VINTAGE MOVIE NIGHT HALLOWEEN OF HORROR FILMS!

THURSDAY, OCT. 29 AT 8 PM ON YOUTUBE

Roadside Attractions Concert with Cristian Perez 

Saturday, Oct. 24 at 4 pm 

Corner of Carroll Avenue and Central Avenue 

Defying all musical labels, Argentine guitarist/composer Cristian Perez weaves together genres from across the world to reveal the universality of music. With a strong foundation in classical, jazz, and South American music, he crafts a singular voice, rich in sensitivity and nuance that freely explores the possibilities of music as an art form.

Cristian is a former Artist-in-Residence at Strathmore, and his debut album Anima Mundi has received numerous positive reviews. Please join us for this free outdoor concert where masks and social distancing are required.

The Roadside Attractions concert series is co-sponsored by the Viaduct Arts Salon and the City of Takoma Park’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series. To learn more about our upcoming events, go to http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/arts where you can sign up for our weekly e-newsletter.

Free Outdoor Concert with the Mir Manley Band

Saturday, Oct. 17 at 4:30 pm 

Driveway at Carroll Avenue and Central Avenue 

The Roadside Attractions outdoor concert series returns this Saturday with a lively performance by the Mir Manley Band, known for their North and South American rock/folk music, R&B, and the blues. The free concert is co-sponsored by the Viaduct Arts Salon and the City of Takoma Park’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series.

The Mir Manley Band features a diverse background. Chilean vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Mauro Mir, who previously lived in Germany and Spain, has had a prestigious career performing as a principal singer with the Maryland Lyric Opera and Washington Opera. Guitarist and composer Dave Manley, originally from Detroit, has performed around the world with artists including Prince and R&B legend Jill Scott.

Bassist T.J. Turqman and keyboardist Gena Photiadis are prolific musicians and songwriters in their own right, releasing several records together. Drummer Joe Palmer, a graduate of the Berkeley College of Music, also has performed and toured extensively. The band is preparing a release of original material later this year.

The Takoma Park Arts series pays an honorarium to performing musicians to support their livelihoods. Donations also will be accepted. Please join us to hear live music again! Masks and social distancing required.

VOICES OF WOODLAWN Online Poetry Reading 

Thursday, Oct. 15 at 8 pm

Watch live on Zoom 

In a unique collaboration, three Black poets and a white poet from the D.C. area will share their moving poetry about the conflicted history of Woodlawn, a former 2,000-acre plantation in Alexandria once owned by George Washington where more than 90 enslaved people were forced to work. The property was sold in 1846 to a group of Quakers who opposed slavery, and Woodlawn is now managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The featured poets include Diane Wilbon Parks, Patrick Washington, Sylvia Dianne “Ladi Di” Beverly and Hiram Larew, who will be accompanied by harmonica player Cliff Bernier. Don’t miss this timely poetry reading that explores how Black history connects the past to the present.

This reading was organized by the City of Takoma Park’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series, which includes concerts, film screenings, poetry readings, and more. Go to takomaparkmd.gov/arts to learn more and sign up for our weekly e-newsletter. The arts keep us together even when we’re apart.

Image: Detail of “Royalty” by Diane Wilbon Parks

BLACK VOICES IN VERSE

Youtube premiere at 8 pm on Thursday, Aug. 13 

This timely poetry reading features three local Black poets whose powerful work challenges white privilege and pervasive racism in the United States. The poets include Saida Agostini, Kyle Dargan, and Emily Kombe in this reading organized by the City of Takoma Park’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series. Please join us for the Youtube premiere on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 8 pm or watch it later.

Saida Agostini is a queer Afro-Guyanese poet whose work explores the ways Black folks harness mythology to enter the fantastic. Her poetry has been featured in Barrelhouse Magazine, the Black Ladies Brunch Collective’s anthology Not Without Our Laughter, and other publications. You can read more of her poetry at www.saidaagostini.com.

Kyle Dargan is an associate professor of literature and assistant director of creative writing at American University. He is the author of five poetry collections, including Anagnorisis which won the 2019 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and was long-listed for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. You can find more of his work at www.american-boi.com.

Emily Kombe is majoring in public policy at the University of Maryland. She was introduced to slam poetry five years ago and has been creating her own work ever since. She is a strong supporter of using slam poetry as a vehicle for social justice.

In a public art project celebrating cultural diversity and women’s empowerment, two local artists have painted five new Little Free Libraries that feature portraits of groundbreaking female authors of color and the LGBTQ community.

The Little Free Libraries have been installed in areas of Takoma Park where residents didn’t have access to nearby little libraries to get free books.

The City of Takoma Park’s Arts and Humanities Division commissioned local artists Samantha Contrino and Katie Macyshyn to paint the little libraries that were built by Walter Mulbry, a local volunteer who has built more than 20 Little Free Libraries .

The new Little Free Libraries celebrate the diversity of Takoma Park, including women of color and the LGBTQ community. The five featured women shook the status quo and advanced the overlapping worlds of literature, women’s rights, and racial equality. They include Black author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, Ethiopian educator and politician Senedu Gebru, Peruvian-American children’s book author Juana Martinez-Neal, Guatemalan human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, and English lesbian author Virginia Woolf.

You can see the Little Free Libraries at the following locations. Better yet, take some books home to read or donate some. We’re all in this together so let’s read together!

You can find info about other City-funded public art projects and our Takoma Park Arts cultural series at takomaparkmd.gov/arts, including news about upcoming online poetry readings, film screenings, and concerts. The arts keep us connected even when we’re apart.

Little Free Library Locations:

Maya Angelou – 8630 Flower Avenue near Piney Branch Road intersection

Senedu Gebru – Anne Street near University Boulevard East intersection

Juana Martinez-Neal – Sligo Mill Overlook Neighborhood Park at 6400 Orchard Avenue

Rigoberta Menchu – Aldi shopping center at 7609 New Hampshire Avenue

Virginia Woolf – 8308 Flower Avenue

Munit Mesfin Free Outdoor Concert

Saturday, July 11 at 4 pm 

Corner of Carroll Avenue and Central Avenue 

Munit Mesfin is an Ethiopian-American singer-songwriter who loves sharing Ethio-soul in musical sets that dip into new and old genres. She loves to get the audience singing along in English and Amharic. She will perform with Argentine guitarist and composer Cristian Perez in the Roadside Attractions concert series co-sponsored by Viaduct arts salon and the City’s Takoma Park Arts series.

Over the past decade, Munit performed in a duet based in Ethiopia that toured around the world, reshaping the contemporary Ethiopian music scene with a pop sensibility. Since returning to the United States, she has performed with various groups that re-imagine jazz, reggae, funk and soul.

Audience members should wear masks and practice social distancing during the concert in a driveway at the corner of Carroll Avenue and Central Avenue. Traffic will be blocked on the street and some chairs will be available, but people also can bring their own lawn chairs. Please join us and hear some live music!

Roadside Attractions Concert with Sarah Hughes 

Saturday, June 13 at 4 pm 

Driveway at corner of Carroll Avenue and Central Avenue 

Multi-instrumentalist Sarah Hughes will play a free concert at 4 pm on June 13 in the Roadside Attractions driveway music series co-sponsored by the Viaduct arts salon and the City’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series.

Sarah is an improvisational musician and a prominent fixture in the D.C.-Baltimore experimental scene. Playing saxophone, clarinet, and flute, she has performed in numerous musical contexts, including jazz ensembles, contemporary music ensembles, swing bands, blues jams, folk groups, rap and hip-hop troupes, and indie music collectives. In 2015, she toured Sweden and performed in the country’s first Women in Jazz festival. She performs regularly at Rhizome in Takoma Park and other venues in the area. You can hear some of her music on her website.

Musicians receive an honorarium from Takoma Park Arts to support their livelihoods. Please join us for this free concert where Sarah also is seeking donations for An End to Ignorance, which provides food for vulnerable populations in Baltimore.

Please wear masks and maintain social distancing to keep everyone safe. You can learn more about all of the events in the Takoma Park Arts series at takomaparkmd.gov/arts where you also can sign up for our weekly e-newsletter. Let’s celebrate the return of live music to Takoma Park!