Bordered by the north bank of the Potomac River, our nation’s capital is home to some of the most important and recognizable museums and memorials in the world.

Any trip to Washington, D.C. is sure to include a laundry list of landmarks to visit, including the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the Lincoln Memorial and the White House. But the lesser-known galleries and monuments offer shows that are equally as impressive and exciting.

Galleries of the Smithsonian
The Smithsonian Institution, known for its museums filled with artifacts from around the world, also includes some relatively offbeat art galleries.

American Art
The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture combines two museums into one experience to chronicle American history through art. While the National Portrait Museum portrays the individuals who shaped our culture, the Smithsonian American Art Museum spans more than three centuries of American artistic achievement. Current exhibitions are worth an extra day or two’s stay in the Capital City.

Lists: To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts and Other Artists’ Enumerations celebrates lists as key to the lives of artists within the last two centuries. Compiled by the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, the Lawrence A. Fleishman Gallery enables the archives to present this exhibit from the more than 16 million items that document the history of American visual art.

Framing the West: The Survey Photographs of Timothy H. O'Sullivan is a collection of the ambitious photographer’s geographical surveys, on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Portraiture Now: Communities is the fifth installment in a series of exhibits at the National Portrait Museum. The three selected painters have each explored the idea of community through portraits of their families, friends and neighbors.

Asian Art
The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery collectively house art from China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia and the Near East. Located on the south side of the National Mall, tours of each gallery are available for free daily and current exhibitions ranging from ceramics to paintings.

Children at Play in Chinese Painting, an exhibition in the Freer Gallery that includes objects and paintings dating from the 1st through the 20th century, depicts children playing in urban and rural settings.

Texture of the Night, a series of oil paintings by 19th century artist James McNeill Whistler, inverts the principles of French impressionism by structuring his work with darkness rather than light in this collection at the Freer Gallery.

Contemporary Japanese Porcelain, a selection of fresh interpretations on the time-honored art of porcelain in the Sackler Gallery, ranges from natural motifs to abstract designs.

Dupont Circle Galleries
Surrounding the historic Dupont Circle is a plethora of some of D.C’s finest galleries. Located in the neighborhood between 22nd and 16th streets, exciting new exhibits display some of the most famous U.S. and European artists.

Historic Art
Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century In Retrospect, featured at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, collects portraits of visionaries such as Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud as depicted by pop artist Andy Warhol.

Abstraction, an exhibition at The Phillips Collection, includes more than 100 paintings, drawings and watercolors by Georgia O’Keefe dating from 1915.

Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales, at the Corcoran Gallery, is a presentation of some of the most internationally-recognized Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art.

Vintage Photographs by A. Aubrey Bodine, on view Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. at the Kathleen Ewing Gallery, features rare and unique images by the late photographer who worked for the Baltimore Sunday Sun.

Public Art
Art on Call: Diverse Visions/One Neighborhood uses D.C.’s remaining antique fire and police call boxes to create public art around the city and exhibit the unique cultures of the neighborhoods. This Dupont Circle project celebrates the political, artistic and intellectual community of D.C. through the work of 22 local artists.

Memorials and Monuments
Tucked away from such iconic landmarks as the Jefferson and Washington monuments are some less famous, but no less powerful, tributes to heroes and historical figures.

The World War I Memorial, located just off the National Mall in West Potomac Park, recognizes the 26,000 D.C. citizens who fought in that war and the 499 who died fighting.

A wooded island in the Potomac is a fitting home to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, commemorating the conservationist U.S. president who had an affinity for the outdoors. A footbridge and two short trails across the Potomac near Arlington, Va. takes visitors to a 17-foot-tall statue of Roosevelt, which is surrounded by a plaza and two fountains.

Honoring the theoretical physicist, the Albert Einstein Memorial is located just across from the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the National Mall. The bronze statue, which features Einstein seated and holding manuscripts, is a great photo opportunity, as visitors are welcome to sit in his lap.

Dedicated to the men who gave their lives in place of women’s and children’s, the Titanic Memorial is located at the end of the promenade along the Washington Channel Park. A granite statue commemorates the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912 and the more than 1,500 passengers and crew who went down with it.

Cherry Blossom Festival
In addition to the staggering artistic and historical opportunities, D.C. is also home to a unique natural display of breathtaking aesthetics. The National Cherry Blossom Festival, which celebrates springtime, runs through April 11. The festival also commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry blossom trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington (a gift symbolizing enduring friendship between the United States and Japan).

The festival highlights the trees in full bloom and a diverse lineup of activities promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture. Witness a fireworks display April 3; the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade April 10; and the Japanese Street Festival April 10. Visit www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org for more information.

Michelle Gibson is a contributing writer for CityScene.