PoP Weekend Picks

“The 2009 H Street Festival will fill four blocks of the H Street Corridor with food, entertainment, sports, fashion, and fun, on Saturday, September 19, 2009, from Noon until 6 PM.

The Festival grounds extend along H Street, NE, from 10th to 14th Streets.

There will be activities and fun for people of all ages from sword swallowers to Scientology, local elected officials, three live music stages with all-day programming, including Step Afrika, indie bands courtesy of the Rock and Roll Hotel, gospel, doowop, funk, blues, and more.

The Washington National new NatMobile will roll onto the Urban Sports Plaza with a Racing President to join Duncan Yoyo experts near a boxing ring and climbing wall for kids. Bring your own jump rope, exhibit your Double Dutch skills, and win a trophy! You go, girl!

Fourteen Art Cars will be displayed in the Urban Arts block in the Atlas District with speed chess challenges, food, food, food, and Baby Loves Disco.

H Street’s commitment to green design will be on display in the Green Street exhibit featuring green roofs, rain barrels, Zipcar, Casey Trees, and the LEED architects who are making H Street the Greenest Street in DC.

DC Fashion Week kicks off with a runway show by local designers on Urban Wear Stage that will close with a Tattoo contest, sponsored by H Street’s own British Ink.

Restaurants and bars along the Corridor will be open for business, offering their regular menus, and many will also feature street-side patios serving specialty dishes and cocktails. Several restaurants that will be opening in coming months, such as Dangerously Delicious Pies, are previewing their menus with booths alongside some of the most creative food vendors of any Festival in DC. New mobile vendor Curbside Cupcakes will be making its Washington debut, along the established On The Fly and the ever-entertaining Fojol Brothers. Vegan to BBQ – you’ll find it at the H Street Festival!

The exciting restaurants and bars, entertainment venues, and merchants in the community will welcome their neighborhood friends and visitors from around the Metropolitan region, as well as artists, exhibitors, and vendors from as far away as Massachusetts, New Orleans and California, as they turn the Festival site into a showcase for the rapidly developing entertainment, retail and dining destination. www.HstreetFestival2009.org” Continues after the jump.

Fenty Administration to Dedicate “Langston Hughes Way”

WHAT: The Fenty administration to dedicate the 1300 block of V Street, NW to renowned African American poet, Langston Hughes.

WHO: Mayor Adrian M. Fenty

Councilmember Jim Graham, Ward 1

DC Department of Transportation Director Gabe Klein

WHEN: Friday, September 18, 2009

1:30 pm

WHERE: 14th and V Streets, NW

Just announced for the tour’s stop in D.C. are bands MGMT, Dan Deacon, The Creepers and Wale. In addition to the live music, the series of events also will incorporate art installations, video screenings, and Kia Soul test-drives. The Kia Soul Collective event is open daily to the public, and guests are invited to drop by at the below dates for FREE live music, DJ Sets, and to test-drive the all-new Kia Soul. Each attendee who test-drives a Kia Soul will receive a pair of tickets to see MGMT Sunday, September 20.

Saturday, September 19: 12-8 pm

Test-drives all day

DJ sets all day by Noveau Riche DJs Gavin Holland, Steve Starks, and Nacey

Performances by Dan Deacon & The Creepers

Sunday, September 20:

Test-drives all day from 12-8 pm

DJ set all day by DJ CA$$IDY (GARUTACHI) & Dave Nada

6:30-10 p.m: Doors for MGMT performance; secure tickets after test driving a Kia Soul

WHERE: The Kia Soul Collective Warehouse
3330 New York Ave, NE
Washington D.C. 20002

Friends of 16th Street Heights Parks

We have our second annual Parks Fundraiser and Silent Auction Party at the Intown Uptown Inn on 14th Street and we really would love folks to come on out to this great event on Saturday September 19 at 6:30 pm….The food will be prepared by Chef Moe of Highlands…

I can send the evite link and our web site is www.friendsof16thstreetheightsparks.org (it is woefully out of date) but it would be great if you could promote this event and maybe some Prince of Petworth readers will come out or send a donation to our great cause!

I wanted to let you know about some upcoming events that may interest your readers. Sarah von Pollaro, owner of Petals for the People, will be making a series of live flower arranging demonstrations this month. The talks will feature fall flowers and Sarah will show techniques for arranging them, as well as creative ideas for vases. The events are completely free and the flower arrangements she creates during the demonstrations will be given away to those in attendance. Here is the schedule:

Saturday, September 19th
12-1pm and 2-3pm
Glover Park Hardware
2251 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, DC

Sunday, September 20th
3-4pm
Logan Hardware
1416 P St NW
Washington, DC 20009

About Sarah von Pollaro and Petals for the People

Sarah von Pollaro is the owner of Petals for the People, a flower subscription service in the Washington, DC area. Sarah has taught thousands of people the art of arranging flowers. Participants in her flower arranging workshops would always ask Sarah where to get unusual, fresh flowers like hers, but there was never a good answer. So she decided to start a service to make high quality flowers more accessible to the people and give them the knowledge of how to work with flowers. Petals for the People is changing the way flowers are distributed so you can get fresh and affordable flowers like you’ve never seen before. Subscriptions are perfect for individuals, offices, restaurants, retail, and make unique gifts for weddings, new mothers, anniversaries, and birthdays.

Please join us this Friday, 9.18.09 at 12:30pm
at the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
for a CURATOR & ARTIST TALK:

The Impact of the Global Art World: an Artist’s Perspective

Part of the Hirshhorn’s “In Conversation” series, this special discussion with New York and Beijing-based artist and Ink Storm guest curator Jennifer Wen Ma, and Hirshhorn Curatorial Research Associate and Transformer Board Member Ryan Hill, will explore: How does an artist’s practice in an increasingly global art world find personally and culturally significant meaning? How do contemporary artists find a unique aesthetic vocabulary in this age of assimilation?

INK STORM OPENING DAY at TRANSFORMER:
September 19, 2009; 1 – 7pm

MEET THE ARTIST AND CURATOR:
2 – 4pm

Please join us for the opening day of Ink Storm, 1 – 7pm at Transformer. Artist Paula TSAI and guest curator Jennifer Wen Ma will be in attendance from 2 – 4pm.

Transformer is thrilled to be partnering with Shigeko Bork mu projects and artist/guest curator Jennifer Wen Ma in the presentation of Ink Storm at Transformer, September 18 – October 31, 2009. This exhibition highlights how artists CHEN Shaoxiong, DAI Guangyu, and Paula TSAI, incorporate ink into their work, ink, and how each individual exploration offers compelling contributions to contemporary art discourse.

Following the success of Transformer’s 2007 Big in Japan exhibition collaboration with Shigeko Bork mu project, exploring duality in contemporary Japanese art through the work of emerging Japanese artists who respond to the tradition and popular culture of Japan – Ink Storm, guest curated by artist Jennifer Wen Ma, presents three emerging Beijing based artists who re-interpret and re-invent traditional Chinese uses of ink through video, drawing, and mixed-media installation.

The subject of ink play is important to curator and artist Jennifer Wen Ma, who works in a variety of mediums including: installation, video, drawing, fashion design, and performance, as well as pursuing architectural and public works. Originally from Beijing, and now based in New York, Jennifer has participated in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally.
Images: Paula TSAI, CHEN Shaoxiong, DAI Guangyu