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Contents
- 1 Home | City Lights | Best of D.C.
- 2 Undesign the Redline Explores the Racist Housing Policies that Shaped Upper Northwest
- 3 Anna Deavere Smith and a Chocolate Festival: City Lights for April 25 to May 1
- 4 Forget Sticks and Stones, Words Hurt in Webster’s Bitch
- 5 Unknown Soldier: A Valiant Quest With an Underwhelming Conclusion
Home | City Lights | Best of D.C.
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Tommy Bobo’s art installation at the Congressional Cemetery has received a decent amount of coverage from local outlets. And no wonder: “The Landscape Listens” is an emotional, serene, and cathartic work of art consisting of hundreds of mirrors and a “wind phone” that allows visitors to speak with a deceased loved one.
In a different part of town, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson smiles down on 14th Street NW, reminding us of her historic role on the high court, courtesy Nia Keturah Calhoun’s richly colored mural. Along the Mall, Stephanie Mercedes’ sculpture of melted bullets and aluminum honors more than 500 journalists who’ve died in the line of duty.
D.C. is rich with public art—pieces that stop us in our tracks for their power, for their messages, or simply because they’re pretty. But what happens after the paint, so to speak, dries on these outdoor installations? That’s the question City Paper contributor Nicole Schaller sought to answer when she sat down with Bobo, Calhoun, Mercedes, and several other local artists who dare to venture beyond the confines and safety of the gallery.
For some, the upkeep is weekly, for others it’s a bit more laissez-faire, and, sometimes, elements beyond the artist’s control take over as was the case when one of Nekisha Durrett’s outdoor installations “became a rat condo.”
For an insightful read on how public arts is created and maintained, check out Schaller’s full story on our website.
—Sarah Marloff (tips? [email protected])
Undesign the Redline Explores the Racist Housing Policies that Shaped Upper Northwest
Do you know the story of how the land for Fort Reno Park and Alice […]
- Police in D.C. handcuffed an unhoused pregnant woman and kept her in the back of a van while authorities cleared her encampment. Officers would not let the woman urinate, so she did it in her clothes. Behavioral health officials declined to forcibly hospitalize her, and she was released with soiled clothes and her belongings taken away. [X]
- Metropolitan Police Department Officer Owen Grigsby and accountant Himmeh Kuawogai pleaded guilty to filing false information to obtain nearly $100,000 in COVID relief funds. Grigsby is still employed with MPD and is on administrative leave with pay. [DOJ]
- Multiple shootings over a period of about three hours from Wednesday night and into Thursday morning left three people dead—including a teenager—and at least two injured. The shootings in Woodland Terrace, Petworth, and Deanwood come after a period of nine days without fatal violence in D.C. [Post, NBC Washington]
- President Biden granted clemency to several people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, including D.C.’s Dr. Katrina Polk and Fairfax County’s Pilar Alejandra Yelicie-Rodriguez. [White House]
By City Paper staff (tips? [email protected])
- D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson says four bills addressing truancy will receive hearings this summer. [X]
- Nerd Prom (aka the White House Correspondents’ Dinner) is this weekend, and WCP owner Mark Ein is co-hosting a pregame brunch at his Beall-Washington House in Georgetown. Once home to the late Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham, the mansion has sat vacant for years due in part to a neighborhood dispute over renovations. [Axios]
- Mayor Muriel Bowser says she will not meet with a family that has lost three sons to violence in the city. Asked why, Bowser told a reporter: “I’ve answered your question. Any other questions?” John Evans is the father of Avion Evans, 14, who was shot and killed at the Brookland Metro station this month. Avion’s older brother, Johnny Evans III, was stabbed to death at the Deanwood Metro station in 2016; and his half brother, John Coleman, was shot on M Street NE in May. [FOX5]
By Alex Koma (tips? [email protected])
- Foxtrot’s abrupt departure may have come as a shock, but the upscale convenience store chain really wasn’t that great to begin with. Luckily Jessica Sidman rounded up a bunch of other bougie markets that are better than Foxtrot. [Washingtonian]
- The Dubliner, Equinox on 19th, KAZ Sushi Bistro, and Marcels have claimed the honor of this year’s Milestone awards, which recognizes D.C. restaurants that have reached at least 25 years of continuous operations. (The Dubliner just celebrated its 50th anniversary in March!) [WTOP]
- I can’t believe I’m writing this, but blue milk—yeah it’s blue—has hit local grocery stores. The blue milk, from TruMoo in collaboration with Lucasfilm, is a callback to Star Wars: A New Hope, and is meant to celebrate May 4. [FOX5]
- An interfaith Celebration of Life service will be held at Washington National Cathedral today to honor the seven World Central Kitchen workers who were killed in an Israeli military strike in Gaza. WCK founder chef José Andrés will speak. [Axios]
By City Paper staff (tips? [email protected])
Anna Deavere Smith and a Chocolate Festival: City Lights for April 25 to May 1
What do to and where to go this week.
Forget Sticks and Stones, Words Hurt in Webster’s Bitch
Words matter. And in Jacqueline Bircher’s Webster’s Bitch, they truly cut deep.
Unknown Soldier: A Valiant Quest With an Underwhelming Conclusion
Unknown Soldier traverses three points in time to tell the story of two women struggling to understand each other.
- Gender is a construct: Trans filmmaker Kimberly Reed, composer Laura Kaminsky, and librettist Mark Campbell created Washington National Opera’s True Voice Award to “support the training of transgender and nonbinary opera singers, as well as increase their visibility in the industry.” Singer Katherine Goforth is the inaugural recipient of the award. [Post]
- This Sunday, at a show curated by D.C. native and jazz musician Corcoran Holt, the celebrated musician and arts educator Davey Yarborough will be honored for his contribution to DMV artists. [Informer]
- This Barbie skates: Matell’s latest in its “Inspiring Women Series” is a doll modeled after Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. [FOX5]
By Sarah Marloff (tips? [email protected])
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