A Guide to Defunct Artist-Run Spaces (DC Edition) Launches This Thursday!

by The AFC Staff on October 4, 2017 Events + We Are SO Not Getting the Security Deposit Back

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Thursday, October 5th 6-8 PM
Washington Project for the Arts
2124 8th St NW

Which 30-year-old DC art space got its start by petitioning Mayor Walter Washington to take over a room filled with broken parking meters

Which nonprofit gallery dedicated to women in the arts opened its doors in a former doctor’s office located inside a leaky English basement apartment?

To find out, join us for the release of We Are SO Not Getting the Security Deposit Back; a Guide to Defunct Artist-Run Spaces (DC Edition). This zine is is the first of a series conceived by the NYC-based art blog Art F City, and co-published by the DC-based artist initiative Beltway Public Works with curator Blair Murphy. It documents spaces from the 1970s to the near present, and includes long-running entities like Market 5 Gallery and the Washington Women’s Art Center, and short-term projects such as FLEX, which ran for two days in an unrented ground-floor retail space. Publishing these stories makes visible the role of artist-run spaces in the cultural fabric of the city. As Paddy Johnson writes, projects like these, “made with love and tears” are “the ones least likely to be archived — and most precious to us.”

About Beltway Public Works:
Beltway Public Works (BPW) is a cultural initiative that partners with a growing network of artists, enthusiasts, and educators. BPW undertakes civic work that develops strategies for, and brings precedent tactics to, the nation’s capital region. BPW is dedicated to re-thinking the role of art and artists in metropolitan regions through a mix of revisionist geography, embodied histories and non-hierarchical engagement. In the process, it reclaims the pejorative term “Beltway,” championing positive accounts of culture within a networked, sprawling area at the center of the national imagination.

About Art F City:
Art F City is a non-profit publication that supports the creation of more sustainable artist-run projects through a mix of criticism, special projects and professional development opportunities. Our initiatives include an online publishing program, a project space and a diverse event program which serve to curate emerging practices, commission new art, and build IRL and online communities.  We believe culture makers function best with a supportive community. To that end, we’re working toward a more socially conscious art community by facilitating the sharing of ideas, resources, and skills.

About Blair Murphy:
Blair Murphy is a DC-based curator, writer, and arts administrator. She was a Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellow of the Whitney Independent Study Program from 2014 to 2015. Her recent projects include exhibitions in DC and beyond, including shows at Flashpoint Gallery (Washington, DC), Field Projects (New York, NY), The Kitchen (New York, NY), DC Arts Center (Washington, DC), Arlington Arts Center (Arlington, VA), and Washington Project for the Arts (Washington, DC).

Image of FightClub courtesy of Anthony Smallwood

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