Art Week DC in 2025

Apparently the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities is planning to do a soft launch in 2025 for an "Art Week DC."  I say "apparently" tongue in cheek because I have tried to communicate with them via email and snail mail to volunteer in assisting with this as needed and pass on my world-class art fair education obtained via real life of doing art fairs since 2006 in Art Basel Miami Beach, New York, Santa Fe, London, Johannesburg, Austin and most recently London - as well as being an occasional advisor to one of the largest commercial art fair companies in the world.

Ignored so far - but I first proposed this idea waaaay back in 2008 - see that here. I updated it after the Covidian monster changed the world here and I adapted it to the Art Week DC idea when I first heard of it here.

As I said, so far I've heard shit back from the Commission.

This is a GREAT inititative and if done right, it should do wonders for the DC art scene, but if the Commission does not learn the lessons learned from the ArtDC fair and the various (e)merge art fairs, then they'll eventually repeat the issues that killed those initiatives.  If you're involved in setting up/planning the Art Week DC in 2025 and know nothing about those other DC-based art fairs, you're already stepping on your crank.

Here are the minutes from the last commission meeting, and below I've pasted the transcript of the minutes for the Art Week DC section - with a couple of corrections in yellow.

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There's a special committee update on Art Week DC 2025, which I will give.

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There are four pieces of news I'll bring to you. First.

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We've now had two meetings

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But the Chinese cultural ambassador who's very interested in our art week

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DC project, including perhaps

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doing a Chinese pavilion.

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Similar to the pavilions that do it in the Biennale.

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in Venice. So we are working with a number of

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embassies, the Chinese embassy is ahead of the others and

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talking with us about that. On December 4th, there's a dinner in honor of DC-based

museum directors

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and independent curators in Miami during Art Odd Basel Miami.

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And we have great attendance already and some very prominent people coming. All of

this is to get people ready for

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us having our Art Week DC

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a soft launch and the staff continue to remind me

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Okay.

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I have to say it's a soft launch in 2025. It's a very soft

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launch in 2025. The launch is quite soft in 2025.

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And we'll do something much more significant in 2026 and afterwards.

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On December 13th.

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We planned a stakeholder meeting

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where we're bringing together, I think, all of those who participated in this

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probably several hundred people across the six or eight months who've done these

stakeholder meetings.

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She would talk about this Art Week DC concept.

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We're having them at the Gallup building

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Here in DC, of course.

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I'm understanding that the attendance on that is looking quite good as well.

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It's December 13th from noon to 2. So anyone who's listening, if you are one of the

stakeholders.

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And perhaps if you weren't, but you're interested, we could see if we could

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squeeze you into the space as well this is

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Our attempt at bringing all the stakeholders together and in one room to move

towards co-creating.

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But Hardweek Artweek DC will be for 25, which is a soft launch.

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And 26 after that.

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Also at that December 13th meeting, Michael Kaisler with the DeVos Institute

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who has been hired to help us develop the plan for Art Week DC

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will give a progress review.

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His work will be finished sometime in January, but

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In December, he feels he can give us a hint at where we're going and to get

reactions from the group as well.

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So those are the four events around Ard Art Week DC. It is proceeding.

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people are getting more and more excited about it.

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And we're looking forward to what it will bring

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to the city in as far as recognizing

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DC artist, but also the commerce that it hopefully will bring to the city as

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Art Basel, Miami, Paris, et cetera, have done as well.

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So I have no other new business.

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Did we miss anything?

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If not, it'd be no further business. The next meeting of the commission will be held

Monday, December 16th, 2024.

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At 5.30 p.m. The time is now 626.

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And this meeting is adjourned. Thank you.