August 03, 2010 - 5:53 pm

The Jazz Man

The Jazz Man

The renovation of the Howard Theatre is set to start this month and from our recent conversation with Howard Theatre Restoration president Chip Ellis, everything is set to go.  One final element to be decided is the statue that will adorn the top of the new theater.  When the theater opened 100 years ago this month, a statue of Apollo playing the lyre stood at the apex of the Beaux-Arts Italian Renaissance façade, accompanying the other classical references in the building.

The theater renovation will restore the original look of the façade, but the statue of Apollo, now long gone, will be replaced with a statue, The Jazz Man, pictured above.

The statue will be constructed of metal and lit internally with LEDs. The Apollo statue referred to an ancient era and the new statue will refer to the Jazz Age. We can’t move forward without looking back.

What do you think of the statue design?

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January 29, 2010 - 12:42 pm

Finding Found Art

Ghetto Picasso's calling card.

…And CRASH!!! Sharesten, alone in The Christinsanity Chair, tilts over. The band plays on. Jo joins her. And the two balance The Christinsanity Chair. Friends fo’evah.

Wednesday morning we discovered that LeDroit Park had been “art bombed” with several found-art sculptures. The Brooklyn-based artist Ghetto Picasso adorned several sidewalks with his whimsical works. Each sculpture was tagged with a playing card with a few lines of prose and the artist’s web address.  The artist describes himself thusly:

Theorizing the green movement as a last minute prayer before the Apocalypse, Ghetto Picasso symbolically interprets mankind’s edification efforts with the use of junk, salvage and reclaimed materials.

As detailed in his blog, Ghetto Picasso currently has an installation at Tryst in Adams Morgan.

Found at the LeDroit Park gate.

Found in the front garden at T and Sixth Streets NW

Attached to a fence at T and Wiltberger Streets NW

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