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City Lights: Your Five Best Arts Bets For May 13-18

City Lights: Your Five Best Arts Bets For May 13-18

Celebrate Black art with LE DRIP, enjoy foreign film at the first District Cinema event, and rock out with indie rockers Cloud Cult.

Welcome to Friday! City Paper is trying some different things as we move toward a digital-first existence. What does that mean for you? For starters, City Lights will now be delivered in one easy-to-access package every week. So check back here on Fridays for our recommendations and ruminations on the best and lesser known artsy…

by Christina Smart, Hannah Docter-Loeb, Anupma Sahay and Sarah Marloff
Dimming the City Lights

Dimming the City Lights

A look back at 41 years of City Paper’s artsy things-to-do section, through the eyes of 11 people who’ve helmed it.

In 1981, Alona Wartosfky was restless […]

by Ella Feldman
City Lights Shine On: 15 Venues Uplifting Local Artists

City Lights Shine On: 15 Venues Uplifting Local Artists

City Lights would be nothing without the artists and venues we cover. Here are 15 lesser-known local tastemakers deserving of your time, attention, and dollars.

For 41 years, City Lights has been grabbed, annotated, and bookmarked by local resident […]

by Ella Feldman
Bad Moves Bring Good Grooves to Black Cat

Bad Moves Bring Good Grooves to Black Cat

The local punk pop rockers kick off an East Coast stint in their hometown, with local acts Gauche and Bottled Up supporting.

Local power pop outfit Bad Moves are bringing their punk-laced bangers back to Black Cat this Friday […]

by Paul Veracka
Frames Come Off of Famous Landscapes in Nature [Unframed]

Frames Come Off of Famous Landscapes in Nature [Unframed]

Paintings from the likes of Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh go frameless in this Phillips Collection exhibit to break down barriers between art and the natural world.

Nature [Unframed] belongs to a cluster of events at the Phillips Collection designed to “respond to nature and the climate crisis” […]

by Louis Jacobson
Mixed Media and Photography Collide in Surface Encounters

Mixed Media and Photography Collide in Surface Encounters

In the latest exhibit at Tenleytown’s Formerly Was, Kim Llerena’s photography and Jen Noone’s mixed-media sculptures shine side by side.

For the second time in six months, Formerly Was, an independent art gallery located in Tenleytown, has paired a photographer with a mixed-media artist […]

by Louis Jacobson
New Smithsonian Exhibit Explores Barry Farms’ Past and Future

New Smithsonian Exhibit Explores Barry Farms’ Past and Future

The historic Black neighborhood that sits east of the Anacostia has been systemically torn apart since its 1867 founding.

After being denied entry to the White-only Sousa Junior High School, a group of Black students from D.C.’s Barry Farm-Hillsdale community filed a legal case against the institution […]

by Amari Newman
Get In a Good Cry With Big Thief

Get In a Good Cry With Big Thief

Adrianne Lenker’s four-piece stops at the Anthem shortly after releasing Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, a sprawling, bittersweet triumph.

Anyone else have “Masterpiece” regularly on repeat? […]

by Brandon Wetherbee
Porches Brings His Sweet Synth-pop to Union Stage

Porches Brings His Sweet Synth-pop to Union Stage

Aaron Maine takes his recording project on tour for his 2021 release, All Day Gentle Hold !—his most chaotic, interesting album to date.

Porches has come a long way from its origins as a four-track recording project based in Aaron Maine’s apartment […]

by Tristan Jung
Charlie Burg is Growing Up

Charlie Burg is Growing Up

The Detroit-bred, New York-based singer-songwriter brings his coming of age anthems to DC9, right as they reach unprecedented heights.

“A car doesn’t have to be some heavy symbol of freedom or youth or some shit,” […]

by Ella Feldman
Claudia Smigrod Photographs Without a Camera

Claudia Smigrod Photographs Without a Camera

The local artist mixes chemicals and lighting on photosensitive paper to render camera-less photos that look more like X-rays.

Local artist Claudia Smigrod specializes in camera-less photography […]

by Louis Jacobson
Utagawa Hiroshige Influenced Social Media Influencers

Utagawa Hiroshige Influenced Social Media Influencers

The artist, who specialized in the Japanese art of woodblock printing and painting known as ukiyo-e, was a master of capturing landscapes and city scenes.

When you think of a social media influencer, your first thought is probably not of a centuries-old artist specializing in ukiyo-e, or the Japanese art of woodblock printing and painting […]

by Stephanie Rudig
Art, Music, and Tech Converge at MadeInTheDMV’s MadeCon

Art, Music, and Tech Converge at MadeInTheDMV’s MadeCon

A talented and diverse roster of creatives and community leaders head this annual networking event, hosted by a local talent think tank.

What does the future of local arts, music, and technology hold? Find out at this year’s Made Conference […]

by Sidney Thomas
Ocean Vuong and Kat Chow Excavate a Mother’s Death

Ocean Vuong and Kat Chow Excavate a Mother’s Death

The On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous author stops at Sixth and I to discuss his latest poetry collection, Time Is a Mother.

Grief is a motherfucker, and Ocean Vuong has plumbed the infinite depths of that particular sorrow before […]

by Amy Guay

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