The other night, I told a friend of mine in his 50s – someone who’s lived in the DC area his entire life, save a few years in upstate NY – about my blog. I explained how one of my goals was to counter the image of DC as a buttoned-up, khaki pants kind of town by shining the spotlight on the city’s creative community. “DC is a buttoned-up town,” he said. “What you’re doing is trying to change that, and that’s great – this is something a lot of us have wanted to see happen for a long time.” In his view, the influx of young people into the city has primed the city for a creative renaissance of sorts, but to him, we’re a long way from being a creative town. If I see creativity flourishing, he argued, it’s because I live in Adams Morgan, which is an atypical part of the city.
I disagree. I think creativity is such a basic part of human nature that there are creative people everywhere, but we don’t always recognize it because we define creativity in narrow ways. I think DC doesn’t market itself as a creative town, and our more creative businesses are spread out, not clustered in a host of funky neighborhoods… but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people all across this city doing incredibly creative work every single day.
What do you think? Are we fighting an uphill battle toward making DC a more creative town? Is there more creative activity in certain neighborhoods than others?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It sounds like you are expecting to see some outward signs of artistic creativity while walking down the street, if pointed to the right street. Growing up here, I found art in places where the casual observer wouldn’t think to duck their head into, but the natives will recognize right away. . . watching Chuck Brown and Rare Essence performed in a fancy multi-purpose room attached to a Catholic parish on a hill overlooking the “DC” that shows up on the news each night. . . Coolidge HS on Saturdays for DC Youth Orchestra and sometimes for the Youth Corale and All City Chorus. . . Little girls in leotards taking modern dance, tap, and ballet at DC Rec centers all over NE and SE every Saturday morning, and ceramics and painting classes for their Moms during the week . . . Catholic and public HS school theatre participants (those not at the well-known Ellington school for the Arts), who are now leading others in places like Wooly Mammoth and Studio and Arena Stage, producing, designing and directing as well as acting . . . DCPS and Human Services program offices, where limited and tightly controlled grant funding is translated into packages of services for real, live individuals that don’t fall into “classic” stereotypes . . .
You’re on the right track- maybe you’re just haven’t found the right places yet. At the same time, you might consider making your first step more exploratory than revolutionary – are you really sure that DC is NOT a more creative town than you’ve seen so far? Sounds like a whole new opportunity for Artist’s Dates! :)
A
Anonymous: Thanks for your response – the performances, classes, etc you list are great examples of the rich creative life of the city. But I’m confused: in my post, I argued that DC *is* a creative town…so I’m not sure what you mean when you say I’m on the right track, but haven’t found the right places yet…? Anyway, thanks for joining the discussion.
Hi, Amanda –
I may have misunderstood your intentions, as I’m responding to a couple of things in your post (and the previous ones). First, I noticed the phrasing of your questions . . . about “. . . fighting an uphill battle toward making DC a more creative town?” . . . in conjunction with “but we don’t always recognize it because we define creativity in narrow ways.” [Okay, wordsmithing isn't the most popular of creative arts, but bear with me for a minute, please :)] I also saw a lot of talk about what DC doesn’t have, or allegedly doesn’t have, or what folks think it doesn’t have. Maybe those statements muddied your positive ideas, or I saw them as buried outright.
At any rate, I’m getting the sense that you think DC may be a creative place, because all God’s creatures have a creative capacity, but not because you believe that DC is a creative place. Similarly, I’m kind of uneasy at the assumption that art has to be “marketed” in order to be productive . . . there aren’t neon signs in tourist guide books or weekly newspaper listings that say, “if you’re looking for creativity, go to this block on this street,” hoping that while there, folks will spend lots of money. . . but that’s probably another entire conversation.
So maybe I’m seeing your definition of DC itself defined in narrow ways that may end up limiting the discussions. There is a lot of buttoned-up khakiness in this town, especially in the “Nation’s Capitol.”I grew up in DC, which happens to overlap the territory designated as the National Capitol. These are not the same place.
The DC that I know markets its art – just check out the WPAS, DC Commission for the Arts, or the DC Rec brochures. Hipster tourguides may announce 2nd Saturdays on Barracks Row or Thursday night wine and cheese on U Street, but the PR for the creative art that you describe occurs through a different pipeline. In the situations that I’d described, the marketing is word of mouth and in smaller, more intimate networks. Everyone I know who listens to jazz in that church in SW (I forget the name) has had some connection to the Church or to the musicians who perform there. Lots of folks make money “doing” their art here, many in addition to full-time jobs and careers. Others raise enough funds to allow them to share art with the rest of the community, or simply provide opps for other folks to appreciate, if not participate outright.
More info than you probably wanted, but maybe this explains my thoughts better. And just in case it got buried in my words, I think that what you’re doing is a great thing. I’ll try to be helpful – if I’m not, just tell me to shut up and listen for a while . ;)
AAS