Come see, and add to The Idea Tree at the Mt. Pleasant Temporium

For the Mount Pleasant Temporium event, wife and husband artist team Rania Hassan and Sean Hennessey created an installation in the window titled "The Idea Tree." The Idea Tree represents our neighborhoods, our City, and our homes. Constructed using recycled cardboard and wood, drawings, cutouts and small structural elements create a sense that the tree is made of buildings, towers, and houses. Our ideas, our hopes, our dreams are the things that help shape what our neighborhoods are, what our city is, and what it can be. Visitors to the Temporium are asked to contribute to this installation by answering the questions, "What do you want for Mount Pleasant?" and "What do you want for DC? Sharing thoughts and ideas on green slips of paper, and adding these "leaves" to the tree make our neighborhood tree blossom. Together we can watch our ideas grow.       

The Mount Pleasant Temporium

http://mtptemporium.com/

About

The Mt. Pleasant Temporium is a temporary, pop-up retailer coming to Mt. Pleasant St. NW from February 18 – March 13. (See retail hours and transportation). It is located in an under-utilized storefront at 3068 Mt. Pleasant St. NW. The space is on loan from Nana, which will open in March.

The Temporium features handmade goods for sale from 30 local, independent crafters and artists, as well as special events—autobiographical and theatrical storytelling, crafting, trunk shows, and live music.

This project was developed by Mount Pleasant Main Street, in partnership with SpeakeasyDC, Hello Craft, Radio CPR, Partners for Livable Communities, and the DC Office of Planning. The Temporium is supported by the DC Office of Planning’s Temporary Urbanism grant. Temporiums help meet several objectives established by the District of Columbia through the Creative DC Action Agenda, the Retail Action Roadmap and the Mount Pleasant Street Revitalization Strategy.

Schedule:

Schedule

The Mt. Pleasant Temporium is proud to present a full events rosters! We hope you will join us on Feb. 18 for our grand opening and return again to shop and enjoy one of our many storytelling, crafting or live music events, offered during regular retail hours and after hours on selected nights.

Feb. 18 – 20 / Feb. 21 – 27 / Feb. 26 – March 6 / March 7 – 13

• All events are free and open to the public.
• Events are located within the Mt. Pleasant Temporium at 3068 Mt. Pleasant St. unless otherwise noted.*
• Attendees are encouraged to arrive at least 20 minutes early to seated events, which have a limited capacity of 30.**
• Events schedule is updated daily.

Feb. 18 – 20

• Fri. 2/18 (7-9 pm): Grand Opening Reception, featuring music by DJs Bent, Rat, Trash, and Mothersheister of Radio CPR

• Sat. 2/19 (7-8:30 pm): SpeakeasyDC** – Mini-class on the art of storytelling and story swap (interpretación simultánea del ingles al español)

• Sun. 2/20 (3 pm): Temporium Sunday Session featuring: Ice Cream (kid-friendly event)

Feb. 21 – 27

• Thurs. 2/24 (7 pm): Temporium Presents: I’m From Up Top**

• Fri. 2/25 (7 pm): Radio CPR – An evening of young, underground DC talent, featuring live performances by: the artists of Fallen Kings Records, ACME, and Hot Mess, plus a live sampling of DJs, hosts, and MC talent from Radio CPR 97.5′s dynamic weekly programming. Event is located at La Casa, 3166 Mount Pleasant Street NW, suggested donation $2-3*

• Sat. 2/26 (1-3 pm): Hello Craft’s Make Something Awesome Area – Learn how to make pin sets from books, magazines, your own drawings and more. (kid-friendly event)

• Sun. 2/27 (12:30 – 3 pm): Temporium Sunday Session featuring: (12:30) The Family Hammer and (2 pm) Washington City Paper’s News You Can Reuse (kid-friendly event)

• Sun. 2/27 (7 – 8:30 pm): SpeakeasyDC** – Group House night  – Hear and share stories about that good ol’ Mt. Pleasant tradition of group house living. May be screening of Amy Saidman’s pretty terrible, but amusing mockumentary Group House Gone Bad filmed in 4 different Mt. P houses over the course of 4 years.

Feb. 28 – March 6

• Wed. 3/2 (4-5:30pm): After School printmaking workshop with Bancroft Elementary School and print maker Anthony Dihle: How to Screen Print Monsters!Note – event participation is closed to the public, but Temporium patrons are encouraged to shop and observe!

• Thurs. 3/3 (6 pm): Local author Anna El-Eini reads from Beating Heart

• Sat. 3/5 (3-6 pm): Radio CPR –Documenting Mt. Pleasant’s Untold Stories, Part I – Go beneath the radar with Radio CPR and uncover some of the neighborhood’s secret histories and hidden gems with those that lived them. In this 3-hour workshop, you will learn the basics of audio recording and interviewing.  We will go out to collect voices and stories from the Mt. Pleasant corridor with the hope of adding another layer to the quilted narrative of Mt. Pleasant. Snacks and beverages will be provided.  No experience needed.

• Sun. 3/6 (1 pm): Temporium Sunday Session featuring: Readings from Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique, by Mt. Pleasant author Kelly DiNardo

March 7 – 13

• Thurs. 3/10 (6:30 – 8:30 pm): Radio CPR – Documenting Mt. Pleasant’s Untold Stories, Part II – Learn about some of the movements, projects and institutions that were born in Mount Pleasant. Speakers will tell stories about Escuela de Rumba, La Casa, Radio CPR, the Blue Sky Collective, Punk Rock, Neighbors Consejo and more. Event is located at Don Juan Restaurant, 1660 Lamont Street (Mt. Pleasant and Lamont Sts., NW)*

• Fri. 3/11 (7 – 8:30 pm): SpeakeasyDC** – Story Game Night

• Sat. 3/12 (7 – 10 pm): Folly Night @ the Temporium. Musical performances include Brazilian psychadelia by Alma Tropicalia and hazy whispercore from Cigarette, interspersed with stand-up comedy and readings by writers fromThe Folly, a new print-only literary magazine in DC.

• Sun. 3/13 (4-6 pm): Hello Craft’s Make Something Awesome Area + Handmade Gift Exchange (5-6 pm)  – Buy or bring a gift to the shop ($15 value and under) to take part in the handmade version of the white elephant gift exchange on the closing night of the Temporium. (kid-friendly event)

Elements opens this Saturday

The Elements: 

An exhibition featuring Sherill Anne Gross, Sean Hennessey,
Sean Lundgren and Alexandra Zealand

Herndon’s downtown art center, ArtSpace, is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibition, “The Elements,” featuring the imaginative work of four contemporary artists:
Sherill Anne Gross, Sean Hennessey, Sean Lundgren and Alexandra Zealand.

Anchored in the classic elements of Hellenic physics - Water, Fire, Earth and Air - these artists use the elements as a part of their medium, rather than as the subject of their works. 

Paper can not be created without water; ironically too much water can also destroy paper.  Early fire pits dug into the sand had the side effect of also causing the first forms of glass, when the extreme heat of the fire melted silica.  Dirt is the earth, the source of clay, and the root of life.  Air is the space that floats between suspended objects, allowing for movement, light and shadow. Air is also the catalyst for physical transformation.

Sherill Anne Gross is a dc based paper artist. A love of collage and printmaking led to experiments with different techniques while trying to incorporate both passions into her work. Eventually the experiments were made solely using paper, and the challenge of transforming a finite color palette of flat square papers into realistic final images remains an exciting challenge with each new piece. Sherill Anne Gross’ work has been seen in many venues across the country including: Gateway Arts Center (MD), Elroy ArtSpace (OR), Harold Golan Gallery (FL), Foundry Art Center (MO), Allenton Gallery (NC), Ratner Museum (MD), Artomatic (DC).. She is also the owner of the graphic design company sagworks, and a resident artist at the Greenbelt Community Center. sagworks.com

Sean Hennessey is a sculptor, painter, and glass artist. A graduate of Berea College, Sean worked in professional theatre for ten years and has bridged the theatre and fine arts community since moving to DC in 1997. His works have been seen in many contexts and venues including: The Shakespeare Theatre, The Kennedy Center, the Wooly Mammoth Theatre Company, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Arena Stage, Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, Signal 66, The National Institutes of Health, The Ratner Museum and Artomatic.  He’s the owner of Scenic Artisans LLC, a decorative paint and sculpture service, and a resident artist at the Washington Glass School and Creative Arts Center. dcsean.com

Sean Lundgren moved to the DC area in 2007, shortly after receiving his BFA from Alfred University with a concentration in ceramics.  A process driven artist, Lundgren has been a member of Red Dirt Studio for 3 years and works as an artist's assistant to DC based sculptor Margaret Boozer.  Lundgren's other mentors include a sculptural potter, an installation artist, a performance artist, a glass artist, and a blacksmith. He has exhibited his raw clay work in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, where his piece “Site Singularity” was reviewed by the Charlottesville News and Arts in September 2010: “Artists always struggle to make their material conform to their vision, but this DC sculptor takes an ingenious turn and allows the medium to prevail.” seanlundgren.com.

Alexandra Zealand is an installation sculptor. Originally trained in theatre design, she received an MFA in Sculpture from Pratt Institute.  Since moving to Northern Virginia in 2006, her work has been seen at the Target Gallery, Evolve Urban Arts Project in DC, the artdc gallery and Artomatic.  Her installation “Flock” was named Best of Artomatic 2009 by Art Seen Blog, and her January 2010 exhibit at the Delaplaine was reviewed by the Frederick News-Post.  She was invited to install a coffee filter piece at the preview party for the new Arlington County Artisphere in Oct. 2009, and a film strip piece at the closing awards for the 4^th annual Alexandria VA Film Festival in Sept. 2010.  Fascinated by mummies, volcanoes, continental drift and zombies, she spends her days doing social media and reference work at the Arlington Public Library. alexzealand.blogspot.com

Elements
ArtSpace Herndon
Reception: Saturday, February 5, 6–8pm
Exhibition Dates: February 5–26, 2011
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Thursday: 10am-2pm, Friday: 10am-8pm, Saturday–Sunday: 12pm-5pm, Closed Mondays
750 Center Street, Herndon, VA
Tel: 703-956-6590
Click here for more information.