Exhibition Spotlight: Afro-Atlantic Histories

Afro-Atlantic Histories is both 1) an historical exhibition about the African diaspora *and* 2) an array of depictions of the African diaspora in art, past and present. Expectedly, it's more the latter, but art can inspire us to learn more, and also inform us in the meantime.

Hosted at the National Gallery of Art (NGA), this exhibition feels extremely worldly, perhaps more than any other recent exhibition there. Originally this show debuted in 2018 at Brazil's Museu de Arte de São Paulo.

This show has over 130 artworks and objects from the 17th century to today. Media from paintings, to metal & wood sculptures, to photographs, to video are all present, and more. The entire show comprises about six galleries, which is substantial for NGA. It is worth a trip.

Afro-Atlantic Histories is open through July 17, 2022.

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Exhibition Spotlight: Block by Block

I *loved* with this tiny exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery on the origin of DC street names. The material only touches on a few streets, but I appreciated the bits of history covered.

At just about 1,000 square feet, it won't take long to see the entirety of the exhibition, but for DC area residents, it is pretty neat learning about the people behind the names of streets we live, work, and play on. For example, the exhibition includes Gales Street NE, a narrow, ginkgo tree lined side street not far from my home neighborhood of Carver Langston. For the first time I learned about its namesake, Joseph Gales, Jr. Gales was a journalist & one time mayor of DC in mid 1800s.

Other historical figures featured are Benjamin Banneker (Banneker Circle SW), Otis Howard (Howard Pl NW), and Clara Barton (Clara Barton Parkway). Block by Block: Naming Washington is located on the second floor on the F Street side of the building. Open though January 2023.

Views From the Monument

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Ever since I first visited the Washington, DC in elementary school, the Washington Monument came to indicate the end of long trip. Riding in a school bus from Richmond, the monument was the first sign of DC as we passed through Pentagon City, Crystal City, and the Virginia suburbs. It’s the first part of DC we could actually see from afar. Then came the Jefferson Memorial, Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, and the rest of downtown.

Looking up to the monument is something one can do from almost anywhere in the DC area.

Looking down from it is another story. I recently visited the top of the monument and wanted to share a few photos! But, the fact that I was actually able to ride the elevator up to the top was somewhat a feat in and of itself.

When an 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered 85 miles from DC hit in 2011, the Washington Monument was one of the buildings damaged to the extent that it needed to close to visitors immediately. The repairs, mostly to stones near the top of the memorial, took nearly two and a half years. After reopening in 2014, the lone elevator that takes visitors up and down the 555 tall obelisk failed more than two dozen times over the course of the next two years. Starting in 2016 the monument has been closed intermittently for various reasons, including the pandemic. Here’s a very brief timeline:

August 28, 2011: Closed due to damage from the earthquake
May 12, 2014: Opened to great fanfare after all earthquake repairs are complete.
September 26, 2016: Closed after the elevator failed multiple times since 2014.
September 19, 2019: Opened, with a new elevator, electrical, and mechanical systems. The National Parks Service also debuted a small security screening building at the base of the monument.
March 14, 2020: Closed due to public health implications related to the pandemic.
October 1, 2020: Opened with new pandemic mitigation protocols.
December 18-21, 2020: Closed and reopened due to a covid-19 outbreak related to a private tour inside the monument.
January 11, 2021: Closed indefinitely for the upcoming inauguration and the ongoing pandemic.
July 14, 2021: Opened.
August 16, 2021: Closed after a lightening strike caused the electrical systems to malfunction.
August 28, 2021: Opened and remains so to this day.

Did you get all of that?

Since August 28, 2021 the Washington Monument has been open to visitors with timed entry passes. You can secure a ticket on the Recreation.gov website the day before your visit. At this point, there are no same-day tickets available.

Fun fact: When complete, the Monument became the tallest building in the world passing Cologne Cathedral in Germany by 40 feet. That distinction lasted just five years when it was surpassed (at almost twice the height) by the the Eiffel Tower.

For even more photos from the top (40+) and more fun facts about the Monument, check out the Attucks Adams Patreon. And a hearty thanks to all the Patrons who have supported my work over the past year. You are appreciated!

Top 5: Ice Skating Rinks in DC

Ice rink at the Wharf in southwest DC.

Earlier this summer roller skating was all the buzz in DC with two high profile rollerskating events, one in Penn Quarter and another go-go themed skate at the Anacostia Park rink.

The skating doesn't stop in the winter, however. DC has become home to some great ice skating options over the years, from permanent indoor facilities to some newer outdoor rinks in popular shopping areas. Here are the Top 5 skating options in the city. Please check each site for pricing, ticketing, and open hours.

1. Sculpture Garden Ice Rink at the National Gallery of Art. If you've ever been to NGA on a Friday evening in the summer, you know this circular fountain in the garden is home to Jazz in the Garden, an almost too popular jazz night. But in the winter, the fountain is transformed into an ice rink. With the beautiful backdrop of the National Archives building across the street, and set amongst modern art pieces, the Sculpture Garden ice rink has become the go-to winter activity on the National Mall. 7th Street NW and Constitution Ave. Open until March 6, 2022.

The Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art hosts an ice rink with a great backdrop, then National Archives.

2. Canal Park Rink. Capital Riverfront, Navy Yard, Ballpark Area; whatever you want to call this neighborhood, it's one of DC's fastest growing as far as population. The amenities keep multiplying and the Canal Park Ice Rink has been a newer, but consistent staple. The figure-eight shape of the track is curious, but makes for a more unique expreince than the typical circular or oval tracks. After a skate, you can stroll down to the riverfront and walk the Anacostia River. 200 M Street SE. Open through February.

3. Washington Harbor Rink. Georgetown is the home of Washington Harbor, which is don on K Street NW. I just called this area the waterfront. But this collection of housing, offices, retail, and restaurants in a cluster of early 1980s postmodern buildings also hosts the yearly Georgetown Ice Rink. This is probably the most popular of the commercial rinks in DC and has the most neighborhood amenities nearby with shopping, food, sightseeing, and more to do before and after. 3000 K Street NW. Open through March 13, 2022.

4. Wharf Ice Rink. The newest addition to the DC ice skating scene is the Wharf Rink. Located directly adjacent to the water (the Washington Channel), this rink is actually linked directly to the Georgetown Rink by the Potomac Water Taxi. The Wharf is a pedestrian friendly area with restaurants, shopping, and music so there is plenty to do after your rims on the ice. 970 Wharf Street SW. Open through February 2022.

5. Fort Dupont Ice Arena. As the only indoor rink on this list, Fort Dupont is mostly known for skating lessons, club ice hockey games, and other structured programming. However, they do offer public skating sessions throughout the week and of course, it's covered, so weather is never a factor. Years ago I ran a summer camp in nearby Kimball Elementary and the ice arena was a favored afternoon activity during DC's hot summer afternoons. 3779 Ely Place SE. Open year-round.

Exhibition Preview: The Wall/El Muro

The National Building Museum is open Friday-Monday 11am-4pm. 401 F Street NW.

What is a border? I often think about borders living here in the District of Columbia. Since Virginia, Maryland, and the District comprise a dense and diverse metropolitan area, much attention is paid to borders, what living on one side or the other means for your life, and what those borders say about us depending on where we live and work relative to them. Even within DC itself, political borders like Wards and Quadrants are significant markers of identity and policy. 

The Wall/El Muro: What is a Border Wall? exhibition at the National Building Museum is both a swift historical dive into the U.S.-Mexico border as part of our built world, as well as an introduction to understanding the impact of the infrastructure itself. This show is presented in English and Spanish.

The exhibition takes a wide view at the outset, helping visitors define what a border actually is and displaying a fascinating map (c. 1728) of Spanish North America denoting the borders of American Indian tribes before the British, French, Spanish, and others divided up the continent, eventually morphing into the national borders we have today. Of course national borders are not new, and not exclusive to North America, a fact smartly acknowledged here in the first bay, visualizing border walls and barriers across the globe. 

Border wall prototypes c. 2019.

From there the focus is in the U.S.-Mexico border, and not just the physical manifestation of the border wall. The exhibition has a running timeline from the late 1700s to present day on border policy, popular fears around immigrants and immigration, and national immigration policy itself. 

There is a good division among storytelling about the history of the border wall, examination of the physical infrastructure of the many types of walls & barriers, and the impact of the existence of borders including on the people who cross or attempt to cross, the mechanisms around how we ask people to access borders, and the results of the often dangerous and violent process of interacting with the border.

Migrant belongings left behind in the Sonoran Desert.

Complementing the maps, timelines, and infographics are several extraordinary objects.

One ordinary chain link fence with barbed wire atop stood out even before I entered the exhibition because I could see it from the Museum's Great Hall, which has windows into the show. This small section of fence was used by U.S. authorities in 1950 as part of a border wall between Mexico and the U.S. state of California. It was installed in 1950. This fencing had been used before, though. During World War II, it separated internees from the outside world as they were detained in the Crystal City Alien Enemy Detention Facility in Texas. A fence serving two borders, within a different time, space, and affect.

Another was the bright pink teeter-totter, a universal children's play thing and simple machine, but also a protest. The teeter-totter brought children together through the border fence, with each half of the lever on the opposite of the border wall between Mexico and the United States. A short accompanying video shed light on the artists and the installation which was located near El Paso, Texas.

I walked away still thinking about the essence of what it means to have national borders, state borders, even local neighborhood borders. So many questions are still on the table after seeing this exhibition: Do borders necessarily beget violence? Who decides where borders are located? In which other forms, besides lines on a map or fences in the ground do we enforce borders? What would a borderless world look like? And so many others. In this way, I consider the exhibition a success.

The Wall/El Muro opens on Saturday November 6, 2021 and closes one year later on November 6, 2022. It;s located on the first floor of the National Building Museum at 401 F Street NW in downtown Washington, DC. The Museum is currently open Friday-Monday 11am-4pm. Tickets to the museum cost $10 for adults. OYu can still enter and view the Great Hall for free, which I highly recommend!

The Museum’s Great Hall is open to the public whenever the museum is open.

This exhibition preview was made possible by montly supporters on Patreon. Thanks to you all! Get weekly history posts, photos of DC’s most interesting places, and as more museums reopen, exhibition previews and reviews. Check it out—> Patreon: Attucks Adams.