The Art of Washington

Wikipedia defines art to be the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. Art can be shown through many different aspects. For example, theatre, motion, and vocal productions are forms of art. Art has evolved from 19th century paintings to 20th century sculptures. The National Gallery of Art located in Washington DC is designed so that both modern and traditional art works to come alive by putting modern art in a more modern setting and traditional in a more traditional atmosphere. For example, the East Wing Building of the National Gallery of Art is a Modern building and structure that hold contemporary artworks. Whereas, the West Wing Building is an older structure that hold traditional pieces of art.

Another one of the most interesting museums on the Smithsonian mall in Washington DC is the Hirshhorn Museum. I find this museum, in particular, to be very fascinating because majority of its pieces are hand crafted using natural and/or recycled material. For example, one exhibit titled “Song of the Little Frog” was constructed from steel found by the artist.

Art is something everyone can do. Everyone is an artist whether it is fashion or drawing. There are more common types of art that others consider to be the complete definition of what art is “suppose to be,” but art isn’t limited and it’s constantly changing throughout many cultures.

Anacostia Boating House

This remarkable place gives back to the Anacostia community’s youth everyday. This organization was constructed for Volunteer’s to come & teach youth about paddle boating. This skill builds character, teamwork, and not to mention a good physical being.

As defined by Wikipedia, Anacostia is, a historic neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Its historic downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is the most famous neighborhood in the Southeast quadrant of Washington, located east of the Anacostia River, which the area is named after. Anacostia includes all of the Anacostia Historic District that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

So with the history of this great place, there isn’t any place more qualified for an organization of this stature. What they do with these kids everyday is an inspiration & life changing experience to everyone involved.

According to www.anacostiaboatinghouse.com this Organization has been recognized for it’s effort’s; by winning awards such as, The OARS Community Outreach Award, and last but not least, The ACBA Stewardship Award, The ACBA Sportsmanship Award. This award recognizes distinction in competition, coaching, or team-building. Which to me seems like the most important when it comes to character building.

Anacostia has Art?! Forreal?!

Artistic Anacostia!



When people think of Anacostia or S.E., most do not think about art. It is not well known for being a artistic center within D.C. However, people can now get a nice taste of local artitic flavor, as well as nationally and internationally known works, at the Honfleur Gallery located on Good Hope Road. Although there was much debate over if this was the type of establishment Anacostia needed in the neighborhood, in the end, the gallery was opened.

This art gallery hosts shows and exhibits of both fine and contemporary artists as well as social issue exhibitions. Honfleur was orignially established in January 2007 by the Action to Rehabilitate Community Housing. Their mission is to provide better access to the arts for residents “East of the Anacostia River,” D.C., provide an affordable artist workspace, and provide a diverse range of artistic opportunities. Artists featured in the gallery includes Cyril Anguelidis and Renee Azcra Woodward to name a few. After being closed for a brief period for installation, the Honfleur Gallery will re-open on June 30th at 6:30pm.

Personally, I was very excited to see that this gallery existed within Anacostia. I think it is a very good thing to have within the neighborhood which has a reputation of being a violent, run-down, area of the city. Looking at the website and the exhibit summaries, I'm going to have to make a trip down there to visit the gallery myself! I think this even has the potential to open up artistic opportunites to the youth in the area as opposed to violence and getting into trouble. Who knows...a young boy or girl could walk in there and become inspired to become an artist. Good influences like this are always needed in any neighborhood for outlet, learning, and new experiences. I'm glad Anacostia specifically gets a taste of this.

Gallery Hours: Noon – 5pm , Tuesday through Friday and 11am to 5pm on Saturdays.
Gallery will be closed on Sundays and Mondays
Gallery Location: 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE Washington , D.C. 20020
Offices at: 1227 Good Hope Rd. SE Washington , D.C. 20020
Gallery Phone:Office Phone: 202-536-8994 Fax: 202.889.5035

Washington Highlands

Washington Highlands is a large residential area located in SE (Ward 8). It

is bounded on three sides by Oxon Run Park and on the fourh side by Southern

Avenue. It is known to be the poorest and least developed section of Washington. It

is known to have been composed of low-income and public housing apartment

complexes, including the Highland Dwelling public housing complex. Being that it is

the poorest residential area, it is also among the most violent neighborhoods in DC.

Roughly about one third of the city’s 181 homicides in 2007 occurred there.

The neighborhood captured media attention in January 2008, when city

officials founded that a resident by the name Banita Jacks had been living for months

in her house along with the bodies of her four murdered children in a bad state of

decomposition. With that said, there is nothing nice to say about this

neighborhood and it is a residence where people of low –income live and is

perhaps owned by the government. The Washington Highlands Community can be

metro accessible, the W2 bus.

The Ginormous Chair

The Big Chair in Anacostia has been a landmark in the Anacostia Southeast area for as long as I can remember. It was built in 1959 by Bassett Furniture company which is a Virginia based company. The behemoth of furniture that is the chair was constructed for the Curtis Brothers Furniture as an object to attract customers to their business. This is before it was called Martin Luther King Avenue then it was called Nicholas Avenue and the demographics of the communities were highly Irish. At the base of the chair it is proclaimed “The World’s Largest Chair” with this plaque the chair joined the pantheon of a long tradition of giant chairs which, as started in Massachusetts in 1905 where they decided to build a 13 foot Mission chair. The Big Chair in Washington is now referred to as the “One time World Largest Chair”. While it was constructed as a gimmick to get the attention of consumers it transformed into a landmark in the Anacostia area. It has even become a point of reference if someone were to direct you to business near the chair they would tell you “near the Big Chair”. The Chair even served as a home in the 1960s when the Curtis’ though to attract more business they employed the services of Rebecca Kirby. On August 13, 1960 Kirby went up in the chair where she ate, slept, read, and even watched television. The gimmick was called “ Alice in Looking Glass House” she stayed in the chair for six weeks and Kirby’s only visitor was her 14 month old son who was hoisted by dumbwaiter to her. After the six-week stint in the chair she decided to “return to the Earth”. In August 2005 the Big Chair was torn apart to be reconstructed.

NACOTCHTANK, DISTRICT OF COLUMBUS
–Julian Parker

As I search for more knowledge and understanding of the Nacotchtank there is little found on the Internet. From my knowledge before the arrival of English settlers to the ‘New World”, a group of the Algonquian Native Americans, known as the Nacotchtank, lived in what is now known as Washington, D.C. during the 17th century. Nacotchtank was also the name of their central village; which was situated on the eastern bank of what is now the Anacostia River (present-day Anacostia). The people of this tribe were believe to speak the Nanticoke language (Algonquian), and were loosely associated with the Piscataway and Doeg tribes. As one of the first groups of Native Americans encountered, I find it discouraging that there is little supplementary information available to the average person. Interestingly enough, in 1608 the infamous Captain John Smith became the first to record interaction with the Nacotchtank peoples. He noted that their main village had a total population of approximately 300 welcoming (unsuspecting) people. Within that number was a group of about 80 fighting men, who later gave the Nacotchtank people a different reputation as European settlement increased. The shear number of Nacotchtank people could justify why much was not recorded, however I feel that the information has simply not been shared with the public. The name Nacotchtank has several historical variants: Nacostine, Anacostine, Anaquashtank, Nacothtant, Nachatanke. All of these names translate to "Trading village"; specifically describing Nacotchtank (village) because of its importance as a trading hub where many distant tribes would come to trade beaver pelts. I believe their evident wealth led the said immigrants to envy the Nacotchtank. About 60 years after Smith’s arrival, the Nacotchtank population greatly decreased from their lack of immunity to smallpox and other infectious diseases brought by the European settlers – the typical demise of many Natives. The Nacotchtank relocated to Anacostine Island (present-day Theodore Roosevelt Island), and likely merged with the Piscataway.

Stereotypes exposed

Life in Anacostia: The Truth of Barry Farms

To most people, Barry Farms is a nice, quiet place where you can sit
outside and play around or just have fun but that is where you are
wrong. Barry Farms is a small neighborhood in Southeast. It could be
one of the oldest neighborhoods in Washington. Barry Farms was founded
by and owned by a man named James Barry in the mid-19th century. Since
then, the population in Barry Farms has decreased in size. It was a
very large and popular neighborhood, which stretched all the way to
13th street. Barry Farms is located on Martin Luther King Ave. Barry
Farms is also known as housing project. With all the violence and
crime there, you would think that everyone committing the crime should
belong in jail. When I go out everyday, I hear people saying Barry
Farms is a bad neighborhood. I believe that these accusations are just
stereotypes because black people live in this neighborhood. I have
been a resident of Barry Farms all my life. There are many things that
are wrong with this neighborhood. First of all, when you need
something fixed in your home, management never comes on time. Second
of all, at all hours of the night, you just hear people and their
children outside cussing, fighting, and just disturbing the peace. A
curfew law was just set, so now you will see police officers riding up
and down the street securing the area making sure everyone is in by a
certain time. Now since the curfew law was set I feel that Barry Farms
is kind of safe but they still need more strict laws and more
inspiration leaders.




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The Meaning of Home

Wikipedia defines public housing as a form of housing financial agreement in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Others who don’t know the legal definition define it as hosing for poor people. Anacostia is heavily surrounded with public homes and families who desperately need them. Wikipedia says that during the 1950s, in the new neighborhood, numerous public housing apartment complexes were constructed along the Anacostia River. Around the 1960s and 70s, segregation was increasingly encouraged amongst many Washington DC communities. It’s evidently clear that its there are similar but different issues today.

As seen in the black in white photo above, Anacostia “Projects,” as previous community members stated, each and every neighbor simply got along with each other and related with one another. Children played together without any problems, conflicts, or commotion while adults conversed and enjoyed each other’s company. They thought of themselves as one big family, everyone knew everyone else. Now everything is different if not the opposite. Though segregation was taking place, in the projects community, they didn’t experience such activities. That is, until the individuals ventured elsewhere.

in a photo of Anacostia's more recent “Projects,” or public housing communities, such as Barry Farms, people are brought together for the wrong reasons. Gangs and mobs have been formed merely for violent purposes. Not all of Barry Farms is like that, but majority of its children have their heads in the wrong activities. Instead of being able to play freely and enjoy their innocence, young children are dying due to someone else’s negligence. It’s a sad truth.

Not everyone in these communities has this type of mentality, but this behavior is what gives public housing its commonly used definition. Small communities such as the “Projects” of Anacostia, should come together in a positive way instead fighting against one another with harmful intention.

The Lion of Anacostia

Anacostia is a great place filled with culture, historical landmarks, and rich history. It is probably one of the most historical parts of D.C primarily inhabited African American.  Anacostia’s most notable historical figure is most likely Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass was known for his abolitionism and work to unite all.  So I sit here wondering how Mr. Frederick Douglass would feel about the rise of black on black crime in his hometown of Anacostia D.C.  I’m sure that Frederick Douglass wanted unity between all, and I’m absolutely sure he wanted his home to be apart of the union if not the face of it.  Frederick Douglass was known for saying "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong." So why is it that it seems to be more unity between the citizens for crime than anything else?  Now don’t get me wrong many are doing much to help the town of Anacostia, but it seems that the wrong doers are getting all of the attention. I feel that we are not living up to the legacy that The Lion of Anacostia has left for us. If you go to the heart of the crime and educate them of their home history, because that what their mindset is, "by doing this I'm protecting the honor of my home." What they don't know is that they are destroying the honor of their home collectively.  Teach them and show them what they are doing and give them an alternative to their "habits" or "hobbies"

I have never really been to the Anacostia area of Washington, Dc. But from what I hear it is a distinguished place. It is a part of D.C that is famous for lots of historical things such as its name ‘Anacostia’, the streets of Anacostia like Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, and “The World’s Largest Chair”. “The World’s Largest Chair” was placed in Anacostia on 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE during the year 1959. I have never seen the chair but my research says that it is 19.5 feet tall and 4,600 pounds. And I found out that the chair was made for advertisement. The chair is a replica of Duncan Phyfe model that was built by Bassett Furniture Company. It was made to advertise a furniture store that is now closed called “Curtis and Brothers Furniture Store.” The chair was built across from the store and almost 50 years later “The World’s largest chair” was removed to be refurnished due to mold and rot. The new version of the chair was introduced in spring 2006. I have read some that people were not happy and called the chair “a wannabe” but I have also read that the new chair looks good. I couldn’t be a judge because I have not seen the old one, but hopefully I will go to see the new chair soon, aswell other landmarks in Anacostia.

Ballou: Not All Bad..

Ballou Senior High School is a historical landmark for the Southeast/Anacostia community. Built in the early 1960's Ballou is a place of learning and growth for inner-city youth for decades. Some Incredible people have come out of Ballou including film director Michael Patrei, and theatre actor and singer Duane Moody. Ballou was named after Dr. Frank Washington Ballou, the superintendent of the DC public schools and has been know for having a excellent music program. The band traveled to Pasadena in 2009 to be in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Ballou has been featured in books and movies by former allumni. I picked Ballou as a topic because I have heard that they are a pretty good school with an amazing band program. I remember Wilson played Ballou one time in football and Ballou was looking pretty good even though they lost. Even though I don’t know many people who go to Ballou I have heard that it’s not all that bad. I think that people have given this school a really bad reputation just because it’s mostly African-Americans who go there and I think that’s unfair. In fact information off the school’s online profile show that the school’s reading and math proficiency levels have gone up by almost 20% in the last 2 year which proves a lot of people wrong.