Calling All Southeast DC Artists!

We’re amping up to open the doors of Busboys and Poets Anacostia and are seeking southeast DC resident artists for a mural or mural commission! Sound like something you’re interested in? Submit an email of interest along with five to seven sample images of your work to art@busboysandpoets.com by January 25, 2019. Artists will be notified of their selection by February 8, 2019.

Based upon image and capability, Busboys and Poets staff will select artist(s) to create an original ephemeral sketch on a wall of Busboys Anacostia on February 15, 2019 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Selected artists will receive $100 for the sketch and will be provided with art supplies (basic colors of acrylic paint, pencils.) This sketch will be used to determine style and ability, and is not necessarily representative of the final commissioned mural project.

The final mural will reflect the Busboys and Poets mission statement below:

Busboys and Poets is a community where racial and cultural connections are consciously uplifted… a place to take a deliberate pause and feed your mind, body and soul… a space for art, culture and politics to intentionally collide… we believe that by creating such a space we can inspire social change and begin to transform our community and the world.

Busboys and Poet staff will make final selection of commissioned mural artist, with the mural to be completed by March 6, 2019.

IMPORTANT DATES

January 25, 2019: Submission email of interest accompanied by 5 to 7 images/portfolio to art@busboysandpoets.com.

February 8, 2019: Notification of selected artists to create ephemeral sketches on unfinished walls of Busboys and Poets Anacostia.

February 15, 2019: Creation of ephemeral (temporary) sketch on wall 8 am to 8 pm.

February 22, 2019: Notification of art commission

March 6, 2019: Mural completed

For more information, contact Carol Rhodes Dyson at art@busboysandpoets.com.

PHOTO 2024 02 01 07 10 14

For Langston Hughes on His 123 Birthday

Speech given on February 1, 2024 in Havana, Cuba In 1927 Langston Hughes walked into a Cuba amid an emerging community of artists, intellectuals, and radicals.  He saw a “sunrise in a new land [– a day – in his words]sic – full of brownskin surprises, and hitherto unknown contacts in a world of color.”  … Continued

PALESTINE WEEK 1920 x 1080 px 2

Palestine Week 2024

January 18, 2024 – January 25, 2024 In keeping with our ongoing mission of uplifting racial and cultural connections, Busboys and Poets is hosting Palestine Week (January 18 through January 25, 2024). This week-long series of events will offer a diverse range of programming featuring Palestinian food, music, dance, poetry, discussions, and other enriching events. … Continued

On Censorship by Salman Rushdie

On Censorship by Salman Rushdie

No writer ever really wants to talk about censorship. Writers want to talk about creation, and censorship is anti-creation, negative energy, uncreation, the bringing into being of non-being, or, to use Tom Stoppard’s description of death, “the absence of presence.” Censorship is the thing that stops you doing what you want to do, and what writers want to talk about is what they do, not what stops them doing it.

CrownMural WALL

A Reflective Minute: The Crown Act Mural Unveiling in Anacostia

by Joy Zarembka, VP of Planning and Innovation Busboys and Poets is built, in part, on the premise of being a place where, “arts, politics and culture intentionally collide.” So there is no better place for Candice Taylor’s Crown Act Mural to be displayed than on the side of a wall of Busboys and Poets … Continued

img 7437

Everest Base Camp #7

Viva la lucha! Not today. Not yet. Waking up at 2 am is never a good idea no matter where you’re going. But alas here I am sitting on the edge of my king size bed, having used every inch of it throughout the night, contemplating what’s ahead. Last night, room service hit the spot. … Continued