festival:
This museum is great for families and young people of all ages. When me and the fam drove up all we saw was a sea of children with face paint, bedazzled white parasols, and masks. Not to be overwhelmed though, as my sister, a veteran at this venue, and being the controlled and calm adult she is; we entered the museum with A PLAN!
1^st thing we did, signed up for Januwa Moja-Nelson’s Art of Adornment pictures which was about an hour wait, that gave us time to go straight to arts and crafts. Basically you gotta get in where you can fit in, get some paints, ask the volunteers for a mask, parasol, and/​or paper shield. Then there is a huge supply of glitter, paint, and feathers to go to town with.
Question: How do you know an experienced mom? They never sit down at these events for fear of «glitter butt». Once you get glitter on your clothes your likely see it for the next month unless you take your pants to the cleaners.
Everyone is so nice sharing supplies and watching other people’s kids as someone may have to go to the restroom. Cute babies, cute couples, EVERYTHING JUST CUTE!
We make our way back to the Art of Adornment booth, only to wait a bit longer, just because this activity is so popular.
Other Cool things going on:
* storytelling
*a parade
*balloons shaped into dogs, rattles, etc.
And it’s all free! We had a great time Saturday and decided to pick up a schedule of events, among the activities coming up: A Quilting Art Workshop, A tribute to the late DC Mayor Marion Barry during his Birthday month (March), and a slew of Women’s History activities including Sarah Vaughn tribute with local singers, and a viewing of A Ballerina’s Tale (Misty Copeland’s story).
This place may not be right up the street from me, but it is certainly worth the drive. I was happy to see the Thurgood Marshall Academy students volunteering for this program, they were really nice and very helpful!
And those pictures we waited over an hour for? Came out great… I posted one. Check it out!

Great little museum that’s part of the Smithsonian Institute in a historic DC neighborhood, so very important to African-​American history in DC. I visited on MLK Day 2016 and was very happy to also see an exhibit on Afro-​Panamanians in DC. It was cool to see some awareness is being created about the Spanish-​Speaking African Diaspora in a city that does not have many of us here in comparison to places like Miami and NYC.

I remember when you couldn’t find an entry for the Anacostia Community Museum on Unilocal!10 reviews, so it’s still relatively ‘undiscovered’ compared to the rest of the Smithsonian institutes. I would have to say that this museum has stellar exhibits and monthly programs that give cultural insight to the community.
Last year, their Urban Waterways exhibit was so informative. It made me appreciate the efforts to clean up the Anacostia River even more. It’s great to see that the younger generations in D.C. (& other major cities around the world) will know that they have not only witnessed, but played an integral part in the transformation/​restoration of some the most beautiful bodies of water.
The larger, advertised exhibits are always in the front and center; but, there are smaller ones in the back room to the right of the security desk, as you enter. It’s definitely worth a trip to visit, and to escape the hustle/​bustle of other tourist destinations.

Important note: It’s not as big as most of the other Smithsonian museums in Washington, so don’t expect to be lost inside for two hours.
This is a great museum: It’s free and has wonderful exhibits. What more can you ask for.
The only reason I could possibly mark it down was because it didn’t seem apparent anyone could answer questions if I had any. There only seemed to be security.
Also, visiting, is a good excuse to explore Anacostia.

Somewhere between a 2.75 to maybe solid 3 stars. It is a small museum but a lovely space just the same. As far as I could tell, they have two exhibits, one of which is permanent and only interesting if you like baseball (meh). It seems they sometimes have events at the musuem that as far as I know, are free but if they do, you won’t really see the permanent exhibit. Any way, when I went, the event going on was free.
You can grab the W2 or W3 bus from Anacostia metro and it takes about 10 minutes, get off at Forte Dr. After, I would recommend checking out a nearby Anacostia Art Gallery about a block from the musuem. Then, walk back to the metro through the neighborhood, as it is downhill. You can stop at a Catholic Chruch somewhere on Morris to get a nice view of the city and one that easily rivals the better known Frederick Douglas House. The general Anacostia neighborhood (a small slice of Southeast, east of the river) is an under rated area overall and danger is over exaggerated, though don’t wander too much after dark just the same.

Worth the drive to leave the mall. We ended up there between exhibits and the offerings were pretty slim. Wish the website had been clear the «current exhibit» was gone. But for baseball lovers, the permanent exhibit is about baseball, so that has a timeless quality for some.

A tip for getting here if you don’t have a car: During the summer on the weekends, there is a shuttle from the National Mall to this museum and the Frederick Douglass House.
I took the shuttle and it was easy enough and a nice ride. I saw «Reclaiming the Edge: Urban Waterways and Civic Engagement.» It was interesting learning about similar civil movements in other cities — Pittsburgh, London, and LA were a few examples, I think. It was fascinating learning more about the history of the Anacostia River and the current efforts to clean/​reclaim the river for community use today.
I also saw the other exhibit which was a series of photographs on baseball and segregation — «Separate and Unequaled: Black Baseball in the District of Columbia.» It was in a room that they rent out for private use so you may not have a chance to see it. I’m a fan of old photos but not of baseball so much so this wasn’t as appealing as the other exhibit.
It seems like this museum has a lot of interesting activities during the week and for children. I haven’t participated but the events listing on the website (bus tours, lectures, nature walks) looks awesome.

A great little museum. Too bad it is so small and out of the way. Go check it out!

The museum’s 45^th anniversary exhibition «Reclaiming the Edge: Urban Waterways and Civic Engatement» was what we saw at the museum — it is the only exhibit available at the time. The exchibit itself was excellent; it was about the community sustainability effort to clean up and reclaim the area from the industry pollution of Anacostia River and the surrounding areas.
The video stories told by elderly residents of the area was quite revealing. One man said there used to be thicker ice in water during the winter that he used to slide/​skate on his shoes, but it is getting much thinner that he doesn’t recommend doing it to the kids today. And many more other stories.
My gripe about this place was that the exhibit was small so it’s a good 1 – 2 hour stop in combination with Frederick Douglass National Historic Site nearby. I thought the exhibit was extremely fresh and interesting — I would have liked to learn more. The building seems to be primarily a venue for community gathering and the second floor was all occupied by offices.
My other gripe is a security guard — I took a couple of photos of the exhibit because I didn’t know that I’m not allowed to take photos (why is that, anyway? MET in NYC has no problems). and even though I stopped taking photos, he followed me around … that was uncalled for!
But all in all, very interesting exhibit. I think they should make it permanent with regular updates about the effort.

Only two reviews for this museum!!!
Oh. Yeah. I didn’t even *know* about this place until last week, sooo… guess that makes sense. It’s unfortunate The Anacostia Community Museum isn’t a more well-​known DC museum — and a it’s a Smithsonian nonetheless — since its mission is «to challenge perceptions, broaden perspectives. .. and deepen understanding about the ever-​changing concepts and realities of ‘community’ while maintaining its strong ties to Anacostia and the D.C. Metropolitan region.» It’s the only museum *I* can think of which is specifically dedicated to the culture and community of a particular Washington neighborhood.
Field Trip Fairy is, indeed, good to me. She shook her dust and {{poof}} I was accompanying a group of kiddos to the ACM for the «Exercise Your Mynd: BK Adams, I AM ART» exhibit. It’s part of an ongoing series entitled «Call & Response: Community and Creativity», which highlights the art and artists of DC’s Wards 7 and 8. Adams’ work is comprised largely of found and recycled objects, with the themes of love, knowledge, and family pervading his pieces. His art is graphic, vivid, and textural; his mind is clearly full of humor, whimsy, and a personal philosophy formed over time. My favorite pieces included «Family Reunion,» a precariously placed pile of broken chairs, bicycle wheels, and wine glasses; «The Thinkers», a pyramid of used Starbucks cups that both Adams and his children have decorated over the years; and «The Path: When I Look and See How Far I Have Come, I Realize How Far I Have to Go,» a pair of highly decorated leather clogs walking up a canvas towards what looks like a delicate tree.
Adding to the enjoyment of this exhibit, BK Adams himself came to meet the kids and walk them through the museum (which is quite small; his exhibit is the only one there currently). He showed up in white Velcro Converse, jeans he’d completely painted over in white with brightly colored drips, a striped sweater covered by a canvas vest, steampunk machinist glasses, a beautiful, bushy beard, and what appeared to be some highly-​polished version of a Conquistador helmet/​baseball cap (here’s a little taste of his style:
). AWE.SOME. Having him talk to us about each individual piece of art — what inspired it, what he was trying to say, how it was a part of his artistic evolution — was phenomenal. Not sure how much the little dears appreciated it, but we adults were blown away by Adams.
The ACM is small and showcases one exhibit at a time; but also on «indefinite» display is «Separate and Unequaled: Black Baseball in the District of Columbia», a fascinating look at the professional, sandlot, and collegiate segregated baseball teams which played in the city until the mid-​1960s.
Admission to ACM is free and parking is ample, so get yourself over here soon.

Almost the entire museum has been given over to BK Adams, a.k.a. I am art. Adams is a self-​taught artist and apparently he’s a terrific teacher — this exhibit is fascinating. The museum’s brochure describes Adams as «mischievous, fantastical, eccentric, mind-​blowing, incredible, talented, charmingly weird, engaging.» That’s about right.
Here’s the link to the WaPo’s review:
Take your kids when you go.

This is a community-​based museum that combines art exhibits with outreach. The objects on display include textiles, decorative arts, anthropological finds and glassware. As the name suggests, this museum explores and documents the culture, history and experiences of African Americans.
The museum also offers educational and community outreach programs Check out the On-​line Academy on their website. You can take a virtual tour of some of the artifacts.