Black Artists of DC

Black Artists of DC (BADC) is a community of artists formed in 1999 whose purpose is to "promote, develop and validate the cultural and artistic expressions of artists of African ancestry in the Washington, DC metropolitan area."

The exhibit "Convergence of Vision: The Power of Art," showing at the Prince George's Community College's (PGCC) Marlborough Gallery from September 18th through October 12th will be the group's first showing at a public venue and will feature the work of 34 of the group's artists.

"As a group, BADC seeks to engage and educate our community in the history and value of Black art," says Claudia Gibson-Hunter, BADC facilitator. "There is such a wealth of artistic talent in the Washington metropolitan area, and we want to expose our community to the hidden treasures they have right in their own backyards."

Details here.

Bummer

No Artomatic this year. The NOMA building that they were negotiating for has not come through, despite their best efforts. The AOM crew is working hard to make AOM happen in 2007.

Detail here.

Trashball

Chris Goodwin has started a blog called Trashball! that documents some of the stuff that he finds (much of it in his PT job driving a dump truck). Much of the trash that he finds will end up in one of his two Trashball! machines: One is currently at Warehouse on 7th Street and the other at Busboys and Poets on 14th street in DC.

Visit Trashball! often!

Survey

The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced today that it is planning the first full-scale survey of the critically acclaimed Afro-Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons.

New Baltimore Studios

A dozen artists or so have been renovating around 24,000 feet of the former Lombard Office Furniture spaces located at 122 West North Avenue (at Howard Street) just across the Howard Street bridge from MICA in Baltimore.

They're having their first event on Saturday, January 28th from noon to 4:00pm. RSVP to Daniel Stuelpnagel at danstuelpnagel@yahoo.com or call him at 415/203-7739.

Gordiany's Grille

A couple of nights ago I went out to a Widener University function, and afterwards we drove around looking for a place to eat.

We drove down Baltimore Pike, and eventually ended up in a little restaurant in Clifton Heights, PA called Gordiany's Grille.

Let me summarize this find in one word: WOW!

We expected to find a small, local place, with maybe some decent food. Located at 252 West Baltimore Avenue in Clifton Heights, PA, the place looks nice from the outside, but unassuming and like a regular neighborhood joint.

It is all that, but the food was amazing!

The chef is a beefy guy nicknamed "Zus" - "It's from Hay-Sus," explained Kelly the waitress. "It's Spanish for Jesus."

And the food was divine! And so affordable!

Imagine a place where you can can a huge plate of clams in a wine and onion and Italian sausage concoction for under nine bucks (and I mean huge). It's called "Drunken Clams" and it was great.

The table next to me ordered a steak, and Jesus came out with a slab of meat on a board to discuss how she wanted it cut with the lady who ordered it. They settled on a "butterfly" cut.

When the pasta dish that we ordered came to us, it brough "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the locals at the place, as it was a sight to see, as the crab legs had been arranged is such a fashion that the huge plate looked like a work of edible art.

Unlike the ritzy places that give you three strands of pasta, this dish was also massive, and I ended up taking half of it home.

This was a truly memorable discovery, everything on the meny is under $20, and I look forward to visiting this little jewel many times. They are located at 252 West Baltimore Avenue in Clifton Heights, PA, and their phone is 610/259-4060.

Stephen Wiltshire

I was first exposed to the amazing skills of Stephen Wiltshire when I was living in the United Kingdom in the late 80's.

His first words were "pencil" and "paper," first spoken when he was five. He is called "the living camera."

But this video is amazing.