Saturday: Chuck Brown at Vivid Solutions

The Gallery at Vivid Solutions welcomes Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-Go, to view (Un)Lock It: the Percussive People in the Go-Go Pocket, on Saturday, August 20th from 1-3pm. The exhibition of photographs by Thomas Sayers Ellis documents the current history of Go-Go, a non stop music indigenous to the Washington, D.C. area, which began with the release of Chuck’s now classic “Bustin’ Loose.” Mr. Ellis is a former Go-Go percussionist and professor of Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College.

Thomas will conduct a short live interview with the Godfather of Go-Go in the gallery. “I’ve interviewed Chuck Brown before and have been in numerous private and public settings over the years with him but interviewing him about his presence as a photographic symbol for a genre of music that he created, well, that’s quite different and a dream come true!” says Ellis.

After the interview, Chuck will sign photographs taken by Mr. Ellis, which will be available to the public for sale.

Old Market House Square Update

Renovations at Old Market House Square on 14th Street between U and V are almost complete. Most notable are the new streetlights, new walkways, new grass, new amazingly comfortable bench courtesy of the TKF Foundation, and the brick sidewalk fixes surrounding the square.









Still coming are chess tables, Old Market House Square signage and community board, and I believe some plantings courtesy of the Anacostia Garden Club. Have you been through the square yet?

Three Art Openings Tonight in Anacostia

Short version: Go to to Vivid from 6-8 and Honfleur from 7-9.
Always a good time.



Long version: (from press release)

For the fifth year running, artists rooted in Wards 7 and 8 will be featured in Honfleur Gallery’s juried East of the River exhibition, with an opening reception on August 5th from 7-9pm. The exhibition includes photography and illustration. Artist Jonathan Edwards uses cartoon style illustrations to explore serious themes of contemporary urban African-American experience. Jon Malis’ large scale prints are based on his research in the medical archives of St. Elizabeth’s hospital. Larger-than-life cross sections of brains are a chilling yet alluring reminder of the hospital’s history and impact in Southeast Washington. Lark Catoe-Emerson and Deborah Terry’s explorations in abstract photography range from the intimacy of human skin to the landscape of the urban environment. Marlon Normon, who first learned photography at Ward 8’s ARCH Training Center, engages the natural world on a macro level. Poet and photographer Danielle Scruggs’ studies of self-image in text and image round out the collection. The six artists were selected by an esteemed panel of judges including Renee Stout (renowned DC artist), Stephen Bennett Phillips (Federal Reserve) and Susanna Raab (Smithsonian‘s Anacostia Community Museum). East of the River runs from August 5- Sepetember 9th 2011.



Upstairs at Honfleur Gallery, 61, an installation-based exhibition on mapping of time and place by resident artist Mei Mei Chang, is based on her two-month (sixty-one day) residency in Anacostia. Using traditional artists materials such as ink, paint and paper paired with more nontraditional drawing materials such as colored tape, yarn and packing wrap, Chang expands the concept of drawing from the paper’s surface to the architectural limits of the gallery. Exhibition runs August 5- Sepetember 9th 2011.



(Un)Lock It: the Percussive People in the Go-Go Pocket, a collection of photographs taken in Washington, D.C. by poet and photographer Thomas Sayers Ellis (author of The Maverick Room and Skin, Inc.), opens at The Gallery at Vivid Solutions the same evening with a reception from 6-8pm. Mr. Ellis was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and began taking his camera to area Go-Go’s while he was a percussionist in the Petworth Band in the 80s. Ellis portrays the lives of local legends like Chuck Brown and Little Benny with intimate respect and fascination. (Un)lock it: the Percussive People in the Go-Go Pocket will be open to the public from August 5th to October 7th 2011. Gallery hours are 12-5, Tuesdays through Friday and 11-5 on Saturdays.

Anacostia's New Circulator Route

DCist reports that DDOT has revealed its first east of the river Circulator route, and that it's going to zip from Hillcrest through the eastern edge of Anacostia, through Barracks Row, to Potomac Avenue (Harris Teeter). This new line is scheduled to start running on October 3.

Click to Enlarge


What do you think? Is this an improvement over what we have now?

See also: DCentric's "D.C. Circulator Going East of the River in October"