D.C.’s celebration of its creativity returns this weekend with Art All Night. For this week’s Get Out There, our series about ways to explore the Washington region, we highlight some of the “must see” parts of it.
First, the basics: the two-night event kicks off this Friday in all eight wards with exhibitions, performances, and activities to get people outside and into their communities, while supporting local businesses along the way.
For example, on Friday from 5p to 10p, Mount Pleasant’s Art All Night will feature a photography exhibit, a vendors market, a number of live performances including the cumbia band Chicha Morada and DC Jazz Collective. Also the Mt Pleasant Library will be celebrating its 100th birthday.
Also on Friday, across town in Ward 7, Pennsylvania Avenue East Main Street will host its Art All Night programming from 6p to midnight. Local business owner Herb Gray will open up his mental health care business Life Enhancement Services to show off some of his private art collection. There’ll also be an all- ages open play event with lawn games, spades, a photo booth, and more at Randle Highlands Elementary. The band Black Alley is also set to perform.
And these are just a couple of the Art All Night events scheduled throughout the city’s 28 locations.
In addition, some restaurants will be participating too, via Dine All Night, which kicked off Monday and also ends Saturday night.
This year’s Art All Night is unique in that it’s set to happen after a surge in federal law enforcement presence in the District. Organizers have differing opinions on how the event will be affected.
Anna Claire Walker is the director of storytelling and marketing at District Bridges, an organization that manages a number of business corridors in the Northwest that will be hosting Art All Night events. She anticipates a smaller turnout, and says that she wants to be sensitive to the fact that not everyone is going to feel safe coming out and participating. However, her organization wants to support the ecosystem that small businesses exist and uplift its communities.
“Our priority right now is to at least offer those that do want to resist with their dollars and their time, celebrating D.C., if that’s how you choose to kind of process what’s going on – we want to create an avenue for that,” Walker adds.
In Ward 7, the sentiment is a little different. Herb Gray says he normally attends Ward 7 events and has“never had a problem with safety” and he doesn’t anticipate one this year.
“I think that it’s a heightened awareness and fortunately the do’s and don’ts have been put out to so many people over the last so many few weeks that I think people condition themselves to say ‘This is how we’re going to maneuver in this uncertain time.’”
For more information on both Art All Night and Dine All Night, head to dcartallnight.org.
The post Get Out There: Art All Night, the District’s celebration of culture and creativity, returns appeared first on WAMU.
Published Date : 2025-09-12 15:31:00
Source : wamu.org
