By Candyce H. Stapen Washington, D.C., is not just any city. It's the nation's capital — and that makes all the difference. No other place will celebrate America's 250th anniversary quite like it will be celebrated here.

The National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) in Washington, DC, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution, announced last month that it will deaccession three bronze sculptures and return them to India following reviews of the objects’ provenance that revealed they had been removed illegally.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art will celebrate its 2026 Nowruz Family Festival Saturday, March 14, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Named for the Persian word for “new day,” Nowruz marks the vernal equinox and the first day of spring.

MALL ENTRANCE CLOSURE: Note: The museum’s Mall Entrance at Madison Drive, between 12th and 14th Streets, will remain closed due to building maintenance through Feb. 24. Visitors will be directed to the Constitution Ave. Entrance. For safety reasons, buses should still unload and pick up passengers on Madison Drive. Check the website for updates.

On Friday, the FLOTUS spoke at the Smithsonian about the power of American style. Her Bottega Veneta coat and Louboutins sent a different message.

The annual festival will open the week of the United Nations’ International Mother Language Day (Feb. 21) and will take place in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, NYU Washington, DC, Planet Word, George Washington University and Georgetown University.

Many a socialite visited Ann Lowe’s Gowns, a salon on Manhattan’s Lexington Avenue, in the 1950s. The daughter and granddaughter of African American seamstresses, Lowe designed the wedding dress worn by Jacqueline Bouvier when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953.

Florida A&M University is having its presence debuted at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).