The big news this week is the much anticipated and ballyhooed opening of Artisphere, the new art space in Rosslyn. Arisphere is a 62,000 square foot cultural campus that includes the existing Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre. It encompasses four distinct performance venues, a Wi-Fi café, three visual art galleries, and a 4,000 square foot Ballroom space. Artisphere will be open 12 hours a day and host more than 100 events per month. We’ll have more on this new art space for you later this week.
>> A preview opening gala for Artisphere takes place Friday, with a chance to be one of the first to see the new space. Enjoy an evening of music, dance, theatre, hula hoops, and a special cabaret performance. 8 p.m. $250
>> The Pinkline Project and Brightest Young Things kick off the opening of Artisphere with Burst, a more affordable celebration. The evening will feature DJs, performance art, balloon art, an interactive photography wall, skateboard art and more. Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance including open bar. A free shuttle bus will run between Dupont and the Artisphere.
>> Artisphere officially opens to the public at 10 a.m. Sunday. See Skateboarding Side Effects in the Terrace Gallery and CHOPTEETH an Afro-funk performance in the Ballroom at 9 p.m.
>> Pictoralism was to photography what Impressionism was to painting, and TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845-1945 at the Phillips Collection explores the beginning of the movement and beyond. The exhibit highlights the works of Julia Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz, and Gertrude Kasebier among others, during this period. Opening Saturday. $12.
>> While the FotoWeek DC festival is still weeks away, get a sneak peak at some of the photographic goodness that’s in store for the annual photography fest at A View from the Top. The exhibit will feature the winners of 51 Portraits of DC, a photo competition launched to encourage participation in the 2010 Census while highlighting the diversity of the District’s residents. Tonight 6 to 9 p.m. RSVP required.
