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Category Archives: Culture

Around Town: March 25-27

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Hey there, Greater Washington! For this final weekend of March, are you looking …

… For Community?

On Friday at 7:00 AM, The Reading Connection will host their annual Wine & Words: meet Jeff Kinney (author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid), taste Virginia wines and food from area chefs, and bid in a silent auction. For dedicated runners and leisure walkers alike, join the 1st Annual Red Shoe Run & Walk 5K this Sunday at 9:00 AM in Herndon, VA, to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Washington (prizes and surprises included!). Then at 10:00 AM, Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts begins its Cancer Help Program Retreat for adults and caregivers seeking physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing. From 6:00-9:00 PM, the Literacy Council of Montgomery County will host a SCRABBLE SCRAMBLE to support its adult literacy programs (players will be able to buy a peek at a dictionary).

For Theater?

On Saturday at 10:00 AM, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop presents Sugarfootn’ with Sugarfoots: A Black History Storytelling Celebration through ARTdays, a series of free concerts and events. And at 3:00 and 8:00 PM, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company welcomes back renowned monologist Mike Daisey with his wickedly funny The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. And from 3:00 to 5:00 PM, District of Columbia Arts Center will host The District Monologue Slam, designed to showcase Washington’s most dynamic actors; each willing participant will place their name on a sign-in sheet for 16 slots that will be available on a first come basis!

For Dance?

Featuring all live music, Bowen McCauley Dance’s Kennedy Center Terrace Theater performance and Gala on Saturday at 7:30 PM will include two world premieres and notable guest performers from the Joffrey Ballet and Mark Morris Dance Group. And on Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday at 7:00 PM, you can ease on down the road to recession (and back from the brink) in Nicholas Leichter and Monstah Black’s take on The Wizard of Oz for the Obama generation at Dance Place.

For Music?

Washington Bach Consort’s founder/artistic director J. Reilly Lewis and Assistant Director Scott Dettra join forces for an afternoon of virtuoso music performed on harpsichord and National Presbyterian Church’s magnificent pipe organ on Sunday at 3:00 PM. Also at 3:00 PM, catch the lively Concerto for Two Timpani and the enchanting Scheherezade from “The Arabian Nights” at American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras.

Remember! All details are available on Happenings.

7 Questions – Stuart Naranch (Art Enables)

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Today, we are welcoming to “7 Questions” …. Stuart Naranch, Production Manager of Art Enables! An entrepreneurial arts program for area adults with developmental or mental disabilities, Art Enables provides opportunities for the creation of “outsider” and folks art, which is then marketed at exhibits in the studio, through local retailers, and online. Participants also receive 60% of the sales of individual pieces and flat fees for designs. Do browse the store and check out the events calendar — so awesome!

1. What was your most interesting recent project, initiative, partnership, or event?

I think it has to be moving our studio to its new location on Rhode Island Ave NE from New York Ave NE. We have had more drop-in visitors in the first months of being open than all the time in the old location and there is a great sense of community and more opportunities for neighborhood partnerships.

2. What else are you up to?

We are always busy trying to develop new products for our artists’ portfolios. We want to create art works that can be displayed in non-traditional manner that are suited to our new neighborhood.

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In The News …

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Welcome to Wednesday, folks! Sending non-profit and local news items your way …

Japan: “Cutting Through the Noise” — At the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at UPenn, yesterday’s post outlines “the questions donors should ask, the capabilities to look for in a nonprofit, and an example of an organization well-positioned to deliver help in Japan now.” While rightly focused on the crisis in Japan, the questions posed (and the answers offered) also provide a good basis?for considering any philanthropic effort in the aftermath of a profound disaster. Key questions to consider include: “What are the most critical needs on the ground?” “What are the gaps in local capacity for meeting these needs?” and “What capabilities are needed to address these gaps effectively?”

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Around Town: March 19-20

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Happy Friday, Greater Washington! I was not too pleased about “springing ahead” last weekend. But on the other hand, I am liking the extended daylight. So why not celebrate the prolonged light with one (or more) of our non-profits this weekend? Such as …

Prince George’s Child Resource Center (TBA, Largo, MD)

Volunteers needed for the Building for Success Conference on Saturday, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM! You would check-in and register participants, facilitate workshops for the trainers, and just be a friendly and helpful presence throughout the day. Email jregner@pgcrc.org for more info.

Literacy Council of Northern Virginia (James Lee Community Center, 2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church, VA)

The annual “Reading: A Family Affairs” brings books to life for hundreds of families on Saturday from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Puppeteers, musicians, and storytellers will provide interactive performances that encourage family reading at home — in the most fun way possible. Learn more here AND read our “7 Questions” interview with LCNV’s Executive Director!

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Around Town: March 12-13

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Whew. That was quite a bit of rain. We’re supposed to see some sun this weekend, but we have indoor and outdoor events coming right up …

Literacy Council of Northern Virginia (James Lee Community Center, 2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church)

Interesting in becoming a volunteer tutoring and spreading literacy in Northern Virginia? Start up Basic Literacy tutoring training this Saturday from 9:30 AM-1:30 PM.

Encore Stage & Studio (Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre, 125 South Old Glebe Road, Arlington)

Opening this weekend! The Brothers Grimm: Out of Order, in which pages are swapped, plots intermingled, and the fairy tales are all mixed up. Performance are Friday & Saturday at 7:30 PM and Saturday & Sunday at 3:00 PM; full schedule right here.

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In The News …

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Welcome to Wednesday, Greater Washington! What’s new this week?

Venture Philanthropy Partners invests $1.4M in youth programs — the Washington Business Journal reported on Monday that the philanthropic investment organization “will invest a total of $1.4 million over two years in two Washington area youth programs.” And those two youth programs also happen to be … Catalogue non-profits! According to the VPP press release, Metro TeenAIDS and Urban Alliance are now partners “in youthCONNECT, an integrated effort to address the multifaceted challenges facing low-income youth, ages 14-24, in the National Capital Region … a goal of expanding to provide 20,000 at-risk youth over the next five years.” Very exciting!

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Question for the Day

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From “Finding a New Tune: How Arts Organizations Balance Creativity and Operations” by Corbett Barklie in the latest issue of The Nonprofit Quarterly:

By its nature, infrastructure is a barrier that splits the focus of an artistic group and demands attention. At its most positive, it protects the artistic product over the long term and ensures continuation. But to achieve long-term stability, the present must also be considered and planned. This planning often leads to self-conscious creative behavior, which can divide the artist from his art and the art from its community. Without equally considering the potential loss of spontaneity and engagement, recommending the development of infrastructure as the source of long-term security seems irresponsible.

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Around Town: March 4-6

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Welcome to Friday, folks! Some awesome performances and events at Catalogue non-profits are right around the corner:

Northeast Performing Arts Group (at Kelly Miller Middle School Auditorium, 301 49th Street NE)

Friday at 7:30 PM, catch When Will It End: Slavery Then, Slavery Now, a thought-provoking dance musical and high-energy educational expression of Afro American History. An extra-cool fact: the performers range in age from 3 to 25. More information right here!

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In The News …

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Welcome to the first Wednesday in March and your weekly news round-up!

State Arts Agencies — Over at Createquity, Ian David Moss follows up on this post by pointing to two new, online national resources for arts advocates. At the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, you can find a simple (albeit unpleasant) breakdown of “major restructuring or funding elimination proposal” by state. The State Arts Appropriation Network, an affiliate of Americans for the Arts, even provides a click-able US map where you can access past and proposed budget numbers. Moss also makes a great point: check to see if your state representatives are already “in the tank for arts funding” so that you can reach out to friends and networks elsewhere!

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Quote for the Day

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I thought that this might be a good final thought for the month of February:

What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing: you wouldn’t be an artist if you didn’t want to share an experience, a thought.

– David Hockney

In a sense, art is inevitable because of our fundamental impulse to share. Sometimes, we latch on to things that are terrifying or frustrating or sublime, moments that are too critical to be forgotten or pushed away. So we must give them a form in which they can be discussed, seen, and shared. In that sense, art is not just a personal pursuit. It is inherently a collective one.

So many Catalogue cheers this Monday for our Community Arts non-profits — for bringing us closer every day of the week!