Wed. October 3, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – As part of a new citywide collaboration to bring local arts organizations and artists together to present and initiate participation in the arts, the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) is producing a free, all-night cultural experience in the heart of DowntownDC called A Taste of Art All Night, scheduled to unfold from 7:00 pm to 3:00 am on Saturday, October 20th.
“Everyone is invited to this celebration of arts, performance and community,” said Richard H. Bradley, executive director of the DowntownDC BID. “Several Downtown streets and curated-venues from Chinatown to Penn Quarter will be filled with people looking to experience the works of innovative and avant garde DC artists in both traditional and offbeat, pop-up spaces. It will certainly be a night to remember.”
A Taste of Art All Night is a mini version of Art All Night: Nuit Blanche DC, founded by Ariana Austin and produced by Shaw Main Streets last year in 20 venues between Shaw and Downtown DC. A Taste of Art All Night will be a celebratory close to Art4AllDC, a first-time effort organized by Cultural Tourism DC and showcasing dance, theater, music, fashion, visual art and more at a variety of venues and street festivals in DC neighborhoods. The 46-day celebration runs through October 21st.
During the late-night finale in Downtown, residents, workers and visitors will be able to explore and engage at the former site of the Platinum Nightclub at 915 F Street; Caos on F at 923 F Street; Techworld Plaza at 800 I Street; and the shuttered Soho Café & Market space at 401 9th Street. The events at these locations will be curated by No Kings Collective, Jessica Bell, Deirdre Ehlen, and Metasebia Yoseph, respectively.
Attendees can expect to see vibrant visual arts and performance art, including projections, live musicians and DJs, who will add to the festive occasion. The participating artists are:
- 915 F Street – Peter Chang and Brandon Hill, showcasing fine/industrial artworks made from pallets.
- 923 F Street – Chukwuma Agubokwu; Lara Stein Pardo; Terence Nance; Nyugen Smith; and Mandy Cano Villalobos, in an exhibit entitled Flux and showcasing video, photography and multimedia.
- 800 I Street – AC Valdez, Jocelyn Frank, and Sean Phillips, showcasing three sound and light installations: Feel Your Sorrow/Tell Your Happiness; What You Can’t See; and Sound Garden. In addition, the DC Listening Lounge Collection will offer a Sound Scene Projector Series.
- 401 9th Street – Yodith Dammlash, Solomon Asfaw, and Tirsit Desta, showcasing the paintings and photography of local Ethiopian artists and a unique, traditional coffee ceremony as performance art.
In addition to the curated-venues, a few partner venues have agreed to stay open during A Taste of Art All Night to add to the cultural exchange. They include the Pepco Edison Place Art Gallery, Alliance Francaise DC, the Goethe Institut, and Touchstone Gallery.
Because of this event’s late hours, some area restaurants, bars, retail spaces and coffee shops also will have the opportunity to extend their hours of operation to cater to the festival crowd. For example, the Fire View lounge in the Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel, located at 999 Ninth Street, will join the merriment closest to the 800 I Street location, allowing A Taste of Art All Night goers to purchase a specialty cocktail and small bites. The hotel will donate a percentage of the proceeds to help support A Taste of Art All Night programming.
“The Renaissance Hotel is looking forward to supporting Art All Night and enhancing the cultural offerings in Downtown DC,” said Paul Evasick, the hotel’s director of beverage and food.
Douglas Development Corporation, Boston Properties, JBG Companies, and Caos on F all contributed the spaces, either vacant or occupied, that will be used for the Taste of Art All Night festivities. Ariana Austin serves as the fete’s creative director, and Lisa Markuson as the curator manager.
Interested parties can follow Arts All Night on Twitter and Facebook @ArtAllNightDC.