By Joann Stevens and Edwin Washington*

Art met life, or at least neighbors and businesses in upper Northeast Washington D.C., as artists and artisans created art to depict local small businesses and engage the community at the 2^nd Annual Riggs Park Art Crawl. Originally created and sponsored last year by Veronica “Ms. V.” Cooper, owner of local small business Culture Coffee Too, and muralist and creative director Jay Hudson, this year, The Parks Main Street and Culture Coffee Too partnered on the event, held on June 14 and 15, 2019.

The Parks Main Street, formerly known as the South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road Main Street, is the newest member of the District’s Main Street program aimed at retaining, revitalizing and recruiting small businesses in traditional historic business districts across the city. The Parks Main Street is a community-based organization that utilizes public-private partnerships and community volunteers to build on neighborhood assets and implement strategies to support and improve the business corridors in the Riggs Park and Manor Park neighborhoods.

The 2019 event kicked off on Friday June 14 with artisans stationed at Culture Coffee Too presenting their creations, such as jewelry, for sale. In the evening, a lively discussion was held during an artist panel at the Bilingual School located on Riggs Road NE.

On Saturday June 15, live painting by artists was a howling success under the gaze of the silver wolf sculpture located at the intersection of South Dakota Ave NE and Ingraham St NE.

This is where the Modern at Art Place apartment community resides and is also the future site of the famed arts collective Meow Wolf, a children’s museum, and a Family Entertainment Zone.  In addition to this site, painters were stationed at a total of 10 participating small businesses in the Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue NE corridor. When the paint dried, the muralists then handed off their completed masterpieces to the small business who inspired them, which we can also enjoy as a community for a long time to come.

Let’s meet some of the artists who shared their art and views about the Art Crawl now.   

Nessar Jahanbin

“I like painting natural and organic imagery,” says Nessar Jahanbin, also known as JAH One. He created a flower bud suspended in a dewdrop to represent the T-Mobile Store at 5210 South Dakota Avenue NE.  Using the company’s logo colors and a creative vibe inspired by graffiti street artists, the muralist deftly free formed the image, twisting and turning aerosol spray paint cans with a finesse usually reserved for paintbrushes.

Trained in the fine arts and a painter since childhood, this was Nessar’s first year participating in the Riggs Park Art Crawl. His T-Mobile inspired piece paid homage to the environment and graffiti street artists like Jay Hudson.

“It’s important to remind people about the artwork that comes from graffiti,” he says of the art form. “People appreciate murals but look down on street graffiti because what they generally see are tags and letters written on walls. They never get to see the beautiful art hidden away in places under bridges, or understand there is no way I could have done this (mural) without learning graffiti.”  

Painting letters with spray paint and then learning to manipulate their shapes and textures to create new images inspires Nessar’s career as a muralist who shares stories and history on city walls.

“We live in a society where people want instant gratification,” he says. “But spray painting takes time” to record the times of our lives.

Orange Clockwork

The mocking feline from Alice in Wonderland found a place on South Dakota Avenue during the 2^nd Annual Riggs Park Art Crawl. “When I got here they told me the business I was to represent was the dentist office,” Shining Stars Pediatric Dentistry, located at 435 Ingraham Street NE. 

The camera-shy aerosol artist calling himself “Orange Clockwork” says he focused on “creating a kid friendly street scape, something with a big smile,” to present the message “stay fresh,” adding stars to make it pop. “That’s how I came up with the Cheshire Cat.”

J’nell Jordan

“I love people and figurative work; a smile, body language,” says artist J’nell Jordan, a newcomer to the Art Crawl thanks to muralist Jay Hudson, who helped recruit the participating artists.

Painting for more than a decade, the Northern Virginia native said she moved to the District five years ago after studying art at Adelphi University in New York.  She represented Ramdass Pharmacy, located at 475 Ingraham Street NE, creating a piece depicting a child clutching a lollipop and the hand of an adult to convey her message of a friendly, neighborhood community. Learn more about Dr. Ramdass and his pharmacy by listening to a podcast here with David Kosub, Vice Chair of The Parks Main Street. 

“It’s nice to do something in your own neighborhood and have art uplift the businesses and get people involved.”

Matt Riegner

“Originally I had some grandiose ideas” of how to interpret the Modern at Art Place apartment community, says muralist Matt Riegner. See how grandiose his work can be. Eventually the elegant simplicity of the building’s logo won out, inspiring Matt to create a bold, abstract art piece.

“The arts scene in DC has blossomed and grown dramatically over the past 10 years,” he says. “It comes and goes with who is in office, idea exchanges, and social media.”  Recruited by Jay Hudson for the project, Matt said he has worked on projects with the legendary street artist for the past seven years. 

“The arts draw attention. Attention brings money. Money brings development,” he mused. “I think DC has done a good job of defining the District’s art culture. They’re using the arts in a constructive way that I think people can appreciate and engage.”

 Rhythm Bowers

Even mystical, purple-hued, fairylike beings need their garments dry-cleaned. At least that’s the playful message Rhythm Bowers, a graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, wanted to communicate while painting her animated street art outside Riggs Dry Cleaner at 5585 South Dakota Avenue NE.

“The Art Crawl has been amazing,” she said of her debut experience with the second annual event. “I’ve been wanting to paint outside and do something like this for a while.” 

“I feel it will give my work more publicity and, hopefully, bring my pop culture style into the city.  It’s nice seeing art in the city that has an animated style, like the art I create.”

Will Watson

“I didn’t know how to represent a liquor store in a positive light, admits Will Watson

The recent graduate of a MFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art represented Riggs Wine & Liquor at 5581 South Dakota Avenue NE. He rose to the challenge, using spray paint to create an image of friendship and celebration. 

“I wanted to show something that wouldn’t encourage alcohol abuse but light heartedness and fun, with a diverse group of colors. Cheers to friends,” says Will. “I hope the work ends up in a place where people can look at it and smile.”

The young artist says his first time participating in the Art Crawl resulted from his patronage of the Art Crawl’s co-sponsor, Culture Coffee Too.

“I come to Culture Coffee Too often for lunch.  I overheard Jay Hudson and [Edwin Washington, (the Executive Director of The Parks Main Street)] planning this event and I slipped them my business card.”

*Joann Stevens is a board member of The Parks Main Street. Edwin Washington is the executive director of The Parks Main Street. To learn about sponsorship and engagement opportunities, contact Edwin Washington at (202) 774-5542 or info@theparksmainstreet.org.