February 9 Arts Watch
By • February 9, 2022 0 753
This month’s Arts Watch includes news of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to a local theater, renovations of the National Gallery of Art, postponement of the next run of Hamilton and more.
Theater J gets $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
Washington, D.C.’s Theater J announced they were approved to receive a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the American Rescue Plan. With the support, Theater J will hire five additional actors for each of the next two seasons. This will allow for more ambitious plays and musicals. The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March of last year and the NEA was given $135 million for the arts sector. They will award grants of nearly $60 million to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, D.C. and the Virgin Islands.
“This funding from the National Endowment for the Arts is vital to the recovery of the American theater,” said Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr.
The National Symphony Orchestra Presents Three Classical Programs this Month
The National Symphony Orchestra continues its classical series this month with three subscription programs at the Kennedy Center. A noteworthy addition is conductor Gemma New (who made her NSO debut three years ago), returning to lead the month’s first set of concerts that will also feature violin soloist Jennifer Koh.
Thanks Omicron—Kennedy Center’s Next Run of Hamilton Postponed
The Kennedy Center was eager to host a highly anticipated second run of the wildly popular and Pulitzer Prize-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Hamilton but alas, the Covid-19 pandemic squashed those dreams in 2020. The show was pushed back two years to 2022, but now it’s been pushed back yet again. Due to rescheduling and pausing of performances by the touring company in other cities, the Kennedy Center has been forced to delay their run. Instead of July this year, the show will now be at the Kennedy Center August 2 through October 9. Tickets go on sale March 8 for members and March 22 for the general public.
The Art Museum of the Americas Celebrates Women’s Artistry
Don’t miss an exhibit at the Art Museum of the Americas/Organization of American States that celebrates 18 Mexican women artists who contributed to the construction of the national arts scene in the 20th and 21st centuries. “Women in All Their Diversity,” as the exhibit is called, may have a bit too broad a title, but it does celebrate in a beautiful way how crucial this dozen and a-half women were to the cultural transformations of Mexico. The exhibit is curated by Marco Polo Juarez Cruz and presented by the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the OAS, Art Museum of the Americas and Organization of American States.
Part of the National Gallery of Art to Close Due to Renovations
The National Gallery of Art announced that the East Building will be closed from Monday February 28 until June for renovations. The closure will hopefully accelerate the restoration of the atrium skylight, which first opened in 1978. There will also be new bathrooms installed on the mezzanine, ground and concourse levels, a more handicapped accessible entrance and an elevator lobby within the auditorium on the concourse level. The renovations are part of a three-year and counting plan to update the gallery. The West Building will remain open.
