ARTventures On H returns Thursday, Feb 24

On Thursday, February 24, CHAMPS – Capitol Hill’s Chamber of Commerce and H Street Main Street present ARTventures on H. From 5:30-8pm 12 different galleries and art spaces along the H Street Corridor will open their doors for a special art walk. Participants will be given an ARTventures “passport,” to be punched at each stop on the art walk. For every punch received, attendees receive an extra 2% discount that evening from 7-9:30pm at any of 17 participating restaurants, cafes, and bars on H Street NE. Passports will be available at each of the art walk stops; attendees choose their own starting points.

The Art Walk: 5:30-8pm

Art walk stops and their associated exhibits are as follows (listed from West to East):

Senate Square: 201 I St (entrance on 3^rd Street between H and I)

Metro Mutts: 508 H St
Exhibit: Pet Life
Artists: Bev Hollis, Jenna Isaacson
Additional Information: Bev Hollis is a contemporary, fine art pet photographer who specializes in dog and pet photography and animal portraits in northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC area. Jenna Isaacson is a photojournalist, stylist, crafter, camping enthusiast and proud Midwesterner. After working in the newspaper business for 10 years in Utah, Missouri and Florida, Isaacson moved to D.C. in 2009 and is a proud member of Capitol Hill-based Pitchfork Studio.


Adobe Design Center & Showroom: 654 H St
Exhibit: Where Art Meets Function
Additional Information: Adobe Design Center & Showroom offers a unique collection of art, furniture, accessories, and unusual pieces, collected by owner Edith Buffalo, from all over the world. When asked about the combination of fine art and home furnishings in a recent DC Ladies interview, Buffalo responded “The marriage of art and furniture has been a very happy union. People get a chance to see how chair looks with art to the left or right of it or how a mirror or lamp looks in a particular setting. The greatest discovery is that the mat does not have to match the fabric.”

City Gallery: 804 H St
Exhibit: Color and Shape
Artists: Nancy Donnelly, Jill Finsen
Additional Information: From East City Art: “Color and Shape showcases Nancy Donnelly’s elegant glass art and Jill Finsen’s whimsically primitive paintings executed in oil paint.  Fascination with texture as a component of color and shape is apparent in the work of both these artists. Allusive of the natural world, they are direct and accessible. Yet surface abstraction is paramount to the success of these art pieces—the texture of the glass complements layered textures in the paintings. These works complement each other and pull the exhibit in new and exciting visual directions. Both artists find negative space crucial to this effect, moments of rest that energize each work and in this sense make each more complete.” East City Art


Jorge Velazquez: 1015 H St, 2^nd Floor
Exhibit: My Vision of Art
Artist: Jorge Velazquez
Additional Information: Born in Mexico, Jorge Velazquez is a self-taught artist whose inspiration is inner peace and pushing his own boundries.  He was always told that he could do whatever he set his mind to. My Vision of Art features a selection of past and present works by Velazquez.

Atlas Performing Arts Center: 1333 H St
Exhibit: Ten Miles Square Photography Exhibit
Artists: Amy Keys, Michael Du Bois, Michael Galkovsky, Maria Helena Carey, Patrick Yuen, Tonianne DeMaria Barry, Angela Kleis, Brian Mosley, Karon Flage, Brett Davis, Kevin Harber
Additional Information: Part of the INTERSECTIONS Festival, this photography exhibit aims to tie together the diversity and dynamism of the performers on stage with the vibrancy of the neighborhood outside the Atlas. The featured photographers are the winners of Ten Miles Square’s contest that challenging entrants to take on the ten square miles surrounding the Atlas neighborhood — capturing connections, innovation, intersection of cultures, ages, races. Ten Miles Square is a venture to promote local photographers through independent, art supporting businesses, while also nurturing a new generation of collectors by offering real art at affordable prices.


SOVA Espresso & Wine: 1359 H St
Exhibit: Untitled Photography Exhibit
Artists: Students enrolled in the Critical Exposure program.
Additional Information: Critical Exposure is a nonprofit that teaches youth to use the power of photography and their own voices to become effective advocates for school reform and social change.

Gallery OonH: 1354 H St
Exhibit: Facing H Street
Artists: Various artists from the collection of Dolly Vehlow and Steve Hessler
Additional Information: Facing H Street features portraits of the known and the unknown, interpreted through the lens of various outsider artists from the collection of Dolly Vehlow and Steve Hessler. In addition to the exhibition, GalleryOonH will debut the “H-Street-Piano” project and will be featuring an on-site caricaturist so you can leave with your own portrait.

Evolve Urban Arts Project: 1375 Maryland Ave
Exhibit: Flights of Fancy: Elements of Surrealism
Artists: Iwan Bagus, Peter Karp, Micheline Klagsbrun, Trix Kuijper, Joyce McCarten, Langley Spurlock
Additional Information: Flights of Fancy: Elements of Surrealism features six talented artists from the Studio Gallery in Dupont Circle all of whom create works which embody or employ key elements of Surrealism.


G Fine Art Gallery: 1350 Florida Ave
Exhibit: The Adjacent Possible
Artist: Linn Meyers
Additional Information: From a G Fine Art Gallery Press Release: Meyers’ drawings create a sense of unpredictable logic.  Her lines whirlaround into seemingly complicated compositions, the marks slip and shiver, turning into intricate waves that subsequently settle into shimmering eddies.  At close proximity the marks vibrate against each other with a magnetic tension; with greater distance the drawings fold into a unified world, making references but never landing – hovering between place, time, object and experience. Meyers’ site-specific wall drawings soar up over tall walls, cling to corners, and fill rooms. They demand on the spot improvisation and a blast of focused, sustained energy.  And yet, despite this intense exertion, the works are generally temporary, lasting only a few weeks before being painted over.  These works explore and embrace our complicated relationship with time and ephemerality.


Conner Contemporary Art: 1358 Florida Ave
Exhibit I: Windowboxing
Artist: Cordy Ryman
Exhibit II: High Pressure System
Artist: Brandon Morse
Additional Information: These are two concurrent solo exhibitions. Windowboxing features painted sculptural assemblages by Cordy Ryman and High Pressure System features real-time generative digital work by Brandon Morse.

Industry Gallery: 1358 Florida Ave, Suite 200
Exhibit: Fossilized
Artist: Jens Praet
Additional Information: Fossilized is the first solo US exhibition of Jens Praet and features Tables, Consoles, Benches & Shelves made from shredded magazines and documents

The Dine Around: 7-9:30pm

There are currently 17 restaurants and bars participating in the Dine Around portion of ARTventures on H, with more to be added in the coming week. So far participants include (from West to East):

Ethiopic: 401 H St
Sidamo Coffee and Tea: 417 H St
Toyland: 421 H St
Liberty Tree: 1016 H St
Taylor Gourmet: 1116 H St
Twelve Restaurant & Lounge: 1123 H St
Souk: 1208 H St
Sticky Rice: 1224 H St
The Pug: 1234 H St
Fruit Bat: 1236 H St
Dr. Granville Moore’s: 1238 H St
Smith Commons: 1245 H St
H Street Country Club: 1335 H St
Dangerous Delicious Pies : 1339 H St
Star and Shamrock : 1341 H St
The Argonaut : 1433 H St
Capital City Diner: 1050 Bladensburg Rd
Over 1000 people attended the inaugural ARTventures on H in June of 2010. “It is so exciting to be part of such a collaborative group of businesses,” said Julia Christian, CHAMPS Executive Director. “The H Street business community truly sees the benefit of working together and ARTventures on H is the perfect example of that. We are thrilled to produce the event again—this time with the support of H Street Main Street—and I can’t wait to see all of the great exhibits–right here in our neighborhood.”
For up-to-date information about ARTventures on H (including participants, maps, and dining discounts), visit www.capitolhill.org or CHAMPS’ new website www.whatthehill.org.

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