“And let us run with endurance the course that God has set before us.”
Finding Art in Washington, D.C.
written for City Living Magazine (I’ll link when it goes up) October 24, 2009
For a city of just over 600,000 residents Washington, D.C. has an amazing amount of cultural activity. The District hosts 16 million visitors each year, many of whom enjoy our local cultural activities. Almost 20% of city revenue is generated through arts and culture. With such depth of activity, even long-time residents can have difficulty finding the art that they really connect with.
There are actually three local art scenes. Many visitors only see the ‘national local’ art scene. Most of the ‘national local’ art scene exists on the mall. The Smithsonian Institution (www.si.edu) represents 19 world-class museums, in addition to which there are our political memorials. This ‘national’ part of the local art scene rightly includes the Kennedy Center (which is actually a national monument.) While the Kennedy Center will program local artists, the majority of the performers share the biggest stages in cities around the world.
Many of the District’s most prominent residents are only here for a few years. Similarly, in the art scene, many of our most prominent artists weren’t born here. These artists create in the ‘northwest local’ art scene. The District’s Theater scene is the only part of our community that carries a national reputation, as a whole. There are lots of ways to connect into the local theater scene; I appreciate D.C.’s version of New York City’s Ticket Booth (www.ticketplace.org) which offers discounted theater tickets daily. For visual arts I recommend checking out D.C.’s yearly un-curated art show, Artomatic.
The ‘local local’ art scene is organized around geographic, ethnic, and practice communities. Examples are the Ward 7 arts collaborative, and Gala Hispanic Theater. There is – of course – some crossover between the ‘national local’, ‘northwest local’, and ‘local local’ art scenes. The District is tremendously rich culturally, and regardless of the type of art you enjoy, there is an excellent chance you can find the art you love here.
Rob Bettmann is a local choreographer, writer, and arts advocate. To see more about his work visit www.dayeight.org. To get involved with the DC Advocates for the Arts visit www.dcadvocatesforthearts.org. Rob is also the editor of the arts magazine Bourgeon. Image is of Robert Bettmann performing at Galapagos Arts Space, Brooklyn, New York, April 2009 (photo credit: Steven Schreiber for 60×60 Dance.)
From Vincent Van Gogh
Many a man has a bonfire in his heart and nobody comes to warm himself at it. The passers-by notice only a little smoke from the chimney, and go their way… I am drawn more to the conclusion that to love much is the best means of approaching God. Love a friend, any one, or anything you like, and I tell you, you will be on the right road to learn more. You must love with a high and intense determination, with your will and intellect, and seek always to deepen, expand and improve your knowledge, for that way lies God. If a man loves Rembrandt profoundly, then in his heart of hearts he knows God. Another man may study the history of the French Revolution, and he will not be a sceptic, for he will feel the power that shapes our ends. If you have attended the free lectures at the College of Misery, for a short time even, and have paid attention to what you have seen with your own eyes and heard with your own ears, you will reap a firm faith and learn more than you can express in words. He that hath eyes to see, let him see. Afterwards you can be a little abstracted at times, and dream awhile. I know that some become too abstracted, too dreamy, and it may quite well happen to me one of these days. They say the dreamer falls sometimes into the well, but afterward he climbs up again.
– Vincent Van Gogh (July 1880)
In Statements and Documents: Artists on Art and Reality, on Their Work, and on Values © 1960 American Academy of Arts & Sciences.