Day Eight is preparing to launch an ambitious new arts blog, Artapedia.com, focused on the D.C. area. Kay Kendall, Chair of the DC Commission on the Arts, and Michael Kaiser, past-president of the Kennedy Center, will be honorary hosts for a free celebration and launch event (rsvp required) Tuesday June 21 5:30-7:00.
The site is launching as part of the DC Arts Writing Fellowship. 2016 D.C. Arts Writing Fellows Jonelle Walker and Michelle Goldchain will cover anything and everything local and artistic. The project was developed to increase coverage of the local arts community and is produced through support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Humanities DC, Brink Media, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and DCRE Residential.
In addition to writing coverage of arts and humanities activities the Fellows will facilitate a series of community events and receive structured and unstructured mentorship from journalists including Sarah Kaufman (Pulitzer 2010, chief dance critic Washington Post), Jeanette Catsoulis (Film critic, New York Times), and Maura Judkis (culture journalist, Washington Post.)
Project Director Robert Bettmann said, “For centuries arts journalism has played a critical role in the practice and participation of the arts. With declines in quality coverage from the major news institutions publishers like Day Eight are trying to find new models.”
In celebration of launch of the Fellowship and website Day Eight will host a launch party Tuesday June 21 at BRINK (1516 U Street NW) from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public; rsvp is required – space is limited.
For RSVP visit: http://www.evite.com/event/00FEL7XSSPRKDYBOYEPGF4KS4PJXKQ?gid=
About Arts Writing Fellow Jonelle Walker
Jonelle Walker is a 2016 DC Arts Writing Fellow with Day Eight. She is also a Theatre History and Performance Studies masters student at the University of Maryland, a freelance theatre writer, and the Artist-in-Residence and Literary Manager for Blind Pug Arts Collective. She earned her undergraduate degrees in Literature and Theatre Arts from American University in 2013.
About Arts Writing Fellow Michelle Goldchain
Michelle Goldchain is a Washington, D.C.-based writer and photographer who covers local news. She is currently one of the DC Arts Writing fellows with Day Eight. She is also Editor of Curbed DC, a real estate and development blog owned by Vox Media. Her works have been seen in Street Sense, Quill Magazine, Whurk Magazine, and Prince William Living Magazine.
About Arts Writing Fellowship Director Robert Bettmann
Robert Bettmann is an arts writer and editor based in Washington, D.C. He's founder of the arts magazine Bourgeon and the non-profit Day Eight. In the last year he's completed projects with funding from the DC Arts Commission and DC Humanities Council and National Endowment for the Arts. Robert is an artist himself, having transitioned into writing after a decade-long career as a performing artist. He trained on scholarship at the Washington Ballet and Alvin Ailey schools and performed modern dance and ballet. His book Somatic Ecology was published in 2009, and he is the editor of an arts anthology, Bourgeon: Fifty Artists Write About Their Work, published recently.
About Day Eight
The mission of Day Eight is to empower participation in the arts through the production, publication, and promotion of creative projects. The organization’s publication program includes the arts magazine Bourgeon, an annual arts writing competition for undergraduates, and the DC Arts Writing Fellowship. http://dayeight.org/
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