Artisphere

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Frida Kahlo Opening Tonight — An exhibit of 259 personal photographs of renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo will go on display at Rosslyn’s Artisphere cultural center (1101 Wilson Blvd) tonight. It’s the first time the photos have been on display in the U.S. A public opening is being held tonight from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. The exhibit will run through March 25. [PBS Newshour]

Kapinos Re-Ups with Steelers — NFL punter and Arlington resident Jeremy Kapinos has re-signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kapinos, who lives in Arlington in the off-season, is reportedly making between $600,000 and $1.26 million for the one-year deal. [Steelers Depot]

Hotel Palomar Now ‘Le Meridien’ — Rosslyn’s Hotel Palomar has been officially rebranded as a high-end, European-style ‘Le Meridien’ hotel. The restaurant in the Le Meridien Arlington, formerly known as Domasco Restaurant, has also been rebranded; it’s now being called ‘Amuse.’ The hotel is being managed by Starwood, following the purchase of the property for some $45 million by HEI Hotels and Resorts. [USA Today, Washington Business Journal]

Revised Ultrasound Bill Passed — Yesterday the Virginia House of Delegates voted for an amended bill that requires women seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound, while removing the defacto requirement that the procedure for early pregnancies involve and invasive, transvaginal ultrasound. Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) revoked his support for the original bill following protests and national media attention. [Huffington Post]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Management Change at Hotel Palomar — After being sold for some $45 million, Rosslyn’s upscale Hotel Palomar (1121 19th Street N.) will be changing management companies. Effective Feb. 22, Kimpton Hotels will no longer manage the property. Instead, it will be managed in partnership with Starwood Hotels and Le Meridien. [Hotel Palomar]

Legal Advertising Bill Fails in Richmond — A bill that would have lifted the requirement that Virginia localities place legal notices in newspapers has failed in the General Assembly. The bill could have saved localities thousands of dollars per year. Most of Arlington County’s legal advertising is placed in the Washington Times. [Sun Gazette]

Candidates Answer Affordable Housing Questions — The three candidates for Arlington County Board have each answered three questions about affordable housing in the county. Their answers have been published verbatim, in PDF format, by an Arlington-focused affordable housing advocacy group. [Alliance for Housing Solutions]

Will Kahlo Photos Give a Boost to Artisphere? — County officials are hoping that a month-long exhibit of the personal photos of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, which opens on Feb. 23, will help draw crowds and positive attention to the struggling Artisphere cultural center in Rosslyn. [Sun Gazette]

Social Media Week Comes to Rosslyn Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Rosslyn will be playing host to two Social Media Week events tonight.

The week celebrates social media — think: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. — and “its role as a catalyst in driving cultural, economic, political and social change in developed and emerging markets.” This is the first year that the D.C. area formally hosted events for Social Media Week, which now counts 21 cities worldwide as participants.

Rosslyn’s Social Media Week events will take place at Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd) starting at 8:00 tonight. First up is is e-Geaux (beta), an interactive theater event that finds comedy and some cautionary tales in social media. e-Geaux — pronounced “ego” — has been profiled on NPR, DCist.com and elsewhere. Tickets to the show, at Artisphere’s Dome Theater, cost $15.

After the e-Geaux performance is Tweet Slam. Starting at 9:30 p.m., in the Artisphere “town hall” area, poetry will meet Twitter in a contest to come up with the most creative Tweet. Per the event description:

Calling all slam poets, haiku masters and creative tweeps! What poetic wisdom can you impart in 140 characters or less? Come perform your lyrical Tweets in a slam judged by local social media stars and you can win $140 and bragging rights.

Among the judges will be poet Holly Bass and NBC4’s Angie Goff. Admission is free. Drinks are discounted to $2 with an e-Geaux ticket stub.

Artisphere to Host Editorial Cartoon Exhibit

By ARLnow.com

What does the future hold for us in 2012? Who will win the presidential election? Will the economy improve? Will the world end?

Of course no one, not even the Mayans, can be 100 percent sure of the future. But today, at Artisphere, a group of political cartoonists will be giving soothsaying a shot.

Starting tonight, Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd) will be hosting a “pop-up exhibit” called “ApocalypToon 2012.” The exhibit will provide “a humorous outlook on the year to come [featuring] works, some created exclusively for this exhibition, by renowned editorial and political cartoonists.”

Among the cartoonists whose creations will be on display: Kal (The Economist), Tom Toles (Washington Post), Jeff Danziger (Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post), Daryl Cagle (MSNBC), Matt Wuerker (Politico), Damien Glez (La Monde) and Dan Piraro of Bizzaro (syndicated).

The exhibit, which runs through Sunday, is free to view — but an opening party tonight has a $25 cover charge. The party, which kicks off at 6:00 p.m., will feature complimentary food, live music, a cash bar, and appearances by some of the cartoonists. Music will be provided by DJ Neekola with live percussionist Kamajian, DJ Manifesto (who plays violin during his sets), and by Suspicious Package, a local rock band comprised of several government and journalist types, including the cartoonist Toles.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Artisphere Gets Exclusive Photo Exhibit — Artisphere has scored a bit of a coup by becoming the first and only venue in the United States to host an exhibit of the personal photos of famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. “These images reveal a little-known side of the artist and lifelong resident of Mexico City suburb and Arlington, Va. sister city, Coyoacán,” Artisphere said in a press release. “The collection of photographs in this exhibition reflect Kahlo’s tastes and interests, the experiences she shared with those close to her, and her complicated, but also thrilling, personal life.” [Artisphere]

General Assembly May Ban Motorcycle Checkpoints — State legislators are considering a bill that would ban police from setting up motorcycle-only safety checkpoints. Arlington is one of the jurisdictions cited as having conducted such a “discriminatory” checkpoint — during last year’s Rolling Thunder ride to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. [Virginian-Pilot]

Company: Moving Out of Arlington Was a Mistake — The non-profit research firm that’s planning to move in to this soon-to-be-built office development in Clarendon says they’re happy to be moving back to Arlington. “We had a brief moment of insanity and we moved to Alexandria,” a company executive is quoted as saying. “Now we just want to move home.” [Arlington Mercury]

Shakespeare in Klingon Coming to Artisphere

By ARLnow.com

Klingon is making a theatrical comeback in Arlington.

Less than two years after the Arlington-based Washington Shakespeare Company made headlines with an evening of Shakespeare performed in the fictional Star Trek language, the company is planning on staging another Klingon production.

WSC Avant Bard, as the company is now known, will host “Shakespeare in Klingon II” at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 4. The one-night-only performance will be held at Artisphere’s Rosslyn Spectrum theater, the company’s permanent home since vacating the Clark Street Playhouse in Crystal City. Tickets for the show/fundraiser are $85 and include two “flexible-use passes” for future WSC Avant Bard shows.

Among those taking the stage — besides the Shakespearean Klingon actors — will be WSC Avant Bard Board President Marc Okrand, creator of the original Klingon language, and the fortuitously-named Michael Kahn, Artistic Director of the (unrelated) Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C.

“The revelry for Washington’s Shakespeare moniker will be in both English and Klingon, using scenes from Hamlet, The Tempest, and others,” WSC noted on its website. “In addition, the Company Benefit performance will include a short conversation with Marc Okrand about his work with the Star Trek franchise over the years, and an audience question and answer session with Kahn, Henley, and special guest Klingons at the conclusion of the show.”

Photos courtesy WSC Avant Bard

County Board Candidates Strike Note of Fiscal Conservatism

By ARLnow.com

The six candidates for County Board each struck a note of fiscal conservatism at local civic association debates this week.

Even as Arlington has avoided the worst of the stagnant economy, fears about the impact of federal spending cuts on Arlington’s tax base, combined with the reality of a burgeoning school population, has ushered in a slate of candidates largely devoid of ideas for sweeping new county initiatives. Instead, candidates are talking about prioritizing spending and, perhaps, pulling back on big ticket items like the struggling Artisphere cultural center and the planned Columbia Pike streetcar and Long Bridge Park aquatics center.

Iraq veteran and West Point graduate Terron Sims was perhaps the most blunt of the five Democrats in race when it came to spending.

“We do need to prioritize,” Sims said. “We spend money as though it’s coming out of trees… Though we have the money, that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to spend the money.”

“I’m disturbed at the trolley’s cost,” Sims said of the Pike streetcar’s $250 million price tag. “As for the Artisphere, it’s a failed investment, or at least it appears to be at this time.”

Peter Fallon, an Arlington County Planning Commission, was also candid about his views on spending — particularly when it comes to the streetcar.

“Let’s face it, we need to do a much better job of deciding what we need versus what we want and what we can have,” Fallon said. “I am certainly very pro-transit… however, I am not convinced that $250 million for a five mile rail in the ground is necessarily the way to go.

“If I’m on the County Board, I’m not going to sign off on it until I’m convinced it’s the right thing to do for all of Arlington, and I have not seen that analysis yet,” Fallon added. “There are cheaper ways to enhance traffic and transit throughout Arlington County.”

School Board member Libby Garvey said that some big ticket items sound good in theory, but must be put in perspective when it comes to other needs.

“I think the streetcar sounds like a great project, I think the [proposed Long Bridge Park] aquatics center sounds like a great project, the Artisphere had really good possibilities — they all sound great,” she said. “Meanwhile, our schools are busting at the seams, our police force has not had an increase in 10 years. There are a lot of issues we are facing, and the news is we cannot do it all — or we cannot do it all right now.”

“We need a strategic plan to pick out what our priorities are and decide what we’re going to do first,” Garvey continued. “So if we put money into an aquatics center but we don’t build a school, we’re saying that the aquatics center is more important than a school. Our budget statements are value statements.”

(more…)

Artisphere Hours to Change Starting Jan. 1

By ARLnow.com

Following the adoption of a new business plan, Artisphere’s weekly hours will dramatically change starting Jan. 1.

The arts and cultural center, at 1101 Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn, will now be closed to the public on Monday and Tuesdays, except when an evening event is scheduled. It will be open 4:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Wednesdays through Fridays, noon to 11 p.m. on Saturdays (or later if programming warrants), and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Whereas Artisphere was once open to the public for some 85 hours per week, it is now only scheduled to be open 37 hours per week.

“We’ve recently begun to make some changes that are part of  a larger effort to streamline Artisphere’s operations and better serve the needs of our patrons,” Artisphere Communications and Marketing Director Annalisa Meyer said in an email.

Artisphere will be closed for the duration of the holiday season — from Dec. 24 through Jan. 3. When it reopens, the center will launch “Notasphere,” a month of local arts programming.

“We are very excited to launch Notasphere in January 2012, a month of fresh, innovative programming created by local arts partners from across the DC-region that includes a number of exciting programs in our Terrace Gallery—including a pop-up restaurant inspired by the recipes of Alice B. Toklas by James Beard Award-nominated Chef Carole Wagner Greenwood and an exhibition featuring the work of renowned political cartoonists,” wrote Meyer.

At Home in Virginia, a gallery exhibition originally scheduled for Jan. 8, has been canceled, Meyer said.

Local Artist to Hold CD Release Party

By Katie Pyzyk

If you’re still looking for something to do as the night cools down, maybe taking in some live music would warm your spirits. Urban folk musician Justin Trawick, who lives in Arlington, is holding a CD release show.

He’s performing at Artisphere’s Dome Theater along with pop-rock act Andy Zipf and opening act Amanda Lee. Trawick is promoting his new album “You and I,” which will be on sale at the event.

The concert begins at 7:30 and tickets are $12.

Optimistic Artisphere Supporters Ask for More Time

By Katie Pyzyk

It’s no secret the one-year-old Artisphere in Rosslyn has vocal critics, who harp on the fact that the cultural venue has been bleeding taxpayer dollars while attracting a lower-than-expected audience. But supporters say the Artisphere still has promise, and needs more time to prove itself while a new business plan is implemented.

Artisphere Executive Director Jose Ortiz admits that errors have been made, but hopes that even Artisphere’s most ardent critics can place their focus on the future.

“We have all acknowledged we didn’t meet the unrealistic goals set in the original plan,” Ortiz said. “Not all of these ideas and thoughts were great and now we’re fine tuning that.”

One of the main goals supporters deem unrealistic was the thought that Artisphere would quickly make back the money invested in it, and then turn a profit. They say it’s now clear to everyone that’s not the way a business works. Ortiz believes the project simply needs more time.

“Creating an urban art center of this magnitude is really an enormous task,” Ortiz said. “It’s unrealistic to think you’re going to open the doors and have success from the first day.

“Everything takes time,” agreed Rosslyn BID Executive Director Cecilia Cassidy. “These things don’t become overnight successes.”

While addressing low attendance and revenue, Cassidy emphasizes that Artisphere was designed to be one piece in a larger puzzle of developments intended to give Rosslyn a boost. It was slated to open nearly simultaneously with several other large developments within walking distance, such as JBG’s CentralPlace project. However, a lagging economy delayed the nearby developments, and Artisphere had to bear the load of drawing people to the area on its own.

“Artisphere is here a bit ahead of those major developments that are going to bring thousands of people to Rosslyn,” Cassidy said. “Timing is everything. Who would have known the economy would be struggling as much as it is at this point in time?”

Ortiz said another problem is that Artisphere was sold differently to different people. He said it was being billed as an art place for everyone without specifying what that meant.

(more…)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Circuit Court Judge to Retire — Arlington Circuit Court Judge Joanne F. Alper, the first woman appointed to the Arlington Circuit Court, has announced her retirement. Alper plans to retire on May 31, 2012, after serving on the circuit court since 1998. “Judge Alper developed a reputation as a tough, fair, hard-working Trial Judge,” the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office said in a press release. “She enjoys complex litigation, challenging legal issues, and is known as a champion for Victim’s Rights.”

Adios, Artisphere Salsa Tuesdays? — Tonight may mark the end of Salsa Tuesdays at Artisphere, one of the few regularly-scheduled features of the financially-challenged arts facility in Rosslyn. Artisphere’s new business plan calls for the facility to be closed to the public on Tuesdays. Salsa dancing at Artisphere may return, however, on different days. [Washington City Paper]

BikeArlington Distributes 1,000+ Lights — The county’s BikeArlington initiative has distributed more than 1,000 sets of free bike lights over the course of three giveaway events. The giveaways were held on trails in Rosslyn, on Columbia Pike, and at the intersection of the W&OD and Custis trails. [CommuterPage Blog]

Yorktown Grad Wins Writing Contest — Bryce Wilson Stuckie, a member of Yorktown High School’s Class of 2004 and a recent Virginia Tech grad, has been named one of the two winners of The Nation’s sixth annual Student Writing Contest. Stuckie wrote a heart-wrenching and thought-provoking 800-word essay about the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting massacre.

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