Brightest Young Things

The G40 Conference in Crystal City VA starts this week and runs for the entire month. As part of our Year In Art initiative we'll be covering everything that goes on inside the 75,000 square feet of donated space, starting with this brief introduction to the festival and what you can expect this week within it's fabulous glass walls!

First of all: What is this thing all about?

The G40 Arts Summit was born out of a dual mind-storm. One occurred in Art Whino gallery owner Shane Pomajambo's brain as he was traveling to Miami, LA and New York to hang out with the multitude of artists his gallery works with--Why not bring as many street artists from around the country and the world to DC to participate in a multi-genre extravaganza of the independent, the outsider, and the self-taught?  At the same time it occurred to Crystal City that they could perform a similar trick to what Artomatic does in the district by giving a wily dreamer like Shane an entire office building to play with. And so he did, bringing in visual artists to cover the grounds in installations and murals, other visual artists to set up corners to their own design, and asking musicians to come through and play a wide range of stuff from punk to electro.

The big opening night is this Saturday (Ancient Astronauts are playing!) but every other night (baring Monday and Tuesday) the site will be hopping with DJs, designers, rockers and graffiti artists doing their thing. Stop by and check out the gulliest party this City of Crystal has ever imagined.

FACTS:

5 Floors
500+ Artists
75,000 sqft

Curated Visual and Performance Art
A dynamic contemporary art exhibition featuring curated works from artists around the world on display for a full month, featuring musical and visual performances, lectures, live painting and much more! For more show information go to: http://www.artwhino.com/g40/

Event Location:223 23rd St.Arlington, VA 22202

Metro Accessible and plenty of parking. For more info go to: http://crystalcity.org/accessible/parking

Open Hours:

• Wednesdays & Thursdays: 5 – 10pm,
• Fridays: 5pm – Midnight
• Saturdays: 12pm – Midnight
• Sundays: 12pm – 6pm
• Mondays & Tuesdays: Closed
• 
  Floors:

  1 – Show information / performance area / mixed use
  5 – New York metro area artists
  6 – All Encompassing
  7 – California artists
  8 – Washington DC metro area artists

  And of course ENTRY IS TOTALLY FREE Y'ALL

Opening Week Schedule:

Wednesday March 3rd, 5pm-10pm

Food and Wine Extravaganza by Elephant Steps and Friends
Event Hours: 5-8pm

Elephant Steps and Friends, founded in March  2009, is a meeting place for culinarians of all levels. Everyone from the novice chef to the seasoned home cook and the professional chef to the local farmer, can partake in the unique and intrinsic ideas from which Executive Chef Franklin Thomas has bought forth. This Washington DC based organization supports it's local produce growers as well as local professional and aspiring chefs. The website www.elephantstepsandfriends.com is sure to inspire the "chef in you" with a wealth of recipes, tutorials, and additional resources.

One Love Entertainment Presents: DJ Sonny Cheeba of Empresarios

Sonny Cheebah has been influenced by the sounds of Hip Hop and House music from an early age. 21 years later moving into sounds of Reggae and Downtempo music. A Washington D.C.-based Downtempo and Reggae DJ and producer with a driving beat and smooth mixing technique. For over Twenty years he has brought his vigorous style and enthusiastic stage presence to events throughout North America and Brazil. http://onelovemassive.com

Live Painting from 5-10pm by the following Artists:

• Angry Woebots - California
• Dan Fleres - California
• Daryll Peirce - California
• Kelly Castillo - California
• Mary Spring - California
• Jim Darling - California
• Jophen Stein - California
• Casey Weldon - NY
• Remi Mead - Hawaii

Thursday March 4th, 5-10pm

ALBUS CAVUS Art Workshop
Event Hours: 6-8pm

ALBUS CAVUS is an international collective of artists, educators and visionaries who create public art promoting creativity and learning. The organization operates in DC, NJ and CA. Their installations physically beautify the neighborhoods and promote development of healthy and strong communities through interactive art and events.

At G-40 Summit, Albus Cavus is taking participatory public art from the outside to the classroom. The group is offering workshops that range from stencil making and graffiti drawing to grant writing and music production. The workshops are held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in their location on the 8th floor next to the installation created by CRI, RVLTN, RAIN, JAZI, DECOY, CON, ULTRA, ROSINA, MIKA ALTSKAN and PETER K. http://www.albuscav.us/

Utrecht Art Supplies Presents: Cupcakes, Giveaways and Laughing Man
Event Hours: 8-10pm

Downtown DC's number one art store brings the supplies for inspiration: music, food, paint, and prizes. Hear arresting musical trio Laughing Man, a rich transmutation of blues, folk, garage rock, and soul, while you paint on our canvas, and join the Utrecht Cupcake Raffle: eat a cupcake for a chance to win a Utrecht gift card! http://www.utrechtart.com

Musical Performance by Laughing Man 8-10pm

Laughing Man is a Washington DC based trio comprising Michael Andrew Harris (drums), Luke Stewart (bass, saxophone) and Brandon Moses (vocals, guitar). The band successfully encompasses a folk-soul-blues-jazz sound, and blends it with elements of indie rock, calypso, and garage punk. Quietly garnering attention for their artsy, yet uniquely soulful live performance, the band is in the midst of recording new material featuring diverse arrangements and instrumentation. A potential flag bearer for a new era in DC music, Laughing Man is a band to watch. http://www.myspace.com/thelaughingmanhahaha

Live Painting from 5-10pm by the following Artists:

• Angry Woebots - California
• Codak - California
• Dan Fleres - California
• Daryll Peirce -California
• Kelly Castillo - California
• Mary Spring -California
• Jim Darling - California
• Jophen Stein -California
• Casey Weldon - NY
• Remi Mead - Hawaii

Friday March 5th, 5pm-10pm

ALBUS CAVUS ArtWorkshop
Event Hours: 6-8pm
Musical Performance by Shahid Buttar 8-9pm

By day, Stanford-trained lawyer Shahid Buttar roams the halls of Capitol Hill, city halls, think tanks and universities to advocate for civil liberties eroded by the War on Terror. At night, he haunts the San Francisco and DC underground electronica scenes as an MC, hitting the mic with DJs spinning deep house to acid breaks, old-school hip-hop and everything in between. http://www.shahidbuttar.com/

One Love Entertainment Presents: Version Sound 9pm-Midnight

Version Sound Washington DC's Dub Specialists. 4 Selectors, 1 Sampler and 1 Space Echo unit make up the group. We merge the underground Dub sounds of the 70s and 80s with newer Dub music, mixed in with a little roots reggae; VS bring together the classic hardcore/punk rock aesthetic of the 70s & 80s with the stripped-down drum & bass sound of the orignal Dub masters.... VS sounds like: King Tubby, Prince Jammy, Aswad, On-U Sound, Bad Brains, The Clash, Ruts DC, Jah Shaka. Version Sound resides at the legendary Eighteenth Street Lounge wednesdays alongside John Bowen and live reggae band See-I. http://onelovemassive.com

Live Painting from 5-10pm by the following Artists:

• Angry Woebots - California
• Codak -California
• Dan Fleres - California
• Daryll Peirce -California
• Kelly Castillo - California
• Mary Spring -California
• Jim Darling - California
• Jophen Stein -California
• Casey Weldon - New York
• Cope 2 - New York
• Indie - New York
• Remi Mead - Hawaii

GRAND OPENING RECEPTION:
March 6th, 8pm - Midnight Food Sampling by Elephant Steps and Friends

Saturday March 6th, 5pm - Midnight

Live DJ Set by Eighteenth Street Lounge Music's Newest Group: ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS 8-11pm

The newest ESL signing, the Ancient Astronauts released their album on June 9th. The album, titled "We Are To Answer," features a variety of new sonic collaborators including Bootie Brown and Imani of legendary hip hop group The Pharcyde, Azeem, Tippa Irie, Bajka, Phat Old Mamas, Ulf Stricker, Raashan Ahmad and Entropik. A block-rockin’ boom-bappin’ sonic tour-de-force, "We Are to Answer" is a musical vision of life on Earth and beyond! http://www.eslmusic.com

ALBUS CAVUS Art Workshop Event Hours: 12-2pm and 6-8pm

Check out http://www.artwhino.com/ for more info and to get the lowdown on why and how this came about.

Stay tuned for more Insider's Guides all this month as well as interviews with artists and musicians, behind the scenes photos, and giveaways of some kind even though it is free, who knows?

Now get to summitting!

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