The Examiner ran a story on Monday about Bloomingdale's recent round of talks with the city regarding opening a new store in downtown D.C. Along with the recently approved development at the Old Convention Center site, sources in the Fenty administration told Michael Neibauer that the talks have included the controversial Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 9th and G Streets NW as a "possible option" for the store. The library, as you'll recall,......

Via Kriston Capps, it seems ANC 3F-04 Commissioner Frank Winstead compiled a scaaaaaary video in an attempt to stir up public safety concerns about the ping pong table located outside Comet Ping Pong on Connecticut Ave. NW. We give Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham a lot of guff about trying to shut down businesses where violent crimes occur, but clearly the baton of irrational nannyism in local government has been successfully passed.......

Boy howdy, yesterday sure was quite the hootinany over at the D.C. Council, as members scrambled to push their pet bills through before this year's session finally, finally comes to a close. Here's a quick rundown of what went on, gleaned from the WaPo and Examiner: >> We told you this was in the works before, but the council finally did pass a nice pay raise for themselves and incoming Mayor Adrian Fenty. From the......

UPDATE: We've now gotten word from intrepid boy reporter Kriston Capps that the D.C. Council's Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation voted to table Bill 16-734, in a motion brought by At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz, which carried 3 to 2 with Marion Barry, Schwartz and surprise vote Vincent Gray against Kathy Patterson and Phil Mendelson. What does this mean for the future of Williams' library plan? Hard to say. Tabling a bill is usually a......

We were sad to hear the news (via blogger Kriston Capps) that Numark Gallery is closing its doors for good next month. Owner Cheryl Numark sent out a press release yesterday explaning that due to "the demands of running a contemporary space -- maintaining a quality exhibition program and truly 'representing' artists in the manner to which they are entitled," she's decided to step back and start a new venture advising art collectors. Many people......

An artist's worst nightmare. Not a bad review or lack of sales, but accidental destruction of their work by careless gallery-goers. Art writer Kriston Capps tipped us off to the notice on the Flashpoint Web site, which tells us that Axelle Rioult's exhibit Non Sans Emoi (As I Lay Myself...) is temporarily closed. Gallery Manager Rebecca Lowery told DCist that a private party held in the Flashpoint theater this past Saturday night escalated from a......

Today's Opinionist comes to DCist from local art blogger Kriston Capps. For all this time, D.C. Mayor Williams has billed himself as a supporter of big boxes in the District. During yesterday’s town hall meeting to discuss the fate of the city’s public library system, the Mayor revealed himself to be no friend to our most notorious big box—the Mies Van der Rohe-designed Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. And he made no new friends......

Editor's note: This top ten list was compiled by local art blogger and man-about-town Kriston Capps. Let’s be forward about it—top ten lists don’t really make a lot of sense. Especially for a field as diverse as contemporary art. Really, how much better is the sculpture of the giant Cheetoh than the digitally manipulated photograph? A true accounting for the decision-making process behind a hierarchical ranking of art shows would make the BCS computerized college......

We'll admit that the mayor's blog hasn't quite lived up to our expectations. But we still believe that blogs are a great way for institutions to make themselves accessible to their customers, patrons or constituents. The Smithsonian American Art Museum seems to agree with us: today they've launched Eye Level, a new blog helmed by veteran art-blogger and friend-of-DCist Kriston Capps. The idea seems to be that posts will feature items from the museum's collection......

Like the double-faced Janus, there are two Smith Points. One is the Georgetown restaurant loved by neighbors for its food, the other is the exclusive club environment that gets going later toward midnight, made famous by two infamous patrons, the Bush twins. And numerous people (including these women who were apparently White House interns last summer who posted their W.H. photos on Webshots) have followed in their wake. As some community interests in Georgetown continue......

Just weeks after the launch of Bostonist and Seattlest, the -ist empire moves south to the capital of Texas. Welcome Austinist, which launches its beta site today, just in time for the 2005 South by Southwest Interactive. As Jen notes over at Gothamist, our publisher, Jake Dobkin will be speaking on two SXSW panels: How to Create a Compelling Community Website and How to Create a Multimedia Moblog. And our colleague over at LAist, Jason......

We're saddened by the passing of one of America's architectural giants, Philip Johnson, a larger-than-life figure who transformed our notion of space and design. Johnson lived in the shadow of Frank Lloyd Wright for much of his early career. About a decade after Wright died in 1959, Simon and Garfunkel wrote a song in tribute to the master architect. Though Johnson's life was certainly filled with intrigue, drama and intense public criticism (for his architecture......

Kriston Capps over at Grammar.police takes a look at two very different pieces of District architecture, the Italian Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue and the Mies van der Rohe-designed Martin Luther King Jr. library downtown. The Italian Embassy has always been a favorite of this DCist, sort of Florentine villa-meets-George Lucas fantasy type of deal, if such an architectural intersection is permitted. Then there's the central library, which Capps doesn't think is well suited to be......

Architecture fans will take note of Frank Gehry's lecture at the Corcoran Gallery of Art tonight at 5 p.m. Architecture fans who aren’t Corcoran members may balk at the hefty price—$50—and the patient can wait just a few more years for the anticipated Gehry façade being built for the Corcoran’s 17th Street and New York Avenue wing. District residents should get used to seeing him around. His fame aside, DCist wonders if Gehry was the......

From DCist contributor Kriston Capps: If you’re looking to discover the next Dan Steinhilber before he or she hits the Hirshhorn, you have just a few days left to catch the Academy 2004 show at the Conner Contemporary Art gallery, which closes on Saturday. This is the fourth installment of this annual summer showcase, featuring 13 artists who have recently matriculated from DC and Baltimore degree-granting institutions. Expect polished work in a variety of media:......