A sign posted outside the National Zoo earlier this month declares its closure, along with the closure of all Smithsonian museums. They were all on the wish list for Jill Rorem, whose family plans were undone by the shutdown. But she's not alone: The shutdown's ramifications on the arts have been felt far beyond the Beltway. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption
A bit of lapis lazuli — a rich blue pigment — is trapped within a central tooth's dental tartar on this lower jaw of a European woman who died sometime between A.D. 997 and 1162. Christina Warinner/Science Advances hide caption
Alice Neel painted this oil on canvas self-portrait in 1980, when she was 75. National Portrait Gallery/Estate of Alice Neel hide caption
In Red Dead Redemption 2, you don't exactly level up. Courtesy of Rockstar Games hide caption
At the restaurant Siren by Robert Wiedmaier, pastry chef Maddy Morrissey uses marigold as the base for a Japanese dessert served with nasturtium leaves, flower petals and pineapple sage shortbread. Brian McBride/RWRestaurant Group hide caption
For this year's grand prize winner, the judges were impressed by the intricate, working gingerbread gears of the clock inside Santa's workshop. Kristen Hartke/NPR hide caption
Coloring Without Borders — a book featuring contributions from more than 80 artists — invites kids to fill in the blanks. Young artists can draw a friend for Jim Field's Squirrel (left) or finish Max Ulichney's house (right). Coloring Without Borders hide caption
A photograph by Hugh Mangum from Photos Day or Night: The Archive of HughMangum, by Sarah Stacke with texts by Maurice Wallace and Martha Sumler, Hugh Mangum's granddaughter. Image courtesy of Hugh Mangum Photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Hugh Mangum/Duke University hide caption
Michael Durand (left), husband of Kitchn Editor-In-Chief Faith Durand, and friend Chris Gardner (right) carve turkey while guests hang out in the Durands' kitchen, dirty dishes and all, at a recent party. Kitchn/Rachel Joy Barehl hide caption
The Richard Neutra-designed home at 49 Hopkins Ave. in San Francisco, as seen in an old Google Street View photograph. Google Maps hide caption
In the story "The Mole and the Sun," Mole's mother is sick. A medical seer tells him she will recover if his friend Ya Sun can orbit the earth in the opposite direction that it's rotating. The sobering moral is that you can't go against the rules of nature. Pieter Henket hide caption
"Back when a mission was actually accomplished." Pete Souza hide caption
Beau Stanton painted this mural on a Los Angeles school in 2016. Later this month it will be removed, following complaints from community members. Beau Stanton/Courtesy hide caption
"I like to accept the way people present themselves," photographer Inge Morath said in a 1987 NPR interview. "You never know what you get. It's fascinating ... that's why I like to do portraits." Morath, pictured above in Paris in 1964, is the subject of a new biography by Linda Gordon called Inge Morath: Magnum Legacy, published by Prestel and Magnum Foundation. Lefevre/AP hide caption
Lately, Trevor Paglen has been designing satellites that serve a purely aesthetic function — that is, without military or communications purposes. This draft is the "Prototype for a Nonfunctional Satellite (Design 4; Build 4)." Courtesy of Altman Siegel Gallery and Metro Pictures. Trevor Paglen/Courtesy of Nevada Museum of Art hide caption
A promotional balloon — styled after the red, heart-shaped balloon in one of Banksy's famous artworks — floats at the grand opening of The Art Of Banksy show in Miami. WorldRedEye.com hide caption
April 10, 2005 Stephen DiRado hide caption
Living Coral is the Pantone Color Institute's color of the year for 2019. The vibrant hue represents "the fusion of modern life," the institute explains. Courtesy of Pantone Color Institute hide caption
Ownership of "Statue of a Victorious Youth," a bronze sculpture of ancient Greek origin, is being disputed. An American museum is trying to keep it. Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program. hide caption
New York City says it will erect a statue of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress. Chisholm is seen here in a Brooklyn church in January 1972, announcing her bid for the Democratic nomination for president. Don Hogan Charles/Getty Images hide caption
Tom Schiller plays artist Kurt Barnert, a character modeled on Gerhard Richter, in this old-fashioned melodrama from writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Sony Pictures Classics hide caption
What couldn't be fixed Rose-Lynn Fisher hide caption
The Fearless Girl statue stands facing the Charging Bull as tourists take pictures in New York City. The smaller statue was moved this week. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
An image shows the paintings stolen from the Netherlands' Kunsthal museum in 2012 — including Picasso's Tête d'Arlequin at bottom right. Two Dutch citizens claim to have found the missing Picasso work, Romanian prosecutors said on Sunday. Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images hide caption