Poet Laureate of Carrboro, NC 2019 -2022 / 2019 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow
“finally, I come to believe in loss as a way of knowing.”
-Sekou Sundiata from “Open heart”
For some reason on these rainy days
I feel a loss i cannot easily assign
words to -when i feel loss i turn
to poetry and more often than not
when I think poetry and loss
I think of Sekou Sundiata…
that’s all i have to say about that
Summer Jamboree: Live Music and Art in Anacostia
Vivid Solutions DC and Honfleur Gallery will host concurrent arts events this Friday night at 7pm. The closing receptions kick off at 7pm for Chandi Kelley’s solo exhibition Timelines and for Reincorporation Jamboree, a group show featuring emerging artists looking at societal rites of passage. Vivid Solutions DC and Honfleur Gallery are located in the historic district of Anacostia, just a four block walk from each other.
Reincorporation Jamboree at Honfleur Gallery: 7-9pm
Artists Seeking a Secular Coming of Age
Artists like Joseph Beuys have built catalogs of work looking at rites of passage. Reincorpartion Jamboree draws
from the work of five young artists who have emerged from what could be considered contemporary American rites of passage like: middle school dances, under employment, financing higher education and urban survival. Curator and DC artist Steven Frost examines this emergence with a group of young artists from several regions of the US. The work of Kristina Bilonick (Washington, DC), Ben Fino-Radin (Providence, RI), Hatnim Lee (Brooklyn, NY), Sean M. Johnson (Boston, MA), and Theo Knox (San Francisco, CA) premiers at Honfleur Gallery in this incisive body of contemporary study of reincorporation. www.honfleurgallery.com
Timelines at Vivid Solutions DC: 7-9pm
Solo Exhibition of works by Chandi Kelley
Exhibition dates: June 22nd – September 8th
Timelines, a collection of photographs inspired by the theme of memory and mystery, are constructed images of bookends, antique books and wallpaper. Methodically photographed, the spines of the books function as a timeline reading from left to right. The text and image combine in a striking, evocative collection. Ms. Kelley was awarded the Young Artist Program Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for this body of work, and Timelines is the artist’s first solo show. www.vividsolutionsdc.com
The Bellevederes at Honfleur Gallery: 9pm-?
Baltimore-based soul music collective breathes “fresh air into vintage tracks.” Self described as “Baltimore boogaloo”, the 9-piece band is dedicated to the old-school soul and funk, and to playing it right. Drawing members from other popular regional bands (Caleb Stine and the Brakemen, The Red Vines etc), the Bellevederes have a fun, fresh sound not to be missed. Honfleur’s 2009 Concert Series is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts & The DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. www.thebellevederes.com.
Vivid Solutions and Honfleur Gallery are projects of ARCH Development Corporation, a community based not for profit in Historic Anacostia. ARCH has been a member of the Anacostia Community for over 20 years and believes that arts and culture play an important role in community revitalization & development.
Honfleur Gallery is a contemporary art space in Historic Anacostia, located at 1241 Good Hope Road SE.
Vivid Solutions is a fine art digital print lab and exhibition space, is located at 2208 MLK Jr. Ave SE.
Their close proximity to 395, Capitol Hill and to the Anacostia Green Line Metro make them easily accessible from downtown DC. For further inquiries, please contact Amy Cavanaugh, Honfleur Gallery Director, at 202-580-5972. The Summer Jamboree events are free and open to the public. High-resolution images available upon request.
click on the flyer to view larger
Showing Every Sunday in June!
Monk the Play written by Laurence Holder, starring Rome Neal and Music by Bill Lee.
Blair Mansion 7711 Eastern Ave Silver Spring MD
for more info go to www.blairmansion.com, www.monktheplay.com, www.washingtondcjazznetwork.ning.com
Although these three albums don’t even begin to scratch the surface of Duke’s range and contribution to the world of music, they all hold a special place in my heart and in the development of musical “ear”….I will talk about this later…in the meantime go and listen to Duke and if you are DC walk down You Street, down to the Howard Theatre and Frank Holliday’s Poolroom (the old Cafe Mawonaj) where Ellington started his musical career at 14…
City as Memory: A Lyrical City Writing Workshop
Whether we were born in Washington, DC or migrated here, the city functions as a living repository, holding memories of people, places and events in our lives. What happens to our memories as the city evolves and changes, as landmarks disappear and new sparkling edifices take their place? How do we write about the places and people that have shaped us? What have you been a witness to? How do we look into the mirror at ourselves?
E. Ethelbert Miller kicks off the Lyrical City writing workshop series with a class on memoir. In addition to the workshop on Sunday, all are invited to attend his presentation “No Women, Two Books, One Man: An examination of memoirs and family” the day before at the Washington Historical Society (details below).
Bio
E. Ethelbert Miller is a literary activist. In addition to several volumes of poetry, he is the author of two memoirs, Fathering Words, and most recently, The 5th Inning. He is the board chairperson of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a board member of The Writer’s Center and editor of Poet Lore magazine. Since 1974, he has been the director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University. Mr. Miller is the former chair of the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C. and a former core faculty member of the Bennington Writing Seminars at Bennington College.
About Lyrical City
Lyrical City is a six-part writing workshop series facilitated by outstanding writers with a strong DC connection. The workshops focus on the African-American poetry tradition in DC and various cultural aspects of the city. The workshops are open to all. There is also at least one slot reserved in each workshop for an emerging youth writer (age 16-25).
Participation is limited to 12 people. The cost of each workshop is $25. Some partial scholarships are available. (To request a scholarship, please include a 2-3 sentences briefly explaining your financial needs.) Residents of the Mt. Vernon neighborhood receive a discounted rate. To apply for the workshop, please send an email with your name, a brief paragraph (50-150 words) explaining what you hope to get out of the workshop and one poem. Accepted applicants will be notified on how to make advance payment (online or via snail mail).
The first workshop will take place on Sunday May 3 from 4-6:30pm at Busboys & Poets, 5th & K, in the Cullen Room.
Upcoming workshops will be facilitated by Reuben Jackson, Thomas Sayers Ellis,Toni Asante Lightfoot and Sharan Strange.
This workshop is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts
The Historical Society of Washington, DC presents:
“No Women, Two Books, One Man: An examination of memoirs and family”
Saturday, May 2, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
801 K Street, NW at Mount Vernon Square, Washington, DC 20001
Ethelbert Miller discusses his two memoirs—Fathering Words and his new book,
The 5th Inning. This discussion is an opportunity to talk about love, divorce, marriage, and family life. Are all the stories true? Come and find out. The author writes in his new book, “This book is a riff on middle-age, marriage, fatherhood, and failure. In baseball the fifth inning can represent a complete game. The structure of this book consists of balls and strikes. As a writer I might now and then throw the reader a curve.”
(Ages 12 to Adults) RSVP@historydc.org or 202-383-1828. FREE
Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival Press Release
Come be a part of Anacostia’s premiere spring event, the Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival to be held on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 from 10 am to 4 pm. The festival draws residents and tourists from throughout the city. It will be a day packed with activities, including an Opening Ceremony & Tree Dedication, an Arts Walk, live Music and more. The majority of the days’ activities will take place along Good Hope Road S.E. toward the Anacostia Park Entrance and on up the 1900-2000 Block ofMartin Luther King Jr. Avenue~ The Historic Anacostia Corridor.
The Main Street Anacostia Promotions Committee strives to create a thriving and robust business district for its residents, while encouraging folks from other neighborhoods and towns to come experience what we have to offer. We are thrilled to have the support of some great sponsors including DC Lottery, Environmental Design and Construction, Four Points Properties, ARCH Development Corp, 1918-1922 Partnership LLP, Venable and Anacostia River Realty.
The day kicks off at 10 am in the Anacostia Park with a cherry blossom tree planting and dedication as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s Neighborhood Tree Planting Program, presented by The Home Depot and supported by the DC Lottery and the DC Chamber of Commerce. Tree dedications will be awarded to Phil Pannell, Marion Barry and Butch Hopkins by the Anacostia Garden Club. The festival continues with live jazz music by The Young Lions at Honfleur Gallery at 1241 Good Hope Road at 1 pm. More music can be heard throughout the day from 11am – 11pm at Eric Whitehead’s JazzNSoul Café, located at 2020 Shannon Place S.E. Musicians include SamO & JFC, Earl Carter, Glenn Arnett, Jamie Jones, Paul Chew, Nonya Whitley, DJ JAMMER and many more!
The Art Walk begins just a short distance from the Anacostia Metro with the grand opening of Vivid Solutions, a new photographic gallery located at 1227 Good Hope Road S.E. Sakura: Awakened by Spring is a group show of photography all submitted with the Spring theme in mind. It is full of color, nature and some unexpected visions. Outside in the open lot next to the gallery is the Art + Craft Market, open all day with local artists ready to sell their work. Please stop by and see the assortment of jewelry, paintings, books and other crafts. At the market, Curbside Café offers their homemade burritos, and pick up an Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival t-shirt as well. Other food is available along the Art Walk; check out the Jamaican cafe or renowned Soul Food restaurant on MLK Jr. Ave.
Continue on the Art Walk to the storefront at 2204 MLK Jr. Ave SE where you will find a Pink Line Project exhibit in collaboration with Critical Exposure, with curatorial assistance from Chanel Compton. Don’t forget to also check out the Cherry Blast event the night before the festival on Friday April 10th from 9pm-2am, also hosted by The Pink Line Project. Cherry Blast highlights fine art, live music, dance, a DJ, fashion, anime, and origami, presented in association with the National Cherry Blossom Festival and through funding from the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities.
Alison Spain will paint “live” in a raw studio space on the next stop on the Art Walk at 2200 MLK Jr. Ave S.E. She is offering a charcoal drawing workshop for area youth from 2pm – 4pm; all are welcomed to join. Spain’s colorful abstract paintings are larger than life in both size and dynamism. Upstairs is a showcase of eight selected artists invited to use the space to display their work in any way possible. Don’t miss all this creative energy!
Stop into the American Poetry Museum at 1922 MLK Jr Ave, to hear some live readings by local poets. The current exhibit, Beats to the Rhyme: Visual Representations of Hip-Hop Poetry features works by Franc Rosario, Sami Miranda, Fred Joiner, Howard Fleming, Kenneth Robinson, and Nia Smith. The next space on the Art Walk is at 1231 Good Hope Road S.E. at Arch Training Center, showing local student photography in Spring Visions and Inspirations. Just a few doors down at Honfleur Gallery, take in Darren Smith’s solo exhibition Cross & Ladder. This DC-Based artist pushes the boundaries of photography with handmade photo mosaics and a few large installation pieces.
Stay tuned for updates, directions and more info. Save the date: Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival, April 11, 2009 from 10am to 4pm! For more information on the Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival and Art Walk, go to www.archdevelopment.org/events.html. For more information on the Cherry Blast event, see www.pinklineproject.com.
Big ups to my man (Reginald) Dwayne Betts…check out his interview on the Ploughshares Blog
Please join us Wednesday, December 10th for a poetry reading by youth at Oak Hill.
From 5 to 6pm next Wednesday, poets will share their original work with invited guests. This will be a unique and exciting opportunity to hear directly from incarcerated DC youth who have a lot to say, and a lot of insight into the world around them.
Those interested should RSVP to Gabriel at gfeldman@seeforever.org, so that their names can be put on the security clearance list. SPACE is LIMITED, so please RSVP soon if interested, and only if you really think you can make it.
Again, it’s Wednesday, December 10th from 5-6pm at Oak Hill Youth Center (Laurel, Maryland–about 30 minutes from DC.) Details will follow for those who RSVP. There are some very powerful pieces being read, and you won’t regret making the trip!