Alice Pike Barney Alice Pike Barney successfully lobbied Congress to create a federally-funded outdoor theater on the National Mall near the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/36">Washington Monument</a>. Barney, a painter, wanted to encourage enjoyment of the arts in Washington, DC. She provided the funding to construct the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/3">National Sylvan Theater</a> and served as its first resident playwright. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Alice+Pike+Barney">Alice Pike Barney</a> Smithsonian American Art Museum. <a href="http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artist/?id=247">View original image</a>. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1890-1919">1890-1919</a>