The Georgetowner: February 8, 2023 Issue

EASTER HILL 1175 Crest Lane Mclean, VA

$21,000,000

Mark C. Lowham +1 703 966 6949

WESLEY HEIGHTS 4417 Garfield Street NW Washington, DC

$6,490,000

Michael Rankin +1 202 271 3344

KALORAMA 2446 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC

$2,695,000

Jonathan Taylor +1 202 276 3344

MCLEAN MODERN 8636 Old Dominion Drive McLean, VA

$2,790,000

Mark C. Lowham +1 703 966 6949

WEST END 2501 M Street NW #212 Washington, DC

$1,895,000

Maxwell Rabin +1 202 669 7406

DUPONT CIRCLE 1731 20th Street NW #6 Washington, DC

$447,500

Stan Kelly +1 202 997 1872

FOREST HILLS 3301 Fessenden Street NW Washington, DC

$10,500,000

Michael Rankin +1 202 271 3344

Mark C. Lowham +1 703 966 6949

WOODLEY PARK 2660 Connecticut Avenue NW #6A Washington, DC

$3,475,000

Jonathan Taylor +1 202 276 3344

GEORGETOWN 1689 34th Street NW Washington, DC

$2,980,000

Michael Rankin +1 202 271 3344

MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE HEIGHTS 2700 Calvert St NW #716 Washington, DC $1,995,000

Jonathan Taylor +1 202 276 3344

THE COLONNADE 2801 New Mexico Avenue NW #424 Washington, DC

Contract Pending $1,150,000

Michael O’Connell Buyers Representative +1 202 765 4973

WATERGATE 2700 Virginia Avenue NW #305 Washington, DC

$425,000

Stan Kelly +1 202 997 1872

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GEORGETOWN’S UNIQUE AND TRANQUIL CHINESE TEA HOUSE CLOSES

BY PEGGY SANDS

N STREET HOUSE FIRE PROVIDES SAFETY LESSON

BY ROBERT DEVANEY

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, KEY BRIDGE!

BY ROBERT DEVANEY

WOMAN’S NAT’L DEMOCRATIC CLUB WELCOMES NEW CONGRESSWOMEN — AND NANCY PELOSI

BY PEGGY SANDS

GEORGETOWN MAIN STREET’S ‘COFFEE & COMMUNITY’ TO BOOST BUSINESS VIBRANCY

BY CHRISTOPHER JONES

PORTRAIT UNVEILED OF FORMER GEORGETOWNER AND HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY JEH JOHNSON

BY PEGGY SANDS

15,349 VIEWS

GREATEST HITS ONLINE COMING UP...

‘GEORGETOWN,’ A FILM ABOUT MURDER. OR IS IT?

BY PEGGY SANDS

Christoph

BROADWAY STAR JESSICA VOSK IN TOWN VALENTINE’S DAY: OUR INTERVIEW

HAUTE & COOL: VALENTINE’S GIFT GUIDE

LOVE LETTERS FROM GEORGETOWNERS

D.C. firefighter scatters fireplace debris (not connected to house fire) on sidewalk. Photo by Robert Devaney.

Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson with his wife, Dr. Susan DiMarco, and current DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at the Jan. 24 unveiling of the Johnson portrait. Photo by Robert Devaney.

Waltz, who plays Albrecht Muth (called Ulrich Mott in the film), and Vanessa Redgrave in the role of Viola Drath (called Elsa Brecht).

Happy centennial to Key Bridge, which opened in 1923. Georgetowner photo by Jeff Kouri.

Hollie Wong of Ching Ching Cha says goodbye to Georgetown. Courtesy Hollie Wong.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addresses Democratic women at the WNDC. Photo by Jordan Tovin.

Elizabeth Miller, chair of the Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission, Iesha Holy, owner of EuroBronze Sunless Studio, and Melanie Hayes, board chair of Georgetown Main Street. Georgetowner photo.

Citizens Kick Off Black History Month at Holy Trinity

BY ROBERT DEVANEY

“Let us remember their names. Let us remember their lives,” said Bernard Cook from the pulpit of Holy Trinity Church on 36th Street in Georgetown on the first day of Black History Month.

In celebration of Black History, the Citizens Association of Georgetown presented stories of the African American history along the C&O Canal, the development of Holy Trinity Catholic Church as well Epiphany Catholic Church. Along with CAG President Tara Parker, Neville Waters, president of the Mt. Zion Female Union Band Historic Memorial Park, Inc., greeted the audience and introduced the speakers.

The oldest Catholic parish in Washington, D.C., Holy Trinity has posted its historical research in the form of articles, vignettes, brief biographies of early parishioners and clergy, and events and episodes in their lives for several years now. The church invites parishioners and others to learn more about the role of slavery, segregation and race in Holy Trinity’s history. “We hope that, in throwing more light on our parish’s past, our work will open doors to reflecting on that past and on its implications for our present and inspire our daily interactions with others,” the parish notes.

Cook, along with Peter Albert and Paul Maco who are part of the church’s history group, told the tale of Holy Trinity’s Black parishioners as well as those who left the west side of Georgetown 100 years ago to found their own church on the east side — Epiphany Roman Catholic Church on Dumbarton Street. It is a sort of exodus story not without its share of pain.

Albert spoke of faithful Black Catholics, Lucy and Liddy Butler, whose family lived on 36th Street for decades. One of Holy Trinity’s most famous Black parishioners was educator Anne Marie Becraft – most certainly, “a pathmaker” — who founded a school for girls on Dumbarton Street. She later left to become a nun. Her grandmother was a free Black, who worked for Charles Carroll, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence and wealthiest man in America. Due to a chronic respiratory condition, Becraft died at the age of 28 in 1833.

Maco recounted that Holy Trinity parish was 40 percent Black in the 1830s — and later had 139 pews for Whites, 42 in the balcony for Blacks. He pointed to where a balcony — crammed with Black worshippers — once stood on the side of the north wall as well as the present back balcony of the church and thanked those lost families. Such shabby

ANC 2E Report: Leaves to Literacy

BY PEGGY SANDS

The Georgetown-Burleith-Hillandale Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC 2E) held its February meeting on Jan. 30 and addressed more than a dozen issues, ranging from leaf collection to literacy rates — onto and to local projects, old and new, from Jelleff to a new sushi restaurant. The ANC considered comments from a number of invited guests, government spokespeople and residents, asked questions and made resolutions adhering (amazingly) to an agenda that actually proposed the minutes to be spent on each item and kept to the schedule pretty well.

● Fall curb and sidewalk leaf sweeps in Georgetown by the Department of Public Works was reported to be making its way down from Dent Place — following the slow pace of the never-ending fall with temperatures still in the 50s on some days. The long leaf pick-up delays were criticized for causing safety hazards, as residents dutifully filled up the designated paper bags on their curbs that then rotted and became slippery globs after intermittent rains. The ANC sent city officials a letter. But there was no word if D.C. would takeup the ANC’s written recommendation

to announce neighborhood leaf bag pickup dates a week or so before the actual collection date.

● Georgetown’s favorite Recreation and Parks official Tommie Jones appeared at an unannounced portion of the agenda (and a bit unprepared, that was unlike him) for an update of the 28 million (Or was it $27 million? Jones asked) reconstruction project of the Jelleff Sports and Recreation center and pool into an expanded community center with two full indoor courts and a completely renovated swimming pool. The funds were approved in 2021. Two of four promised community meetings were held in 2022. At the end of 2022, a contractor was introduced. But Jones did not report anything new. The commissioners became stonily quiet as they thanked Jones for his

treatment led to the split that gave birth to Epiphany.

S. Rex Carnegie of Georgetown Heritage, champion of the C&O Canal, conjured images of life along the canal for certain years: 1939 with those working for the Civilian Conservation Corps; 1878 with women captains and as well as Black captains helming the canal boats; 1837 while traversing the towpath in an escape from slavery and 1828 with Irish and German immigrants digging the waterway, along with help from freed and enslaved African-Americans. Educator, actor

and social media personality, Carnegie wanted to tell the unexpected stories of the past to enlarge the diversity of history. He added that boat tours begin in April.

A musical performance brought the feeling home in the open air of the historic church. With Ronald Walton at the piano, soloist Cheri Jackson from the Voices of Zion sang out, “How many more, before you get it?”

The program, sponsored by the Georgetown Business Improvement District, brought about 100 in attendance at the church and almost the same number in live-steam viewers.

promises to get them more information in the next four to six weeks when he said he would be able “to engage on some issues the ANC was anxious to address like parking.” Jones insisted that everything was and would be on time. “It’s getting to be a bit chickenand-egg like,” Miller said — what comes first and what depends on what or project ideas and costs?

● Mayor Bowser’ spokesperson announced that budget engagement forums are being set up in the next few weeks so that residents can have a voice on budget priorities for 2024-5. He also commented on the new justice and police reform act, passed by the D.C. Council, that will reduce mandatory sentences on many crimes and require jury trials for some misdemeanors. (It’s gotten a lot of national press.): “But there is a lot of misinformation, and it won’t go into effect until 2025.”

● Commissioners reacted with concern to the shocking news by Ward 2 Representative on the State Board of Education Allister Chang that only a mere 29 percent of D.C.’s public school fourth graders were reading at grade level and that about 27 percent, on average, could pass a standard fourth-grade math test. “The urgency to confront this is dire,” said Chang, who is a literacy specialist.

The former Georgetown resident emphasized the need for increasing reading training for teachers and tutors. “Just because one knows how to read doesn’t mean they know how to teach someone else to read,” he said. Funding is being developed for more trained tutors and to establish a new literacy task force with knowledge of the many improved tools and techniques for reading, added Chang, who organized many reading events in Rose Park for children during the pandemic. The Board of Education is focused on developing learning goals and standards for D.C. public schools.

At Holy Trinity Church — Front row: Rex Carnegie of Georgetown Heritage, Neville Waters, president of Mt. Zion Historic Memorial Park, Inc., CAG President Tara Parker and Monica Roache, former advisory neighborhood commissioner. Back row: Bernard Cook Peter Albert and Paul Maco of Holy Trinity, singer Cheri Jackson and pianist Ronald Walton. Photo by Bill Starrels.

“Just because one knows how to read doesn’t mean they know how to teach someone else to read.”

— Allister Chang

G.U. Launches Fund to Support Descendants of the Enslaved

Georgetown University has created a new fund that will award $400,000 annually to community-based projects that can impact the descendants of the men, women and children enslaved on Jesuit plantations in Maryland. The following are details, as provided by the university.

The Reconciliation Fund, which was inspired by an undergraduate student referendum in 2019, has begun accepting applications for projects that aim to benefit communities of descendants, many of whom live in and around Maringouin, Louisiana, where their ancestors — reportedly 272 individuals — were sold and forcibly moved to in 1838. The projects could include health and legal clinics, environmental justice projects, after-school and pre-college programs and local history and memorialization projects.

In partnership with the university, a student committee and an advisory committee of descendants have developed the application process for the Reconciliation Fund. Both groups will also review grant proposals for communitybased projects and make recommendations to university leaders, who will select the final projects.

“The Reconciliation Fund is a collective effort — an example of our community’s deep commitment to the possibilities that can emerge when we work in partnership to advance reconciliation,” said Georgetown President John J. DeGioia. “This project is one way the university is reckoning with the legacies of slavery that have shaped our past and to respond by advancing justice and equity in our present.”

The university benefitted from the enslavement of people of African descent through plantations owned by the Maryland Jesuits through the mid19th century and from the practices of slavery and forced labor that took place on and around Georgetown’s campus.

Also, Georgetown continues to engage in a long-term and ongoing process to more deeply understand and respond to its role in the injustice of slavery.

The Georgetown University Library continues to digitize the Archives of the Maryland

Province of the Society of Jesus and publish items from before 1900 in DigitalGeorgetown, providing a valuable resource on the history of slavery and Catholic history. Library archivists have also recently improved the collection’s finding aid, enhancing the arrangement and description of the materials and making them more accessible to researchers and the general public.

Georgetown is also partnering with Michigan State University and the University of Virginia on a digital initiative that describes and provides access to the history of enslavement found in American college and university archival

materials. The On These Grounds: Modeling and Sharing Archival Materials about Slavery project, which is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is led by historians and librarians from each university who are producing an open data model to be tested at each institution. Most recently, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Rutgers University, the University of Georgia, Washington and Lee University and Hampden-Sydney College have been invited to help test the tool by adding content from their archives.

“The Reconciliation Fund is ...an example of our community’s deep commitment to the possibilities that can emerge when we work in partnership to advance reconciliation.”

— John J. DeGioia

CALVIN CAFRITZ: BUILDER, PHILANTHROPIST (1931-2023)

Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz and Gwendolyn Cafritz, died Jan. 12 at the age of 91. For more than 30 years, he led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation which focuses on programs in the arts and humanities. Last year, his wife Jane was elected to succeed her husband as the foundation’s president and CEO.

The Cafritz Foundation is one of the biggest in the D.C. area, with over $400 million in assets and around $65 million in annual revenue and expenses, according to the Washington Business Journal. As head of the foundation, Cafritz distributed grants to places like the National Gallery of Art, Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center — as well as schools and universities.

A native Washingtonian, born on March 29, 1931, Cafritz lived on R Street in Georgetown and was involved in real estate for more than 50 years.

“Mild, self-effacing, decorous, humble and unfailingly courteous, Mr. Cafritz led by example and always with a smile,” his family obituary reads. “His commitment to causes and institutions extended beyond writing checks to giving time and energy. He warmly greeted staff and fellow philanthropist alike, making no distinction between people. He often conveyed his conviction that believing in a cause obligated one to support it financially.

For him, philanthropy required partnerships that are broad, diverse, and extensive.”

Cafritz was married previously two times; his first wife was Enid Cafritz and his second wife was Joyce Smith. He is survived by his devoted wife, Jane Lipton Cafritz. He is also survived by his three children, Elliot Cafritz (Lauren), Anthony Cafritz (Pearl), and Elizabeth Peltekian (Viken); five grandchildren, Sam, Alexander, Seb, Aram, and Van; three stepchildren, Olivia Rubenstein, Irina Rubenstein, and James Speyer; and two step-grandchildren Evan and MJ Speyer. Cafritz is also survived by his brother Conrad Cafritz. He was preceded in death by his brother Carter.

A memorial service will be held at a later date, the family says. “In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to a charity of your choice.”

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Special Neighborhood Hang Out: Say Cheese!

BY PEGGY SANDS

“I never thought my little café would become such a popular neighborhood hangout,” said Suzy Nabil, owner and some would say “the Spirit” of Say Cheese! at 1132 29th St. NW.

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Nabil spoke enthusiastically, with her usual big smile, as she turned to her grill and flipped a golden butter-toasted sandwich stacked with hot roast beef slices and melted cheese dripping from its sides onto a plate alongside a small bowl of her rich homemade pumpkin lentil soup. “I have so many regular customers who come in mornings to evenings from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. to eat and talk – talk about everything! They’re from all different backgrounds, workers, young professionals, shop owners and their staffs. And so many say they come here because of me! I never expected that!”

The large curved windows fronting the sidewalk of the narrow building on 29th Street just doors from M Street and across from the busy side entrance of the Four Seasons Hotel, had long attracted Nabil as a site for her dream café, she told The Georgetowner.

Nabil fixed and painted the once abandoned building, added wood furniture, cabinets and an open kitchen with bold yellows, turquoises, greens. Colorful benches with pillows are usually filled with customers sitting in the long afternoon sun on most days — talking. The walls are filled with artwork and the long tables with tall stools against the windows are piled with magazines and newspapers (including The Georgetowner) that everyone picks up and reads, according to Nabil. You don’t see many customers hunched over their computers for hours. A young man in his twenties and an older woman in her 70s often come around 5 p.m. and talk. Workmen in overalls, ladies who lunch and not just a few well known journalists and politicians come often (columnist George Will says it’s his favorite lunch place by far).

Nabil is not new to the eatery business. For more than 20 years, she and her husband have owned the popular Wisemiller’s deli next to Georgetown University at 1236 36th St. NW. They bought it while her husband was studying for his Ph.D. in classical literature at Georgetown and working at the deli part time. He had an undergraduate business degree in business, she in mechanical engineering, but somehow, they found they loved the deli business.

About ten years ago they opened a smaller deli café with sandwiches, coffee and smoothies on Wisconsin Avenue – Wisey’s. “It was instantly successful and fun,” Nabil said with a smile. “But the pandemic and university closings hit it hard. We closed it down for good. Still, I had always wanted to have my own café so I started this. I did it for myself and now its success makes me happy.”

Until now, Nabil has run a one-person shop doing everything. When the café is full of people eating and standing in line to order her made-in-person sandwiches, salads, soups, smoothies and desserts, they sometimes must wait a good 15 minutes. Sometimes the used dishes pile up on a side table. “It’s like a busy home kitchen,” she says. “People tell me they feel like they’re at home.”

“I do need to get some help but it’s all so expensive,” Nabil says. Everything has increased in price.” Including the building. Nabil had a flexible contract with the former helpful owner Alan Gaunoux. But last year he sold her building and the ones he owned along M Street. The dozen or so stores – many who’ve been there for decades – have been told they’ll have to leave possibly by spring 2023.

Nabil told The Georgetowner that she received a letter instructing her to vacate the property in March.

“I would hate to see this close. I’ve put so much work into it. I know the people who work and live near here love it. It’s now one of the only cafes left in this area. But I’m not sure I can do it all over again.”

Calvin Cafritz Courtesy the Cafritz Foundation.

Suzy Nabil, owner of Say Cheese! on 29th Street. Photo by Jordan Tovin.

BY KATE OCZYPOK

D.C. A LEADER IN BUILDING NEW APARTMENTS, BUT SMALL ONES

Washington, D.C. is one of the biggest urban hubs for renting newly constructed apartments. Over the last 10 years, the number of new ones has grown by almost 70 percent, or 39,000 new apartments. However, we may have new apartments, but they are tiny—the average size is just 751 square feet. That makes D.C. apartments the third smallest among the top 20 markets for new apartment construction.

LOCAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ADD MORNING AFTER PILL VENDING MACHINE TO CAMPUS

Aiza Saeed, a George Washington University senior, along with Neharika Rao, a sophomore, led an effort to get a new vending machine on campus that dispenses emergency contraception pills. Now, alongside Advil and tampons, women can get what is colloquially referred to as “morning after” pills. Saeed and Rao jumped on the vending machine suggestion after the student association president proposed the idea following last year’s Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade.

MORE TRAINS ARE COMING SAYS WMATA

Beginning yesterday, WMATA has added more trains to their system, making for another step in the right direction to get back to prepandemic levels. Trains on the Orange, Blue and Blue+ (aka Yellow replacement) lines will arrive every 12 minutes from 6-9 a.m. and again from 3-6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. This move deletes three minutes from current wait times. Beginning February 21, the Red Line joins the fun with trains every eight minutes, down from its current 10-minute-per-train wait.

MAN CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE MURDER OF 13-YEAROLD KARON BLAKE

Jason Lewis, a D.C. man who allegedly saw Karon Blake, 13, breaking into cars and subsequently shot him turned himself into police last week. He was charged with second degree murder. Earlier this month, the shooting sparked calls for the shooter to be identified and arrested. D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee pleaded for patience as they investigated the incident. Lewis, a D.C. government worker, had a concealed carry license and registered firearm with police.

SMITHSONIAN CASTLE CLOSES DOORS FOR FIVE YEARS

The Smithsonian Castle, more officially known as The Smithsonian Institution Building, has closed its doors as of February 1 for five years. The closure will allow for renovations to the building, the first in over 50 years. The focus will be on the interior, with noteworthy projects to include returning the Upper Great Hall to its original two-story height. The building’s Enid A. Haupt Garden will still remain open throughout the construction.

MCPHERSON SQUARE HOMELESS CAMP TO BE CLEARED

The homeless encampment in McPherson Square will be cleared of tents and people on February 15. The move is two months earlier than originally planned (the first planned date was April 12) and comes after a pressing request from D.C. government. This information was from a National Park Service letter obtained by the Washington Post. The area is the biggest encampment in D.C. and a visual reminder of the housing crisis affecting the city.

Encampment on Virginia Ave. near Kennedy Center. Photo by Sonya Bernhardt.

Georgetown Cool... and Safe?

Georgetown is having a moment… again. Over its 272 or so years, it has reinvented itself without losing its charm or erasing its history. We, along with other Georgetowners, know this and live this. We usually don’t shout about it.

Still, let’s hear from others. “Look at the lineup of restaurants on the way — and those recently opened — and Georgetown is where you’ll find some of D.C.’s most exciting newcomers. There’s new energy building up in the storied neighborhood. Dare we even say . . . Georgetown is cool again?” Washingtonian intoned.

Many cite Lutèce, Green Almond Pantry, Apéro, L’Avant-Garde, Yellow and Maman — and the future Osteria Mozza, Two Nine and Kyojin Sushi.

“Georgetown is experiencing a true restaurant renaissance,” wrote Joe Sternlieb, CEO of the Georgetown Business Improvement District in the Jan. 11th Georgetowner. “The Washingtonian recently named Georgetown the ‘in’ neighborhood for dining in 2023.”

They’re — we’re — correct. Even if there

remain continual strains to a few businesses from narrow-thinking landlords, there are property owners, thinking outside the box, matching spaces with brands creatively.

Yet this good fortune for our commercial district could go out the window, because the real threat is increasing crime and the perception of increasing crime. If the District government and Metropolitan Police Department are not seen in command, it’s a problem.

Speaking of downtown D.C. — which can be applied to Georgetown — D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson said: “If you want to get people downtown, step back and think, ‘How do you do it?’ You deal with the perception of the city as not being safe. You create more activities and nightlife. What’s going to get retired couples to come into the city from Virginia?”

Georgetown was cool even when it wasn’t. What matters most is residents and visitors feeling and knowing that D.C. is safe. And if this is not so, all the fine dining, high-end retail and coolness won’t matter.

Don’t Price Gouge Georgetown’s Iconic Shops Out of Business

It’s been a rough couple of years for businesses with the pandemic shut-downs and restrictions. Remote work and remote buying hit Georgetown’s small single-owner in-person stores and eateries particularly hard with labor shortages and falling sales. Yet most survived!

While chain stores like the Gap, 7-Eleven and even Brooks Brothers were shut down by their corporate owners because of falling profits, many of the small one-of-a-kind shop owners took from their personal savings, decreased in size and service, and did it all 24/7 with little or no staff. Georgetowners responded: ordering take-out, eating outside under heating lamps and umbrellas; dropping by retail stores if just to chat.

Now, it’s 2023, and most pandemic restrictions are gone. Even parking is coming back. The light seems to be brightening at the end of the long Covid tunnel.

So, it has been somewhat of a shock that in just the past few weeks, The Georgetowner reported on the closing of some of Georgetown’s favorite small businesses. One featured this week was the charming Chinese tea room that has been a treasured jewel of tranquility on Wisconsin Avenue for 25 years. “I thought my landlord was proud to have me and my beautiful business here. People loved it. It was always full and I finally had it decorated [at

My Funny Valentine

OR, WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY ADVENTURES IN ANGIOPLASTY.

BY SUSAN BODIKER

Getting a stent was never at the top of my Christmas wish list.

Nevertheless, on December 16, after some months of peculiar symptoms and a serious conversation with my cardiologist, I found myself in a hospital cath lab, getting a stent implanted in my right cardiac artery. It turned out it was 90 percent blocked. Who knew? I had had no warning signs but the stress test told another story.

Because I’m a writer and feel better when I work, I wanted -- well, needed -- to create a story around this scary time and share what I learned with you.

her expense] just the way I wanted,” owner Hollie Wong told The Georgetowner. “But suddenly the landlord raised the rent for the next year 48 percent! 48 percent! I can’t do 48 percent. I can’t add more tables and ruin the charm. I can raise the prices a bit but not 50 percent.”

The team room closed Feb. 1. And so will a few more Georgetown favorites soon. The Georgetowner will report about them sadly. But here’s what we really think: This is price gouging! A 48-percent raise in rent in one year is the definition of price gouging. D.C. doesn’t allow it for single-family renters. Ten to 12 percent-a-year rent increase is considered reasonable — especially if there are longterm capital improvements scheduled. But 48 percent? Individual home renters are protected by D.C. regulations from price gouging; they can appeal and negotiate.

We suggest that D.C.’s neighborhood single owners of long-time businesses should be protected from price gouging as well. Also, consider how after a treasured business is kicked out, the building stands empty for years while the landlord waits for even bigger long-term renters. Individual business owners should have a legal process to complain, appeal, negotiate and be protected from commercial price gauging.

Women’s symptoms are often dismissed but not in my case. Everyone -- from the cab driver who got lost on the way to the hospital (a true comedy of errors) to the admitting physicians -- took my anxiety and fear very seriously. The angioplasty was performed at G.W. University Hospital where, you may recall, a certain vice president (and father to Liz Cheney) had many of his cardiac procedures. That lent a certain irony to my situation.

You may love your doctors, but nurses are the best. And vastly overlooked, underappreciated and under-rewarded.

Know your body. Whatever feels weird probably is. Get it looked at. My “blast furnace” heartburn was likely chest pain, but because it was “unconventional,” I thought “horses” (epigastric) not “zebras” (heart). A common mistake, apparently.

You can be in great shape as I thought I was, with no apparent risk factors, and still get a kick in the head from your body.

Get your estate and paperwork in order now and make sure your loved ones know your wishes and how to go forward, just in case. (Spoiler alert: it can be very difficult conversation.) It gives you a sense of control (HA!) and the reassurance your family knows what’s expected and desired. I was down to “who takes the dog and who takes the cat.” It was oddly comforting to have this resolved.

Medically, my recovery has been uneventful. Emotionally, not so much. I feel vulnerable and scared. So very scared. All the time. (My new team at the cardiac rehab center assures

me this will pass.) The bruises from the angioplasty and IVs have faded but not the fear or the memory of thinking, am I going to die?

I’ve always looked young for my age, and was vain about it, but now I ask myself: will this be the start of my descent into decrepitude? A cascade of other things? What else is lurking that I don’t know about? Every twinge seems ominous. My world has temporarily shrunk down to my body and how it feels at any given moment.

It takes a spread sheet and a lot of notes to manage a new routine of meds. Not to mention the side effects. This has become my default hobby.

I am afraid to close my eyes.

According to the CDC, it is heart disease, not breast cancer, that is “the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 314,186 women in 2020 — or about 1 in every 5 female deaths.” Symptoms like mine often go unrecognized or are attributed to something else. Lifestyle factors, including excess stress, contribute to your risk for heart disease, so have a “heart to heart” talk with your physician about what you can do to reduce that risk -- from smoking cessation to dietary changes to more exercise. Think of it as the best sort of self-care. Some things you can’t change. In my case, a genetic legacy and, um, my age.

To learn more about women and heart disease, visit the American Heart Association’s, Go Red campaign. Or if you’re a doctorwannabe like me, pick up “Heart, A History” by Sandeep Jauhar, M.D., which reveals the mysteries of the heart and the discoveries that have advanced our knowledge of this “most vital organ.” And for those with a more spiritual bent, spend some time with Pema Chödrön’s “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times.” It provides a Buddhist approach to overcoming pain, fear and chaos through openness, curiosity and compassion.

February is American Heart Month.

D.C. Black History Spotlight: Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954)

BY CHRISTOPHER JONES

While browsing the Peabody Room of the Georgetown Neighborhood Library in search of a fitting subject for Black History Month, I came upon an intriguing 1906 local news report which led me down a research rabbit hole. Soon, I was happy to make the acquaintance of a truly remarkable and inspiring figure – Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954) – a D.C. teacher, national civil rights and women’s rights activist, and the individual leader perhaps more responsible than any other for the desegregation of the District’s restaurants in 1953.

Without Church Terrell, the District likely would not have created Douglass Day, celebrated to honor the birthday of abolitionist Frederick Douglass on Valentine’s Day. And without Douglass Day, and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12, Black History Month might never have been created for the month of February.

So far, no mention of Mary Church Terrell. However, her husband, Judge Robert H. Terrell was noted as giving the address to honor Douglass.

When I looked up Douglass Day at douglassday.org, however, I found that credit for the day’s creation – still honored today --is given to Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, a teacher of Latin at the M Street School: “In Washington, D.C., a group led by Mary Church Terrell, (an important African American activist, educator, and author) observed Douglass’s birthday every February 14th as “Douglass Day.” And the site offers definitive proof of her founding role from the Library of Congress’s website at: www.loc.gov/item/mss425490606/.

Delving into Mary Church Terrell’s biography, I was swept up by her life story, a great American saga of an historical figure’s lifetime of fighting for civil and human rights by using her education to help others rise above oppression.

In the year of the Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, during the Civil War, Mary Church Terrell was born enslaved (for the first two years of her life) to mixed-race parents in Memphis, Tennessee. As a young girl, Mary soon learned the horrors of Jim Crow in the Reconstruction Era. Her father, businessman Robert Church, became one of the first African-American millionaires in the south. But, perhaps due to his outsized success as a mixed-race former slave, he was shot in the head. Though he survived, he suffered severely and his marriage grew strained, ending in divorce in the 1870s.

When her childhood friend Thomas Moss, an African-American businessman like her

father, was killed by a White lynch mob in 1892, Church Terrell joined with her journalist friend Ida B. Wells to begin a life-long campaign to enact anti-lynching laws.

Church Terrell harnessed her advanced education and the privileges she had amassed as a light-skinned, wealthy African-American to dedicate her life to helping uplift others.

As one of the first African-American women in the United States to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree, Church Terrell graduated in 1888 from Oberlin College concentrating in Classical Languages. She was soon offered a professorship teaching Latin at Wilburforce University in Ohio.

Fearing that she might become too educated to be “marriable,” however, Church Terrell’s father dispatched her to Europe for a twoyear finishing experience. In those years she

learned to speak Italian, German and French (keeping diaries in various languages) and met notable women’s rights activists such as Susan B. Anthony.

Upon return in 1890, Church Terrell moved to Washington, D.C. where she began teaching Latin and Greek at one of the first public high schools for African-Americans, the M Street School at 128 M St. NW. Soon after joining the faculty, she married the chair of the Language Department, Harvard-educated AfricanAmerican Robert H. Terrell. “I enjoyed assisting him in the Latin department so much, I made up my mind to assist him in all departments for the rest of my natural life,” Church Terrell wrote.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON GEORGETOWNER.COM.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Art/Fashion Connection at Commonwealth Proper

Feb. 9, 6-10:00 p.m. 1355 Wisc. Ave. NW, Suite 200. A night where fashion and art collide. Hosted by artist Parsa Afsharjavan.

Tour the Historic City Tavern

NW. How did friendship shape our democracy? For more information go to dumbartonhouse.org.

Next Virtual Meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission ANC 2E

Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m.

For agenda go to anc2e.com.

“St. Valentine shared honors yesterday with Frederick Douglass, the negro leader and education champion, whose birthday was February 14,” the Washington Post story from Feb. 15, 1906 began. “At all the colored schools of the city, exercises commemorating Douglass day were observed from 1 to 3 p.m. At the M Street High School, Oswald Garrison Villard, grandson of William Lloyd Garrison, the notable New York editor and Judge Robert H. Terrell delivered addresses paying tribute to the memory of Douglass and calling attention to the advancement of education since his death in 1895… Soon after the death of Frederick Douglass, negro teachers of Washington held a meeting and passed resolutions asking the board of education to appoint a Douglass Day. February 14 was chosen, and it has been observed each year since.”

Feb. 11, 4-5:00 p.m. City Tavern Club, 3206 M St. NW. For info go to citytavernclub.org.

Valentine’s Day Food Specials

Feb. 14, 15, 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Pintstripes, 1064 Wisc. Ave. NW.

Next Meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts

Feb. 16, 9:00 a.m. 401 F. Street NW, Suite 312. Filing deadline: Feb. 2.

Friendship in the Federal Period Panel

Feb. 23, 8-9:00 p.m. Dumbarton House, 2715 Q Street

Grace Duckett: Woman, Mother, Enslaved Worker, Research Update

Feb. 28, 8-9:00 p.m.

Dumbarton House, 2715 Q Street NW. Find out the latest historical research on a woman who was enslaved on the property. For more information go to dumbartonhouse.org.

Patrons Party

Wednesday, April 19, 6 p.m. http://www.georgetownhousetour. com/contact-us/at-st-johns/

90th Annual Georgetown House Tour

Sat., April 22, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

In 1974, Mary Church Terrell’s home at 326 T St NW, in Washington, D.C. was named a National Historic Landmark. Library of Congress.

Mary Church Terrell. Library of Congress.

Mary Church Terrell meets with Justice Thurgood Marshall.

eager for their own number-one restaurant, Langhorne advises to focus on learning the basics. “Allow things to happen naturally and don’t try to force anything,” he added. “It takes a long time to get good at cooking.”

Next up for Langhorne: the “imminent opening” of Petite Cerise, a French-inspired restaurant in Shaw.

Not bad for someone who first started in the food scene at a strip mall neighborhood pizzeria.

The Dabney’s Jeremiah Langhorne

BY KATE OCZYPOK

Fresh off his number-one spot in Washingtonian magazine’s 100 Best Restaurants issue, owner and chef Jeremiah Langhorne is speechless.

“I was shocked,” he told The Georgetowner about the honor. “We always try to do things because we think it’s the right way to do it, we don’t necessarily hunt for rewards, it’s a bonus when they happen.” He was hoping for a top20 spot and said he would have been ecstatic about a top-10, but the number-one spot was “truly amazing and fantastic.”

Langhorne has cooked and traveled all over the world. He’s a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. His accolades include Eater’s “Young Guns Class of 2022,” and one of Gayot’s “Top Five Rising Chefs.” And the number-one spot in Washingtonian isn’t The Dabney’s first claim to fame — it got one of Food + Wine’s 2016 Restaurants of the Year and has a Michelin Star.

Having grown up in the region, Langhorne has put Mid-Atlantic cuisine and open-hearth cooking at the forefront of the food scene. He loves the flavors of the Chesapeake region, the Piedmont, the Appalachians and the delicious food that’s homegrown on the farmlands of Maryland and Pennsylvania.

The inspiration for The Dabney came from thoughts about where to take people visiting Washington, D.C. from far away. Sure, the region is a wonderful melting pot of different restaurants with cuisines from all over the world but there was nothing that represented the landscape specifically, Langhorne explained. So, The Dabney was born.

The restaurant boasts a small rooftop garden, growing delicious herbs and greens for (literally!) fresh-picked salads. A forager

for over a decade, Langhorne doesn’t get a chance to do it as much now that his restaurant sits firmly at 122 Blagden Alley NW. The rooftop garden does help a bit. “When I was living in Charleston [S.C.] I could drive 20 minutes and be in the middle of nowhere,” said Langhorne. “In D.C., you can drive 20 minutes and be just four blocks away.”

Langhorne makes up for the little foraging he gets to do now with a huge network of purveyors, farmers, and foragers. They work with what he called a “wonderful group of people,” including those who raise pigs, catch fish, grow vegetables and even a person who provides a certain type of nut.

Given The Dabney’s Mid-Atlantic fare, Langhorne also loves paying homage to the seasons. He particularly enjoys when two seasons intersect, citing the upcoming spring crab season dovetailing with the back end of asparagus season. He cites a dish with jumbo lump Maryland crabmeat warmed up with cream and garlic chives from his garden, topped with grilled asparagus and garnished with a bit of yogurt, confit lemon puree and lemon balm (from the rooftop garden) as one of his favorites. “It’s a simple dish but the flavors go so well together,” he added.

“Seasonal eating is a much better way to connect with food as a person.”

By eating seasonally, an act as simple as eating strawberries has become so much more exciting and fun for Langhorne. He mentioned how the average person has gotten so used to going to a grocery store and getting whatever they want whenever they want.

“There’s a reason blackberries taste disgusting in December,” he laughed. Sometimes eating seasonally does have its difficulties, especially

given how the commercial industry changes the way we look at the times of year. “Just look at Starbucks releasing pumpkin spice lattes when it’s 90 degrees outside,” Langhorne added. “We try to focus and reach out to purveyors, asking what vegetables, seafood and other things are thriving in that moment — it’s different from saying ‘I’m going to make a crab dish’ then going out and finding crabmeat.”

As far as advice for up-and-coming chefs

Chef and co-owner of The Dabney, Jeremiah Lanhorne works on the Dabney’s rooftop garden.

A dish from The Dabney paying homage to the

Romantic Films and Their Georgetown Connections

BY KATE OCZYPOK

If you’re a self-professed hopeless romantic as I am, Valentine’s Day is more appreciated than abhorred. So, in that spirit, here are some fun matches between romantic films and the Georgetown shops and restaurants that complement them. Try them out with your sweetheart!

Pretty Woman/Ella-Rue – It would be a big mistake—huge— not to visit the spunky consignment shop Ella-Rue on P St. NW. The 1990 movie is a modern update on Cinderella, casting Julia Roberts as a courtesan and Richard Gere as a businessman on a trip to Los Angeles. Unlike Julia Roberts’s character in Pretty Woman, you’ll feel welcomed right away at Ella-Rue, walking out feeling like the star you are with your cool clothes haul. 3231 P St. NW. Pretty Woman is available to stream on Hulu.

When Harry Met Sally/Call Your Mother Deli – Call Your Mother’s sandwiches are not piled quite as high as the famous Katz’s featured in When Harry Met Sally, the movie that examines the age-old question “Can men and women ever be just friends?” If you do head to the Georgetown O Street location and take your best friend, it’s advised not to reenact Harry and Sally’s infamous deli scene.

That way you’ll be invited back to have what she’s having. 3428 O St. NW. When Harry Met Sally is available to stream on Hulu or purchase on Amazon Prime or AppleTV.

Casablanca/Georgetown Piano Bar – The 1942 wartime romance made famous the song “As Time Goes By,” sung by Dooley Wilson (and later many, many others) and the line “Play it again, Sam.” The movie tells the tale of Casablanca nightclub owner Rick Blaine, portrayed by Humphrey Bogart. He finds out his old flame, Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa, is in town with her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). Visit Georgetown Piano Bar at 3287 M St. NW for piano players tickling the ivories with your favorite classics, along with cocktails named for music legends. Who knows? You may encounter your very own Rick or Ilsa this Valentine’s Day. 3287 M St. NW. Casablanca is available to stream on HBO Max.

You’ve Got Mail/Bridge Street Books

– While it’s a bit harder these days for the anonymity that surrounds the love story behind this Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan classic, visiting Bridge Street Books might still make you feel like you’re Ryan’s Kathleen Kelly, an independent bookstore owner desperate

to stay in business. Just try not to fall in love with any bigwig bookstore owners like Tom Hanks’ Joe Fox! You can help Bridge Street

Books, founded in 1980, by purchasing one of their many options including poetry, historic, politics and art. 2814 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. You’ve Got Mail is available to stream on Hulu or purchase on Amazon Prime or AppleTV. Ghost/Hinckley Pottery – While it’s been reenacted countless times, the famous pottery scene in 1990’s “Ghost,” starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, is one of the most romantic films of all time. Have your own “Ghost” fantasy at Hinckley Pottery in town. They offer adult classes that run for 10-weeks or one-time “try it” classes to give the art form a try. Don’t forget to add “Unchained Melody” to your Spotify playlist to prepare. But try not to get carried away at the pottery wheel. 3132 Blues Alley NW. Ghost is available to purchase on Amazon Prime or AppleTV.

Love Letters

from Georgetowners

COMPILED BY ROBERT DEVANEY AND KATE OCZYPOK

SAMAR & WILL LANGHORNE

Where and how did you meet?

Will and I met at Tryst in Adams Morgan. I had just arrived in D.C. three months prior and Will was in his off season from his racing circuit. He asked me what book I was reading and the rest is history!

What sparked your love and how do you maintain your relationship?

First, we were drawn to each other’s sense of goofiness. Will has a fantastic sense of humor. As we learned more about each other we realized we shared so many of the same visions and values including our interest and commitment to social justice and human rights and that passion has gotten us closer together. There are so many ways we maintain our relationship. One of our favorites is continuing to have exciting experiences that take us out of our comfort zone and give us more things to talk about, including discovering something new about each other.

in the same apartment building but rarely ran into each other; he was living with his sister, which my roommate and I decided was adorable.

Years after this, it was Christmas day in Rome. We were traveling with our families and ran into each other on a little side street. He emailed me soon after, saying we shouldn’t need to be in Italy to see each other. The rest is history.

What is the most romantic spot in Georgetown to you and what’s the most romantic thing you two have done?

It is always romantic to take a walk in Georgetown together. In the winter, sitting by the fire at La Chaumiere is lovely.

KISHAN PUTTA & DIVYA SWAMY

Where and how did you meet?

Chef Maziar and brother Shahab Farivar

BREAKFAST EVERYDAY UNTIL 4:00

Reservations for birthday celebrations, lunch and dinner

Call 202-625-2740

What is the most romantic spot in Georgetown to you and what’s the most romantic thing you two have done?

Our favorite romantic spot is Apéro, but L’Avant Garde is also quickly becoming our favorite spot too. We have a lot of romantic moments, but I would say our most favorite romantic moment is something that we still do, which is getting on Will’s motor bike and going for a long ride ending with dinner at our favorite fast food place, Burger King!

GWEN LOHSE AND JAMES ASSEY

Where and how did you meet?

The first time we met, a friend brought James to a party at my D.C. apartment; I wondered: Who is this tall Southern guy in the bowtie? The second time we met, we were both living

Divya and I met 15 years ago at (not kidding) Love Cafe on U Street!

What sparked your love and how do you maintain your relationship?

Learn from your mistakes and miscommunications! Think and talk about missteps, be honest, and be appreciative and understanding — and give Divya stargazer lillies when Kishan messes up (too often!)

What is the most romantic spot in Georgetown to you and what’s the most romantic thing you two have done?

Watching the sun set from the docks of the Washington Canoe Club at the end of Water Street.

Unleash your inner Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze at Hinckley Pottery this Valentine’s Day.

INS & OUTS

BY ROBERT DEVANEY

IN: MAMAN ON FEB. 14

Maman, NYC’s French bakery and café, will open at 1353-1355 Wisconsin Ave. NW on Feb. 14 and feature its signature sweet treats, cozy drinks — along with a dedicated room, “The Study,” catering to Georgetown students, the company said. Expect Maman classics like famous Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies and Truffle Croque Maman as well as seasonal specials like White Chocolate Rose Cookies in time for Valentine’s Day.

IN: NISOLO ON M

Started in 2011, Nisolo is an eco-friendly, sustainable, living-wage shoe brand. Founder Patrick Woodyard is all about the artisans getting their classic products to market in a fair manner. Their second-ever store opened at 3251 M St. NW. The company’s flagship store is located in Nashville’s Buchanan Arts District — with a main factory in Peru.

IN: WOLFORD

Exquisite — and, yes, sexy — hosiery. Founded more than 70 years ago, Wolford, the Austrian Apparel and Skinwear brand, opened its first Washington, D.C., boutique in Georgetown at 1234 Wisconsin Ave. NW, bringing sophisticated ready-to-wear, athleisure, knits, legwear, lingerie, accessories and more to the neighborhood. It is Wolford’s 23rd store in the U.S.

IN: BAR À VIN REOPENS WITH TINETTE’S POP-UP

While Chez Billy Sud at 1035 31st St. NW closed at the start of the new year to undergo renovations, we’re told the restaurant plans “to reopen in early spring with updates to kitchen, infrastructure” — with an additional new private dining room. Meanwhile, its adjacent Bar à Vin is hosting a pop-up from Tinette’s Crêperie, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday to Sunday.

IN: COMMONWEALTH PROPER

Welcome to Commonwealth Proper at 1355 Wisconsin Ave. NW, above the incoming bakery, Maman. It is, we’re told, “a modern ensemble of the best tailors, designers, and personal stylists in America working together to make exceptional custom clothing.” The company is based in Philadelphia — hence, its name referring to Philly’s past textile glory. Gentlemen, say hello to Craig Arthur von Schroeder.

IN: FUEL BODY LAB ON P

Fuel Body Lab has begun its 13th year in Georgetown at a new location — 3003 P Street NW, next to Morgan’s Pharmacy. Says the team on P: “The new, cozy studio lends itself to private sessions, duets and small, focused group classes. We have state of the art Pilates equipment including four reformers, three chairs and a full-sized Cadillac for private sessions.”

IN: OAKBERRY

A new eatery — Oakberry — has opened at 1560 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The franchise is all about smoothies and açai bowls. It takes over the former spot of La Jolie Bleu bakery and, before that, Dolcezza gelato — at Q & Wisconsin, next to Los Cuates Mexican restaurant.

IN: SLEEP NUMBER

Minnesota-based Sleep Number, which makes the Sleep Number and Comfortaire beds, has set up shop at 1239 Wisconsin Ave. NW, next to the Apple store. The adjustable bed company had revenues of $1.856 billion last year — and, as of 2018, employed 4,220 persons across the U.S. The building once housed the Loft and, before that, Ann Taylor.

OUT: BANANA REPUBLIC

Another fallen retail legend. The Banana Republic at Georgetown’s iconic intersection closed on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and will be succeeded by the yoga apparel store and exercise spot, Alo Yoga. The corner property’s most legendary occupant was the haute cuisine French restaurant, Rive Gauche.

OUT: NIKE

The Nike footwear store has emptied its roughly 33,600-square-foot space at 3040 M St. NW — but reportedly is seeking a smaller space along the 3200 block of M Street NW,

where a few stores are vacant. Nike opened in 2012 at the corner of M & Thomas Jefferson Streets NW. In the 1970s and ’80s, the building contained the movie theater, Cerberus — and, after that, the Barnes & Noble bookstore.

OUT: CHING CHING CHA

After 25 years, Ching Ching Cha tea house and shop at 1063 Wisconsin Ave. NW left Georgetown on Jan. 29. “Our decision to close the tea house came sadly after I met with the two young landlords in April,” business owner Hollie Wong told her customers in a letter. “Ching Ching Cha has always been a dream for me and together we made it happen.… We bid farewell now to Georgetown — to be continued in Dupont….”

OUT: MARSTON LUCE HAS CLOSING SALE

Gregory Marston Luce died in January of 2022. He founded his renowned antique store in Georgetown more than 40 years ago. Its time has come, too — there is a closing sale at the store. Please be sure to say good-bye. The Georgetowner last featured Marston Luce and his business two years ago.

OUT (SOON): SAY CHEESE!

The project known as 2900 M will soon force the neighborhood favorite Say Cheese! at 1132 29th St. NW to move out for the major reconstruction of most of the southern side of the 2900 block of M Street. Business owner Suzy Nabil is seeking a new place for serving her grilled cheese sandwiches, salads and soups. Several adjacent stores will be emptying by the end of March — including Ike Behar.

OUT (TEMPORARILY): DIPTYQUE

Diptyque, the luxury French fragrance brand, which opened a store at 3273 M St. NW in October, is temporarily closed while

SOON: DISTRICT DOUGHNUT

District Doughnut, formerly at 3327 Cady’s Alley NW, is set to reopen at 3333 M St. NW, once home to Sweetgreen, and long before that, a Little Tavern.

COMING: GOLD’S GYM ON M ST.

Gold’s Gym — founded in 1965 by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California, and now with 700 fitness studios worldwide — is coming to Georgetown in November. The company signed a 24,000-square-foot lease with Jamestown, owner of Georgetown Park, the former interior shopping mall which now fronts on M Street and Wisconsin Avenue. The facility will be located on the lower level of the retail complex. The gym was made famous by the film, “Pumping Iron.” Members have ranged from former California governor and weightlifting champion Arnold Schwarzenegger to former Georgetown businessman Michael O’Harro.

COMING: DISTRICT DOUGHNUT

undergoing renovation. Expected reopening is in the spring.

The Alo Yoga store at 3200 M St. NW will open in the spring in the former Banana Republic. Georgetowner photo.

Coming Soon: District Donut.

2023

SPRING ARTS

PREVIEW PULLOUT

“Chinese Landscape Series No. 3,” 1999. Huang Yan. Courtesy Hirshhorn Museum.

ARTS PERFORMING

BY RICHARD SELDEN

OPERA

The Kennedy Center Opera House curtain will rise next month on Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s “Blue,” about a police officer — a “Black man in blue” — whose activist son is killed by a white officer. Directed by Thompson and conducted by Joseph Young and Jonathan Taylor Rush, the Washington National Opera production features Kenneth Kellogg as the Father, Briana Hunter as the Mother, Aaron Crouch as the Son and Reginald Smith Jr. as the Reverend (March 11 to 25).

Verdi fans know Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II as Nabucco, to be sung by Lester Lynch in Washington Concert Opera’s spring performance in George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium, with Antony Walker conducting. Also in WCO’s “Nabucco” cast: Alexandra Loutsion as Abigaille, Peter Volpe as Zaccaria and Andres Acosta as Ismaele (March 4).

CHORAL

This Saturday at Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church is the final performance of “The Ordering of Moses,” a spiritual-infused oratorio from the 1930s by Nathaniel Dett, staged for the first time by In Series and Heritage Signature Chorale, with Stanley Thurston conducting (Feb. 11).

Washington Master Chorale’s “Poetry Into Song” program at the National Presbyterian Church will feature a David Conte world premiere (March 5). At Washington National Cathedral, the Cathedral Choral Society’s upcoming concerts will center on William Byrd (March 5), Rachmaninoff (March 19), Duruflé and Poulenc (April 2) and Monteverdi (April 30). The Washington Bach Consort will present Handel’s Messiah (March 19) and Bach’s Mass in B Minor (April 30) at Strathmore; the Washington Chorus will pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (April 4); and,

late this spring, the Choral Arts Society will perform Eric Whitacre’s “The Sacred Veil” at 10th & G (May 6).

CLASSICAL

What’s the collective noun for conductors?

The National Symphony Orchestra needs to know, thanks to upcoming appearances by Sir Mark Elder (Feb. 16 to 19), Christoph Eschenbach (Feb. 23 to 25), Dalia Stasevska (March 2 to 4), Stanislav Kochanovsky, with pianist Stephen Hough playing Rachmaninoff (March 23 to 25) and Kevin John Edusei, with violinist Midori playing Korngold (March 31 and April 1). When the cherry blossoms drop, NSO Music Director Gianandrea Noseda will return to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with pianist Daniil Trifonov, who will play Prokofiev and Scriabin (April 13 to 15).

More orchestras in the Concert Hall, presented by Washington Performing Arts: Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, with pianist Yefim Bronfman playing Bartók (March 6); and the Taiwan Philharmonic, with violinist Paul Huang playing Bruch (April 19).

In the Eisenhower Theater, the National Arab Orchestra will open a weekend titled “Taking Back Our Narrative” (Feb. 17).

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has a muchness of Mahler planned for Strathmore: Mahler’s First Symphony, conducted by Music Director Laureate Marin Alsop (Feb. 18); his Fifth Symphony, conducted by Fabian Gabel (March 10); and “Mahler and Klezmer” (March 12). Also at Strathmore, the National Philharmonic will present a Chopin recital by Brian Ganz (Feb. 25) and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony (April 15).

Pianists brought to you by Washington Performing Arts: Charles Richard-Hamelin (April 2) and Yefim Bronfman (April 4) in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater and Emanuel Ax at Strathmore (April 16).

Singers: Leah Hawkins in the Terrace Theater (Feb. 12); Emily Pogorelc with

pianist Chris Reynolds, presented by Vocal Arts DC in the Terrace Theater (Feb. 19); Denyce Graves and Justin Austin with pianist Laura Ward performing Damien Geter’s song cycle “Cotton,” presented by Washington Performing Arts in the Terrace Theater (Feb. 28); Elizaveta Ulakhovic and Fanyong Du with pianist Vera Danchenko-Stern in a Rachmaninoff 150 tribute, presented by the Russian Chamber Art Society at the Embassy of France (April 4).

In addition to the Phillips Collection’s Sunday and Thursday concerts, two performances by pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell of a Rachmaninoff sonata and a commissioned work by Catherine Lamb — with Tao on midi-keyboard — will take place on a Saturday (April 8).

More chamber music: Fortas Chamber Music Concerts in the Terrace Theater will feature the Calidore String Quartet (Feb. 15) and the Boston-based chamber orchestra A Far Cry (March 5). At St. Mark’s Church, the Folger Consort will present “Shakespeare in Step and Song” (Feb. 17 to 19). Back in the Terrace Theater, Washington Performing Arts will welcome the Danish String Quartet (April 21).

Next up for Angel Gil-Ordóñez’s PostClassical Ensemble in the Terrace Theater: “Entwined: A Double Feature,” marking the centennial of Manuel de Falla’s chamber opera “El retablo de maese Pedro (Master Peter’s Puppet Show),” to be performed with animation by Kevork Mourad. The other half: a new work by playwright Derek Goldman about the friendship between Falla and poet Federico García Lorca (April 19).

Here in Georgetown: St. John’s Episcopal Church will host the British a cappella group Voces8 (Feb. 12). Coming to Dumbarton Oaks: cellist Seth Parker Woods and pianist Andrew Rosenblum (Feb. 12 and 13); Baroque ensemble On the Breath of Angels (March 12 and 13); and harpist Lavinia Meijer and violist Nadia Sirota (April 2 and 3). In the concert series at Dumbarton United Methodist

Blue. Photo by Karli Cade.

Church: the Lewis-Martins Duo of cello and violin (March 4); the Balourdet String Quartet with flutist Adam Sadberry (March 25); and — tango, anyone? — the Lysander Piano Trio with bandoneonist JP Jofre (April 29).

POP, HIPHOP, JAZZ, WORLD AND ROCK

For that hearts-and-flowers holiday: Washington Performing Arts will present Jessica Vosk with pianist Michael Mitchell in “A Broadway Valentine” at Sixth & I (Feb. 14).

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC, will celebrate Whitney Houston at the Lincoln Theatre (March 11 and 12).

Hip hop at the Ken Cen? Check it out: Igmar Thomas’ Revive Big Band (Feb. 24); Black Girls Rock BGR!FEST Opening Night Party (March 9); Hip Hop Showcase (March 25); and MC Lyte and Warryn Campbell present “My Block” (April 9).

The Capital City Blues Festival will take place at Constitution Hall (Feb. 24). Washington Performing Arts will present the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton

Selling Kabul

Marsalis in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Feb. 26); the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour at Strathmore, which is co-presenting (April 20); and, also at Strathmore, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain with Rakesh Chaurasia (April 23).

More Strathmore events: Afro-Cuban All Stars (Feb. 24), Goran Bregović (March 9), The Manhattan Transfer (March 24), and the “collaborative soundscapes of meditation and yearning” of Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily (April 14).

Notables in The Club at Studio K (as in Kennedy Center): alto saxophonist Logan Richardson (Feb. 10) and Brazilian bandolinist Hamilton de Holanda and South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini (Feb. 23).

Highlights at Georgetown’s own Blues Alley: Kim Waters (Feb. 23 to 26), the Billy Harper Quintet (March 9), Kenny Garrett (March 16 to 19), Stanley Jordan (April 12 to 16), Jane Monheit (April 20 to 23) and Jon Faddis (April 29 and 30).

The Birchmere sadly lost its founder, Gary Oelze, last month. A few reasons to visit the legendary Alexandria venue: Keb’ Mo’ (Feb. 20 and 21); Lyle Lovett (March 8 and 9); The Smithereens with Marshall Crenshaw (March 17); Stanley Clarke N 4Ever (March 29); The Wailin’ Jennys (April 16 and 17); Graham

Nash (April 18 and 19); and Average White Band (April 21 and 22).

Something for everyone at the Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna: Loudon Wainwright III (March 12), Ladysmith Black Mambazo (March 21 and 22) and Marty Stuart (April 6 and 7).

At the Warner Theatre: Tedeschi Trucks Band, co-presented with the Birchmere (Feb. 16 to 18 and March 2 to 4); Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn and Sarah Jarosz (Feb. 19); Elvis Costello (March 9); and Regina Spektor (March 15). At the Anthem at the Wharf: Maggie Rogers’s Feral Joy Tour (Feb. 13 and 14); Bush and Candlebox (Feb. 15); and Betty Who (March 10).

Big acts at Capital One Arena: Carrie Underwood’s Denim & Rhinestones Tour (Feb. 15); SZA’s SOS Tour (Feb. 27); Journey’s Freedom Tour (March 1); My ’00s Playlist Tour with Ashanti, Ja Rule and others (March 25); and, yes, the Boss, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (March 27).

THEATER

The amount of live theater in D.C. is shear madness. So take some in! And speaking of “Shear Madness,” it’s still sharp as ever in the Kennedy Center Theater Lab (through June 11).

Two women who shaped the 20th century

will take centerstage this spring. At Theater J, Holly Twyford will direct Emily Mann’s “Gloria: A Life,” about second-wave feminist Gloria Steinem (March 8 to April 2). Less familiar is rock-and-roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the subject of Cheryl L. West’s “Shout Sister Shout!” at Ford’s Theatre, directed by Kenneth Roberson and starring Carrie Compere (March 15 to May 13).

Ending soon at Arena Stage: “Ride the Cyclone,” the cult musical by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, directed by Sarah Rasmussen, about teen choir members who find themselves in limbo after a roller-coaster accident (through Feb. 19).

Olney Theatre Center is presenting “Kinky Boots,” starring Solomon Parker III as Lola (through March 1). Upcoming musicals at the National Theatre: “New Jack City” (Feb. 16 to 18), “Jagged Little Pill” (March 14 to 26), “My Fair Lady” (April 6 to 9) and “Disney’s Aladdin” (April 19 to 30).

Sondheim acolytes can flock to “Into the Woods,” directed by Lear deBessonet, in the Kennedy Center Opera House (Feb. 13 to March 19) and “Pacific Overtures” at Signature Theatre (March 7 to April 9). Signature will follow that with “Passing Strange,” directed by Raymond O. Caldwell, a show incorporating punk, blues, gospel and

A sister hides her translator brother from the Taliban in this heart-racing Pulitzer Prize finalist Sondheim’s rarely produced musical epic of tradition and transformation

jazz by Stew (Mark Lemar Stewart) and Heidi Rodewald (April 25 to June 18).

“The Lifespan of a Fact,” by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell, directed by Susan Marie Rhea, about a magazine fact-checker, is now at the Keegan Theatre (through Feb. 25). Then comes “Push the Button,” a world-premiere hip-hop musical by Drew Anderson and Dwayne LawsonBrown (March 25 to April 7).

Not a musical, exactly, but a “song-play,” with music by John Adams and texts by June Jordan, is “I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky,” a poetic take on

the Northridge, California, earthquake. D.C. performances of In Series’ new production will take place at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (April 22, 23, 29 and 30).

In Idris Goodwin’s “Bars and Measures,” Mosaic Theater Company’s next show at the Atlas, directed by Reginald L. Douglas, a classical pianist and a jazz musician communicate across prison bars (Feb. 2 to 26). Later in Mosaic’s season: Mona Mansour’s “Unseen,” directed by Johanna Gruenhut, about an American conflict photographer who wakes up in her ex-girlfriend’s Istanbul apartment (March 30 to April 23).

More international fare: Sanaz Toossi’s “English,” directed by Knud Adams at Studio Theatre, takes place in an English class in Iran in 2009 (through Feb. 26). Back at Signature in Arlington, Shadi Ghaheri directs “Selling Kabul” by Sylvia Khoury, set in Afghanistan in 2013 as the Taliban close in (Feb. 21 to April 2).

Favorite American playwrights: Candis C. Jones will direct Lynn Nottage’s “Clyde’s,” at Studio, about a truck stop where the woman owner hires former convicts (March 1 to April 9). Arena will present “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches,” the first part of Tony Kushner’s AIDS epic, directed by János Szász (March 24 to April 23). And Marsha Norman’s mother-daughter drama “’night, Mother,” adapted as a 1986 film with Anne Bancroft and Sissy Spacek, is coming to Anacostia Playhouse (April 19 to May 14).

Opening this month at Arena is “The High Ground” by Nathan Alan Davis, directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, a love story on the site, more than 100 years later, of the Tulsa Race Massacre (Feb. 10 to April 2).

In Spanish with English surtitles, GALA Hispanic Theatre is presenting “Jardín Salvaje (Native Gardens)” by Karen Zacharias, directed by Rebecca Aparicio, about a garden dispute in a D.C. neighborhood (through Feb. 26).

Did we forget anybody? Oh, yes, the

Bard of Avon. Vying with “Hamlet” for the single greatest play in English, “King Lear” will thunder into the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre, directed by Artistic Director Simon Godwin and starring Patrick Page (Feb. 23 to April 2). Another of Will’s best, “Macbeth,” will be presented at George Washington University’s Corcoran School in an hour-long condensed version devised by the STC Academy Class and directed by Emma Jaster & Marcus Kyd (March 10 and 11).

STC and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company will bring the migrant-camp drama “The Jungle” by Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy, directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, to Harman Hall (March 28 to April 16). Woolly Mammoth is currently presenting the Royal Court Theatre production of Jasmine Lee-Jones’s “Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner,” directed by Milli Bhatia (through March 3). Expect “profanity, racial slurs, graphic and descriptive mentions of murder, mentions of sexual acts, mentions of non-consensual sexual dancing, homophobia, racism, colonialism and the use of marijuana.” After that: Aya Ogawa’s “The Nosebleed,” an autobiographical look at the generational divide (March 31 to April 23).

As part of its National Capital New Play Festival, Bethesda’s Round House Theatre

Balanchine! Photo of Ayano Kimura and Masanori Takiguchi by xmbphotography.

will present Mary Kathryn Nagle’s “On the Far End,” a Native American activist’s story, directed by Margot Bordelon (March 28 to May 7), and Morgan Gould’s “Jennifer, Who Is Leaving,” set in a Dunkin’ Donuts (March 30 to May 7).

More new plays: Graziella Jackson’s “The Wilting Point,” addressing climate change, will have its world premiere at the Keegan (April 13 to 30). Anacostia Playhouse is hosting a New Voices New Works Play Festival of 10-minute plays (April 24 and May 1 and 8). And Scena Theatre will present “Strong Wind” the latest from Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse, directed by Robert McNamara (dates to be announced).

DANCE

The Atlas Intersections Festival is returning with music, theater, spoken word, comedy and, most of all, dance (Feb. 18 to March 26, plus April 22). A few of the companies to appear: Glade Dance Collective, Silk Road Dance Company, Jane Franklin Dance, Elements Dance Company, Black Leaves Dance Company, Word Dance Theater, Gridlock Dance, Furia Flamenca Dance and Prakriti Dance. The Atlas will also host the one-day Versatility Dance Festival, featuring, among others, the Dana Tai

Soon Burgess Dance Company (April 15). The Kennedy Center Opera House will welcome Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Feb. 7 to 12) and American Ballet Theatre, performing Kenneth MacMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet” (Feb. 15 to 19).

“Balanchine!” — exclaims The Washington Ballet, celebrating the George who fathered American ballet with performances in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater (Feb. 22 to 26). Later this spring, TWB will cross the Potomac to present “Aurora’s Wedding,” a family-friendly gathering of beloved characters, along with Balanchine’s “Theme & Variations,” at Capital One Hall in Tysons (April 7 to 9).

FILM

Two green film festivals will unspool in March. Solas Nua’s 17th Capital Irish Film Festival will screen 15 feature films and various shorts at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring (March 2 to 5). Later that month, the 31st DC Environmental Film Festival will present dozens of in-person screenings and discussions at venues including Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery of Art (March 16 to 26).

SPRING 2023 SEASON

Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. NOTES FROM HOME

EXCELSIS PERCUSSION QUARTET

Fresh and exciting contemporary repertoire for percussion. Includes LIVE Meet-the-Artist Chat

Saturday, March 4, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

LEWIS-MARTINS DUO

Cello and violin music in the hands of young stars

— Handel to Villa-Lobos to Ravel

Saturday, March 25, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

BALOURDET STRING QUARTET & ADAM SADBERRY

Lush and emotional Romantic music for string quartet and flute

Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

LYSANDER PIANO TRIO & JP JOFRE

(re)Discovering Tango: a celebration of tango from its origins to the present day

For tickets: 202.965.2000

www.dumbartonconcerts.org

Unless otherwise noted, all concerts are available both in-person and live-streamed.

ARTS VISUAL

BY ARI POST

MADAYIN: EIGHT DECADES OF ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN BARK PAINTING FROM YIRRKALA

American University Museum

Through May 14

For millennia, Yolŋu people around Yirrkala in northern Australia have painted their clan designs on their bodies and ceremonial objects. These designs — called miny’tji — are not merely decorative: they’re the patterns of the ancestral land itself. Yolŋu people describe them as maḏayin, a term that encompasses both the sacred and the beautiful. With the arrival of Europeans in the 20th century, Yolŋu people turned to the existing medium of painting on eucalyptus bark to express the power and beauty of their culture. This outpouring of creativity continues to this day, as artists find new and innovative ways to transform their ancient clan designs into compelling contemporary statements. Drawn from the world’s most important holdings of Aboriginal bark paintings, “Maḏayin” encompasses eight decades of artistic production at Yirrkala, from 1935 to the present, including 33 new works commissioned for the exhibition. Curated largely by Yolŋu

knowledge holders and specialists, “Maḏayin” offers a unique opportunity for American audiences to experience one of the world’s richest artistic traditions. The exhibition shows — through the authentic voices of Indigenous Australian people — how bark painting has emerged from a remote corner of Australia into one of the most powerful painting movements of our time.

PHILIP GUSTON NOW

National Gallery of Art

March 2 to August 27

Although his star does not burn as brightly as many of his contemporaries, such as Pollock, Rothko and de Kooning, Philip Guston (1913–1980) is arguably the quintessential American painter of his generation. His paintings are delicate and crude, hilarious and disturbing, vulgar and sweet, weird and familiar. Charting the 50-year career of one of America’s most influential modern artists, “Philip Guston Now” follows Guston’s epic, winding career as he changes artistic styles, explores abstraction, moves in and out of political involvement and finally arrives at the dark, tragicomic imagery of his late work. The exhibition includes approximately 110 paintings and 115 drawings, with a separate installation on the ground floor of the East

Building displaying all 73 drawings from Guston’s “Poor Richard” series, inspired by the life and career of Richard Nixon. Through an entirely novel and unconventional approach that demands to be reckoned with, Philip Guston bridged the personal and the political, the abstract and the figurative, the humorous and the tragic. This is a major retrospective you don’t want to miss.

A SPLENDID LAND: PAINTINGS FROM ROYAL UDAIPUR

National Museum of Asian Art

Through May 14

THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT

In the 18th century, the artists of Udaipur — the agonizingly beautiful lake city in Rajasthan, India — shifted their focus from small poetic manuscripts to large-scale paintings of the city’s palaces, lakes, mountains and seasons. They sought to convey the “bhava,” the emotional tenor and sensorial experiences, that make place and time memorable. It was unlike anything else in Indian art. With dazzling paintings on paper and cloth, many on public view for the first time, the exhibition reveals the environmental, political and emotional contexts in which the new genre emerged. “A Splendid Land” explores the unique visual strategies artists developed to communicate emotions, depict places and celebrate water resources. The exhibition is organized as a journey that begins at Udaipur’s center and continues outward: first its lakes and lake palaces, then to the city, onward to the surrounding countryside and finally to the cosmos. A side trip immerses visitors in the emotions surrounding the monsoon, the annual rains crucial to prosperity. Throughout, a soundscape by filmmaker Amit Dutta invites audiences to more fully absorb the moods of these extraordinary places and paintings. Honest truth: this is one of the most beautiful exhibitions I’ve seen in 12 years of Washington-area arts coverage.

1898: U.S. IMPERIAL VISIONS AND REVISIONS

National Portrait Gallery

ST NW, DC JAN 28-FEB 25

Opens April 28

On the same day in Las Vegas when sixteen-year-old Levi Presley jumped from the observation deck of the 1,149-foot tower of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino, lap dancing was temporarily banned in the city’s thirty-four licensed strip clubs, archaeologists unearthed parts of the world’s oldest bottle of Tabasco-brand sauce from beneath a bar called Buckets of Blood, and a woman from Mississippi beat a chicken named Ginger in a thirty-five-minute long game of tic-tac-toe. On that day in Las Vegas when Levi Presley died, five others died from two types of cancer, four from heart attacks, three because of strokes. It was a day of two suicides by gunshot as well as a suicide from hanging.

The year 1898 was pivotal for the United States: a year that set the stage for a new

global order of American dominance. On the 125th anniversary of the Spanish-AmericanCuban-Philippine War, “1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions” is the first exhibition to examine this important period through the lens of portraiture and visual culture. Multifaceted viewpoints are presented, with portraits of U.S. expansionists placed in dialogue with portraits of those who dissented. With more than 90 artworks from collections in Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, Spain and the United States — including works from military institutions here in Washington — “1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions” illuminates the complications and consequences of the Spanish-American War (1898), the Congressional Joint Resolution to annex Hawai‘i (July 1898) and the PhilippineAmerican War (1899–1913), which redefined America’s place in the world.

AFROFUTURISM: A HISTORY OF BLACK FUTURES

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Opens March 24

Investigating Afrofuturist expression through art, music and activism, this exhibition explores and reveals Afrofuturism’s historic and poignant engagement with African American history and popular culture. From the enslaved looking to the cosmos for freedom, to popular sci-fi stories inspiring Black astronauts, to the musical influence of Sun Ra, OutKast, P-Funk and others, the exhibition covers the broad and impactful spectrum of Afrofuturism. Visitors will view a variety of objects from Afrofuturism pioneers, including “Parable of the Sower” author Octavia Butler’s typewriter; the uniform worn by Nichelle Nichols as the “Star Trek” character Lt. Nyota Uhura; and the spacesuit-inspired costume in which Nona Hendryx performed with Labelle. A highlight is the hero costume from the 2018 film “Black Panther,” worn by the late actor Chadwick Boseman to portray the first superhero of African descent to appear in mainstream American comics. The exhibition also utilizes select objects to elevate stories that speak to Black liberation and social equality, such as Trayvon Martin’s flight suit from Experience

and Gordon Farrell

THE KEEGAN THEATRE in good company

DC PREMIERE

“Terrifically funny” —VARIETY

Maharana Swarup Singh and courtiers playing Holi at the City Palace” (detail), c. 1851. Attributed to Tara. Courtesy National Museum of Asian Art.

Aviation, representing his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut.

POUR, TEAR, CARVE

The Phillips Collection

March 18 to May 14

“Pour, Tear, Carve” explores the role that materials and application in art can play in evoking personal memories, conveying time and place and stimulating the senses. What types of materials and techniques do artists use, and how do these decisions shape the subject, composition, style and meaning of a work of art? Georges Braque incorporated sand into his paintings to create spatial tensions, while Joan Mitchell poured and twisted paint over large canvases to suggest movement and a sense of place. Dindga McCannon and Sanford Biggers repurpose torn fabrics and textiles into extraordinary quilted objects. Simone Leigh carves terracotta to traverse links between the past and present. The experiments of Alfonso Ossorio, who affixed bones, jewelry and mirror shards to panels, and Leo Villareal, who creates complex, rhythmic LED compositions, generated new definitions of artistic media. Presenting 65 works, “Pour, Tear, Carve” underscores how the selection and manipulation of materials

ARTS

can enhance a viewer’s understanding of and dialogue with modern and contemporary art.

A WINDOW SUDDENLY OPENS: CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY IN CHINA

Hirshhorn Museum

Through January 7

As the political and cultural chasm between the United States and China grows seemingly greater each day, “A Window Suddenly Opens” is a bracing call to collective humanity and shared experience. A survey of photography made by multigenerational Chinese artists between the 1990s and the 2000s, the exhibition chronicles how Chinese artists independently embraced the immediacy of print, digital photography, recorded performance and video art during an unprecedented cultural shift — away from the priority of the collective to a revived focus on the self. Many of these artists are among the first in contemporary China to engage with this trend that questioned individualism in a rapidly mechanizing environment, responding in and to the moment with candor. This moving and at times chilling exhibition connects us to the emotional experiences of many Chinese citizens of the past 30 years.

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

ENTWINED A Double Feature

with Manuel de Falla’s “El retablo de maese Pedro,”  and the world premiere of Derek Goldman’s “Entwined: Love’s Magicians’’

April 19, 2023 | 7:30pm

THE

Sponsored by Georgetown University and in partnership with The Embassy of Spain

Tickets On Sale Now at PostClassical.com

‘THIS PRESENT MOMENT: CRAFTING A BETTER WORLD’ AT THE RENWICK GALLERY

BY ARI POST

The Renwick Gallery opened its doors on Jan. 28, 1972, to showcase the ingenuity and relevance of craft and design in American culture. Intentionally or not, it also seems to have functioned as a back door through which underrepresented artists were let into the nation’s art collection long before their inclusion in other more traditional museum settings.

Craft art is often the domain of women and minority artists who made work that served functional as well as aesthetic purposes. As a result, the Renwick’s art collection is far more representative of our nation’s diverse cultural landscape than any other museum in the city.

“This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World” marks the 50th anniversary of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery as the nation’s premier museum dedicated to American craft. The exhibition focuses on artworks made by a broadly representative and diverse group of American artists, including wide representation by Black, Latino, Asian American, LGBTQ+, Indigenous and women artists, which together signal the trajectory of art in our country today.

Craft arts generally operate within their own traditions — they’re rooted in making things for immediate and specifically intended use. A pot, a glass, a blanket, a chair, a necklace. Functionality and material are intrinsic to these works’ existence — at least historically speaking — and any kind of artistry or creative interpretation must adhere to those parameters.

Today, however, craft art has taken on its own identity, grounded in more communal and utilitarian histories than traditional “fine art.” And a funny thing has happened. As made clear in “This Present Moment,” craft art is now a much more capable arena for responding to rapid cultural developments than traditional forms of media, such as painting or stone sculpture, which are by comparison confined to their conventions.

It is one thing for a painter to make a painting about plastics clogging up our landfills and polluting our oceans. It is another for a jeweler to meticulously sculpt a scarlet-peaked recumbent cyclone made from thousands of bottlecaps, used cups, discarded dollarstore trinkets and busted electronic casings into a fatalistic monument of our collective environmental carelessness (“Drag,” by artist Susie Ganch).

The first-floor galleries inspire different ways of imagining the concept of home — which has taken on new meaning over the past

few years of Covid. The second-floor galleries respond to our present cultural and social conditions.

It is hard to imagine the National Gallery of Art featuring “Covid art” within its halls, but here at the Renwick, hand-sewn facemasks are turned into canvases with narrative scenes of Black Lives Matter protests (courtesy of the artist Carolyn Crump).

Among many exceptionally talented artists, the exhibition includes outstanding works

by Laura Andreson, Bisa Butler, Margarita Cabrera, Sonya Clark, Rick Dillingham, Alicia Eggert, David Gilhooly, Sharon KerryHarlan, Chawne Kimber, Basil Kincaid, Karen LaMonte, Laura de Larios, Cliff Lee, Roberto Lugo, George Nakashima, Kay Sekimachi, Polly Adams Sutton, Toshiko Takaezu, Einar de la Torre, Paul Villinsky and Wanxin Zhang.

“This Present Moment” is an explosive and thought-provoking show that is in equal measures delicate and defiant, teeming with rage and powerfully sensitive. It showcases artists actively working through social controversies, struggles and traumas — from drug addiction and environmental concerns to disenfranchisement and oppression.

Even still, this is an exhibition I believe can be enjoyed by an audience of any background, age or demographic. And I can’t think of much you can say that about these days.

For the past 50 years, the Renwick has featured many expressions and definitions of craft. Today, the museum continues to celebrate the creativity of American craft artists and the vital role craft plays in modern life.

Sharon Kerry-Harlan, “Portrait of Resilience, from the Flag Series.” 2020, Courtesy SAAM Renwick Gallery.

Q&A WITH ANGEL GIL-ORDOÑEZ

BY KATE OCZYPOK

Maestro Angel Gil-Ordoñez, Spanishborn American conductor, founder of the PostClassical Ensemble -- and our February cover model -- spoke with The Georgetowner about his passion for music, what he loves about the D.C. arts scene and his upcoming projects.

THE GEORGETOWNER: How do you find the time to do everything you’re involved with? Does your passion for music help energize you?

ANGEL GIL-ORDONEZ: Being passionate about something is a gift and a curse at the same time. I like to say that those who are passionate about their vocation are always on vacation but never take a vacation. Conducting is a special gift because you are constantly sharing your passion with others. That drives you, but there’s never a break from it. Luckily, there’s nothing more energizing than it.

GT: Did you ever imagine that PostClassical Ensemble would become what it is today?

AGO: To be honest, I wouldn’t have embarked on such an adventure without the conviction that we would become an extraordinary and innovative chamber orchestra. PostClassical Ensemble is the natural evolution of what an orchestra should be in the 21st century — a vehicle that transforms the concert experience through collaborations, across artistic mediums, that showcase how film, literature, and art enhance and inspire a new way to experience the musical repertoire. I’m completely convinced of that. Most orchestras talk about ways to be part of that evolution. I’m proud to say that we are doing it!

GT: What do you like most about the D.C. arts scene? Do you have a show, exhibit, etc. you’re most excited about checking out this spring?

AGO: D.C. has extraordinary cultural offerings — so much variety and exceptional quality. This is what makes D.C. so special:

world-renowned museums, art galleries, lectures and theater. We are thrilled to be part of such a vibrant art community. Personally, The Phillips Collection is my favorite. I’m always looking forward to their next show.

GT: Tell us about a project you’re working on that you’re excited about.

AGO: Our next exciting program, “Entwined: A Double Feature,” relates to Spain, my country of origin. We’re working with the Embassy of Spain as well as Georgetown University to bring a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the seminal de Falla opera, “El retablo de maese Pedro (Master Peter’s Puppet Show)” to D.C. Our concert opera presentation will be part of a global celebration of the piece’s centennial! The opera, possibly de Falla’s best work, was inspired by Don Quixote and is set in early 17th century Spain. We’re collaborating with visual artist Kevork Mourad who’ll replace the puppets that were used in the original versions with animated illustrations synced with the score, with some created live on stage by Kevork himself!

Billed along with the opera will be the world premiere of a sensuous, multi-disciplined performance piece, Entwined: Love’s Magician. The production, by playwright/ director and Georgetown University Professor, Derek Goldman, was inspired by the deep and unlikely friendship between Spanish poet Federico García Lorca and Manuel de Falla, and will feature Flamenco artists, soloists, actors, and more. It will contextualize the opera nicely, and I’m thrilled to be working with Derek who’s a fountain of creativity, global and cultural wisdom, and generosity of spirit.

The concert, which will culminate our 2022-2023 season, will take place at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater on April 19. We expect the performance to sell out, so please get your tickets early!

Photo by Philip Bermingham.

ArtsWatch

BY KATE OCZYPOK

New leaders have been appointed at the National Portrait Gallery, Museum of African American History and Culture, Hindman Auctions and the Phillips Collection. Have an ArtsWatch tip? Email editorial@ georgetowner.com with your arts news.

director of history, restorative history and research, effective December 5. Hussey was previously at the National Museum of the American Indian. He led the museum’s groundbreaking Native Knowledge 360-degree educational initiative. Now at the Portrait Gallery, he’ll set the historical framework within which the museum operates. He’s hoping to emphasize how individuals past and present shape our culture and history as a whole. “For me, history has always been about the stories of people’s lives, not the rote memorization of dates,” Hussey said in a press release. “I’m thrilled to be joining the National Portrait Gallery in giving voice to the multitude of American stories through words and art.”

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY ANNOUNCES NEW DIRECTOR OF HISTORY

Michael Hussey has been named The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s new

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE NAMES DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Michelle Commander has been named The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture’s deputy director. Commander most recently

worked for The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as deputy director of research and strategic initiatives. Before that, she was the center’s associate director and curator of the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery. Commander succeeded Kinshasha Holman Conwill, who retired in December after almost 20 years of service to the NMAAHC.

HINDMAN AUCTIONS APPOINTS NEW CEO

Alyssa D. Quinlan has been promoted to the role of CEO of Hindman Auctions, bringing with her 25 years of experience in private

banking, wealth management and fine art appraisals. While she served as Chief Business Development Officer for three years, Hindman increased annual sales by 43 percent. Last year, the company recorded its highest-ever annual sales total, expanding its presence to New York. Quinlan was appointed by Jay Krehbiel, who served as co-chairman and CEO of Hindman since 2018. He will transfer to a new role as Executive Chairman.

PHILLIPS COLLECTION ANNOUNCES NEW DIRECTOR

The Phillips Collection shared news that Dr. Jonathan P. Binstock has been appointed as the new Vradenburg Director and CEO. Binstock will begin his position on March 1. He was formerly the Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester in New York. He will succeed Dorothy Kosinski, who is stepping down after 15 years.

Michael Hussey. Courtesy of Tim Coburn Photography.

Michelle Commander. Courtesy of the NMAAHC.

Jonathan P. Binstock.

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Charlottesville: For Foodies and Lovers

BY KATHERINE SCHWARTZ

In the coming months, as the cold subsides and leaves start to go green, take a weekend trip to Charlottesville, Virginia, about a twoand-a-half-hour drive from Washington, D.C., to find some peace, quiet and love. Combine your love of food, wine and hiking and explore Thomas Jefferson’s historic town that is now ranked one of the best food cities in the country.

To absorb the countryside landscape, stay at Keswick Hall, a luxury resort at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Be sure to dine at Marigold, its new lauded restaurant by Chef Jean-Georges. For staying in town, book a room at the hip Quirk Hotel, steps away from a host of restaurants and complete with its own dining room, cafe and famous rooftop — pictured on a myriad of visitors’ Instagrams. It’s steps away from a slew of Cville’s best restaurants. The Graduate also offers a central town location, just blocks from the “Corner,” the University of Virginia’s main strip. The boutique hotel offers more budget stays as well as a rooftop restaurant and downstairs coffee shop. The Boars Head Inn boasts a combination of country and city proximity. It’s backed by lakes, a golf course and nature trails, while still a ten-minute drive to town.

For dinner, check out Mezcal Tavern & Grocery and Public Oyster Bar are tried-andtrue classics for good wine, dim-lit ambience and American cuisine, all within the same few blocks. Or walk around the downtown mall and stop in Alley Light, a French speak-easy

bistro complete with candlelight and a nightly rotating menu. Go to Tavola for handmade pasta in Belmont, a residential-area-turnedrestaurant-region. Next door is the Local, a farm-to-table restaurant with string lights and a woodsy atmosphere. Across the street, Belle offers casual brunch, with the best avocado toast and egg sandwiches in town.

For a sit-down breakfast and lunch, you must visit Marie Bette, or its sister location near the downtown mall, Petite Marie Bette, for daily homemade French bread, shakshuka and pastries. Also, try Farm Bell Kitchen, located just next to The Graduate, a few blocks north of UVA’s main drag. Or for something casual and quick, get a pressed sandwich or smoothie at Corner Juice on the “Corner,” across from UVA’s main campus. You can take a quick drive to Brazos Tacos, an Austinoriginal, for breakfast tacos and margaritas at any hour, located next to an art park.

For shopping, stop at Eloise, a high-end boutique just a few blocks from Quirk and Little Star on Main Street. You can smell the perfumed air wafting from its luxurious neighbor, Neroli Spa. Also, check out Quattro Tizi, a trendy luxe boutique in the Dairy Market, a complex composed of various vendors, like D.C.’s Union Market. Get a matcha latte from Eleva, a homemade ice cream at Moo Thru, or a treat from the local bakery stand, Bee Conscious, all in the same square.

Don’t leave Charlottesville without visiting its vineyards. Go to Pippin Hill or Kings

Family for charcuterie, wine tasting, and vineyard views against the Blue Ridge Mountains. Or for something more wholesome, go to Carter’s Mountain Orchard for applepicking and one of the highest hills for sunset viewing. And if you’re feeling active, hike Humpback Mountain, a steep incline with one of the best overlooks of Virginia’s valleys dotted with orange and red trees. You can catch similar views by car on Skyline Drive if you forget to pack your sneakers.

And, of course, for something educational,

head to Monticello (which offers hiking trails as well) and explore Jefferson’s estate. You can also absorb the Founding Father’s history with just a self-guided tour around UVA’s Grounds. Be sure to stop at the recently built Slave Memorial on your way to the famous Rotunda.

Whether you’re there to hike or shop, absorb Virginia’s history or a vineyard’s wine, Charlottesville is the ideal country getaway for Washingtonians seeking nature and city alike.

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Quirk Hotel Charlottesville is where downtown energy meets creative charm. Art-forward and designed to inspire, Quirk offers a boutique hotel experience that celebrates the region’s culture and history. Discover local artists at Quirk Gallery, savor some of Virginia’s most innovative dining, and delight in a stay that’s everything but usual.

Grace Estate Winery is located near White Hall, Virginia, 14 miles west of Charlottesville in Albemarle County

Pippin Hill, a Virginia Culinary Vineyard. Photo courtesy Pippin Hill.

Checklist for Charlottesville:

RESTAURANTS (LOCATED ON HISTORIC DOWNTOWN MALL)

• Brasserie Saison

• C&O

• Fleurie

• Petite Pois

• The Whiskey Jar

• Zocalo (Spanish/Latin)

RESTAURANTS IN AND NEAR

CHARLOTTESVILLE

• Marigold

• Mas Tapas

• Orzo Kitchen & Wine Bar (Mediterranean)

• Boylan Heights (C’Ville’s Best Burgers)

• Milan (excellent Indian food)

• Bodo’s Bagels (famous for bagels)

SPA

• Body by Signature

• NUA Medical Spa

WINERIES

• Chiswell Farm Winery

• 53rd Winery & Vineyard

• DuCard Vineyards

• Hark Vineyards

• Merrie Mill Farm & Vineyard

• Montifalco Vineyards

• Revalation Vineyards

SHOPPING

• Alakazam Toys & Gifts

• Bittersweet Boutique

• Caspari (home goods & European paper goods)

• Rock Paper Scissors

• Sealed with a Kiss

ANTIQUES & VINTAGE DECOR

• Circa

• Heyday

• Low

NORTH WALES

Historic, 1,471± acre Virginia estate with circa 1776 stone manor home, twostory Georgian Revival-style stone carriage house, extensive farm and equestrian improvements, a guesthouse, additional residences and a shooting preserve. Listed on the National and Virginia Historic Registers, under a preservation easement, and is a rare offering of a national treasure. www.NorthWalesVa.com

WOLFCREEK FARM

Situated near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Madison County Virginia, contains 333 acres of rolling to hilly grazing land, 2 homes and a complement of necessary farm buildings to sustain many agricultural endeavors. Offers a private valley, creeks and several scenic knolls to build someone's dream home with panoramic views of just mountains and pastures. NOT IN CONSERVATION EASEMENT!

Exceptionally rare offering in Western Albemarle! This beautifully-constructed 4-5 bedroom custom residence with over 6,500 finished square feet of living space is nestled on just under 9 park-like acres enjoys lovely mountain views and wonderful privacy yet is only minutes from Birdwood Golf Course, Boars Head Resort & Sports Club, the University of Virginia and Downtown.

for details and more photos, visit mcleanfaulconer.com

355 BLOOMFIELD ROAD

Keswick Hall’s Marigold with Chef Jean-Georges.

Veritas Winery tasting room.

The Elliott: What’s Not to Like?

BY KATE OCZYPOK

If you’ve ever wanted to live in luxury and elegance just a short walk from the Georgetown Waterfront, Café Milano, and dozens of shops and restaurants in the neighborhood, The Elliott may be the perfect option.

The building includes five residences, each with its own distinct floor plan (and beautifully light-filled). Each home boasts 10-foot ceilings, grand windows overlooking Georgetown and Italian designer kitchens, just to name a few of the many amenities.

What is perhaps one of the best parts of The Elliott is its dramatic full-floor penthouse with a private rooftop. The three-bedroom plus a den is bright and sunny, with over

3,500-square-feet of living space and its own 1,200-foot landscaped private terrace with panoramic views over the city. Outdoor entertainers can take full advantage of the beautiful Georgetown spring weather with gas grills, firepits, and water and electrical hookups.

There’s one apartment per floor with an elevator that opens directly into the main living area and/or to a private service corridor. Each apartment comes with parking and storage and can be entered directly from the garage via private elevator. “On the first level, there are two apartments,” said Heidi Hatfield Weir of Hatfield, Weir, Gale, Real Estate, Washington Fine Properties. “The one facing the street has one bedroom and could also be used as an office or commercial space.”

The second apartment has its own appeal, with a large two-bedroom. It opens directly to a spacious private terrace and garden. Apartments on the third and fourth floors occupy an entire level of the building, with three bedrooms and a den with windows that can be fully opened to the outdoors.

Weir shared that The Elliott has a green roof with custom, low-maintenance plantings, energy efficient windows and systems, a custom storm water management system (including Elkay personal water bottle filling

ACE

WINDOW

CLEANING, CO.

Residential specialists inside and outside. Family owned and operated for over 30 years. (202) 363-2897

Chevy Chase, MD • We also offer glass, screen, and sash cord repair service •

Ask about our no damage, low pressure Powerwashing.

HANDYMAN SERVICES

Carpentry • Plaster & Drywall

Doors/Windows • Cabinets/Shelves

Counter Tops • Painting/Finishing

Over 30 years our craftsmen do quality work: remodeling building or restoring Joel Truitt Builders, Inc.

734 7th St. S.E. • (202) 547-2707

QUALITY SINCE 1972

stations in each unit) and Lutron lighting systems allowing residents to program lighting usage from anywhere. There’s also the ability to have electric car chargers easily added in the garage — but you’ll rarely need a car. “Literally anything you need can be found within a few blocks,” Weir said.

If you’re looking to downsize to one level but don’t want to compromise on space, The Elliott is a great option.

A bit of history about the building — it’s named after Georgetown developer Robert R. Elliott, who unfortunately passed away last year before seeing the project completed.

“He envisioned a small luxury boutique condominium on the site of the old Domino’s Pizza, and after the lengthy process of working tirelessly with historic Georgetown to create a

building that would blend in,” Weir said.

To learn more about The Elliott, visit elliottdc.com. And, for a tour, it’s recommended to call one of the listing agents below:

Anne Hatfield Weir (202) 255-2490

Heidi Hatfield (202) 258-1919

Jamie Peva (202) 258-5050

Craig Davitian (202) 333-2225

CHEVY CHASE FLOOR WAXING SERVICE

Polishing, buffing, and waxing to preserve and protect your fine wood floors, using oldfashioned paste wax. Family owned and operated for 30 years. Licensed Bonded Insured (301) 656-1810, Chevy Chase, MD

Kitchen looking to wine cooler and garden.

The Elliott is located at 3255 Prospect St. NW.

A view of Unit 3 of The Elliott

W I N D F I E

L D S

Middleburg, Virginia • $5,511,060

324.18 acres in prime Middleburg location | Frontage on Snickersville Turnpike |Rolling acreage with Blue Ridge views, creeks, ponds, mature woods and Goose Creek frontage | Lime Kiln cottage with remains of original mill | Property is in Conservation Easement, may be subdivided 3 times

Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

Brian MacMahon (703) 609-1868

O U T W E S T

Warrenton, Virginia • $3,000,000 Gracious home w/ /renovated kitchen |Hardwood floors, substantial millwork & fine finishes & 4 FP| Perfectly sited to enjoy the views | 5 BR, home office, large family room, newly resurfaced tennis court, pool w/ cabana and 4 BR guest house w/workshop/3 stall stable | Large field for turn out, 1 paddock & hay field | 32 acres in 2 recorded parcels

Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930

C AT E S B Y V I N E YA R D

Upperville, Virginia • $1,300,000

44.55 acres of which 15 acres are producing grapes | 8.5 acres of Chambourcin, Traminette on 4.3 acres and Vidal Blanc on 2.1 acres. | Vineyard infrastructure includes fencing, irrigation system and computerized well | Perc site for 4 bedroom home. Property is in conservation easement | Property can be converted to Residential use.

Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

private lot in the village of Rectortown | FIBER INTERNET | Open floor plan with main level suite and home office | Upper level overlooks large family room with two story vaulted ceiling and stone fireplace and two large bedrooms and second family room | Multiple porches and decks with extensive plantings - easy maintenance. Easy to show.

Brian MacMahon (703) 609-1868 Helen MacMahon (540) 454-1930

1 0 4 & 1 0 6 P E N D L E T O N S T

Middleburg, Virginia • $1,250,000

Rare opportunity | 2 recorded lots with C-3 zoning in the town of Middleburg | 2 separate buildings with 8 offices, 5 storage bays and ample parking | All buildings are in excellent condition

Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

Brian MacMahon (703) 609-1868

8 4 9 5 M A I N S T Marshall, Virginia • $524,900

3 Bedrooms, 2 full baths brick home | Convenient location off 66, great for commuters | Walk to restaurants, live music, and shops | Close to wineries and breweries within minutes. Original hardwood floors | All solid and original wood doors | Upgraded kitchen w/ granite, new ceiling height cabinets, & stainless steel appliances | Screened in side porch | Rear yard w/ wooden fence, patio and firepit

Lynn Wiley (540) 454-1527

M A I N S T

The Plains, Virginia • $485,000

This property has been used as a commercial property for over 30 years | Zoned residential and has the potential to be converted into a residence | Two half baths and fireplace on .54 acre.

Lynn Wiley (540) 454-1527

J

Markham, Virginia • $300,000

49.16 acres in 2 recorded parcels | Frontage on Goose Creek, land rises to great views, mountain meadows on upper portion | Access over Railroad and creek | Excellent hunting land, surrounded by large tracts

Paul MacMahon (703) 609-1905

Brian MacMahon (703) 609-1868

info@sheridanmacmahon.com www.sheridanmacmahon.com 110 East Washington Street Middleburg, Virginia 20117 (540) 687-5588

Of Inhuman Bondage

COLSON WHITEHEAD’S ‘THE NICKEL BOYS’ SHINES A LIGHT ON AN INSIDIOUS EVIL.

REVIEWED BY KITTY KELLEY

Colson Whitehead is to American literature what the Rolls-Royce is to automobiles: revered and unrivaled. Having published eight novels, two books of nonfiction, and numerous essays and short stories, the 52-year-old writer has won a MacArthur “genius” grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Booker Prize, the National Book Award, two Pulitzers, and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, as well as a Whiting Writers Award, the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature, and a fellowship at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. In addition, he made the cover of Time magazine in 2019 as “America’s Storyteller.”

The only accolade remaining seems to be a royal summons to Sweden for the Nobel. In 2016, Whitehead’s eighth novel, “The Underground Railroad,” an allegorical tour de force about enslaved people trying to escape to freedom, thundered him to commercial success and sold more than 1 million copies. He’d already started writing his next novel when

he spotted a story in the Tampa Bay Times about the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in the Florida Panhandle. The segregated reform school, which opened in 1900, had finally closed in 2011.

Whitehead had never heard of the facility and was stunned to read that forensic archaeologists from the University of South Florida had discovered the unmarked graves of more than 50 African American boys on the property.

He realized then that if there was one adolescent abattoir like Dozier, “There were hundreds of others scattered across the land like pain factories,” he told the New York Times. “The survivors are never heard from and the guilty are never punished... They live to a ripe old age while their victims are damaged for life.”

The injustice rankled the author, and the subject became more urgent to Whitehead after the 2016 presidential election. Setting aside his novel-in-progress, he began investigating like

the journalist he’d been at the Village Voice following his graduation from Harvard. He absorbed all the blood-stained facts surrounding the Dozier atrocity; he read reports, records, and forensic studies of the gravesites, plus accounts of solitary confinement during which Black and white boys were shackled by leg irons soldered to the floor and forced to live in their own excrement.

Many of these boys were also whipped by a three-foot-long strap called Black Beauty. Those who did not survive were dumped into dirt holes; those who did were forever haunted. They became men “with wives and ex-wives and children they did and didn’t talk to… dead in prison or decomposing in rooms they rented by the week.”

After mastering the grisly facts, the spectacular novelist within Whitehead took flight with “The Nickel Boys.” In this spare book — it’s just 224 pages — he bestows humanity on the unnamed victims who’d once been sodomized and beaten witless. He humanizes them in the character Elwood Curtis, an orphan who lives with his grandmother, Harriet. She toils as a cleaning lady and sleeps with a “sugarcane machete under her pillow for intruders.”

One Christmas, Harriet gives Elwood his greatest treasure: the 1962 LP “Martin Luther King at Zion Hill,” the only record he’s allowed to play. Elwood listens to the album every day and long into the night. He embraces Dr. King’s words as his guidepost for living. He believes that the long arc of the moral universe is bending towards him and will soon change his life.

That, it does — tragically.

Through no fault of his own, Elwood ends up in the hellscape of Nickel Academy, where he meets

his polar opposite, a street-smart tough named Turner who thinks Elwood is hopelessly naïve. The story turns on their relationship, their joint attempt at escape, and the final honor one pays to the other.

Nickel is not Father Flanagan’s Boys Town, where “He ain’t heavy, Father. He’s my brother” was the motto. Instead, among Nickel survivors, there’s a bond of grievous horror and lives never lived:

“[They] could have been many things had they not been ruined by that place…not all of them were geniuses… but they had been denied even the simple pleasure of being ordinary. Hobbled and handicapped before the race even began, never figuring out how to be normal.”

For them, the long arc of the moral universe was forever out of reach.

“The Nickel Boys” is a novel that elevates Colson Whitehead to the pantheon alongside Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston, all of whom, too, bore witness to America’s pernicious legacy of racism and white supremacy.

Georgetown resident Kitty Kelley has written several number-one New York Times best-sellers, including “The Family: The Real Story Behind the Bush Dynasty.” Her most recent books include “Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the Kennedys” and “Let Freedom Ring: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the March on Washington.” She serves on the board of BIO (Biographers International Organization) and Washington Independent Review of Books, where this review originally appeared.

100 Years of the Town’s Golden Domed Bank

BY ROBERT DEVANEY

PNC Bank’s Georgetown F&M (farmers & merchants) Branch celebrated 100 years in December and the iconic building with the golden dome at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street (for decades, Riggs Bank) that has become a symbol of Georgetown. Along with PNC execs like Anamul Hassan and local business persons, Benjamin Franklin made a $pecial guest appearance at the birthday party.

G.U. Celebrates Government and Community Partners

BY ROBERT DEVANEY

Retired ANC 2E Chair Rick Murphy was recognized for his leadership of the GeorgetownBurleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission and for his decade-long commitment to the work of the Georgetown Community Partnership, the forum for consensus-based decision-making between Georgetown University, students and neighbors. Also honored at the Dec. 7 event in Riggs Library were Acting Director of the District of Columbia Department of Buildings Ernest Chrappah, Interim Director of the DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection Shirley Kwan-Hui and President & CEO of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development Steve Glaude.

Georgetown University President John DeGioia with Karen Rollo Murphy and Rick Murphy. Georgetowner photo.

Billy Martin, Ben Franklin (as in the $100 bill), Michael Savage and Luis Valle. Photo by Robert Devaney.