DC Murals Project will be Featured as Part of Lumen8Anacostia

One of Many Great Projects Featured in Ward 8 Between April and June

As part of Lumen8Anacostia, American Dreams & Associates, Inc. will present a program showcasing the public art that is transforming Wards 7 and 8. Local artists Rik Freeman, Byron Peck, Cory Stowers, and Roderick Turner will display recent works and discuss the creative process.

This program is part of the continuing project to document the contemporary public murals of Washington, D.C. The current work includes a website developed by American Dreams and Associates, Inc., and City Arts, Inc., with partial funding by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. (Website in progress: http://www.dcmurals.info)

DC Humanities Book Reviews: "Free Agents: A History of Washington, DC Graffiti"

Another Review From Humanities Council Intern, Bridget Sullivan

Gastman, Roger. Free Agents: A History of Washington, D.C. Graffiti. (Bethesda: R. Rock Enterprises, Inc.,2001)

Free Agents: A History of Washington, D.C. Graffiti contains the stories of some of D.C.’s most notorious graffiti artists in their own words. Roger Gastman uses his knowledge of and connection to the graffiti world to speak with some of the big names in the history of  D.C. graffiti. The book covers the personal stories of these artists, as well as their creation of a unique graffiti culture in the District. It also includes several pages of photographs of iconic pieces of DC graffiti. The combination of stories and photographs gives the reader a strong sense of the way that this culture developed over the course of the past few decades.

This work showcases the hidden side of DC graffiti. Although Gastman seeks to highlight that graffiti is not merely an act of rebellion or vandalism, he does not shy away from addressing the less glamorous aspects of this scene. Drug use and police conflicts are addressed head-on in the several stories, but they are discussed from a perspective outside the mainstream.  

Gastman’s portrayal of graffiti culture captures its ephemeral nature. He shows that the majority of pieces last for a limited time, and that most artists eventually move on from graffiti. Gastman, again, takes a different perspective, stating that this turnover allows newer artists to make their mark on the city. He also emphasizes the role live music shows played as a forum for graffiti artists.

Overall, Gastman makes the case that the graffiti scene of Washington, DC is a lot more than initially meets the eye. He presents the stories of its history in a way that immerses the reader in the underground culture of graffiti art, both good and bad. Further, he focuses the snapshot images within the wider narrative of both the graffiti scene and the life stories of those involved. 

Art All Night: Nuit Blanche DC Launches This Week

Don't Miss This Opportunity to Visit the Embassy of France

Cycle I Grantee Organizations Promise a Transformative Series of Documentaries, Forums, Screenings, And After-School Activities

Twenty One New Humanities Projects and Events

The first regular grant cycle of 2011 is underway as of Wednesday, May 11, after a brief, yet informative ceremony. Twenty-one organizations were funded this cycle, and 20 were in attendance at the historic Sumner School in Northwest DC. The grantee organizations were introduced by moderator and Humanities Council board chair Marianne Scott, and a representative from each group delivered a brief summary of their project.

Leading DC Humanities Organizations

Discuss their Upcoming Projects

The diverse humanities projects supported this cycle exemplify the Humanities Council's effort to reach a broad DC audience. The Studio Theatre and the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company each received grants to hold public discussions on the cultural themes explored in a collection of Irish plays, and the play, Clybourne Park respectively. Video/Action received a grant which will be used to fund filmmaker Cintia Cabib's documentary study of community gardening in Washington, and the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation's major grant award will support a documentary film on the history of African American basketball titled Supreme Courts. Other organizations that received funding include: the American Islamic Congress, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, DC Scores, the Double Nickels Theatre Company, Facing History and Ourselves, Ford's Theatre Society, the Latin American Youth Center, the Latino Economic Development Corporation, M.O.M.I.E.' S TLC, the National Hand Dance Association, People's Production House, the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, Friends of the Congo, the Military Road School Preservation Trust, Words, Beats, and Life Incorporated, and the 9/11 Unity Walk. The Textile Museum also received a grant, but was unable to attend the ceremony.

Footage from the ceremony is available on HCTV, the Humanities Council's Youtube Channel. We will be in touch with all the grantees as their projects develop. Let us know which humanities events or projects you are most looking forward to, and please post any feedback as you begin to check them off your Summer schedule.

Black History Month Feature: Jacob Lawrence and the Migration Series

Southern African Americans' Trek From Rural South to Urban North Documented on Canvas

Artist Jacob Lawrence painted the
"Migration of the Negro" series
from 1940-1941

During World War I, many African Americans took up arms to defend their home country despite the fact that their equal participation in its government was severely crippled by southern Jim Crow legislation and Ku Klux Klan led terrorism. When they returned home after the armistice, they justifiably expected that their sacrifices would be rewarded with increased rights and equality. 14.4% of African Americans who served during the war lost their lives, but the bloodshed did not end when the survivors returned home. In 1919, of the 70 African Americans who were lynched, 10 were veterans who had fought to preserve the freedoms of their murderers.¹ 

These injustices were just one factor sparking the first Great Migration of African American families from their long-time homes in the southern United States to the urban industrial centers of the north. Seeking relief from social and economic repression these migrants sought factory jobs in cities like Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, New York City, and Washington, DC. This movement was not undertaken without a great deal of courage and pain. Most black families were leaving the only homes they had ever known for unfamiliar urban spaces. Hopes of greater social equality were soon mitigated by restrictive real estate covenants and hastily replicated Jim Crow-type restrictions, and tensions mounted with recent immigrant populations with whom they for jobs and housing. 

Amidst all of this turmoil, a flourishing of the African American arts scene was in full swing in the upper Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem. A young artist black artist named Jacob Lawrence had a front-row seat to the Great Migration and its effects. He painted series of panels illustrating the era, including the hardships of sharecropping labor in the south and the violence of race riots in the urban north. The panels, and the captions composed by Lawrence for a studio showing of his work represent a vivid crystallization of memory. Though they are indeed the visions of one individual, they capture the spirit of many, perhaps even better than a photograph.

Lawrence's panels were purchased by the the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. In 1995, the Phillips created an education series based on the panels with a grant from the Humanities Council of Washington, DC. The resulting documentary film includes interviews with Jacob Lawrence, and a unique analysis of his striking visual representation of history.

1. Digital History, The Great Migration, University of Houston: 2006, www.digitalhistory.uh.edu; accessed: 2/17/2011