Results tagged “artomatic”

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention this before Artomatic closes: our arts and managing editor Heather Goss took a quick photo of the above wall by Sarah Bever, which prominently features a few select members of the DCist commentariat.

Looks like month-long art show Artomatic is having some issues with city inspectors lately -- on Wednesday, organizers sent out an email saying "based on a routine building inspection by D.C.'s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs" they would be closing at 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday of this week instead of the usual 10 p.m. time. They explained in the release that "DCRA has limited this week's evening hours to give Artomatic extra time to install required lighting necessary for safety in the unlikely event of an emergency."

          

From the looks of it, many of you spared a little bit of time from this weekend's spectacular weather to check out the opening weekend of Artomatic, the collective arts exhibit which is celebrating its tenth year of existence this summer. This year's space, located near Nationals Park on M Street SE, will be open for the next five weeks -- here's a little taste of what's on display.

Held regularly since 1999, Artomatic has been housed in every quadrant of D.C. (and once in Virginia), and annually transforms an unfinished indoor space into a creative haven, welcoming all artists who want to exhibit. This year is Artomatic's largest event ever, hosting over 1,000 visual artists and 1,500 performance artists with three music stages, a dance stage, a stage for comedy, and return of the British Ink tattoo parlor.

With the 10th anniversary of Artomatic comes a new location — Half Street’s 55 M Street SE, a 275,000 square feet LEED Silver Class A office building that is currently under construction. The dates of the five-week long art, music, and theater event are May 29 to July 5, and it will run Wednesdays through Sundays.

At the end of the 2007-2008 school year, 21 schools in the DCPS closed for good. During the summer, the city put up a request for proposals for ways to reuse the buildings, and via the Bloomingdale blog, it looks like some of our local arts supporters grabbed on to the opportunity.

If you want to get away from the warm weather this weekend, this week’s Arts Agenda is full of art happenings all over town for your indoor enjoyment.

It would be impossible to review Artomatic’s ten floors of art in its entirety. The show is scatterbrained, and intentionally. First come, first serve is no jury; Artomatic treats all artists and crafters the same, and puts them all smack next to each other. In an art setting where it can be difficult to determine if a participant is old or young, joking or serious, novice, student, or seasoned, some work stood out to the DCist staff. Below are some of our favorites; leave yours in the comments.

Despite eight full floors filled with the work of over 800 visual artists, a slew of stages prepared for musical, dance, theatric, and 200 other performing artists, it's good to remember that Artomatic, which opens today, is about a lot more than "art."

This morning Artomatic announced that they'll be holding court with their massive art fair in North Capitol Hill from May 9 to June 15 this year. Originally a biennial deal, Artomatic suffered from lack of a venue in 2006, causing a three year gap. But this will now be their second show in two years, after their success in Crystal City last spring.