Art and Culture
Traffic Control Box Wraps
In a new initiative to beautify our neighborhood by incorporating art, color, and creativity into our urban landscape, artists created unique designs to decorate traffic control boxes throughout the neighborhood, enhancing community character and celebrating Southwest’s identity.
MuralsDC
One of the newest MuralsDC artworks is located at L’Enfant Plaza, in partnership with JBG Smith, the Department of Public Works, and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Artist Ally Grimm, aka A.L. Grime, mixes science and art to call attention to the rise of the technological era through the lens of the human experience with bold, emotion-driven patterns.
With NASA's headquarters here in SW, Grimm paid homage to Nicole Stott, a NASA engineer, astronaut, artist, and mother. Now retired, Stott has dedicated herself to advocacy and collaboration between the arts and STEM to find creative solutions to environmental and social issues.
Grimm also celebrated Joy Buolamwini, the Algorithm Justice League founder. Buolamwini's work in tech ultimately led to the discovery of racial bias in facial recognition software. Her groundbreaking work advocates for an empathy-forward approach to tech and explores the next frontier in human faces as AI ethics play a more significant role.
The mural will have a QR code for a virtual reality experience located on the corner of D st. SW, and the 9th St. Expressway.
Kamala Harris Yarn Bomb Honors International Women's Day
In partnership with The Wharf and restaurant Officina, SWBID unveiled a large-scale, outdoor crochet art installation of US Vice President Kamala Harris to celebrate International Women’s Day.
The piece is the work of the LA-based, international “yarn bomber” and famous street artist London Kaye. The work featuring Vice President Harris is titled “I’m Speaking” and is her largest installation to date, spanning 40 feet in width and 20 feet in height.
The art installation was created as a part of Love Across the USA, a community art initiative celebrating women’s voices. More than 150 women volunteered to participate in the installation by crocheting a square to be woven into the finished piece.
Proceeds from Officina benefited the National Center for Children and Families, a DC-based nonprofit welfare agency committed to serving poor, disadvantaged, abused, neglected, and/or abandoned children, youth, and families.
Couldn’t miss seeing this crochet mural of @VP Kamala Harris in honor of International Women’s Day.
— Douglas Emhoff (@SecondGentleman) March 11, 2021
Across the country, 150 people each crocheted a square to create this work of art. pic.twitter.com/cweIt2YnT3