Evening and Weekend Programs

Have fun, meet others, and explore the issues of our time through our science and cultural programming offered on evenings and weekends. Our After Hours events give you access to scientists, filmmakers, authors, and innovators seeking to better understand the natural world and our place in it. After Hours events are designed for adults, but all are welcome.

View After Hours Calendar

NMNH After Hours programs include:

Beyond the Exhibition

This series features the content, curators, and conversations inspiring new and developing exhibitions at the National Museum of Natural History.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022, from 5 – 6 p.m. EST:
How Artist Bethany Taylor Strings Together Nature's Relationships

Bethany Taylor’s artwork shows the intricate connections between life on Earth. She creates digitally woven tapestries of natural settings, accompanied by fiber-based drawings of animals, humans, and plants from the ecosystem represented in each tapestry. Taylor’s drawings are made of string, implying each must be connected to something else. Her installations, some of which are now on view at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, strategically unravel in certain places to emphasize the message that flux and change are constant, and all living things are connected.
 
Taylor will discuss the concepts behind her artwork featured in Unsettled Nature with the co-curator of the exhibition, Joanna Marsh. 

This program is part of a series of conversations with artists featured in Unsettled Nature: Artists Reflect on the Age of Humans and will be presented as a Zoom video webinar. A link will be emailed to all registrants. Register

Tuesday, February 15, 2022, from 5 – 6 p.m. EST:
How Diseases Shape the Course of Human History – A Conversation with Author Kyle Harper

Thursday, February 24, 2022, from 5 – 6 p.m. EST:
Artist Talk with Jenny Kendler on Music for Elephants

Other Programs

Programs in other series, such as HOT (Human Origins Today) Topics and Virtual Science Cafés; plus programs that are not part of a series.

Friday, February 11, 2022, from 8 – 10 p.m. EST:
Friends, Family, Lovers: A Valentine’s Day Celebration of Love

Presented with Smithsonian at 8, a production of Smithsonian Associates.

The birds and the bees have their fun, but this Valentine’s Day, celebrate all types of love found in the animal kingdom with Smithsonian Associates and the National Museum of Natural History.

Kick back, play virtual "parlor games" and hear from Smithsonian experts on relationships that expand our ideas of what it is to love and be loved: friends like cheetahs and golden retrievers, family like eusocial naked mole rats, and lovers like polyamorous woodpeckers. You’ll also receive exclusive Valentine’s Day cards you can print and share. 

Featured Speakers:

• Craig Saffoe, Curator of Great Cats at the National Zoo
• Kenton Kerns, Assistant Curator at the National Zoo’s Small Mammal House
• Sahas Barve, Avian Evolutionary Ecologist at the National Museum of Natural History
• Andrea Eller (Emcee), Biological Anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History

Additional activities may be announced.

This is a virtual Zoom event; tickets are $15. Learn more and buy tickets.

Thursday, February 17, 2022, from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EST:
The Earliest Human Ancestors

Natural History on the Big Screen

This film series presents a curated selection of natural history-related films, followed by discussions with filmmakers and related experts.

An Evening With

This signature series features cutting-edge thought leaders in conversation with paleontologist and Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Kirk Johnson.

Anthropocene: Life in the Age of Humans

This discussion series explores human impact on the environment, featuring scholars, artists, and others in an intimate conversational setting.

Exploring the Arctic

These programs explore the cultures and natural history of the north.