On a beautiful September Saturday, Capitol Hill resident Sarah Hanks spent most of it on a gallery tour. It was an artsy journey that took her down her street and through her neighborhood on the second annual Capitol Hill Art Walk.
“I met some amazing artists and even got a tour of my dear friend Will Fleishell’s art studio on Archibald Walk,” Hanks said.
She also collected, picking out a piece of hanging pottery from local artist (and co-owner of Capitol Hill Pottery) Sarah Buffaloe and an original photograph of her favorite Lincoln Park bench from up-and-coming local photographer, Celia Hendric.
Hanks is an artist herself—she’s Suzuki Violin Teacher at The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) and a violinist in the Capital City Symphony. “As a fulltime career musician on Capitol Hill, it’s important for me to our local artists any chance I get,” she said.
The Capitol Hill Art Walk provided plenty of opportunity. This year, the event featured eighty artists who set up their displays at various locations throughout the neighborhood—in front yards, studios, near popular eateries and in back alleys. Visitors could find them using an online map or as printed in the Hill Rag. It was a chance to meet artists, view and buy their work, all while taking a glorious tour of Capitol Hill.
“Artists at Home”
The event began in 2021 as “Artists at Home,” a COVID-era replacement for the Capitol Hill Restoration Society (CHRS) Annual House and Garden tour. In the wake of the pandemic, CHRS was looking for a way to continue the tour, then in its 63rd year, despite the fact that indoor gatherings were severely limited.
“I didn’t want the first year that I was the Chair to be the first year *ever* that we missed the house tour – but of course it was COVID,” said Elizabeth Nelson, a former president of CHRS, “So, we came up with ‘Artists
at Home’.”
The art tour was temporarily dropped in 2022 when the house tour returned. But it was resurrected in 2023 at the request of the Capitol Hill Art League (CHAL), which took on the organizational role.
And with each subsequent year, the Art Walk has doubled in size, from 20 participants in 2022 to 40 in 2023. This year, there were about 80 participants at 47 different sites.
“All credit goes to Elizabeth Nelson,” said CHAL member Tara Hamilton, who helped organize the 2024 Art Walk.
“It’s coming close to doubling [annually],” Nelson said, “but we think that’s because of the Hill Rag. The Hill Rag was a co-sponsor and published maps and lists of artists online and in the August issue.
While organizers didn’t count attendees, artists report that a constant stream of visitors came to the stalls, urged along by perfect weather. In addition to exploring local art, the event was also a chance to meet neighbors and see corners of the neighborhood attendees had not previously explored.
Like Hamilton, co-organizer Rindy O’Brien showed her art during the Art Walk. She said it was an opportunity to discover truly local art —and artists in our neighbors.
“I think it’s really great for us to introduce art that’s not in the National Gallery of Art, that’s made by local neighbors and residents which brings a different perspective and quality to the work. It’s amazing what people do,” O’Brien said. “I’m always amazed that there’s someone I probably see 100 times a month and I had no idea that they were artists. So it’s a great way for people to get to know their neighbors better, as well as to get to know all the different kinds of art.”
Different Lives, Different Artists
Art Walk participants encountered new art—and the different kinds of artists. You may know Kasse Andrews-Weller by her sunflower series. It was created in of the US entry into Ukraine and was exhibited at Hill Center. She also creates kente mosaics, working with African fabric and ceramic and paper on a wood backing. But Andrews-Weller is also an Army and Air Force Veteran who is now a military d art organizer and instructor. She was determined to feature the work of veterans at the Art Walk.
Andrews-Weller organized in a front yard on Fifth Street NE featuring tiny oil piccolos by Navy Corpsman Shakoufeh Shadabi, the paper sculptures of disabled Army Veteran April Goodwin Gill and the postage-stamp sized watercolors of Navy Veteran Shanita Osman.
Osman was also an artist in Singapore. She married her spouse, now in Army Special Ops at Fort Belvoir, and came to America with only a suitcase, said Andrews-Weller.
“She said you know, she had to realize that she had to live out of a suitcase,” Andrews-Weller relayed. “So that’s why she does tiny little art so she can always be portable and always have her art.” Osman sold nearly a dozen of her postage-stamp sized landscapes.
But Andrews-Weller gushes over the portraiture of Michael Greene, an Army Veteran living at the DC VA Medical Center. “Greene does nothing but portraits of people and anybody that comes into the VA,” she said. The Monday prior to the Art Walk, Andrews-Well saw Greene with his works spread out on tables in the dining room of the VA community center. She convinced him to participate.
Greene sold many of his portraits on the Art Walk and even picked up a commission. It means a lot to him, she said. “Being able to sell his work provides him with a sense of legitimacy —it validates that he truly is an artist.”
Letting the Arts Shine
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) Executive Director Aaron Myers also participated in the Artwalk. He visited about a dozen artists in his hour-long tour, sharing information with artists about the DC Art Bank which purchases art for display in District Government buildings. Myers said he purchased a bingo game made of Capitol Hill images by O’Brien that now graces his office.
“I believe [the Art Walk] is a testament to what a community can really do when they let the arts shine,” Myers said.
He was most impressed with the camaraderie among participants, Myers said, from those who were career artists to those who had taken their work up upon retirement.
“There’s a lot of people who truly love art on the Hill,” Myers said. “The Hill doesn’t take it for granted—they embrace it.”
You can learn more about the Capitol Hill Art League (CHAL) at www.caphillartleague.org. See the full list of artists at /2024/08/17/art-walk-2024/
