AWARD-WINNING VIDEO artist and writer Joan Braderman chronicles the feminist influence in art and life in her latest film, "The Heretics," an insider's look into the New York artists' collective that produced "Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics" in the mid-1970s. Beginning with Braderman's transition from aspiring filmmaker to collective co-founder, the film tracks the group's response to the transformative social changes brought about by the civil rights movement and second-wave feminism.
A Washington, D.C., native, Braderman is currently a professor of media arts at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. She will appear Friday at American University's Katzen Arts Center to show and discuss the film.
» EXPRESS: Is "The Heretics" purely autobiographical?
» BRADERMAN: No. I use the narrative format as a kind of framing device because I think it's easier to get into a movie when you have somebody to identify with. It's really about the second wave and one of its greatest successes: the impact on the way art is made today.
Continue Reading "Art Expansion: Joan Braderman on 'The Heretics'" »
THIS FALL: The Beltway meets Oz this fall as Australian art and cultural events swarm D.C., from the Australian Chamber Orchestra to Aussie star Cate Blanchett in "A Streetcar Named Desire." The first of these is the art exhibit "Culture Warriors" at Katzen Center for the Arts. Never before has this large a collection of indigenous Australian art reached our shores.
» American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW; through Dec. 6; 202-885-1300.
Photo courtesy Katzen Arts Center
THIS WEEK: The Washington you see on C-Span and "The West Wing" is hardly the strange, dingy, quirky, wonderful town that we all know and live in. Paul Feinberg's photos on display at the Katzen Arts Center in "Another Washington" record that other city.
If you want to see pictures of the place you know, Metro up to American University and check them out.
» Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachussetts Ave NW; through Oct. 25, free; 202-885-1300. (Tenleytown)
"BACK," "TO" AND "SCHOOL" is perhaps the most depressing sequence of words in the English language. But it's hard to believe any kid (or grown-up) wouldn't want to spend some of the final days of summer safely inside Wilson High School now that its aquatic center has undergone a $34.7 million makeover and reopened to the public.
Not even a block from the Tenleytown Metro station, the complex at 4551 Fort Drive NW houses a 50-meter pool for serious laps, two shallow leisure pools for families and splash-arounders (water basketball, anyone?) and a heated whirlpool. And if you're a Washington resident, you're invited to dive in for free. Until the end of the month, your driver's license is enough to grant you admission, but the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation is encouraging everyone to apply for a D.C. One card. You can get it on-site in about 15 minutes, and it'll be your pool pass all over the city. (Maryland and Virginia interlopers are also invited to swim, but they'll have to pay $4 per day for adults and $3 per day for kids and seniors.)
Once school starts again, the Wilson swim team will take over some of the lanes, but the plan is to always keep at least three open for anyone interested in exercise, and to offer a wide array of courses. They've already kicked off water aerobics and learn-to-swim classes, and the schedule is growing. Maybe going back to school isn't so bad after all.
Photo courtesy DCDPR
DANCE-CRAZED HIPSTERS shaking, pingpong balls flying, and 7-year-old girls belting out Clash songs — Comet Ping Pong isn't your typical pizza joint. It's not as if the green table-topped restaurant scrimps on the steaming, free-form pies — clams and sausage still live here — but, lately, folks are making the trek to Connecticut Avenue for more than just a meal; they come for the music.
Pizza and rock music bleeds American. Last year saw a steady stream of local and mid-level bands coming through the doors of owner James Alefantis' restaurant. Alefantis loves fostering music and community, but, without the booking help of Kalani Tifford and local label Gypsy Eyes Records, the eclectic shows — Thursday features songwriters John Bustine and Brandon Butler while Saturday has dance-mixers Beautiful Swimmers — might not be so common.
» EXPRESS: What's your relation to Comet Ping Pong?
» TIFFORD: We were looking to do some events there and then kind of wanted to do more. James is super-devoted to the arts in general, and without him, it would be impossible. He really wants to create a nice community place where everybody can come and have pizza and drink beer, play ping pong and listen to some music. ... He gives us free rein to book shows we like.
Continue Reading "Songs and Slices: Gypsy Eye Record's Kalani Tifford" »
VISITING THE Katzen Arts Center at American University, one would not expect to see 12,000 pounds of clay lying on the floor. But that's exactly what's at the museum through Sun., part of Margaret Boozer's exhibition "Dirt Drawings."
Boozer shows the personality of clay beyond standard ceramic forms. She spent two weeks bringing in materials from Perryville, Md., in shades of milky pink, lavender and yellow. She's arranged her finds on the museum's polished concrete floor in piled rocky fragments or raked powdery matter.
Particular works even show growth, such as a circular form that was initially poured as a wet pool (as evidenced by the splattering on the wall). It has since dried, revealing deep ravines that offer more the feel of a geological phenomenon than a finished exhibition.
Continue Reading "Dirt's Tones and Tales: Margaret Boozer's 'Dirt Drawings'" »
MONDAY:The free concert series at Fort Reno park is a hipster's dream: It costs you nothing, you can hear all D.C.'s great underground music over the course of a summer and it's safely nestled in Northwest instead of any of the scary parts of D.C. The sad news? It ends July 30. So head up there tonight and catch indie-Americana duo Pree.
» Fort Reno Park, Nebraska Avenue and Chesapeake Street NW; Mon., July 27, 7:15 p.m., free; 703-318-2197, Fortreno.com. (Tenleytown)
Photo by Jim Saah
WHEN YOU THINK OF HAPPY HOURS, you think of booze. Fair enough. But D.C.'s Z-Burger is debuting a happy hour that's just as intoxicating as your liquor of choice, but won't require you to flash a driver's license.
From 2-5 p.m. on Mondays, those who are able to reach Z-Burger's Tenleytown location during the workday can help themselves to 99-cent milkshakes. Which means you could, in theory, sample the eatery's full slate of 75 milkshakes without breaking the bank. Not that we'd recommend that. And your doctor probably wouldn't, either.
The shaky happiness starts on Monday, July 27.
» Z-Burger, 4321 Wisconsin Ave. NW; Mondays, 2-5 p.m.; 202-966-1999
Photo courtesy Brotman Winter Fried Communications
AMANDA MCKAYE DOESN'T have a title at Fort Reno, the long-running outdoor concert series that showcases up-and-coming local acts. Loosely put, she's the organizer, which includes managing the band application process, booking lineups, raising funds and even maintaining the stage. As the series' 2009 season goes into full swing, she reflects on a lifetime of shows, the difficult process of choosing bands and the diversity of the D.C. scene.
» EXPRESS: How did you get involved with Fort Reno?
» MCKAYE: I first started going to Fort Reno when I was in high school at Wilson — '84 or '85. Later on, in the '90s, some of my friends were involved with doing shows there, and my bands would play there. I booked it for two years, and this is my second year running it by myself.
» EXPRESS: The 2009 schedule is a little shorter than previous years. What led to that decision?
» MCKAYE: The last three or four years, we've done pretty long seasons, and it's been difficult for me and the volunteers, for the bands, the sound man, even the audience. So we're trying a shorter season to see how that feels.
SATURDAY: When it's not raining buckets, May evenings in the District can actually be pretty serene — a perfect time for couples to take evening strolls along the Mall to sweetly gaze at our marble monuments.
Just one small problem: Blisters while pounding the pavement from one scenic spot to the next aren't so dreamy. For those seeking nocturnal sightseeing with a breezy zip, sign up for the Potomac Pedal Touring Club's Moonlight National Mall Tour on May 16. Ride your bike on this 18-mile excursion that wends its way past the Reflecting Pool, the National Gallery and the Capitol.
Register at the Tenleytown Metro stop at 8 p.m. for excursions that depart at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Head and rear lights are required. Still in a cycling-state of mind when you finish? Cruise over to the Washington Area Bicyclist Association's Bike Prom at the Black Cat — just pick up a corsage on the way.
» 4501 Wisconsin Ave. NW, free, Sat., May 16, 8:30 and 9 p.m., free; Bikepptc.org. (Tenleytown)
Photo courtesy Greg Drury
Addison Road