FotoWeek, EcoFest and Georgetown Artists
By • June 18, 2013 0 1328
FotoWeek flourishes
The numbers are in from last week’s FotoWeek DC festival, and they’re impressive.
Judges received over 3500 submissions for the annual awards competition, hailing from 28 countries and 39 states. Elsewhere, nearly 150 associated events were conducted by the House of Sweden, the Corcoran Gallery and others in conjunction with the seven FotoWeek studios — five in Georgetown, two downtown. An estimated 20,000 photo enthusiasts attended the galleries, lectures and competitions across the city. Ten times that number browsed the festival’s website just this month.
The turnout was so successful the event commissioners have extended studio hours on weekends through Dec. 13. The Georgetown FotoWeek Central galleries can now be visited Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
EcoFest draws a crowd, for a good cause
O Street’s Hyde-Addison Elementary School, recently lauded by DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee as one of the best performing public schools in the District, invited parents, teachers and school supporters out in style to the 12th annual EcoFest, hosted — appropriately so — by the House of Sweden. Minister of Trade Claes Hammar, who presided over the event with Hyde Principal Dana Nerenberg, said the famously green venue was perfect for an event devoted to educating children about sustainable living.
EcoFest is the project of the school PTA to raise funds for the school’s environmental science program, which now consists of only a single faculty member. From the get-go, the event netted $30,000 in sponsorships, and by the evening’s end had auctioned off a panoply of donated gifts, vacations and special out-of-school excursions — led by Hyde faculty — for students and their friends.
Event co-chair Lee Murphy estimates a total of $90,000 was raised by the end of the evening.
Word on the Street:
The artistic talent of Georgetown resident artists will be on view for the first time under one roof at the former Smith and Hawken store (1209 31st St.). Govinda Gallery owner Chris Murray will speak at the opening reception on Nov. 19, discussing the history and evolution of the Georgetown art scene — drawn from his 34 years as a central presence in the ever-changing Georgetown art world.
The show, sponsored by CAG and featuring more than 20 Georgetown artists, will include painting, photography, sculpture, 2D and 3D mixed media. The gallery will be on display Nov. 19 from 6 to 9 p.m., Nov. 20 from noon to 8 p.m. and Nov. 21 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
On Nov. 7, TD Bank cut the ribbon of its new branch at 1611 Wisconsin Ave. The Canadian-based bank, widely known for staying open seven days a week, has been a household name in New England for years, but only recently has begun to open branches in the Washington area. TD now has five branches in the District.
The Wisconsin branch was built using the company’s usual modern and glass-intensive style, but also includes a large mural of the iconic Georgetown street in the early 20th century.
