National Air and Space Museum To Present “Air and Space After Hours: Innovating Galleries” Dec. 12

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will offer an evening program exploring what it takes to create a museum exhibition and sharing stories behind the artifacts on display. “Air and Space After Hours: Innovating Galleries” will take place Thursday, Dec. 12, 6 to 8 p.m. at the museum’s flagship building in Washington, D.C. Free tickets are required and can be reserved on the museum’s website. This is the first program of the new Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Series celebrating innovation at the museum. 

In this after-hours event, attendees will be able to explore exhibitions and talk with museum staff, embark on a digital quest and enjoy light refreshments. Museum curators, collections specialists and educators will share their behind-the-scenes perspective of the museum’s innovative objects and stories. Guests will also have the opportunity to peek behind the curtain at the upcoming Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery. Its first exhibition, “Climate Change: Aerospace Innovations for a Warming World”—sponsored by the corporations Amentum, GE Aerospace and Linde—is currently being installed and is set to open in 2025. The Innovations Gallery is part of the multi-year renovation of the museum’s flagship building.

More information about how the museum is transforming all of its exhibitions and revitalizing the building is available on the museum’s website.

The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. and is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, but timed-entry passes are required to visit. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Virginia, near Washington Dulles International Airport and is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, timed-entry passes are not required, and parking is $15.

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