CIRQUE DU CAMBODIA FILM SCREENING

Free Takoma Park Arts Event 

Friday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 pm 

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue 

From Cambodia to Canada, the Cirque du Cambodia documentary follows two Cambodian teenagers on their inspiring journey to run away and join the circus.

Filmed over eight years, filmmaker Joel Gershon captured the amazing talents and ongoing challenges for two Cambodian teenagers who travel from the rice fields and dusty roads of their rural village to the other side of the world to train at the prestigious National Circus School of Montreal in Canada. Their ultimate dream is to perform with the prestigious Cirque du Soleil, whose headquarters is located across the street from the school.

The two teenagers began their circus training in their village in Cambodia at a school for the arts called Phare Ponleu Selpak, which translates to “brightness of the arts.” The school runs a “social circus” program where at-risk and marginalized youth learn circus skills, such as juggling, tightrope walking, and trapeze, and perform in shows for locals and tourists.

During a trip to Cambodia, Gershon was captivated by a circus performance at Phare and spent the next decade filming and editing this documentary, following the story through four countries on a shoe-string budget.

The two young circus performers arrived in Montreal with almost no money or the ability to speak French or English, but they hope to perform under Cirque du Soleil’s big top. Will they make it to the big time? Join us to see the film to find out!

The documentary won audience awards at two film festivals and a jury prize at the 2021 Circus International Film Festival.

Gershon, who lives in Washington, D.C., will lead a Q&A with the audience after the film screening. He previously lived in Bangkok for 12 years working as a TV correspondent, copywriter, and college professor teaching film and media studies. You can learn more about him and his work at joelgershon.com.

This film screening is part of the Takoma Park Arts series organized by the City’s Arts and Humanities Division. The series includes free art exhibitions, film screenings, poetry readings, concerts, theater, and dance performances at the Takoma Park Community Center. Please go to takomaparkmd.gov/arts for more info and to sign up for our e-newsletter.

A version of this article was featured in the February 2023 Newsletter. Visit the Takoma Park Newsletter webpage to see the full list of past newsletters.

POETRY OF STRUGGLE AND SOLIDARITY 

Free Poetry Reading

Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 pm 

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue 

In a new Takoma Park Arts poetry reading, four local poets and a Ukrainian poet in Kyiv will share their original work highlighting perpetual struggles across the globe and our dogged efforts to find common ground.

The featured local poets include Amy L. Bernstein, Tara Campbell, David Ebenbach, and Margaret Flaherty. Slava Konoval also will share some of his poetry about the war in Ukraine in a video.

Bernstein’s poetry has been published in many online and print journals, including Yellow Arrow Journal, Loch Raven Review, and Lost Boys Press. She was awarded a poetry writer-in-residence fellowship from Yellow Arrow Publishing in 2022. Yellow Arrow will be publishing a chapbook by Bernstein and three other writing fellows titled Baltimore, we (want to) love you.

Campbell has been publishing poetry and participating in poetry readings in the D.C. area since 2015, including the Gaithersburg Book Festival, the Literary Hill Bookfest, Café Muse, and DiVerse Poetry.

Ebenbach is the author of three books of poetry, including We Were the People Who Moved, Some Unimaginable Animal, and What’s Left to Us by Evening.  His work also has been published in numerous literary magazines, including the Beloit Poetry Journal, Prairie Schooner, and the Southwest Review.

In 2020, Flaherty received an MFA in poetry from Pacific Lutheran University’s Ranier Writing Workshop. Many of her poems address climate change and environmental issues, and her poetry has been published in several journals.

Vyacheslav “Slava” Konoval is a Ukrainian poet whose work is devoted to the most pressing social issues of our time, such as poverty, ecology, and war. His recent poetry focuses on the devastation caused by Russian aggression during the war in Ukraine. His poetry has appeared in many publications, including Anarchy Anthology Archive, International Poetry Anthology, and Sparks of Kaliopa.

This poetry reading is part of the Takoma Park Arts series organized by the City’s Arts and Humanities Division. The series includes free art exhibitions, film screenings, poetry readings, concerts, theater, and dance performances at the Takoma Park Community Center. Please go to takomaparkmd.gov/arts for more info and to sign up for our e-newsletter.

One Day My Soul Just Opened Up Art Exhibition

On view until March 15 

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue 

Four Black female artists will share their diverse range of work exploring the spiritual world views of African heritage in a new Takoma Park Arts exhibition titled One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: African-American Women and the Black Sacred Cosmos. The featured artists include Debra Jean Ambush, Nikki Brooks, Joan M. E. Gaither, and Anike Robinson.

The exhibition is curated by Brendan Smith, the City of Takoma Park’s arts and humanities coordinator. “I usually choose the theme for an exhibition, but I asked the artists to collaborate on the focus of this show since the work is deeply personal to them and their shared experiences,” he said.

The exhibition addresses a distinct variety of viewpoints regarding the notion of a Black Sacred Cosmos, a time-honored reverential space in which the realm of ancestors and the divine inspire resilience and memory among their descendants. As an expression of how we perceive our sustaining spiritual centers, this convening of an Afro-Futuristic ‘visual dance’ invites viewers to consider the imprint of the African-centered aesthetic on our daily lives.

Debra Ambush, PhD, is an artist and researcher who lives in Ijamsville, Md. Through the mediums of printmaking, painting, and mixed media, her figurative and landscape work expresses family narratives about her experiences growing up during the Civil Rights Movement, as well as examining the vital importance of family, faith, and heritage as a source of resiliency.

Nikki Brooks, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Spotsylvania County, Va., creates installations and assemblage infused with digital and audio elements, paintings, sculpted text, and collage. Her work focuses on social activism and art that encourages viewers to explore the interconnected forms of writing, storytelling, and shared dialogue.

Joan M. E. Gaither, PhD, is a native Baltimorean who helped integrate local schools and businesses during the Civil Rights Movement. In more than 300 quilts, she has used meaningful fabrics, traditional patterns, collaged text, and images to tell narrative personal stories and collective histories that need to be remembered.

D.C.-based artist Anike Robinson delves deeply into Black cultures and histories across time and geographies to engage in conversations about home, memory, ritual, representation, and gender. Her Gris Gris Gurlz mixed-media series tells the stories of Black people who escaped the death camps of the South for the autonomy of maroon societies.

This exhibition, which will be on view until March 15, is part of the Takoma Park Arts series organized by the City’s Arts and Humanities Division. The series includes free art exhibitions, film screenings, poetry readings, concerts, theater, and dance performances at the Takoma Park Community Center. Go to takomaparkmd.gov/arts for more info and to sign up for our e-newsletter.

ENVIRONMENT(S) Art Opening Reception

Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 pm

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue

UNSUNG HEROES Art Opening Reception
Thursday, July 28 at 7:30 pm 
Takoma Park Community Center
7500 Maple Avenue 

Local artist Renee Lachman is honoring City of Takoma Park employees whose important work often goes unnoticed in a new series of paintings and charcoal drawings. Sanitation workers, gardeners, crossing guards, and library staff are featured in her artwork.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve celebrated the work of doctors, nurses, and firefighters. I wanted to highlight Takoma Park’s other unsung heroes,” Lachman said.

The opening reception at the Takoma Park Community Center is free and open to everyone. The exhibition is supported by a grant from the City’s Arts and Humanities Division. Go to takomaparkmd.gov/arts to learn more about our Takoma Park Arts events series and to sign up for our e-newsletter.

Takoma Park has moved closer to the Caribbean since colorful coral reefs have magically appeared inside two local bus shelters.

Vinyl wraps featuring a lively aquatic design have been installed on glass panels at the bus shelters to enliven community spaces and encourage public transportation. The City of Takoma Park’s Arts and Humanities Division organized the project using public art funds.

“We wanted to create a fun scene that would brighten people’s day while they’re walking by or waiting for the bus,” Arts and Humanities Coordinator Brendan Smith said. “They are the first bus shelters where you can sit next to tropical fish and sea turtles without holding your breath.”

Arts and Humanities Intern Paula Barrios designed the wraps which were installed on shelters at the ALDI shopping center at 1300 Holton Lane and at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Hilltop Road.

Grab a face mask and snorkel and dive in! Take some photos of yourself exploring the coral reefs and share them on the City of Takoma Park’s Twitter page at twitter.com/takomaparkmd and Instagram at instagram.com/TakomaParkMD.

Vinyl wraps promoting the Takoma Park Arts series also have been installed on three additional bus shelters. The wraps feature artwork and former performers in the Takoma Park Arts series, which features free arts events at the Takoma Park Community Center. Two shelters are located at the intersection of Flower Avenue and Houston Avenue, and the third shelter is next to Piney Branch Elementary School at 7510 Maple Avenue.

Go to takomaparkmd.gov/arts for more info about the Takoma Park Arts series and sign up for our e-newsletter.

Stone Sculpture by Michelle Frazier 

Takoma Park Community Center 

7500 Maple Avenue 

Sculptures chiseled and carved in stone by artist Michelle Frazier are on display at the Takoma Park Community Center.

Frazier brings faces, bodies and abstract shapes to life through her sculpture of soapstone and alabaster across a range of natural colors. The exhibition, which is part of the City’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series, is on display in glass cases near the library in the Community Center.

“When I carve a face or figure into the stone, I am guided by the shape of the stone,” Frazier said. “I carve the stone into familiar forms, carrying with them an emotional charge; the forms are beautiful, the stone transformed. With a familiar shape on the stone, the eyes can look in and see this layered inner beauty.”

Frazier received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her BFA from the Corcoran School of Art. She teaches art classes for teens and adults with special needs at the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation.  You can see more of her artwork at stonewomynarts.com.

Where can you see the Orfeia vocal ensemble, Dong Xi duet, and artwork made from delicate fabric or battered musical instruments?

The performers and artwork were featured in the City of Takoma Park’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series, and they appear now on vinyl wraps that have been installed on glass panels at three new local bus shelters. The public art project is beautifying bus shelters and promoting the Takoma Park Arts series, which includes free City-funded art exhibitions, concerts, poetry readings, film screenings, theater, and other events at the Takoma Park Community Center at 7500 Maple Avenue.

“We want to get the word out about the many free events we host at the Takoma Park Community Center, and bus shelters are a great place to do that,” Arts and Humanities Coordinator Brendan Smith said.

The wraps, which were designed by Arts and Humanities Intern Paula Barrios, are located on a new bus shelter at Piney Branch Elementary School at 7510 Maple Avenue and two shelters at the intersection of Flower Avenue and Houston Avenue. The featured artwork was created by Jacqui Crocetta and Seemeen Hashem, and the wraps were printed and installed by Signarama Silver Spring.

The project is part of the City’s Public Art Works initiative which installs public art projects across the city in conjunction with public works efforts. Other projects include the Art on the Move bus shelter poster series featuring artwork by artists in upcoming Takoma Park Arts exhibitions and a sidewalk poetry program where poems by local residents are being stamped into new concrete sidewalks.

The Arts and Humanities Division also is creating a different design that will be installed at a later date on two more bus shelters. Please go to takomaparkmd.gov/arts for more info about the Takoma Park Arts series, our public art projects, and to sign up for our e-newsletter.

Realm of the Real

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue 

On Display until July 15 

The Realm of the Real exhibition showcases the figurative artwork of three local artists who explore different aspects and interpretations of the human form, ranging from graceful dancers to historical figures to more abstract representations. The artists include Sarah Louise Hyde, Michael Hyman, and Michael G. Stewart.

Hyde’s paintings of dancers reveal swirling forms, elegant gestures, and the unspoken rhythms of motion. She served on the faculty of the Corcoran School of Art and showed her work in the D.C. area before her death from brain cancer in 2007. Her husband Jack Kline has been sharing her work with a wider audience as “a visual remembrance and memorial to her energy, creativity, and enthusiasm,” he said.

Hyman is a Black artist whose work encompasses painting, digital 3D sculpture, video installation, and photography. “I’m most excited about creating pieces in the range of Negritude Art with linear narratives embedded in social and political abstractions,” he said. “I hope to fascinate, educate, and enlighten the viewer with my work.” Negritude began in the 1930s as a literary movement among French-speaking African and Caribbean writers who asserted the power of Black identity and a rejection of colonialism.

Stewart’s career as an architectural and aerial photographer helped him translate his artistic vision into more personal mediums, such as drawing, etching, and linocuts. He worked for 20 years as a photographer for the National Endowment for the Arts.

This art exhibition is part of the Takoma Park Arts cultural series, which includes free film screenings, poetry readings, concerts, theater performances, and other events at the Takoma Park Community Center.  Go to takomaparkmd.gov/arts for more info and to sign up for our e-newsletter.

The Takoma ARTery arts group has launched a new artist directory featuring artwork and info about local artists. The creation of the directory was funded in part by a grant from the City’s Arts and Humanities Division to support the local creative community, their small businesses, and economic development in Takoma Park.

“The City of Takoma Park has a long track record of supporting the arts through our Takoma Park Arts events series and a wide range of public art projects,” Arts and Humanities Coordinator Brendan Smith said. “We also work with local arts organizations, and the Takoma ARTery has done a lot of great work in a short time bringing artists together to support their livelihoods.”

A group of volunteers started the Takoma ARTery during the COVID-19 pandemic to feature artwork by local artists in underused storefronts in downtown Takoma Park and at the Takoma Junction. City grants also helped fund the group’s start-up costs and the ARTery’s first art fair that was held last summer outside the Takoma Park Community Center.

“The financial and staff support from the City have helped transform the ARTery from an innovative pandemic-related arts project into a vibrant artist community which is boosting the creative economy,” ARTery co-founder Eleanor Landstreet said.

Artists will be charged a $70 annual fee to be featured in the directory to help offset the ARTery’s ongoing expenses. Some fee waivers will be available based on income. There is more info on the ARTery website.