Circa Cafe opening soon at Dupont Circle North

When out taking pictures of Spring at Dupont Circle North on Wednesday afternnon, 28 March, I observed that a new restaurant will soon be opening at the former Wrap Works location at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Q Street, in NW Washington DC.

According to a posting at Craig's List dated 2007-03-30, 5:29PM EDT, Circa At Dupont will hold an EMPLOYMENT OPEN HOUSE from 12 noon until 5 pm TODAY. Which is Saturday, 31 March 2007.

Here is the entire posting:

CIRCA is our contemporary take on the classic European cafe. We'll open early in the morning and continue until late evening, serving delicious coffee, cocktails, and food. Chef Munehiro Mori's unique menu includes small and medium-sized plates with an international flair. CIRCA's bar menu features house-infused vodkas, signature martinis, and an extensive wine list.

CIRCA seeks energetic, friendly, and professional service staff who enjoy working in a fast-paced environment. Now accepting applications for:

HOSTS
SERVERS
BARISTAS
FOOD RUNNERS

Apply in person Monday-Friday from 11am-7pm, or attend our EMPLOYMENT OPEN HOUSE this Saturday, March 31st from Noon-5pm. Our management team will conduct on-the-spot interviews and provide information about CIRCA's concept.

1601 Connecticut Ave, NW Washington, DC 20009 (across from the Dupont Circle Metro, North entrance).

Viisit Washington Post's Blog posting dated 30 October 2006 by Julia Beizer to see what all the fuss is about...

Anacostia Riverwalk Trail

After photographing Elwood Gibson's "I Love No One Else" display at UDC's Gallery 42, I visited the Japanese cherry trees along the Tidal Basin. Instead of walking back across the National Mall to one of the downtown subway stations I decided to return to my SW apartment by taking a photo walk along Maine Avenue and Water Street through the Fish Market and Southwest Waterfront Marina.

Which, as a result of my research last night, I now realize that what for many years I regarded as one marina the Southwest Waterfront marina, located in the Washington Channel, actually, consists of three different marinas, if you don't include James Creek Marina. Which is situated across the channel between the War College at Fort McNair and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Southwest Waterfront Marina(s) complex, located along Water Street and Maine Avenue in SW, consists of the Gangplank Marina at 600 Water Street, the Capital Yacht Club at 1000 Water Street, and the Washington Marina at 1300 Maine Avenue, SW.

Which brings me back to the real purpose for this posting.

One of the main reasons that I take photo walks is to learn more about my surroundings and history. Which, always, involves a great deal of research once I get home and sometimes visits to the library or contacting other sources for information.

As was the case when on Tuesday that I came across a sign pertaining to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.

Without skipping a beat and while snapping pictures of bicyclists along Maine Avenue, my first thought was "the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail will definately be one of my Spring 2007 photo walk projects. Which I'm sure will take me across the South Capitol Street Bridge affording me the opportunity to gather more great historic shots of the construction of Washington Nationals Ballpark.

It was during my research, last night, that I learned more about the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. And, the fact that there are three different marinas at the Southwest Waterfront Marina complex. Which, effective immediately, I will now curate as three seperate, but respective, photosets - beginning with images that I took on Tuesday, 27 March 2007 of the Washington Marina.

Click above photo to view my newly launched Anacostia Riverwalk Trail photoset.

Friday's Photo of the Week . 30 March 2007

95th Anniversary of Cherry Trees Gift

Tidal Basin, SW, WDC 27 March 2007

2007 National Cherry Blossoms Season

2007 Fridays' Photos of the Week

Photo Safari in the Golden Triangle - Thursday, 19 April @ noontime

Love to take pictures? Grab your camera and brown bag and head to Farragut Square on April 19 for a noontime photo safari in one of the most beautiful areas of Washington, DC.

Produced by Washington Photo Safari in cooperation with the Golden Triangle BID, the noontime class will be led by professional architectural photographer and Washington Photo Safari director E. David Luria.

The event will begin at Farragut Square with an orientation on good travel photography techniques. Mr. Luria will show you how to capture tulips and the people enjoying a spring day in the park and then will lead you up Connecticut Avenue to photograph the magnificent St. Matthew’s Cathedral.

The photo safari will be held on Thursday, April 19, 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m (Rain date: April 26). The fee is $39 per person and includes photography instruction materials. Space is limited. To sign up or for further information, contact Washington Photo Safari at info@washingtonphotosafari.com or 202.537.0937.

Click above Street Life 2007 photo to view my ongoing Farragut Square photoset.

Elwood Gibson's "I Love No One Else" / UDC's Gallery 42

Interior Designer Elwood Gibson was one of the featured artists in the UDC - Gallery 42's Valentine Day 2007 art show, "Public Display of Affection". Indicative of a store window, Gibson's "I Love No One Else" glass case display featured 4 minature dolls arranged in a garden of flowers and greenery, each viewing themselves in a mirror. Or, in mirrors.

Gibson who is now 51 was born and raised in Washington DC. After attending Howard University in Business Management he studied interior design at the Corcoran School of Art and the International Institute of Interior Design in Washington DC. Graduating from each in 1978 and 1981, respectively.

Gibson was also one of the featured artists in The Dollhouse Book: An Illustrated Guide to Miniature Mansions, Little Living-Rooms, Cozy Castles, Diminutive Dwellings, Small Shops and the Dolls and Furnishings that Inhabit Them by Cara Finnegan. Published in March 2004, Chapter 6 of The Doll House Book entitled "On the Street Where We Live", takes a rare peek at Shillmans Department Store window displays, in which, Gibson pays homage to the grand department stores of the past.

With the exception of a few first years in the NYC interior design industy, Gibson has desgined windows in the Washington DC area for regular and consistent clients for almost 25 years.

As an independent Visual Merchandiser, Elwood Gibson can be reached at 202-635-3035 or email elgib2009@aol.com.

The "Public Display of Affection" art show was on display at UDC's Gallery 42 from 20 February thru 16 March 2007. The above image was taken at UDC's Gallery 42 on Tuesday afternoon, 27 March, just before Gibson's "I Love No One Else" was dismantled.

According to a flyer posted to the entrance, UDC Gallery 42's next exhibition, UDC Annual Student Art Show 2007, will be on display from 11 April - 3 May 2007.

For more information regarding Gallery 42 or future exhibitions contact Professor Daniel Venne at 202-274-5781.

Located on the University of the District of Columbia's Van Ness Campus, at 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW, WDC, Gallery 42, is in Building 42, Room A12.

27 March 2007 marked the 95th anniversary of Tokyo's 3000 cherry trees gift

The 2007 National Cherry Blossom Festival marks the 95th celebration of the original gift of the 3,000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to the people of Washington, DC in 1912.

In a simple ceremony on March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two of these trees on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. By 1915 the United States government had responded with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. In 1927, a group of American school children reenacted the initial planting; the first festival was held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the nation's capital.

After reading an article in The Politico on the subway Tuesday which reported that 27 March 1912 had been the day in history when Tokyo officially gave 3000 cherry trees to the city of Washington DC I walked down 17th Street, NW, from Farragut North subway station, capturing street scenarios along the way, to the north bank of the Tidal Basin to photograph and commemorate the 95th anniversary of the Japanese gift to the people of Washington DC.

This 27 March 2007 - 95th Anniversary of Cherry Trees Gift photo project represents the launching of my 2007 National Cherry Blossoms Season Collection.

Blue Ball - Philly - 4 - 6 May

Michael Berman's studio returns to F Street (Downtown Arts District)

I first became acquainted with Michael Berman as a result of my documentation of the 2005 Downtown Holiday Market which may be viewed at the Eastern Market Newsletter. However, I did not meet Michael Berman, face to face, until the 2006 Downtown Holiday Market at Penn Quarter.

A nationally recognized and collected artist Berman, for many years rented an artist's studio in the historic Downtown Arts District in Washington DC, in the 900 block of F Street, NW. But, as a result of the redevelopment of downtown DC many artists, including Berman, were forced out.

Relocating his studio to 29 Kings Court on Capitol Hill, in 2001, and while an exhibitor and organizer of the Eastern Market Flea Market, in recent years, Michael Berman has been very active in preserving artists' studios in DC. He is President of the Downtown Artists Coalition (DAC), formed in order to preserve and foster artists' studio space in Washington. The DAC has been instrumental in re-establishing artists' spaces on the 900 block on F Street, as well as promoting live/work studios in the Historic Mather building on the 900 block of G Street and other areas in the traditional arts district of downtown DC. Michael is also an active member, and currently serving on the Board of Trustees, for the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, the oldest civic planning organization in DC. In addition to displaying artwork, Michael also organizes, curates, and promotes exhibitions. Michael is co-founder of the unique art organization Project BRASAS and the inter-disciplined artists' collective, CAOS (Coalition of Artists on the Shore), based in Cambridge, Maryland. Both organizations focus on alternative exhibitions done for and by artists.

Additionally, Michael operates an artists property management business, Arts Enterprises LLC, a Washington D.C. company that offers a variety of real estate products and services to the arts community. As Managing Director, he is active in promoting and creating new opportunities for artists to acquire real estate and flourish in D.C.

When out taking pictures on Tuesday afternoon, along F Street, I ran into Michael. Pointing to the 3rd floor of a building that he was standing in front of he said that, if things go as planned, he will soon return to his old studio on F Street, in the Downtown Arts District.

2nd Annual National Marathon

I began my documentation of the 2nd Annual National Marathon on Friday afternoon when I photographed a sign at the entrance/exit of the Waterfront- SEU Station that read "M Street Closed Saturday 7am - 1pm". Followed by WMATA signs, on the subway, that read Early Opening National Marathon.

On Saturday morning, I jumped off the sofa at 6 am, quickly got dressed and rushed to the Waterfront Station where I arrived at 6:36 am and would take photos, along the way, to the DC Armory.

When exiting the DC Armory Station I turned to get a look at the clock above the kiosk. It read 6:58 AM. With a scheduled 7 AM step-off I had less than two minutes to run one block north to East Capitol Street.

Rushing through the crowd, an early morning darkness and a light drizzle I heard an official announce "We'll just seconds away from starting the 2nd Annual National Marathon!"

At about two yards from where I tried my damndest to be, to capture step-off, the race began.

I spent the next few minutes snapping shots, of the step-off. Rushed back to the DC Armory Station and took the train to L'Enfant Plaza Station where I exited the system at 7th Street and Maryland Avenue, SW. About 5 or ten minutes later I captured the front runners as they passed through.

Wanting to capture the marathon in the SW Community, which is where I live, I followed the marathon south on 7th Street, across the 7th Street Bridge / Overpass to M Street and then east to 4th Street, in SW, across from Waterfront Mall.

I may would have stayed longer and proceeded further east along M Street, SW, but the rain was getting a little heavier and I did not want my cameras nor lens to get wet.

Click photo to view my 2nd Annual National Marathon collection. Since I took many images most of them will be featured in conjunction with the 2008 National Marathon as Never Before Seen photographs.

I Am A Man!

When taking pcitures during my 25 March 2007 Sunday Photo Walk and stroll through Dupont Circle this young afro-american man's tee shirt brought to mind the 1968 I AM A MAN! Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike.