Displaying items by tag: smithsonian castle

U.S. authorities arrested a female suspect on Monday, July 29, 2013 for attacking three iconic landmarks in Washington, D.C. with green paint. The 58-year-old woman has been charged with defacing two chapels in the Washington National Cathedral and police have questioned her about similar defacement seen on the Lincoln Memorial and Smithsonian Castle last week. Authorities are testing paint samples from the three locations to see if the incidents are connected.

Cleaning crews began working to rid the landmarks of the unsightly paint on Monday evening. Officials believe that paint removal and subsequent repair to the National Cathedral could cost an estimated $15,000. The Lincoln Memorial, which was vandalized on Friday, July 26, 2013, is about 90% paint-free.

The suspect, Jiamei Tianh, is currently in custody.

Exhibition areas in three Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. will close on Wednesday, May 1, 2013 due to substantial budget cuts known as federal sequestration. Parts of the National Museum of African Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Smithsonian Castle will be closed through September 30, 2013.

The closures are part of a sweeping $42 million budget cut that began March 1, 2013 and will last through the end of the fiscal year. The diminished security budget is the main reason officials decided to shut down certain parts of the Smithsonian. Cuts to travel and building maintenance as well as a hiring freeze were announced when the sequestration first went into effect. Smithsonian officials claim that no major exhibition areas will be affected by the closures.

The Smithsonian Castle will close the Commons, a room that features objects from around the Smithsonian; the National Museum of African Art will shutter a section of its permanent exhibition, African Mosaic; and the Hirshhorn Museum will close various sections of its third floor galleries, which house its permanent collection.