DC Artswatch: Tudor Place, Women in the Arts, Dave Chappelle…


This month’s “Arts Watch” highlights Tudor Place’s recent grant award, fresh acquisitions for the National Museum of Women in the Arts, comedian Dave Chappelle and more.  

Tudor Place Awarded Grant 

Tudor Place Historic House and Garden has been awarded an Inspire! Grant for Small Museums through the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. The grant will allow Tudor Place to assemble and share resources related to the enslaved individuals who lived and worked on the site. While Tudor Place has some archived information regarding the enslaved people who worked there, the museum acknowledges the information is simply not sufficient to provide audiences an accurate and complete portrayal. To address the gap, Tudor Place plans to coordinate with stakeholders and partners to assemble resources to revise their site tour, train docents and create an exhibit and lecture series.   

 

Tudor Place has been awarded a grant to research and present the history of enslaved peoples who worked on the site.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts Announces New Acquisitions 

The National Museum of Women in the Arts has acquired works by Emma Amos, photographs by Dianne Smith and a large-scale cast-bronze sculpture by Deborah Butterfield. The etching by Emma Amos, called “Pool Lady,” is a contemporary take on a bather, a Black woman, likely a self-portrait. Dianne Smith was a Harlem-based artist with a career as a multi-disciplinary artist and art educator. Her work often explores connections all human civilizations and cultures have to Africa. Finally, Deborah Butterfield is a renowned artist known for her sculptures of horses that she has worked on tirelessly for the last four decades. She’s a skilled equestrian and it shows — her horses often exhibit intense psychological and emotional states.  

Bowen McCauley Dance Company Bequeaths ‘Dance for PD’ Program to the Kennedy Center and George Mason School of Dance 

Earlier this fall, Bowen McCauley Dance Company took its final bow at the Kennedy Center after 25 years. Lucy Bowen, artistic director and choreographer, announced on stage that the company’s Dance for Parkinson’s disease programs were entrusted to the Kennedy Center and George Mason University’s School of Dance. The partnerships join the Maryland Youth Ballet with Bowen McCauley’s in the effort. Bowen will continue to teach classes and train new artists.  

Comedian Dave Chappelle Celebrates Netflix Special 

Grammy and Mark Twain Prize winning comedian Dave Chappelle spoke to supporters at a private event at the Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market to celebrate his latest Netflix special “Dave Chappelle: The Closer.” Chappelle chatted about the special as well as the education that supported him in his illustrious and at times controversial career. The event was both a premiere and fundraiser for Chappelle’s alma mater, the District’s own Duke Ellington School of the Arts. The school is naming its theater after the comedian. Chappelle’s special is currently available for streaming on Netflix.  

 

Dave Chappelle launches a new Netflix special “The Closer” in D.C.

 

Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building Sets Date for Grand Reopening 

The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building set a date, Saturday November 20, to reopen after being closed for over 15 years. The weekend festivities will include a livestreamed event with famous (according to recent scientific polling) “Bill Nye the Science Guy” — a Go-go music concert and lots more family-friendly fun. The building originally opened on the National Mall in 1881 as the first U.S. National Museum. In 2004 it closed for renovations. To celebrate the Smithsonian’s 175 anniversary, the re-opened museum will present the exhibit “FUTURES,” designed to “blast” visitors “through the space-time continuum.” 

The Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building has set a date for its grand reopening.

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