Category Archives: Arts

May 14, 2013 · 4:49 pm

(Not Just Another) Free Museum Day on June 1 & 2

The_Phillips_Collection

Stretch your legs and your mind during the 30th Annual Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk (June 1 and 2, 2013). June 1 10am-4pm June 2 1pm-5pm. Nine diverse museums will open their doors free of charge for this weekend long celebration in one of Washington, D.C.’s most beautiful neighborhoods.  Discover Anderson House, Dumbarton House, Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center, Heurich House Museum, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, National Museum of American Jewish Military History, The Phillips Collection, The Textile Museum, and the Woodrow Wilson House free of charge.

Family Fun… Free Admission…Shuttle Busses…Fun Scavenger Hunts for All! Stretch your legs and your mind as you take in some of the priceless art usually only seen for the price of admission.  In addition to a wide variety of exhibitions and a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt, many sites are offering special programming. Enjoy period music in the gardens at Dumbarton House, stop by The Textile Museum’s Celebration of Textiles, take part in Jazz n’ Family Fun Days at The Phillips Collection and celebrate the memory of a loved one at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History with a skit, video, journal, or other creative format.

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May 10, 2013 · 12:19 pm

Open Studio Tours in Mid-City: Artist-Led Tours Take You Inside

pic courtesy MidCityArts

pic courtesy MidCityArts

For the first time, Mid City Artists (MCA) is offering curator led tours of their open studios on May 18th and 19th.  Local curators Laura Roulet, Sondra Arkin, Judy Sherman and Blair Murphy will be leading tours at designated times throughout the weekend.  Each curator will visit 4-6 studios in about two hours. You must reserve in advance and the meet up location will be sent to you in a confirmation email.  Please RSVP through our website.

12:00pm til 5:00pm, Sat May 18 @ Mid City Artists, 1716 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

Visitors can hop from one studio to another within vibrant Mid City and witness an expansive offering of art and culture by the city’s most-talented and creative artists.

price free

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April 24, 2013 · 12:13 pm

Terminators: Opening Reception

Terminators_Postcard_ImagePartnering with Oslo, Norway based arts collective No Place, Transformer presents Terminators, an exhibition of works in a variety of disciplines by Norwegian artists Jørgen van Eijk, Ole Martin Lund Bø, Donkey and Punch, Sebestian Helling, and Henrik Pask in their first DC exhibition.

6:00pm til 8:00pm, Sat May 11 @ Transformer, 1404 P St NW, Washington, DC 20005

Identifying Washington, DC as the “inner core of the United States, where decisions that effect the rest of the world are made,” in considering the exhibition collaboration with Transformer, No Place deemed it essential, both aesthetically and ideologically, to work with artists that have a sense of deconstruction in them. The artists chosen for the Terminators exhibition all explore deconstruction in their artwork: a deconstruction of their own artwork, past events, physical objects in themselves, or their own personality. Inviting open dialogue through visual formats, No Place member and Terminators curator Karen Nikgol states: “Order and deconstruction share an interconnectedness wherein strategies of order can only be comprehended once broken down and analyzed – particularly through aesthetic expression. Our aim is that the sense of deconstruction as presented in an orderly environment will produce an understanding of how strategies of order are built and created. Deconstruction begets termination, or finality. It is in finality that one is able to apply the retrospective view, to look back and understand. The works of all the artists in Terminators deconstruct AND terminate, affording the viewer the benefit of bearing witness to both the process of deconstruction, and the ever-present sense of nostalgia that deconstruction carries with it. In this way, Terminators is not really about deconstruction – it is about the reflection inherent in terminating.”Dedicated to advancing emergent expression in contemporary visual art, Transformer is honored to have the opportunity to work with No Place in an effort to broaden cultural, political, and artistic discourse through the presentation of the participating artists’ ideas and work.

price free

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April 22, 2013 · 10:09 am

Passport DC

pic courtesy Passport DC

pic courtesy Passport DC

This May, travel across the globe without ever leaving the city.

10:00pm til 7:00pm, Sat May  4 @ Washington, DC, Washington, DC

Cultural Tourism DC is presenting the sixth annual Passport DC—a month long celebration in May comprising international programs and events around the city. Visitors and residents have the opportunity to travel around the world without ever leaving the city with tours of more than 70 embassies and hundreds of other international cultural activities that include street festivals, performances and exhibitions. The festivities kick off on Saturday May 4, 2013, with the Around the World Embassy Tour.

price free

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January 22, 2013 · 4:13 pm

A Washingtonian in New Orleans

NoLa fashion DC.pngCan one country be so different that you feel like you’re in a foreign land after a 2 hour flight? That was my first thought upon arriving in New Orleans in late December. It reminded me of San Juan, something other friends have pointed out before. Must be the palm trees and the weather and the joie de vivre the locals possess. I went to New Orleans for the first time for New Year’s Eve. I was expecting the crazy partying, jazz, Creole/Cajun cuisine and French-influenced culture but what most struck me about was the local fashion, the abundance of local boutiques.

My friend Karina lives off Magazine Street, a long street filled with bars, shops and tons of boutiques and jewelry stores. That is where ‘the locals hang out’. Our first night out we went to a couple of local bars, heard some live music, I took in the city in a very non-Bourbon Street kind of way. Which I saved till my friend from DC arrived so we could be tourists together. Having lived in DC for two years I am taking in this great local fashion and vigor. Not to say that every city needs it – it is just not a priority here in the capital. Aside from the occasional U Street hipster one does not see a lot of original fashion and creativity. In the words of a New Yorker living in DC, “Why is there so much Ann Taylor here!?”

Both my friend and I (who is a native Washingtonian) kept looking at the trendy clothes, great boots and shoes, and that great Southern hair on all the women down in NoLa. They all had personalities to match and Southern Hospitality is a definite presence. Having moved to DC from New York I used to call DC the South; I will not be doing that again! Washington is definitely mid-Atlantic: the center point of the North and South. NoLa is most definitely in the South but with a lot of clothes and trends that you would ordinarily see in the East Village in New York or in London. Self-image is valued immensely there (or that is what I thought and observed) while in DC …not so much.

Aside from the hustle and bustle of Bourbon Street, the crazy costumes, Mardi Gras, and colonial architecture, there is a very creative and stylish populace – mostly young people who are looking good and having a great time doing it. I recommend everyone visiting NoLa check out the Magazine Street vintage stores and boutiques. We need a Magazine Street in DC too! The biggest reason people here dress so standard and uniform – there are not many places to shop, plain and simple.

Citizens of DC, post your ideas for fun and individual places to shop in DC proper in the Comments.  Why do you think DC dresses quite uniformly?

Written by Asif Khan.

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January 16, 2013 · 8:28 am

Remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr. to be Held

1bokamoso_at_blue_monday_blues_2011__amazing_grace_aThe Capitol Hill Arts Workshop will offer a “Remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr.” on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 4th and Independence Avenue SE. Participants in the Remembrance include Fortissima, Capitol Hill Youth Chorus, Not What You Think, Nuance, Jubilee Singers of All Souls Unitarian, Washington Youth Chorus, and individual artist Pamela Jafari. The performance will conclude with a special appearance by the youth of the Bokamoso Youth Centre in Winterveldt Township near Pretoria, South Africa who will talk and sing about their challenges and dreams.

The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by a grant from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation. The Church is accessible and the event will be interpreted for the deaf. The event is free and open to all. For more information, call (202) 547-6839.

7:00pm til 9:00pm, Tue Jan 22 @ Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 201 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20003

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January 11, 2013 · 7:01 am

Weekend East City Event Round Up: Happy 2013 Edition

 

Laura Elkins “Self as Michelle Drinking Tea.”Photo Courtesy of the Fridge

Laura Elkins “Self as Michelle Drinking Tea.”
Photo Courtesy of the Fridge

Friday January 11

 

Honfleur Gallery (6pm to 9pm)

Artists Michael Dax Iacovone and Kathryn Zazenski collaborated on a series of “Memory Maps” based on recent travels undertaken by each artist.  In the Points That Bring Us from Here to There, audiences will experience Iacovones’ chronicle describing his crossing of all 123 Mississippi River bridges and Zazenski’s visual documentation of her time in Haukijärvi, Finland, Washington, DC, and Beijing.  For more information click here.

Honfleur Gallery is located at 1241 Good Hope RD SE

 

 

The Gallery at Vivid Solutions (6pm to 9pm)

Oswald Spengler once said “It goes without saying that what distinguishes a town from a village is not size, but the presence of a soul.” As such, the Instant DC photography collaborative, through an open call, found several photographers whose images of Washington, DC have captured the spirit of this quote.  For more information, click here.

 

NOTE: The Gallery at Vivid Solutions is temporarily relocated to the second floor of 1241 Good Hope RD SE while the permanent space is being renovated.

 

Saturday January 12

 

Art Enables’ Off Rhode Gallery (1pm to 4pm)

Art Enables’ second gallery space known as the Off Rhode Gallery will host an opening for the group show Inaugural Visions.  The exhibition features Presidential Inauguration themed works by resident artists as well as Washington, DC mainstays like Dana Ellyn and Matt Sesow.  For more information, click here.

Art Enables is located at 2204 Rhode Island Ave NE

Tubman-Mahan Gallery (2pm to 4pm)

To open up the 2013 exhibition season, the Tubman-Mahan gallery at the Center for Green Urbanism will show a series of new work by Maryland artists Sandra D. Davis.  Davis’ Journey with Paper features brilliantly colored mixed media work.  For more information, click here.

 

Tubman-Mahan Gallery is located at 3938 Benning Road NE

The Fridge (6pm to 8pm)

In keeping with the Presidential Inauguration theme, Capitol Hill artist Laura Elkins, known for her portraiture of first ladies, pays homage to Michelle Obama.  Elkin’s use strongly contrasting color and course brushstrokes results in a bold interpretation of her subjects. For more information click here.

The Fridge is located at 516 1/2 8th Street rear alley, SE

 

 

Monday January 14

 

Catalyst Projects (6:30pm to 8:30pm)

Extend your week into Monday Night.  Have you ever been interested in taking your artwork to a Miami art fair?  Now is your chance to learn from experts and newcomers fresh from their December 2012 experience.  The panel discussion is organized by Capitol Hill based Catalyst Projects and will feature Lenny Campbello, Tim Tate, Sean Hennessey and Ada Rose Bitterbaum.  For more information, click here.

The HIVE 2.0 is located at 1241 Good Hope RD SE

Phil Hutinet is the Editor-in-Chief of East City Art.  You can get more information about East City Art on Facebook , follow them on Twitter or sign up for their newsletter here. 

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January 10, 2013 · 7:20 am

Laura Elkins’ Homage to Michelle Opens in The Mini-Fridge

pic courtesy of The Fridge

pic courtesy of The Fridge

In a nod to the upcoming inauguration, The Fridge opens Laura Elkins’ Homage to Michelle in The Mini-Fridge, the newly opened space at the gallery. The artist will show a retrospective of works inspired by Michelle Obama during the first administration. Elkins uses First Lady imagery to create self-portraits that are at once deeply personal and also inherently historical and political. Elkins’ work addresses larger social and cultural issues, including current events, while maintaining the everywoman quality of a self-portrait.

Homage to Michelle opens on Saturday, January 12, 6 – 8pm, and is on view through February 9, 2013. The artist draws upon the mythical narrative that each First Lady is the personification of flawless taste and grace as well as a humble servant to the people. Elkins pairs conservative style choices with provocative imagery to reexamine the American perception of the qualities that the First Lady, and by extension, all women, should possess. Her artwork presents a radically new understanding of how private identity is masked to create a socially acceptable and politically correct public personality. This will be Elkins’ third solo exhibition with the gallery.

6:00pm til 8:00pm, Sat Jan 12 @ The Fridge, 516 8th St SE, Washington, DC 20003

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January 7, 2013 · 7:53 am

Free Gilbert & Sullivan Workshop

Gondoliers Giuseppe and Marco as played by Trey Gibson and Kerry Jones

Now how’s this for some local arts?  You could be the one performing!

Join the fun at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop’s free one-day Gilbert and Sullivan workshop on Saturday, January 12, 2013 from 12:00 – 6:00 p.m. at 545 7th Street, SE. Peter DiMuro and Barbara Schelstrate, who direct CHAW’s summer Gilbert and Sullivan productions, will be on hand to teach and prepare participants for a same day, 6:00 PM public performance of three Gilbert and Sullivan songs (from “The Pirates of Penzance” and “The Mikado”).

To reserve your space in the workshop, register by calling CHAW, 202-547-6839 or by emailing victor@chaw.org. Familiarity with the operettas is not required. The public is invited to a performance at CHAW at 6:00 PM on January 12th. For more information, visit http://www.chaw.org or call (202) 547-6839.

12:00pm til 6:00pm, Sat Jan 12 @ Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th St SE, Washington, DC 20003

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December 19, 2012 · 9:20 am

Opening Reception for Davis McLane Connelly’s Individuation at The Fridge

 

Connely bunniesThe Fridge presents Individuation, an exhibition of drawings by Brooklyn-based artist Davis McLane Connelly.

Davis draws youthful figures in lifelike, surrealistic scenarios. In a departure from previous works in this series featuring stuffed toys and anthropomorphic animals, Davis is also showing drawings with human figures as part of his pursuit to fully realize this dream-like exploration of the psyche. Davis is a self-taught artist whose skills as a draftsman earned him a post-graduate residency in Corciano, Italy. His academic training in the field of psychology is the dominant influence in his work. This series is born out of the concept of individuation, the Jungian term for each person’s path to becoming whole.

Davis says, “I want to make work that is visually accessible, and I believe it’s important for everyone to be able to form their own interpretation of my work. I aim to make my drawings aesthetically pleasing so that they appeal to a wide range of viewers. Beyond the immediate aesthetics, there are slightly muted references to greater topics. For example, the words on a magazine, the direction in which light is cast, or the arrangement of the composition will hold clues to a deeper meaning.”

7:00pm til 11:00pm, Sat Jan 5 @ The Fridge, 516 8th St SE, Washington, DC 20003

price free

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