Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater kicks off the 2019/20 Season with a free Community Day and Props Sale on Saturday, August 24, 2019 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mead Center (1101 Sixth Street, SW). The day will feature an Arena Stage Prop Sale with beautiful pieces from Arena Stage productions up for sale; performances from award nominated tap dancer Leo Manzari (Arena Stage’s Sophisticated Ladies, Tappin Thru Life and Hoizer’s music video for “Almost (Sweet Music)”); and a behind-the-scenes Q&A with our Arena Stage Production Team to discuss some of Arena’s most exciting productions!
Filled with activities for all ages, this full day of programming celebrates Arena Stage’s 2019/20 Season. Feel the rhythm of Southwest D.C. through dynamic, live music, face painting, storytelling, great food, pony rides and dance performances that reflect the sounds and themes of the upcoming Arena Stage season. Traditional and contemporary Cuban rhythms will be brought to life by the DC Cuban All-Stars; the jazz, blues and soul vocalist Akua Allrich will give audiences a feel for the music in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars; and the DC Casineros Dance Company will offer classes and performances that can make anyone a dancer. Community Day is FREE and open to the public. No reservations are required.
Other scheduled activities include live music from Americana band Justin Trawick and the Common Good; fantastic aerial performances from Wings Aerial Entertainment; music by trumpeter, singer and lyricist Jared “MK Zulu” Bailey; face painting; and great food from restaurants in Southwest D.C. including Masala Art and Station 4.
Arena Stage’s Props Sale beginning at 1 p.m., features select prop items from historic productions including Carousel, Anything Goes, South Pacific, Kleptocracy, Disgraced, Smart People, Mother Courage and Junk. Items range from $1-$900 and include full dining room table sets, lounge chairs, and specially-priced handmade prop and set pieces that will be perfect in any living or office space. Both cash and credit cards are accepted.
Beginning at 2 p.m. Arena’s Grape Stand will open. This wine and beer garden will offer guests 21 and over the opportunity to relax on Arena’s terrace with a glass of wine or a cold beer while playing a variety of lawn games.
For additional details about Community Day on August 24, visit arenastage.org/communityday.
On Friday, August 30, the award-winning Hay-Adams, located steps from the White House at 800 16th Street, NW, 20006, will host its next Author Series luncheon honoring Barbara Kingsolver to discuss her latest work, Unsheltered. The Hay-Adams’ Author Series, where literary crowds honor literary masters, is an on-going event, which hosts outstanding writers in a historic setting. One will enjoy exceptional food, drink and lively conversation in the elegant Hay-Adams Room, one of Washington, D.C.’s signature stately event venues. Tickets are priced at $90 per person (all inclusive), which includes a three-course, prix fixe menu with wine pairings: https://www.hayadams.com/
Additionally, Kramerbooks (http://kramers.com) will be on hand so guests will have the opportunity to purchase a copy of Unsheltered, which published October 16, 2018, as well as other notable works by the author. Kingsolver will be available to sign and personalize after the luncheon. Tickets go on sale August 2 and will be available online at: http://www.hayadams.com/
WHO: Barbara Kingsolver, is The New York Times bestselling author of Flight Behavior, The Lacuna, and The Poisonwood Bible and recipient of numerous literary awards—including the National Humanities Medal, our country’s highest honor for service through the arts. Critical acclaim for her books includes the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Orange Prize andmultiple awards from the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle won numerous prizes including the James Beard award. She was named one of the most important writers of the 20thcentury by Writer’s Digest.
Her newest book, Unsheltered, is a timely novel that interweaves past and present to explore the human capacity for resiliency and compassion in times of great upheaval. It is the compulsively readable story of two families, in two centuries, who live at the corner of Sixth and Plum in Vineland, New Jersey, navigating what seems to be the end of the world as they know it. With history as their tantalizing canvas, these characters paint a startlingly relevant portrait of life in precarious times when the foundations of the past have failed to prepare us for the future. A New York Times bestseller, the novel is the recipient of many accolades including being named an O, The Oprah Magazine’s Best Book of 2018, and both an NPR and Newsweek’s pick for Best Books of The Year.
Barbara Kingsolver was born and grew up in rural Kentucky. She earned degrees in biology from DePauw University and the University of Arizona and has worked as a freelance writer and author since 1985. She has two daughters, Camille and Lily. Her husband, Steven Hopp, teaches environmental studies. At various times in her adult life, she has lived in England, France, and the Canary Islands, and has worked in Europe, Africa, Asia, Mexico, and South America. Kingsolver spent two decades in Tucson, Arizona, before moving to southwestern Virginia. She currently resides on a farm in southern Appalachia, where she and her family raise an extensive vegetable garden and Icelandic sheep.
WHEN: The luncheon will be held in The Hay-Adams Room on Friday, August 30, 2019, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. (doors open at 11:30 a.m.).
District Hemp Botanicals announces its Grand Opening Happy Hour and Wellness Pop-Up to celebrate its third location at 1323 Connecticut Avenue (2nd Floor) on Friday, September 6, 2019 from 6-8 pm.
“We are thrilled to have a new location of District Hemp Botanicals in the heart of DC’s vibrant Dupont Circle neighborhood and we are looking forward to bringing the highest quality CBD products, wellness workshops, and events to the surrounding community,” said owner Barbara Biddle. “Our grand opening celebration will showcase a variety of our favorite wellness brands and we invite the whole community to join in the fun.”
The grand opening will feature music, product demos, giveaways, free CBD massages, CBD-infused mocktails, swag bags, samples, tastings, and food from HipCityVeg. As part of the evening’s grand opening festivities, District Hemp will host a wellness pop-up in the adjacent Epic Yoga space featuring:
- District Herbs
- Georgetown Massage & Bodywork
- Aethera Beauty
- Rose Glow Tea Room
- Hemp Kettle Tea
- Kazooted Chocolates
- Extreme Terpz
- i and i Botanicals
- National Holistic Healing Center
- Klean by Kerensa
- And more!
The first 30 customers will receive a free 250 mg CBD tincture with RSVP and purchase.
Event: Capital Book Fest
Where: Woodrow Wilson Plaza (1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20004)
When: September 12 & October 24, from 10am-6pm
Description: Visit our downtown DC pop-up book sale on Wilson Plaza! Browse over 12,000 gently used books, CDs, and DVDs, all on sale for under $6. Books are provided by Carpe Librum, a used, donation-based bookstore benefiting the DC nonprofit Turning the Page. There’s something for everyone at this sale: children’s books, teen reads, brand-new bestsellers in amazing condition, classic vintage hardbacks and more!
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/capital-book-fest-tickets-69211919715
Downtown DC’s newest pop up arts market launches as Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (RRB/ITC) hosts Capital Arts Collective. The series kicks off on June 20 and continues through September every third Thursday of the month from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Locals and passersby can shop and explore a curated selection of items by the area’s most talented creatives, including everything from jewelry, paintings, candles, custom designed items, home goods, and more.
Capital Arts Collective aims to celebrate and support the local art scene. The RRB/ITC is excited to welcome homegrown artisans to Wilson Plaza; with plenty of seating and eateries it’s the perfect place for art enthusiasts of all ages, to grab lunch, browse and shop from the best creators in the DMV area. Capital Arts Collective is a program of RRB/ITC and is sponsored by TCMA (A Drew Company).
View this summer’s artists: https://itcdc.com/capital-
What: Capital Arts Collective (#CapitalArtsCollective)
When: June 20, July 18, August 15, & September 19, from 10 am- 2 pm.
Where: Wilson Plaza at Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Metro: Federal Triangle Station
Who: Free and open to the public
The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City will launch its second season of this popular series with two bestselling authors: Frank Miniter and Dean Reuter. The author series is complimentary to the public and gives attendees the opportunity to meet and purchase the authors book, along with a cash bar.
WHAT: Frank Miniter: author of The Ultimate Man’s Survival Guide to the Workplace, a hilarious and colorful guide to surviving the modern office. An absolute must read for
any man whose instincts frequently lead him into saying and doing the absolute wrong thing in the workplace. Miniter’s previous books include: Saving The Bill of Rights, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting, This Will Make a Man of You
WHEN: The Ultimate Man’s Survival Guide to the Workplace by Frank Miniter
Thursday, September 19
6pm- 8pm
WHERE: The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City
1250 S Hayes St, Arlington, VA 22202
The Ambassador Room
TICKETS: Frank Miniter: To RSVP click here
Fresh Talk: Judy Chicago: New Views
Sunday, Sept. 22, 4:30–6 p.m., followed by book signing and Catalyst, a cocktail hour with a topic and a twist, 6–7 p.m.
Join iconic feminist artist Judy Chicago for the debut of Judy Chicago: New Views—the first major monograph on the artist in nearly 20 years. Published by NMWA and Scala Arts Publishers, Judy Chicago: New Views offers fresh perspectives on the artist’s oeuvre by leading scholars and curators. Chicago joins book contributor Martha C. Nussbaum, philosopher and Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, to discuss New Views and the current exhibition Judy Chicago—The End: A Meditation on Death and Extinction, featuring her newest body of work. The exhibition is on view at NMWA from Sept. 19, 2019, to Jan. 20, 2020. Reservations required. $80 general, $65 members, seniors, students. Price includes museum admission, program, one copy of Judy Chicago: New Views (available for preorder in the Museum Shop for $49.95) and Catalyst cocktail hour (during which Chicago and Nussbaum will be available to sign copies of Judy Chicago: New Views). Reserve online.
7 p.m. Skylight Pavilion
Ben Folds Book Signing and Discussion
National Symphony Orchestra Artistic Advisor Ben Folds will sign copies of his new memoir, A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons. The event features a moderated discussion with Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter.
The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City will launch its second season of this popular series with two bestselling authors: Frank Miniter and Dean Reuter. The author series is complimentary to the public and gives attendees the opportunity to meet and purchase the authors book, along with a cash bar.
Dean Reuter: Reuter is co-author of The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America’s Deal with the Devil. The worst Nazi war criminal you’ve never heard of. A true story about General Hans Kammler, sidekick to SS Chief Heinrich Himmler and supervisor of Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, Kammler was responsible for the construction of Hitler’s slave labor sites and concentration camps.
WHEN:
The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America’s Deal with the Devil by Dean Reuter
Wednesday, October 2
6pm – 8pm
WHERE: The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City
1250 S Hayes St, Arlington, VA 22202
The Ambassador Room
TICKETS:
Dean Reuter: To RSVP click here
Event: Capital Book Fest
Where: Woodrow Wilson Plaza (1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20004)
When: September 12 & October 24, from 10am-6pm
Description: Visit our downtown DC pop-up book sale on Wilson Plaza! Browse over 12,000 gently used books, CDs, and DVDs, all on sale for under $6. Books are provided by Carpe Librum, a used, donation-based bookstore benefiting the DC nonprofit Turning the Page. There’s something for everyone at this sale: children’s books, teen reads, brand-new bestsellers in amazing condition, classic vintage hardbacks and more!
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/capital-book-fest-tickets-69211919715
