From jwg at sgendeavors.com  Wed Sep  2 11:40:02 2026
From: jwg at sgendeavors.com (Jeremy Grandstaff)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2026 07:40:02 -0400
Subject: [NFBV-Fairfax] Fwd: The Circus: This Weekend - Smithsonian Folklife
 (Accessible) Events!
In-Reply-To: <05fd01dd3a77$53b6efc0$fb24cf40$@gmail.com>
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Hi everyone, Sharing the below information about events happening in NOVA
this weekend.



____________________

*Jeremy W. Grandstaff *(He/Him)

Executive Director, The Inspiration Foundation
<http://inspirationfoundation.org>

Learning & Organization Development Strategist

*👀 **2025TEDxYpsilanti Speaker
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmWk7MEfFP4> | Podcast Guest (Sphere of
Influence) <https://youtu.be/GMSOH7Llj_U>*

*✍️** Author of Upcoming Book on Building Stronger Organizational Culture *


Office: 202-810-5368 | Cell: 614-519-3026 | jwg at SGEndeavors.com

WhatsApp Call/Message <https://wa.me/16145193026> |  Connect on LinkedIn
<http://linkedin.com/in/jeremygrandstaff> | Schedule with me
<http://calendly.com/jwg-1/4>



*💡*
* Always open to bold conversations around Leadership Growth, learning &
Development, Culture, Improving Your Bottom Line, and Increasing Employment
of People With Disabilities.*


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <tracy.soforenko at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 1, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Subject: The Circus: This Weekend - Smithsonian Folklife (Accessible)
Events!
To: John Halverson <jwh100 at outlook.com>, Renee Valdez <reneerome at yahoo.com>,
Jeremy Grandstaff <jwg at sgendeavors.com>, Evelyn Valdez <
evelyn.valdez212 at gmail.com>, Julie A. Orozco <kaybaycar at gmail.com>,
Christopher Christie <clchristie53 at hotmail.com>, Kandace Haney <
kandace.m.haney at gmail.com>


Hi,

These are interesting events as part of the Folk Life Festival that you
might want to share with local chapter members.

*From:* Nutting, Diane <NuttingD at si.edu>
*Sent:* Tuesday, September 1, 2026 7:30 PM
*To:* Nutting, Diane <NuttingD at si.edu>
*Subject:* This Weekend - Smithsonian Folklife (Accessible) Events!



Hello from Smithsonian Folklife!

We are reaching out with information about an exciting event happening this
weekend (Sept 5 – 7) at the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building in
Washington DC!  We hope you are able to join us and invite you to please
share this information with your community networks.



*Circus Arts Conservatory: Artistry, Education, and Labor of Circus Arts*
<https://festival.si.edu/schedule?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D206153873>


This Labor Day weekend, the Circus Arts Conservatory of Sarasota, Florida,
joins the Smithsonian Folklife Festival with programming that honors both
the wonder of the circus and the craft and labor that make it possible.  As
the nation looks back on 250 years of history, the story of the circus runs
right alongside it. The circus traveled the rails and the two-lane roads,
raised its canvas in towns that had no theater, and brought spectacle
within reach of anyone who could pay the price of a ticket. It has always
been a shared culture, made by working artists and craftspeople and offered
to everyone who came through the gate.


*The weekend will feature three days of performances, narrative sessions,
demonstrations, workshops, and hands-on activities for all ages!  *Audio
Description will be available for selected performances and demonstrations
throughout the weekend <https://s.si.edu/FolklifeAD>. See the listings
below for schedule and location information.



*Saturday, September 7*

*Circus Arts Conservatory Performance*

*(Audio Described) 4:15 – 4:55 PM*

See the circus arts professionals in action! Performers include juggler
Noel Aguilar, musical comedy group Los Polemicos, contortionist Urnaa,
clown Chris Allison, spiral aerialist Emma Clarke, and ladder
acrobat Ermiyas Muluken.



*Sunday, September 6*

*Audio Described Highlights Tour*

*1:00 – 2:30 PM*

This tour will feature sighted-guide assistance, verbal description, and
tactile exploration of the Circus Arts program demonstration
areas—including the “The Art of Circus Costumes,” “The Art of Rigging,”
“The Language of the Circus,” and more.  The tour will be customized to the
interests of those in attendance and may also include descriptions of
ongoing circus performances and workshops located throughout the building.



*Circus Arts Conservatory Performance*

*(Audio Described) – 4:15 – 4:55 PM*

See the circus arts professionals in action! Performers include juggler
Noel Aguilar, musical comedy group Los Polemicos, contortionist Urnaa,
clown Chris Allison, spiral aerialist Emma Clarke, and ladder
acrobat Ermiyas Muluken.



*Monday, September 7 *

*Marvelous Miraculous Circus Machine*

*(Audio Described Demonstration) 10:15 – 10:35 AM*

Learn about the laws of motion through a larger-than-life, circus themed
Rube Goldberg machine! The Circus Arts Conservatory supports educational
outreach programs in their community that emphasize principles of
STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.



*Audio Described Highlights Tour*

*11:00 AM – 12:30 PM*

This tour will feature sighted-guide assistance, verbal description, and
tactile exploration of the Circus Arts program demonstration
areas—including the “The Art of Circus Costumes,” “The Art of Rigging,”
“The Language of the Circus,” and more.  The tour will be customized to the
interests of those in attendance and may also include descriptions of
ongoing circus performances and workshops located throughout the building.



*Sailor Circus Academy Performance*

*(Audio Described) 3:30 – 3:55 PM*

Students from the Sailor Circus Academy perform clowning, juggling, and
acrobatics on a five-person bike, aerial silks, aerial web, and trampoline.
Founded in 1949 and now part of the Circus Arts Conservatory, Sailor Circus
is Sarasota, Florida’s premier youth circus training program and the
longest-running youth circus in the nation. Students ages eight to eighteen
carry forward Sarasota’s celebrated circus tradition and shape the future
of the art form.

*Circus Arts Conservatory Performance*

*(Audio Described) 4:15 – 4:55 PM*

See the circus arts professionals in action! Performers include juggler
Noel Aguilar, musical comedy group Los Polemicos, contortionist Urnaa,
clown Chris Allison, spiral aerialist Emma Clarke, and ladder
acrobat Ermiyas Muluken.

Please plan on checking in approximately fifteen minutes before an
audio-described event to meet the service provider and obtain a
receiver. Additional sighted-guide services may be requested throughout the
weekend at the Accessibility Information Table and are provided as
available. The Accessibility Information Table is located just inside the
north entrance of the Arts and Industries Building (on Jefferson Drive),
approximately twenty-five feet to your right after moving through
security.

For more information or to pre-register for any of these events, please
call 202-633-7488 <(202)%20633-7488> or email folklife at si.edu. Walk-up
space is available, but pre-registration is encouraged.



 *Getting Here*

The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building is located at 900 Jefferson
Dr. SW
<https://www.google.com/maps/search/900+Jefferson+Dr.+SW?entry=gmail&source=g>,
enter
on the north side of the building, facing the National Mall. The closest
accessible Metro stations are the Smithsonian (Independence Avenue exit)
and the L’Enfant Plaza (Maryland Avenue and Seventh St. SW exit).

>From Smithsonian Metro – Independence Avenue exit: Upon exiting, head east
on Independence Avenue (toward the US Capitol). You can access Jefferson
Drive by heading north one block at Twelfth Street, Seventh Street, or
through the Enid A. Haupt Garden (on the north side of Independence
Avenue).

>From L’Enfant Plaza Metro – Seventh Street and Maryland Avenue exit: Upon
exiting, head north on Seventh Street for two blocks and turn left onto
Jefferson Drive.

Accessible parking spaces are available around the National Mall on a
first-come, first-served basis. Accessible parking spaces are available,
for a charge, in nearby parking garages. The closest drop-off location for
the Arts and Industries Building is on Jefferson Drive.

Smithsonian buildings are a location for the Aira Access
<https://aira.io/> verbal
description service. Visitors can download the free Aira app on their
smartphone and speak to an Aira agent (data usage rates may apply if not
using a Smithsonian Wi-Fi network).

A full schedule of weekend events
<https://festival.si.edu/dc-schedule?trumbaEmbed=?mixin%3D1913398%2c1264472>
and
Accessibility Information <https://festival.si.edu/accessibility> can be
found on the Folklife website.  For additional accessibility questions,
please call 202-633-7488 <(202)%20633-7488> or email folklife at si.edu  with
the subject line “Accessibility.”



We thank you in advance for helping us spread the word about this exciting
weekend of programming.



We hope to see you soon!



Warmest regards,

Diane





*Diane Nutting *(She/Her)

*Accessibility Program Manager*

Culture Of, By, and For the People
<https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/08fb8bd3c2694d2394d1421106846846>



NuttingD at si.edu / 202-633-7488 <(202)%20633-7488>





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