D.C. community calendar, Nov. 15 to 22, 2012

Thursday, NOV. 15

Tot Rock: Jammin’ at the Smithsonian: Swingin’ on the Stars with Rocknoceros, cosmic tunes performed by Coach Cotton, Williebob and Boogie Woogie Bennie for ages 2-6. 10:15 and 11:30 a.m. Thursday-Friday, National Air and Space Museum, Sixth Street and Independence Avenue SW. $8; ages 2-16, $6; 1 and younger, $3. 202-633-8700 or www.discoverytheater.org.

The Building Zone, for children 2-6 with an adult, learn about building trades through play. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 30, National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. $3. 202-272-2448.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation: history and heritage, daily performances, presentations and storytelling from members of the Muscogee Nation Honor Guard in honor of Veterans Day with booths showcasing Muscogee arts and crafts, the tribe’s language, cooking, programs and services. 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., National Museum of the American Indian, Potomac Atrium and other locations, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW. Free. 202-633-1000.

Behind the scenes cathedral tour, for age 11 and older, see gargoyles, stained-glass windows and climb a lot of stairs to view the city from on high; take a camera. 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. most weekdays, Washington National Cathedral, Wisconsin and Massachusetts avenues NW. $15. 202-537-6200 or www.nationalcathedral.org.

Curator’s exhibit tour, Gallery historian David C. Ward leads a tour of “Poetic Likeness: Modern American Poets.” Noon, National Portrait Gallery, second floor, Eighth and F streets NW. Free. 202-633-1000.

Renwick “Sit ’n’ Stitch,” for all abilities, specialists teach different types of stitching. 12:30 p.m., Renwick Gallery, Palm Court, 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Free. 202-633-1000 or http://americanart.si.edu/calendar/event.cfm?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D99790084 .

Walter Gay’s watercolors, Isabel L. Taube, curator of the exhibit “Impressions of Interiors: Gilded Age Paintings by Walter Gay,” at Frick Art and Historical Center in Pittsburgh, discusses Gay’s innovative and evocative artistic treatment of Gilded Age rooms, his gouache and watercolor technique and his watercolor “La Cheminee” (The Fireplace) in Tudor Place’s collection. 2 p.m., Tudor Place, 1644 31st St. NW. 15, registration required. Braedon Renne, 202-965-0400, Ext. 104, or brenne@tudorplace.org.

“Love on the Range,” performance, Nat Love, a cattle driver of the American West, talks to visitors before he sets out on the trail with the herd, and tells what it takes to make a decent cowhand, reading brands, rounding up steers, fighting off rustlers and delivering longhorns on time and with few losses. 2:30 p.m. Thursday and Nov. 29, National Museum of American History, first floor, east wing by the John Bull locomotive, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Free. 202-633-1000.

“Celebrating Betty Buchanan,” the chorus and soloists of Singing A—Z perform a musical tribute to its late founder, director and musicologist; hear African folk songs, sacred classics, gospel music, Broadway tunes, choral works by contemporary American composers, selections from John Rutter’s “The Reluctant Dragon” and more. 4 p.m., St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 3001 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Free. 202-362-8442 or www.stalbansdc.org.