What: A chic night with delectable food and drink, live music, and dancing to celebrate the new Kogod Courtyard. At $125 a ticket, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s third annual Artrageous event benefited the museum’s public and educational programs.

Ficus and black olive trees are among the plants in the Kogod Courtyard. Photo courtesy of Ken Rahaim, Smithsonian Institution

Where: The new Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard at the Reynolds Center (Eighth and F sts., NW), which is home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. Designed by Foster & Partners, the enclosed space provides an elegant, modern canopy over the courtyard at the center of the museums’ original Greek Revival building. The 37,500-square-foot, steel-framed roof is composed of 864 glass panes and weighs 900 tons. Eight steel columns support the structure over a black granite floor. Artist John Alexander noted that the space was “architecturally amazing, an extraordinarily delicate marriage between the history and beauty of the old building with a light and new form that has the delicacy of lace.”

When: Thursday, December 6, 7:30 to 11:00 PM.

Who: Many art and architecture lovers and a few artists themselves, including DC resident Carol Harrison and John Alexander, who has an opening at the gallery on December 21. Event cochairs Sydney McNiff Ferguson, Sandra Ross Jones, Janice Kim, Eric Motley, Rachel Tinsley Pearson, Kathryn Rand, and Jim Rowland were among the 500-plus guests. Observing the crowd, Motley was pleased to see “so many young people with a sincere interest in the Smithsonian art museum.”

Food: The buffets in each corner of the courtyard had a different theme. Guests standing below the Edward Hopper print at the “Northeast” table enjoyed succotash, clam chowder, and grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches. A Sierra Nevada image denoted the Western table, which supported sushi, mini-hamburgers,

Photographs by Liz Gorman.

Want to see more photos from Washington events and parties? Click here for Washingtonian.com's photo slideshow page. 

In one of his first outings as the new Political Director of Atlantic Media, Ron Brownstein, the longtime columnist for the Los Angeles Times, was feted last night by David Bradley and the Atlantic crowd in the company's common room at the Watergate complex. See our photos of the event below.

Brownstein's new book, The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America, came out in November.

With the opening of the Source, Wolfgang Puck’s new Penn Quarter restaurant, it’s clear that “sliders,” a.k.a. mini-burgers, are a trend that’s not going away. And that trend is getting pricey: Puck is charging $16 for a quartet of his Kobe-beef mini-burgers with smoked-onion marmalade and cheddar cheese. 

Here’s what about $16 will buy you in mini-burgers at other local eateries:

>Morton’s Bethesda—During happy hour, 5 to 6:30 pm weekdays, you can get 12 sirloin/rib-eye mini-burgers with cheddar ($16).

>Ugly Mug on Capitol Hill—Mini-cheeseburgers on toasted brioche with fried onion straws. 9 for $12, with money left over for a beer.

>Matchbox at DC’s Gallery Place—Nine mini-burgers on toasted brioche buns with onion straws cost $16.

>Tallula—This Arlington restaurant offers mini-burgers with black-truffle aïoli and red-onion marmalade for $3.50 each or four for $14.

>Bobby Van’s in downtown DC—Four mini-cheeseburgers with bacon are $16.

>M Bar in the Renaissance M Street Hotel—Three “BLT sliders,” with chicken, salmon, or portobello, cost $13.

Holiday cards can bring joy to more than their recipients. This year, send season’s greetings to friends while supporting local charities. Here are a few organizations offering holiday cards this winter.

GLOBAL ACTION FOR CHILDREN
zolo.com/globalaction.html | 202-589-0808
The organization: DC-based GAC supports orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries by increasing funding from governments of wealthy nations around the world. GAC is supported by organizations including the Jolie-Pitt Foundation (Angelina Jolie is honorary board chair).
The cards: Simple, colorful holiday cards to benefit GAC. Printed by Typecast Press on tree-free Crane’s Lettra 100-percent recovered cotton paper.
Price: $24 for a set of four.

PRISONS FOUNDATION
prisonsfoundation.org/holidaycards.html | 202-393-1511
The organization: The Prisons Foundation promotes arts and education in prisons. President Helen Thorne says the artwork is a reminder that inmates across the country “possess talent and worth and should not be forgotten. Especially around the holidays, but also throughout the year, our hearts must remain open to them. We should do this not only for humanitarian reasons but because 95 percent will return home someday to be our neighbors.”
The cards: Colorful 5½-by-8-inch cards spotlight the work of incarcerated artists Michael Jewell and Todd Mitchell. Jewell is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison, where he paints acrylic abstracts. Leavitt created a series of seasonal-themed watercolor tempera paintings from his Nevada prison.
Price: $12 for a pack of eight.

WVSA ARTS CONNECTION
wvsarts.org| 202-296-9100
The organization: Formerly Washington Very Special Arts, WVSA Arts Connection aims to provide an arts-infused education to children and young adults with special needs.
The cards: An assortment of colorful children’s paintings. Choose from snowmen, evergreens, angels, and more. WVSA students are involved with every aspect of card orders, from printing to wrapping to sending. Large prints are available in addition to cards.
Price: $20 for ten cards; $35 for 20; $80 for 50; $150 for 100; $750 for 1,000.

Owner of the newly opened Park at Fourteenth, Dirk van Stockum has put out the red carpet at clubs in New York, Las Vegas, and DC. With the holiday season under way, packed with cocktail receptions and parties, he shares some behind-the-velvet-rope tales and tips for party crashing.

• Know what’s worth crashing.

“The ones you can’t buy yourself into are the most crashable,” says van Stockum. “It’s just rude to try and get into an event for free if the whole point is to raise money for a charity. But if it’s about being on the list, not money, it’s worth crashing.”

• Do your homework.

“Know what the event is about and who the principals are. It’s all available on the Internet. Come armed with that kind of ammunition.”

• Look the part.

“If you look like you belong, then no one is going to challenge you,” says van Stockum, who points out that doing your homework means knowing the attire. “Treat everyone with familiarity. It helps you look like you belong.”

• Drop a name.

“Use a name, but know who you’re talking to. One of the funniest crashing attempts I saw was this guy who was arguing with me at the front door. He kept saying, ‘Just tell Dirk I’m here.’ He didn’t realize I was Dirk.”

• Associate yourself with something important.

“Being with the media or entertainment industry helps. People don’t want to make a mistake. God forbid if a doorman doesn’t let in the right person.” But be careful; van Stockum says one regular crasher printed up business cards that said he was a reporter for different magazines. The problem was, he misspelled Condé Nast.