A new public art installation aims to engage residents, draw on Georgia Avenue’s culture and history and further beautify one of the District’s main north-south arteries.
On November 9 at 2pm, the third
Georgia Avenue Window Walk formally opens with a reception at
Pleasant Plains Workshop, which is collaborating on the project with the Georgia Avenue Community Development Task Force and several volunteers from the neighborhood. All are invited.
“We put out a call asking for artists to create work that related to Georgia Avenue” NW, says Kristina Bilonick, owner of PPW – a combination gallery and shop – since she founded it in 2010. From the 20-odd submissions received, Bilonick and others affiliated with the project selected five.
These artists’ works will be displayed in each of five local businesses, all located on a stretch of the avenue between the Petworth Metro stop and Howard University: Mexican restaurant Mama Chuy, 2610 Georgia Ave; Pilates studio From the Core Studios, 3111 Georgia Ave.; seafood/soul food restaurant Morgan’s Seafood, Georgia Ave. & Kenyon St; fitness studio Yoga Heights, 3506 Georgia Ave.; and food incubator/restaurant EatsPlace, 3607 Georgia Ave.
The artists whose works will be exhibited in these businesses are, respectively: Tsedaye Makonnen; Luke Atkinson; Jane Claire Remick; Zsudayka Nzinga; and Elizabeth Graeber.
A grant from the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities is kicking the whole endeavor up a notch or two from previous years, says Bilonick, an artist herself who specializes in printmaking. “We’ve been able to increase the stipend we pay the artists and we can also do nicer marketing materials” than in years past.
Another difference from the past two installations on the Walk? No empty storefronts will be used. “It was easier this time around to find currently owned businesses to let us use their windows.”
“The whole walk is about three-quarters of a mile long,” adds Bilonick. “We think of the art as a fun way to draw attention” to this stretch of the avenue.
The art will be displayed for the next six months.