SW ArtsFest returns for its fourth year to celebrate its growing art community. Showcasing the programming of (e)merge art fair, Arena Stage, Art Whino, and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the SW ArtsFest will offer a weekend of art-centered activities that will encourage the DC area community to check out the booming Southwest quadrant and its various art producers. Additional producers will be announced in the coming weeks. A special publication will be released with in-depth information on all the producers and a schedule of events that allows patrons to plan an art-filled weekend.
(e)merge art fair : Capitol Skyline Hotel
Featuring 85 exhibitors and over 150 international artists
Fair open Thursday – Sunday October 2-5
The (e)merge art fair connects emerging art professionals from around the globe with collectors, curators, and cultural decision makers in Washington, DC. The GALLERY PLATFORM features participating galleries in hotel rooms and other spaces on designated floors. The ARTIST PLATFORM features a vetted selection of works by independent artists throughout the hotel’s public areas and grounds. (e)merge’s two exhibition platforms inspire a new echelon of art collectors and provide curatorial access to the latest movements in emerging art. The (e)merge educational platform will include lectures, panel discussions, and tours given by innovative authorities in contemporary art, including collectors, curators, critics, and artists.
Arena Stage: The Shoplifters
Showtimes Thursday – Sunday
Meet Alma — a career shoplifter who prefers the “five-finger discount” over some lousy senior citizen deal. When her life of petty crime is halted by an overzealous rookie security guard and his ambivalent mentor, she risks losing her freedom, her resolve, and maybe even the steak she has stuffed in her pants. Tony-nominee Jayne Houdyshell (Broadway’s Romeo and Juliet, Follies) leads an expertly drawn cast of oddball characters in this biting, world-premiere comedy about society’s haves and have-nots and how much they might actually have in common.
Arena Stage: National Hand Dance Association
Join the National Hand Dance Association from noon to 5 PM for Hand Dance demonstrations, lessons in basic hand dance, and audience dancing. Free and open to the public.
Art Whino: G40 Art Summit
Exhibit Open Thursday – Sunday
An Art Whino Production hosted at Blind Whino comes back for it’s fifth annual G40 Art Summit! Join artists as they showcase stunning three dimensional and installation art as this year’s G40 theme. Following the mission of G40s past, we will once again bring exposure to low brow’s many faces and, as always, present what new facets emerge within this ever-growing movement.
Blind Whino: Outdoor Arts Festival
Saturday 11am – 4pm
Explore unique and amazing goods made by local artisans and painters in a casual atmosphere. Find new favorites and reconnect with your favorite artists. A sampling of the community’s treasures such as Westminster Jazz, and much more.
Lance Fung’s “Nonuments” as part of DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities 5×5 Project
Exhibit Open Thursday – Sunday
Washington DC, our nation’s capital, is renowned for its grand monuments honoring the history and achievements of great Americans. But behind the federal face of official Washington, there is a real city with distinctive neighborhoods filled with passionate citizens living their lives. For this 5 x 5 project, Fung Collaboratives has curated “Nonuments,” a temporary sculpture park featuring “monuments” devoted not to the great but to the ordinary people, to the ideals of democracy, and to the common struggles of humanity. Artists: Jonathan Fung, Cameron Hockenson, Peter Hutchinson, Eliza and Nora Naranjo-Morse, Jennifer Wen Ma
Event Details:
Full show details and images here: http://www.swdcartsfest.org/