Scott Houston, host of the Emmy award-winning series “The Piano Guy” on PBS, shares the techniques he has perfected as a professional musician to play popular jazz, pop, blues and country tunes for pleasure and entertainment Saturday, Sept. 6. Houston proves that learning to play the piano does not need to be a monotonous exercise-it can be fun!

Internationally acclaimed textile designer and authority on craft Jack Lenor Larsen will speak at a fall benefit lunch at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York. The benefit, A Single Thread: Celebrating Native American Design and Style, will be held Thursday,

As the nation moves toward electing its 44th president, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery is opening an exhibition of the political cartoons of Herbert Lawrence Block (1909–2001), known by the pen name "Herblock." In "Herblock's Presidents: 'Puncturing Pomposity,'" 40 political cartoons demonstrate the witty, biting humor of the cartoonist who appeared in American newspapers for more than seven decades.

More than half a century since Jim Henson created the Muppet who would eventually become Kermit the Frog, the Oscar-nominated puppeteer’s work is enjoyed by the young and old alike in more than 100 countries and in dozens of languages.

The Mughal Empire ruled India from the 16th through the 19th centuries, during which time remarkable paintings and calligraphy were commissioned by Emperors Jahangir (1605-1627) and Shah Jahan (1627-1658) for display in lavish imperial albums. A window into the world of the emperors, these albums (called muraqqa' in Persian) illustrate the relaxed private life of the imperial family, as well as Sufi saints and mystics, allies and courtiers, and natural history subjects.

The National Portrait Gallery is pleased to present "Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture." This exhibition explores how posters function as portraiture and interweaves the histories of poster aesthetics, celebrity promotion and advertising. Featuring 60 posters that range from John Wilkes Booth on a "Wanted" poster to a life-size stand-up of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Ballyhoo!" will be on view at the National Portrait Gallery through Feb. 8, 2009.

“Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist,” on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through Aug. 3, presents the first nationally touring retrospective of Aaron Douglas (1899–1979), one of the most influential visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Douglas vividly captured the spirit of his time and established a new black aesthetic and vision.

Yellow Mountain, also known as Mt. Huang or Huangshan, is one of the most beautiful locations in China. With its magnificent peaks, some soaring thousands of feet, the mountain holds as much allure to artists today as it did in the early 17th century, when the great traveler and geologist Xu Xiake (1587-1641) toured its peaks twice and recorded the journeys in his diary.

Washington, D.C, is the only east coast city to host this landmark exhibition

This summer, the Smithsonian Institution will celebrate cultural diversity with three distinct programs at its 42nd annual Folklife Festival. The Festival will be held Wednesday, June 25 through Sunday, June 29 and Wednesday, July 2 through Sunday, July 6 outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets.

The Smithsonian Photography Initiative has launched 'click! photography changes everything,' an interdisciplinary, Web-based forum at www.click.si.edu. The goal of 'click!' is to stimulate an unprecedented dialogue about the ways photography enables people to document and actively interact with the world.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in New York, the George Gustav Heye Center opens "Remix: New Modernities in a Post Indian World," a spirited multimedia survey of 15 emerging Native artists June 7. A joint presentation from the museum and the Heard Museum in Phoenix, the exhibition closes Sunday, Sept. 21.