>> Celebrate the grand opening of the Honfleur Gallery this Saturday at 7 p.m. This very welcome addition to the city’s art scene is located near the Anacostia metro and appropriately begins its life with East of the River, a mixed media exhibition that includes both professionals and first-timers who celebrate their history with the area. Especially notable is the work by John Muller from DreamCity, an organization that does some serious community building in D.C. — so much they’ve earned a nomination for the Mayor’s Art Award, which will be handed out next month at the Kennedy Center. Muller presents a photographic storyboard of DreamCity’s upcoming play Southside, “a call for non-violence within the communities and neighborhoods of not only Washington, D.C., but throughout the country.” While we love art for its own sake, we love D.C. even more and are excited to see a gallery focused so closely on its community and the people living in its own backyard. If you stop by Saturday, let us know what you think of the new place.
>> Before you head over to Honfleur, stop by the opening reception by Art Enables, another program that provides welcome creative services for the people of D.C. Art Enables is an outlet for adults with developmental or mental disabilities, who are given studio time and guided instruction. This exhibit is a dual birthday party: Art Enables celebrates its fifth year, while the artist exhibiting his work, Abe Graber, turns a truly celebratory 103. So, of course, they are Together One Hundred and Eight. Go wish them another happy year between 4 and 6:30 p.m., and do ask Mr. Graber his secret and shoot us an email. We’ll have whatever he’s having.
>> O! Community-love abounds this weekend! Artomatic fires up their engines for the recently announced upcoming shows with their first official meeting on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. If you’re not part of the group yet, shoot Jesse Cohen an email and he’ll hook you up.
>> WPAC’s next Experimental Media Series is coming up again very soon, so check out their call for entries and get your work submitted — the first deadline is March 7. Curated this time around by Richard Chartier and Brandon Morse (who also had one of this writer’s favorite shows last year), the series will be part of ColorField Remix, a citywide project that will go on at D.C. venues throughout the summer.
>> Get into your groove this weekend at the Art Museum of the Americas, where ¡Merengue! opens with a shimmy and a shake on Friday at 6 p.m. The exhibit showcases Dominican culture though visual representations of this long-celebrated style of music. Thirty-six Dominican artists have work in the hall, in a variety of media.
>> Stop by Hemphill Fine Arts and Zenith Gallery, as both will end an exhibit this weekend.
