From SMS: Shaw Pedicab Tour, Architectural Treasure Hunt, this Saturday

Shaw Main Streets brings word of several exciting happenings in the neighborhood this Saturday (May 1, 2010):

Come out and be part of the first ever DC Main Streets First Saturdays promotion on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Shaw Main Streets' events will be starting at the Historical Society of Washington, DC, 801 K Street, NW, at 12:00 PM.

It's Preservation Month--Watch a performance by the Wong Chinese Lion Dancers, take a free pedicab tour of Shaw and win prizes at the Shaw Architectural Treasure Hunt! See where history makers lived, worked, played and prayed; and sample food and beverages from neighborhood businesses. Tour reservations required, so RSVP now! Treasure hunt forms available at the Historical Society of Washington, DC.

Wong Chinese Lion Dancers

The Chinese Lion is a mythological creature that represents strength, wisdom and good luck and has the ability to drive away evil spirits. Come watch a performance of the Wong Chinese Lion Dancers, where a procession of musicians playing gongs and cymbals will be accompanied by a feathered, four-legged, carnival-like puppet lion swirling, spinning, and rearing up on its hind legs. This ancient ritual starts at 12:00 PM in front of the Historical Society of Washington, DC, 801 K Street, NW. Free.

Shaw Pedicab Tour

Ride in comfort with National Pedicabs for a tour guide-led tour of the neighborhood' s history, architecture, and upcoming development. See sites associated with Helen Hayes, "Duke" Ellington, the Washington Senators baseball team, the labor movement, Black history and much more. Visit an art-filled bed and breakfast in a former mortuary art-filled bed and breakfast in a former mortuary (D.C. Guesthouse), and sample wine sample wine (Modern Liquors), award-winning red velvet and lemon minicupcakes (Chatman's Bakery and Cafe), delicious coffee and sandwiches (Azi's cafe), and Ethiopian food
Ethiopian food (Little Ethiopia Restaurant).

Starts at 12:00 PM in front of the Historical Society of Washington, DC, 801 K Street, NW. Duration: 2 hours. Free. Reservations required. Call 202-265-SHAW or email shawmainstreetsinc@gmail.com.

Shaw Architectural Treasure Hunt

Walk along 7th and 9th Streets, NW around the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and look up to find architectural details on historic buildings in the area on the photo illustrated treasure hunt form. Stop for free treats at neighborhood businesses along the way. Turn in completed forms and enter to win prizes from neighborhood businesses. Free. Starts at 12:00 PM at Historical Society of Washington, DC, 801 K Street, NW. Forms available at information desk in Great Hall. Completed forms must be returned to HSWDC by 4:00 PM in order to be entered in drawing for prizes. Must be present to win. For more information, call 202-265-SHAW or email shawmainstreetsinc@gmail.com.

Sponsored by the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development

Sounds like Saturday will be a great day to browse Shaw's great businesses and take in some of the great sights and sounds of our neighborhood!

Mike Weber at Long View Gallery

Tonight marks the opening of Long View Gallery's latest exhibition, original works by D.C. artist Mike Weber. A reception will take place from 6:30 until 9:30 p.m. and will feature food and beverage provided by José Andrés Catering with Ridgewells and live music by jazz quartet Laissez Foure. The show will be on display through May 20, 2010.


Weber's mixed media work is stunning. In his first solo show with the gallery, Weber explores concepts of commemoration and heritage (including his own lineage), as he symbolically reinvents the life stories of his unknown or forgotten subjects. He selectively edits and reframes vintage photographs, which derive from both his family's collection and estate sales, into newly composed digital prints on canvas. This process of converting an analog photograph into a digital copy unearths previously overlooked details that shed light on the biography of the sitter and his/her relationship with the faceless photographer. Weber augments these details with layers of paint, unorthodox collage materials, and high-gloss resin, intensifying the mood of the original photograph. The inclusion of scant, stenciled text invites the viewer to speculate the historical importance of the depicted sitter. Ultimately, Weber's artistic praxis ascribes a new narrative to his source materials and re-presents them as glossy, modern images.

Long View Gallery
1234 Ninth Street, Northwest
202.232.4788

Become a CSA-er This Week

The term "CSA" stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It's a great way to get an abundance of vegetables for a season (generally May through November) while at the same time helping farmers by ensuring that they'll be able to sell what they've grown. Basically, individuals and families purchase a share or a half share of the harvest early in the season and receive produce in the summer.

Old City Green is slated to be a weekly drop off location for Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative (LFFC). LFFC is a non profit organic farmers cooperative of 64 farmers in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. They focus on creating healthy high quality foods from highly maintained and enriched soils on small scale family farms. LFFC plans to deliver produce every Wednesday to Old City Green.

By signing up for a share or a half share (we--two adult non-vegetarians--signed up for a half share), you'll get a lot of produce and a pretty wide variety of stuff over the course of the season, from tomatoes to lettuces to peppers to watermelons to potatoes to sweet potatoes to squash to onions and so on and so forth. You can check out a sampling of last years' deliveries here. You can also order fresh meats, eggs, cheeses, breads, and other stuff at any time, which will be delivered with your order. I'm sure arrangements can be made if you're out of town one week, etc.

LFFC extended the deadline to April 23 (THIS FRIDAY!!!) to sign up for the CSA delivering at Old City Green. Please tell anyone interested in this great program to sign up soon to make this central Shaw location a booming success for LFFC. You can buy your share online here.

Keep Shaw Beautiful this Saturday!

Shaw Main Streets will host its sixth annual Keep Shaw Beautiful Day this Saturday (April 17, 2010). The community enhancing event kicks off at 9:00 a.m. at Old City Green. Volunteers will weed and plant liriope in tree boxes, pick up trash and generally have a good time. Bring your gloves and gardening tools if you have them. For more information, call Shaw Main Streets at 202-265-SHAW or email info@shawmainstreets.com.

The current forecast for Saturday is gorgeous (sunny in the 60's), so it should be a great day!

Keep Shaw Beautiful 2010
9:00 a.m., Saturday, April 17
Old City Green

Spotted: Progress at Toque Cafe

Mari, who's blog is currently broken, sent me her observations from this morning of the soon-to-be Toque Cafe at Sixth and R Streets. She reports having spotted "shiny windows, cool lighting, tables and chairs" and an inspection underway.

This is sure to be an exciting addition to the area! I can't wait to check it out.



The photo is one of Mari's on Flickr, taken today.

Maruka Gallery Jewelry Trunk Show Tomorrow

The Maruka Gallery & Boutique presents a Jewelry Trunk Show with jewelry artist Liz Cowee this Saturday (April 10) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Liz Cowee studied jewelry fabrication at the Gemological Institute of America in California, and cut her teeth at Vermont's renowned Grannis Gallery. She works with resin, sterling silver and gold. Liz's innovative designs turn dramatic twists on classical styles to put some funk back into fashion.

Maruka Gallery and Boutique
1300 Ninth Street NW (corner of 9th and N streets NW)
202.745.1881
info@marukadc.com

"Here or There" Art Project Seeks Residents' Collaboration

An interesting art project is about to hit the streets of Shaw soliciting items from residents to become part of an art installation. The following description is from the project's leaders:

"Here or There," the name of the upcoming art installation, was conceived by an artist, architect and real estate developer, all of which work locally in the area. This unusual collaboration explores value in the community; the value of art, space and commerce. Ultimately, the installation will consist of mementos and objects from residents of the Shaw and U Street neighborhoods that show how these residents make a living.

In order obtain these items, the team will provide 100 bags to homes along the Ninth Street corridor from U Street to N Street today (Friday April 9) by leaving the bags at doorsteps along the way. These bags will then be retrieved on April 12 to be assembled for display.

The path of the bag distribution is guided by the locations of the installation. The initial installation will take place April 19 in the retail space of Moderno, a mid-rise residential building at Twelfth and U Street, developed by one of the members of the team. The collection of items will follow a path to the second and final point, Long View Gallery at Ninth and N Streets. The installation will be displayed in the gallery at the beginning of May.

Each bag provided contains a Shaw Buck (pictured). The Shaw Buck is a community currency created for the purpose of this art process and installation. In exchange for a personal memento or object, residents may redeem the Shaw Buck at a handful of local businesses for discounts or gifts.

Check out the Pop Up Gala Website for more information on the Here or There project as developed by Team WORK as well as the Pop Up project as a whole: http://popupgala.tumblr.com/

This project is sponsored by the Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC). CuDC is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that creates space and builds the capacity of artists to prosper within that space.

CuDC ensures the continuing creation of affordable spaces for artists to live and work. Each year CuDC serves 5,600 artists, 75 arts organizations and touches over 150,000 greater DC metro area residents by providing space, funds, knowledge, marketing, advocacy and presentation opportunities.

Through programs, such as Flashpoint, Source and the Creative Communities Initiative, CuDC works with artists and arts organizations to build the creative infrastructure that fuels the arts and economy in Washington, DC.

http://www.culturaldc.org/

Interesting, right?! I look forward to posting more about this project soon.

Our Tulip Project in Bloom. . . and a Contest

As you may remember, a group of us planted roughly 800 tulips, supplemented the soil with nutrients, and mulched 32 tree boxes on Ninth Street between N and Rhode Island Avenue last fall (we'll do a similar project this fall on Ninth Street north of Rhode Island Avenue). The bulbs have finally started blooming en mass and have added some beautiful color and life to the streetscape.

To memorialize this humble enhancement, I'm putting out an all call to photographers and wannabe photographers in the reading area: I encourage you to take photos of the new tulips on Ninth Street and to submit your photos to the ReNewShaw Flickr Group. I will crown the taker of my favorite photo with a $25 gift certificate to Old City Green and a posting of the photo in the right hand side of the web page.

So take advantage of the gorgeous weather, take a look at the product of our fun but hard work from last October and snap a shot of the uplifting effect of these new blooms!

1543 Eighth Sold

According to the Real Property Sales Database, 1543 Eighth Street sold on March 18, 2010. The long-vacant property formerly belonged to Shiloh Baptist Church, which sold the caddy-cornered vacant property last year. Congratulations and thanks to the members and leaders of the church for selling both of its vacant properties on Eighth Street!

I recently spotted new fencing erected around 1543 Eighth, as well as the arrival of a porta-jon. The rumor I have heard is that the new owner intends to renovate the property into a single family home. I can't wait to welcome our new neighbors to the area!