One of the best things about my job is that I get to test out new ideas in Placemaking. Inspired by the Spruce Harbor Street park in Philadelphia, we have two sets of LED lights up in the Waterpark on Crystal Drive in Crystal City. If you are in the area come take a look and share your thoughts!
Some photos from a quick ball-glueing adventure. A HUGE thank you to all the volunteers that have dedicated time and energy to this massive project--amazing.
I spent the day at Atlantic Pyramid and it was absolute lovely. I did an etching with polymer class with Gretchen Schermerhorn with about four other artists. We all had various photos that we learned how to expose on the plate. After a lunch break, we printed or hearts away.
Gretchen redid one of my images as I didn't follow directions and missed one step so the first odd came out a bit funky. Luckily she fixed it and now my plate is perfect.
I love my final prints! Can't wait to get back up and print some more.
My photos on transparency
Lunch at Butcher Kitchen--it was amazing
My first mess up prints
Another student's drop dead gorgeous print
And my final print:
This photo was taken by someone who's name I don't remember for an art project I can't find...in some communal academic cultural place in Friedrichshain.
I've been super ahhhh busy - and haven't had a chance to sit down and gather some of my favorite places in Berlin for a friend's trip. I finally did! There are a ton of other places I love, but here's short short list of some post in Kreuzberg/Friedrichshain:
I just got back from an amazing trip to New York where I was meeting with Placemaking experts, the DUMBO Improvement District and creative agencies for inspiration for future work projects.
On Saturday I went on a Municipal Art Society tour of East Williamsburg and Bushwick which was absolutely fascinating. Our guide took us all over the neighborhood and described the socio-economic background of different communities and subcultures, shared the rich and varied history of the neighborhood and tried to explain each delicate layer. Towards the end, a local activist came and yelled at us for touring his neighborhood. He accused us of being white people exotifing his home and scouting to buy real estate...which was not true as most people in the tour were New Yorkers genuinely interested in learning about the history-the real messy history-of Bushwick and I don't think any of them were looking to buy real estate. However,
I can understand his point of view and it must be hard to see your neighborhood transform and want to blame someone--it's just a shame he blamed the very people that were willing to listen to his story, that wanted to listen to his story until he became so abrasive and anti-for anti-sake that he just seemed nuts.
Ironically, I'm reading Gaitskill's The Mare which is set in and near this neighborhood
I think after that was when I got a little overwhelmed. All communities change and blend and evolve, and some are much more complicated than others, and there's not always a clear path for all the members of the community to evolve with it, which causes pain and deteriorates what some people think is theirs. But before that it really was someone else's and for better or worse it will probably be someone else's again soon.
I realized I needed to back for my west coast trip next week and I needed more water color paper. So I stopped at the Blick in SOHO, changed my train and came back to DC.
Here are some practice water colors I made while attempting to pack:
Lace lined dress and leather jacket
Pink top and jeans with tan purse
Blue sleeveless blazer and black dress
xx, Stephanie
Someone else's gorgeous home in Shaw/U street/Logan circle area
This city is full of planners. People that are jam packed with plans. I've struggled to find someone to grab a last minute drink with on many occasion because everyone is so busy. I myself have been way too booked. I hate it. Let's slow down.
Last night I had too many things on my schedule. Tuesday is my weaving night-so I'm in the studio unless something else comes up that I just can't miss. Little Salon often happens on Tuesday night, so if I go I'll either leave weaving early or go a little late.
Last night I finished my weaving (well almost) so I got to Little Salon a bit late.
End of weaving project
By the time I got to Little Salon I had already missed the opening gallery time and musical performance. I came in just as Matthew Davis was presenting his nonfiction piece. It was moving-the space itself was moving. Waking into a home full of actual strangers, pouring a glass of wine and settling in to listen to a new art form is an amazing feeling.
Afterward I wandered a bit and found some familiar faces-people I had met through Little Salon or other similar things-and then got a space by the ultra-modern stove for the shadow puppet show.
i missed my friends. I missed the group of people I used to frequent this thing with and the friends I have in other places who will never experience this with me, or at least not anytime soon. They've since moved away (to where I moved here from, actually) or I've moved away from them. And maybe it's just now I'm realizing that they were they ones I'd call for a last minute beer. They'd be around to spend a lazy afternoon drinking multiple cups of coffee at multiple locations around the Mission and beyond. They'd sit in an eclectic coffee shop to study obscure essays and make friends with aspiring writers and actors and directors in Los Féliz. They'd get lost in the dark along the river on the outskirts of Bilbao with me because I had a hunch something interesting was just around the corner. They'd have time to spare and time to go on adventures.
Or maybe it's just me. I moved to a place with super planned out people and have become one myself. I need more time to be able to get lost. You probably need more time to be able to get lost.
I know I'm not alone in these feelings-being both a part of something awesome and also missing all the awesomeness that has come before and all the people that made that happen. The only thing we can do is slow down. Stay in touch. And travel, often. But not too often that you aren't home enough to make those friends that will grab a last minute beer with you. I actually have those friends, it's the time I'm lacking.
So here's my commitment to being more available - because saying DC is full of planners is just an excuse.
If you didn't make it to little salon last night-here's what went on:
– Folk music byMaureen Andary, who will arrive armed with both a guitar and a ukulele– A display by DC-based literary magazine Barrelhouse, which will release a new issue in late March
– Puppetry by Christopher Broholm, who will combine puppets and human movement to perform a few scenes from a work-in-progress about Laika, the dog from the Sputnik II mission
– Photographs and video by Mimi d'Autremont, who will exhibit recent work on the Gallaudet University football team
– Nonfiction by Matthew Davis, who will read from a longer, multi-year piece about the Gallaudet University football team
– Craft chocolate samples (in both solid and liquid form) by Undone Chocolate, a DC-based craft chocolate company affiliated with our good friends at Union Kitchen.
