If you are lucky enough to live in or visit the D.C. metropolitan area, you'll never be at a loss for something to do to satisfy your cultural desires.  

Whether spending a night at the Warner Theater taking in a show, catching live music at the Birchmere in Alexandria, seeing an opera at the Kennedy Center, or attending a film festival, something interesting exists for people of all interests.

Even the most cultured New Yorkers or Londoners relocating to the D.C. area will find something to suit their taste.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

At the top of the cultural heap stand D.C.'s many wonderful museums.  Without even checking the statistics, it's probably fair to say that Washington D.C. hosts more museums (and monuments) per square mile than any other city in the U.S. and likely the world.     

Almost no topic or area of interest is spared throughout D.C.'s museum community.  Museums exist for everything from fine art to history, science, sculpture, architecture, technology, spies and counter-intelligence, and everything in between.  The large collection of Smithsonian Museums lining the National Mall has the added benefit of being free to visitors.

The Smithsonian Castle: The 1st and original museum
on the National Mall

Here's an overview of some of the current and upcoming exhibits at a few D.C. museums.

National Gallery of Art:  Located at Fourth and Constitution Avenues, NW D.C.

• "Crosscurrents: American and European Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection" -- this exhibit features a whole host of works including James Whistler's "Symphony, No. 1: The White Girl" and John Singleton Copley's "Watson and the Shark".  The exhibit runs through December 31st.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• "The Art of the American Snapshot 1888-1978" -- a historical overview of photography before the age of digital cameras.  Runs through December 31st.
  

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery:  Located at 1050 Independence Avenue, SW D.C.

"Patterned Feathers, Piercing Eyes" -- running from November 10th through April 13th, this exhibit features paintings, fans and scrolls from Japan portraying various feathered animals.

National Air and Space Museum: Sixth Street and Independence Avenue, SW D.C.  This museum is a perennial favorite among D.C. residents and visitors alike.

• "America by Air" opens on November 17th and will be a new permanent exhibition outlining the history of passenger air travel. 
  
  The exhibit will feature a 1914 Curtiss JN-4 mail carrier, a DC-7, and the nose of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.  Old stewardess uniforms and information on Charles Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight will complete the exhibition.
  

Phillips Collection: 1600 21st Street, NW D.C.

"Impressionists by the Sea" running through January 13th features 60 late 19th century paintings of the Normandy coast by such masters as Monet, Manet, Renoir, Sargent and Whistler.

D.C.'s enormous collection of museums truly houses the cultural treasures of our country.

One more reason to move to the D.C. and Northern Virginia region.