Crystal City

Artomatic Set to Return to Crystal City on March 24

By Tim Regan
1/8

(Updated at 10:17 a.m.) A free creative arts festival is returning to Crystal City in just over two months.

Artomatic, a six-week art show that was previously held in the neighborhood in 2007 and 2012, is scheduled to return Friday, March 24, and run until Saturday, May 6.

This year’s Artomatic will occur at 1800 S. Bell Street, the Crystal City Business Improvement District said. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to visit the 100,000-square-foot arts space over the course of the event.

In previous iterations, the festival has brought visual art, music, film, live performance, fashion and other forms of artistic expression. Artist registration begins next month, organizers said.

“We first brought Artomatic to Crystal City in 2007 in order to demonstrate the transformation that was already in progress — a new main street, fun restaurants — as well as to underscore how easily accessible our neighborhood is from D.C. The second showing in 2012 helped us further showcase our emerging arts and innovation scene,” said Angela Fox, CEO of the Crystal City BID. “Now in our third iteration, we are excited to mark the beginning of the next generation of growth, engagement and creativity for Crystal City.”

More information on this year’s event from a press release:

Artomatic returns for its signature art event to be held this year in Crystal City, Virginia from Friday, March 24th to Saturday, May 6th. Artomatic draws hundreds of artists and performers throughout the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area to showcase their talents for a six week long free exhibition that routinely attracts thousands of visitors.

“We first brought Artomatic to Crystal City in 2007 in order to demonstrate the transformation that was already in progress – a new main street, fun restaurants – as well as to underscore how easily accessible our neighborhood is from DC. The second showing in 2012 helped us further showcase our emerging arts and innovation scene,” said Crystal City BID President/CEO Angela Fox. “Now in our third iteration, we are excited to mark the beginning of the next generation of growth, engagement and creativity for Crystal City.”

This year’s 100,000 square foot space at 1800 S. Bell Street is provided by Vornado/Charles E. Smith and is located along Crystal City’s Art Underground. Launched in 2013 to transform Crystal City’s interior concourse into a vibrant arts and cultural destination, the Art Underground includes Synetic Theater, the 1200-foot long FotoWalk Underground, ArtJamz Underground, the Gallery Underground, TechShop, and Studios Underground which provides work space for two dozen artists.

Artomatic is well-known for transforming empty spaces into vibrant arts communities that create unique and exciting events for tens of thousands of visitors – all free to visit. Anyone can show art at Artomatic – it is non-juried and art is selected on a first-come, first serve basis – so it’s a great way to discover new art.

“We are very excited to be working again with the Crystal City BID, a constant champion of the arts, to create a unique, invigorating and brand new artistic experience for all visitors to enjoy,” said Jennifer Williamson, current Artomatic Board President. “We will be conducting Artist tours starting in mid-January to allow interested participants an advance glimpse of their artistic home for six weeks where they can start imagining the endless creative possibilities they can do with the space.”

Tattoo Expo Returning to Crystal City Next Week

By Tim Regan

Photo via Facebook / DC Tattoo ExpoThousands of tattoo enthusiasts are expected to flock to Crystal City for an annual expo next week.

The D.C. Tattoo Expo is scheduled to be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott (1700 Jefferson Davis Highway) next Friday, Jan. 13 to Sunday, Jan. 15. This is the show’s seventh consecutive year running.

The event should attract more than 400 professional tattoo artists, including some of the celebrities from Spike’s “Ink Master” and “Tattoo Nightmares,” organizers said. Attendees can sign up to get new tattoos or just talk shop with the tattooers throughout the three-day festival.

“For our seventh year in a row, we have more vendors, more clothing, more tattoos, more craziness and more fun than ever before,” the expo website reads.

The D.C. Tattoo Expo is also set to include body piercing, tattoo competitions and the annual Miss D.C. Pin-up contest. “The Human Knot” and “Mini KISS” are also scheduled to perform.

Photo via Facebook / D.C. Tattoo Expo

Deal of the Day: BOGO Tickets to Crystal City’s 1K Wine|Beer Walk

1K Wine|Beer Walk

Get ready to enjoy everyone’s favorite faux race with your best bud, BFF, partner or spouse at a steep discount with today’s ARLnow Daily Deal. For the next 24 hours, purchase two 1K Wine|Beer Walk tickets for the price of one!

Tickets are usually $25 at the door or $20 online. With this Daily Deal, you can purchase two tickets for only $20 (plus transaction fees).

Choose the beverage of your choice, select your heat, and get ready to make your way through the course stopping at “hydration stations” throughout the Crystal City Shops and the Art Underground where you will be able to sample from up to 20 different wine and beers. As always, the wine and beer selections are hand-picked by the experts at the Crystal City Wine Shop where all offerings are also available for purchase.

Celebrate your personal best (i.e., your favorite taste) at a fun-filled finish festival that includes additional tasting stations, great music and complimentary bites. Come dressed in your most creative or obnoxious race-wear and be ready for photos, social media, and prizes. 

>>Purchase Today’s Deal Now<<

WHEN: Saturday, January 21st – Heats Available at 2, 3 and 4

WHERE: The Landing, Crystal City Shops @ 1750 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202

WHAT: Everyone’s favorite faux race, the 1K Wine|Beer Walk is right around the corner. Choose the beverage type of your choice, select your heat, and get ready to make your way through the course stopping at “hydration stations” throughout the Crystal City Shops and Art Underground where you will be able to sample from up to 20 different wine and beers.

Crystal City-Based MicroBenefits Creates App to Help Factory Workers

By Buzz McClain

Startup Monday header

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

When and if more manufacturing jobs start returning to the U.S., MicroBenefits will be on hand to provide “front-line workers” with a useful tool that helps them work safer and more efficiently, provides training and a pathway for advancement, and creates powerful communication capabilities between the workers and management.

MicroBenefits US staffThe Arlington-based startup, with U.S. operations headquartered in Crystal City’s 1776 business incubator, is already in operation in factories in China. Vietnam is coming online soon; factories in the Philippines are slated for early 2017.

“We’re making English and Spanish versions of the app and we’ll enter different markets [in those languages] as we have opportunities with different brands,” said Mason Chenn, director of business development.

So what does MicroBenefits do for those front-line workers? But first, what is a front-line worker?

“A front-line worker is the person who is assembling your smartphone or your speakers, or is sewing the shirts you are buying from a brand that you know,” he said. “They’re the person putting the stitches together or screwing the screws into the device.”

Photo courtesy MicroBenefitsIf you’ve ever been a front-line worker you know that it’s an isolating position, even though you may be surrounded by coworkers and supervisors. You punch the clock when you come in, do your job and punch out. In some management structures, the only time you get to communicate common problems is over a beverage with coworkers after hours. And visiting with human resources or upper management is a big, tension-filled deal.

Smart companies know they operate more efficiently when they receive feedback from their employees. What MicroBenefits does is give those front-line workers access to a number of channels they never had before via smartphones.

“We offer a mobile technology platform that helps empower front line workers,” Chenn said, bravely attempting to summarize. “The elevator speech gets very complicated after that.”

MicroBenefits deals with multiple stakeholders — the brands that employ the suppliers and the suppliers that employ the front-line workers. “Our technology is enabling change in supply chains around the world,” Chenn said, catching the elevator again.

“We’re trying to solve compliance issues around environmental health and safety. We help to qualify workers for advancement within their organizations with training opportunities. And we provide feedback channels so workers have a voice in the factor to talk about the issues they’re experiencing.”

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Brewing a Better Way to Stay Awake at Crystal City-Based Sunniva

By Katie Pyzyk

Startup Monday header

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

College students fall asleep in class. It’s an age-old issue. But a new solution to the problem is what prompted the launch of Sunniva, an Arlington-based “super coffee” beverage business.

A couple of years ago Jordan DeCicco was that guy who kept falling asleep in his classes at Philadelphia University. The freshman tried to stay awake using the energy drinks or pre-made coffee beverages available at convenience stores, but he didn’t like all the sugar, fat, caffeine, and calories that accompanied the beverages.

He learned about Bulletproof Coffee — a blended mixture of coffee, grass-fed butter, and MCT oil — and found that it definitely gave the energy boost he needed to stay awake through class. He tried making it in his dorm room but that wasn’t really practical for a few reasons. First, making it ahead of time and trying to chill it resulted in the butter going back to its solid form. Second, it was loaded with fat from the butter. Finally, Jordan just wasn’t a fan of the taste.

Sunniva "super coffee" beverageThat’s when he started making his own coffee drink and it seemed to be a winner. So much so that other students took notice and DeCicco began selling the drink out of his dorm room. He felt like he was onto something and enlisted help from older brother Jake, who at the time was in business school at Georgetown University.

“We’re very much accidental entrepreneurs,” Jake says. “We were just tired college students who needed an energy boost.”

Sunniva’s combination of Colombian coffee, coconut oil, and a lactose-free milk protein is a low-fat, low-cal beverage that, according to Jake, offers a longer-term energy boost compared to other products that often provide an energy spike and a crash later. Each bottle has 90mg of caffeine, which is pretty standard for an 8 oz. cup of coffee.

Sunniva is now about a year old and based out of the WeWork space in Crystal City. Oldest brother Jim is now the CEO and joins middle brother Jake in running the business, while youngest brother Jordan has gone back to school after taking a year off following his freshman year.

The business is coming full circle and targeting the very audience from which the original idea sprouted: Sunniva has found a substantial niche market on college campuses. It therefore relies heavily on digital marketing channels that younger audiences use: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogs, and vlogs, to name a few.

“Being started by tired college kids for tired college kids, we really take advantage of this digital age,” Jake says.

The DeCicco brothers, who launched Arlington-based SunnivaThe brothers often are featured in the various social media posts. “We definitely have a personality behind the brand,” Jake says. He laughs as he points out how they often go by “oldest brother, middle brother, and youngest brother” instead of by formal titles like CEO, COO, or founder.

In addition to a growing market on college campuses, Sunniva also has found a home in the cold beverage section of 32 Whole Foods stores in the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as on Amazon.

The product is processed at an aseptic facility in Buffalo, New York. The business tried out different manufacturers and different modes of pasteurization before landing at the current facility. “We had to scale our business appropriately to get there,” Jake says.

Sunniva currently processes about 200,000 bottles per batch. The product now is made in such a way that it doesn’t require refrigeration before opening; it’s shelf-stable for nine months.

Sunniva’s business plan involves further expansion into other Mid-Atlantic and northern East Coast markets up to Boston, with a longer-term goal of becoming a national brand. But the goal for early 2017 is to work on more local market penetration. The brothers want Sunniva to be the “premier bottled coffee in the Washington, D.C. area.”

“Reaching profitability is not a metric we use right now,” Jake says. “Right now we’re really focused on our philosophy of ‘win where you live’ and being hyperlocal.”

Crime Report: Woman Finds Man Sleeping in Her Car

By ARLnow.com

Fairfax County police car lightsA woman found a man sleeping in her car in the Crystal City area early this morning.

Police were called to the 1900 block of Jefferson Davis Highway just after midnight.

The suspect fled but was found by officers, arrested and is now facing larceny and trespassing charges.

From this week’s Arlington County Police Department crime report:

LARCENY FROM AUTO (Significant), 2016-12140006, 1900 block of Jefferson Davis Highway. At approximately 12:20 a.m. on December 14, officers responded to the report of a suspicious subject. A female victim found an unknown male subject sleeping in her vehicle. The victim confronted the unknown male subject, causing him to flee the scene on foot. Units positively identified a subject matching the victim’s description. Amir Mansur Haynes, 28, of Washington D.C., was arrested and charged with petit larceny, entering or setting in motion vehicle, and trespassing.

The rest of the past week’s crime report highlights, including some that we’ve already reported, after the jump.

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Police: Drunk Woman Steals Car, Crashes It Seconds Later

By ARLnow.com
1/4

A drunk woman stole a car in Crystal City but then crashed it three blocks down the road, police say.

The incident happened around 11 a.m. on Sunday. It started, police say, when a woman “entered an unoccupied but running vehicle” on the 2200 block of S. Clark Street.

“The owner of the vehicle approached the suspect, but the suspect refused to exit and fled the scene in the vehicle,” according to an Arlington County Police crime report. “The female suspect then struck a vehicle stopped at a red light in the 1900 block of S. Clark Street.”

The woman was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Virginia Hospital Center, then charged with grand larceny auto, driving under the influence and reckless driving, according to the crime report.

Photos courtesy Doug Wendt

UPDATED: Woman Struck By Car in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
1/3

An elderly woman has been struck by a vehicle at the intersection of 23rd Street S. and S. Fern Street.

The incident was reported just after 5 p.m.

Police arriving on scene said the woman was conscious, alert and talking to emergency responders, but was bleeding from the head. She is being transported to a local hospital via ambulance.

A traffic camera showed the woman lying in the street near the curb in front of Tortoise & Hare restaurant.

Westbound S. Fern Street is currently closed to traffic at S. Eads Street.

Update at 8:15 p.m. — The woman’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. S. Fern Street reopened to traffic shortly after 6 p.m.

Artomatic Returning to Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
1/9

Artomatic, a free, unjuried creative arts event that invites artists to display their work — usually in large, vacant buildings — is returning to Crystal City.

The event, which was previously held in Crystal City in 2007 and 2012, will take place over the course of six weeks in the spring at 1800 S. Bell Street, the Crystal City Business Improvement District announced today. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to visit the 100,000-square-foot arts space over the course of the event.

“The return of Artomatic to Crystal City demonstrates the area’s continued growth and development as an artistic and innovative laboratory,” said Angela Fox, CEO of the Crystal City BID. “Artomatic’s mission aligns with the BID’s efforts to transform our community into a place where people are inspired to create their own masterpieces.”

Dubbed a “playground for artistic expression,” Artomatic is known for its massive size and range of often-eclectic creative works, including visual art, music, film, live performance, fashion and more.

From a press release:

The Crystal City BID made its first massive splash onto the creative stage in 2007 by luring Artomatic across the river and helping them host their biggest art happening up to that time…

The 2007 and 2012 editions attracted over 35,000 and 75,000 visitors, respectively, and over a thousand artists for each run. Artomatic 2017 will be in approximately 100,000 square feet of space provided by Vornado/Charles E. Smith at 1800 S. Bell Street. Artomatic is anticipated to attract another large and diverse crowd given its proximity to metro, free parking after 4 p.m., and location among dozens of restaurants and watering holes.

The new location also has the benefit of an entrance along the interior concourse of Crystal City and part of the Art Underground. Launched in 2013 to transform Crystal City’s interior concourse into a vibrant arts and cultural destination, the Art Underground includes Synetic Theater, the 1200-foot long FotoWalk Underground, ArtJamz Underground, the Gallery Underground, TechShop, and Studios Underground which provides work space for two dozen artists.

The dates for the 2017 installment of Artomatic are expected to be announced within a few weeks.

New Fast-Casual Korean BBQ Restaurant Opens in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
1/3

A new fast casual Korean barbecue restaurant has opened in Crystal City.

KBQ Korean BBQ & Bar is located at 2450 Crystal Drive, next to Buffalo Wild Wings. It opened earlier today, offering a Chipotle-style experience, allowing customers to build their own rice and lettuce bowls, lettuce wraps, tofu dogs and rice burgers.

KBQ offers six proteins — from steak to pork belly to tofu — and nearly a dozen “banchans,” or sides. That’s topped off by a selection of sauces and garnishes.

In addition, there’s a separate “bubble tea shop” offering a selection of bubble teas, including taro, chai and mango, for $5 apiece. As of earlier today, the boba for the teas was not yet ready, so customers had to make do with bubble tea sans bubbles.

Though KBQ seems likely to capture a primarily lunchtime dining crowd in Crystal City, it also has a bar serving cocktails, beer, wine and “bombs” — as in soju, Jager, car and cherry bombs. The restaurant will be open nightly until 1 a.m.

Korean barbecue “is the hottest trend in the culinary world,” according to a press release announcing the restaurant’s opening today. The full release, after the jump.

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Crime Report: Restaurant Burglary in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
File photo

A restaurant in the Crystal City Shops was burglarized Monday night, according to Arlington County Police.

From an ACPD crime report:

BURGLARY, 2016-11150052, 1600 block of Crystal Square. Between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on November 14, an unknown subject entered a business and stole an undisclosed amount of cash. The investigation is ongoing.

It has been a rather slow week for crime in Arlington. The rest of the past week’s crime report highlights, including at least one that we’ve already reported, after the jump.

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