A few Images from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Took a trip to D.C. this past weekend to visit my sister and celebrate my birthday. Here are a few photos from one of the Smithsonian's most newly renovated buildings.
The National Portrait Gallery shares with the Smithsonian American Art Museum one of Washington's oldest public buildings, a National Historic Landmark that was begun in 1836 to house the U.S. Patent Office. One of the nation's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture, the building has undergone an extensive renovation that showcases its most dramatic architectural features, including skylights, a curving double staircase, porticos, and vaulted galleries illuminated by natural light. The Lunder Conservation Center, the only fine-art facility of its kind, is an innovative new space that allows visitors to look through floor-to-ceiling windows as conservators care for the national treasures entrusted to both museums.

The museums are collectively known as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, in honor of the museums' largest donor, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.