National Gallery of Art

The Buzz: A permanent collection of more than 100,000 art objects resides in the museum's two buildings. The West Building, designed in 1941 by architect John Russell Pope, houses paintings, sculpture and graphic arts from as far back as the Middle Ages. The bright and airy East Building, designed by I.M. Pei, exhibits 20th- and 21st-century art.

The Collections: A highlight of the East Building is the large Alexander Calder mobile that hangs from the ceiling directly over the lobby. Also on view in this building are works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock and Louise Bourgeois. The West Building holds a Leonardo da Vinci portrait of Ginevra de Benci, the only da Vinci work outside of Europe. Paintings by the French impressionists and more than 900 works of sculpture are also on display.

Programs: Most weekends, the museum screens films in its East Building Auditorium. Works on view include off-beat art house films, foreign works and children's films. Lunchtime art history lectures are scheduled nearly every week. The popular Jazz in the Garden series takes over the museum's Sculpture Garden on Friday evenings in the summer. Sunday evening concerts take place in the West Building during the rest of the year.

Extras: Three cafes are spread between the two buildings and there is one in the Sculpture Garden. During the winter months, the Sculpture Garden's ice skating rink is a popular spot for dates and families with children.

(Updated Feb. 14, 2012)