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Alexandria’s summer schedule is packed with art exhibitions, Juneteenth programs, historical tours, concerts and family activities. Events stretch from June into August, with several major exhibitions already underway.

Exhibitions and creative programs

Through June 29 — “Embodied Transformations.” The Athenaeum presents works by Elsabe Dixon and Sharon Fishel exploring the fleeting lifecycles of insects and plants. Dixon uses insect-made materials, including silk and beeswax, while Fishel creates layered oil paintings. An artists’ talk is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, June 29.

Ongoing — “Call To Arms: The Soldier and the Revolutionary War.” The National Museum of the United States Army has opened a two-year, 5,000-square-foot exhibition marking the Army’s 250th birthday in 2025 and the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

Artifacts come from the original colonies, England, France and Canada. Highlights include a pair of Gen. George Washington’s pistols; the original flag of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, carried by the Army’s first African American soldiers; and a rare complete Loyalist uniform. The sword of British Gen. Charles Lord Cornwallis, presented to Washington after the surrender at Yorktown, will appear for a limited time.

Through June 29 — “Sing Me a Sea Shanty.” Del Ray Artisans Gallery, 2704 Mount Vernon Ave., features art inspired by nautical traditions. Gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays, noon to 9 p.m. Fridays and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Through Aug. 31 — Creative Summer Programs. Del Ray Artisans is offering free and paid workshops for children and adults in collage, drawing, mixed media, photography, bead embroidery and other disciplines. Most sessions are held at 2704 Mount Vernon Ave.

Through June 29 — “Vibrancy Unleashed.” The Van Landingham Gallery at the Torpedo Factory hosts a group exhibition of jewelry, paintings, photography, mixed-media pieces and hand-pulled prints.

Participating artists include Jordana Adelman, Ann Barbieri, Victoria Barnes, Lynn Chadwick, Andrea Cybyk, Eleftheria Easley, Sheila Flanders, Samuel Gyulnazarian, Camille Kouyoumdjian, Michal Mitak Mahgerefteh, Anna Nazaretz Radjou, Rebecca McNeely, Diana Papazian, Catherine Rubin, Kellie Sansone, Karine Sapondjian, Vita Sims, Antonio Scott, Samantha L. Shelton, Pratibha Srinivasan, Hanin Tawfiq, Ana Tkabladze, Dicxon Vergaray, Estelle Vernon, Karen Waltermire, Dina Wise and Guido R. Zanni.

Juneteenth events

Alexandria’s June 19 programs include the Washington Revels Jubilee Voices Juneteenth Concert at Market Square, featuring African American storytelling and songs about the path toward freedom.

At 1 p.m., the Athenaeum hosts a celebration with poet, author and Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association poet-in-residence KaNikki Jakarta. The gallery program examines Juneteenth through hands-on activities, art and poetry readings.

Carlyle House offers its “Tell Me Your Name” specialty tour June 19, focusing on enslaved people at the house and its associated plantations. Mount Vernon’s “Freedom Before Emancipation” family program runs June 19-21 and explores how enslaved people resisted bondage and pursued freedom before the Emancipation Proclamation.

The celebrations continue June 21 with music, storytelling, food and family activities at the Juneteenth Festival at Charles Houston Recreation Center. Manumission Tour Company also offers a 90-minute Alexandria Black History Bus Tour that day.

Local Black-owned businesses highlighted for the occasion include 1799 Prime Steak and Seafood, owned by a member of one of the area’s oldest documented African American families; Café du Soleil, which serves coffee, pastries and French-style dishes at two Old Town locations; and AR Workshop, a studio offering classes in custom home décor.

History, architecture and walking tours

Friday, June 20 — Civics Pizza Party. From 5:30 to 8 p.m., Pope-Leighey House offers free pizza, a self-guided tour and conversations connecting the past with modern movements for justice. Visitors can also see “Saving Pope-Leighey House: How Marjorie Leighey Rescued Her Frank Lloyd Wright Home.”

Friday, June 20 — Slice of History. Woodlawn, at 9000 Richmond Highway, hosts a separate Civics Season program from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Guests can enjoy free pizza while taking a self-guided tour focused on the property’s history of transformation.

Friday, June 27 — Wright at Twilight. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., visitors can watch the evening light reveal architectural details of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House. Complimentary snacks and a glass of wine are included.

Sunday, June 29 — “Out and About in Old Town.” A behind-the-scenes walking tour beginning at 2 p.m. at the Torpedo Factory Art Center examines Alexandria’s LGBTQ+ history from the 1970s through the 1990s.

George Mason University graduate students who received the Alexandria Historical Society’s 2024 AHS Golden Grant will lead the tour. Stops and stories include the French Quarter Café, a pioneering gay bar connected to a 1991 court victory against discriminatory state policy; Alexandria City Hall, where Virginia’s first local LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination ordinance passed in 1988; and the Torpedo Factory’s tribute to people lost to AIDS during the 1993 Day Without Art.

Late June through August

June 29-Aug. 17 — “The Painted Garden.” Potomac Valley Watercolorists’ annual exhibition and sale at Green Spring Gardens Horticultural Center, 4603 Green Spring Road, features more than 100 framed original works by regional water-media artists. A reception is planned from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, July 13.

Thursday, July 3 — Art, Wine and Cheese Reception. Nepenthe Gallery at Hollin Hall, 7918 Fort Hunt Road, presents a patriotic collection featuring artists including Cey Adams, Norman Rockwell and Pamela Patrick White. The reception runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Friday, July 4 — Declaration of Independence Reading. Historic Pohick Church, 9301 Richmond Highway in Lorton, hosts a free public reading from 1 to 3 p.m. Historical reenactor the Rev. Dr. Thomas Costa will portray the Rev. Mr. Massey, Pohick Church’s rector in 1776. The reading begins at 1 p.m., followed by free docent tours of the colonial church associated with George Washington and George Mason.

Saturday, July 5 — Used Book Sale. The Friends of Sherwood Regional Library hold their First Saturday sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2501 Sherwood Hall Lane. More than 20,000 gently used books, CDs and DVDs are available. Unless otherwise marked, hardbacks and large paperbacks cost $1, while mass-market paperbacks cost 25 cents.

July 14-18 and July 21-25 — Art Camp 2025. Del Ray Artisans offers two weeklong sessions for children ages 8-12. Campers will paint, sculpt, keep journals and participate in other creative activities, with outdoor breaks when weather permits. Sessions run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., supplies are included and tuition is $350 per child. Scholarship assistance is available.

Aug. 1-30 — “Lovely As a Tree.” Del Ray Artisans members examine the ways trees shape human life and the planet. The opening reception runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1. Regular gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays, noon to 9 p.m. Fridays and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

The Birchmere concert schedule

The Birchmere, at 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., presents the following shows. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise announced.

June

  • June 18: Acoustic Alchemy, $35
  • June 19: Tower of Power, $89.50
  • June 20: AJ Ghent & His Singing Guitar, $45
  • June 21: Ohio Players, $79.50
  • June 22: Stacey Kent, $39.50
  • June 25: Tartan Terrors, $29.50
  • June 26: Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the ’60s & Beyond, $49.50
  • June 27: Pieces of a Dream, $55
  • June 28: Kasey Chambers with Sunny Sweeney, $39.50
  • June 29: Joshua Redman, $49.50

July

  • July 2: Three Dog Night, $95 — sold out
  • July 5: Donnell Rawlings, $49.50
  • July 6: The Milk Carton Kids, $45
  • July 9: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, $65
  • July 11: “Laurel Canyon: Golden Songs of Los Angeles ’66-’72,” $39.50
  • July 12: Classic Stones Live!, $35
  • July 17: Omar with special guest Tabi Bonney, $45
  • July 19: Tell Me Lies — The Fleetwood Mac Experience, $35
  • July 20: Hubert Laws, $55
  • July 24: Hiroshima, $59.50
  • July 25: The Bacon Brothers with Pernikoff Brothers, $69.50 — sold out
  • July 26: The Bacon Brothers with Pernikoff Brothers, $69.50 — sold out
  • July 27: Judy Collins, $59.50
  • July 29: Three Dog Night, $95 — second show added
  • July 30: Sheila E. & The E-Train, $69.50
  • July 31: Dave Koz and Friends Summer Horns 2025, featuring Dave Koz, Marcus Anderson, Jeff Bradshaw, Leo P and Evan Taylor, plus Marcel Anderson, $95