All events at Explore! Museum, 395 Ingraham Street NE.
Tuesday, Oct. 28 (6 PM) – Candle Making with Tajaessentials
A cozy, hands-on evening for ages 12 and up. Materials provided. Bring home your hand-crafted aromatherapy for just $10 (+fees). RSVP here.
Thursday, Oct. 30 (4–7 PM) – Community Mosaic Workshop…with Treats!
Join Explore! for apple cider, pumpkin snacks, and crafts as they wrap up October at Explore! Costumes welcome! RSVP here or sign in at the door. FREE
New! Tuesday Evenings at Explore!
You asked for more days, and starting this month, Explore! will be open Tuesday nights (4-7 pm). Stay tuned for special workshops like candle making and sculpture.
Memberships Start in November
Explore!’s free events have been so popular that they’ve gone through supplies fast! To keep materials stocked and quality high, here are a few ways to support Explore!:
Pay-What-You-Can: Suggested $5 donation per event (cash or Eventbrite).
Wind down the week with hands-on creativity at Explore! Fort Totten. Drop in to sculpt with clay, paint tiles, and make your own creations to take home.
If you have not already, please complete the Explore! Maker Pop Up survey. By providing your email address, you can be added to the distribution list. Follow Explore! on instagram (@explore_museum_dc).
[Ed. Note: Social Justice School is starting renovation of the existing warehouse at 3rd & Kennedy Street NE at Art Place at Fort Totten for its permanent home.]
Free and open to the community! The festival series is always a good time for the kids.
September 13th – Fall Carnival Experience
Ready to experience an amazing Carnival right in your own backyard? Come out and enjoy games with a clown, food with our stilt walker, dance with our 2 facepainters and a live DJ, and team up with Spiderman for our outdoor Water Balloon battle! All as part of our community-centered Children’s Festival Event Series. Food: &Pizza + Donation:Chik-Fil-A.
Be Sure to Follow @artplacedcon Instagram for Updates!
Celebrate Art All Night with hands-on creativity at Explore! Fort Totten. Drop in to sculpt with clay, paint tiles, and explore the new “Terra Cotta in DC” exhibit-in-progress. Kids and families can make their own creations to take home, and see a preview of upcoming exhibits about the neighborhood’s clay history.
Stop by Explore! Fort Totten for a special Art All Night preview. Kids and families can experiment with clay, paint tiles, and try out hands-on maker activities in the Explore! community pop-up space.
This pop-up is part of the Kids’ Maker Series, designed to spark creativity and community connection.
Turn plain ceramic tiles into tiny works of art! Drop in to paint a tile (or a matching set) you can take home the same day—perfect for coasters, wall decor, or a gift.
Free and open to the community! The festival series is always a good time for the kids.
August 23rd – “Minecraft” Back to School Bash & Pizza Party
Enjoy some summer fun for the whole family! Join DC Fray & The Cafritz Foundation for an afternoon of inspiration + prizes as part of our community-centered Children’s Festival Event Series to provide supplies and get students and their families enthused about the upcoming schoolyear!
September 13th – Fall Carnival Experience
Ready to experience an amazing Carnival right in your own backyard? Come out and enjoy games, food, a live DJ, and loads of fun! There will even be a face painter on site! All as part of our community-centered Children’s Festival Event Series.
Thanks to the parents who filled out the Art Place kid maker pop up space survey, the first ever Parent & Kid Coffee is happening Saturday, August 16. Free coffee for parents, playtime for the kids, and a chance to meet your neighbors.
Today, 4pm-7pm, the Explore Museum Kids Maker Space is hosting a Clay Workshop with Ms. Clara! Work with with air-dry clay to create charming miniatures. Shape your creations on Friday, August 15, then return next week for a two-part follow-up:
Wednesday, August 20 – Paint your miniatures during new midweek open hours.
Friday, August 22 – Add magnets to turn your finished pieces into functional art!
Ramdass Pharmacy, located at 475 Ingraham Street NE, will be closing permanently on August 31, 2025, according to a sign on the front door of the pharmacy.
The pharmacy, which opened around August 2018, was one of the very first tenants of the first phase of Art Place at Fort Totten. We covered the opening and featured a chat with the pharmacist, Anthony Ramdass. In 2020, Mr. Ramdass was featured in DCist for the vital role his pharmacy played in making house calls to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I appreciated having an independent pharmacy in the neighborhood, and I am sorry to see him go.
Get ready to make a splash this summer as you dive into an unforgettable water adventure, packed with fun. You’ll cool off with water themed games, enjoy delicious snack bowls, and sip on refreshing beverages. We’ll have special guests to help guide you through the games. Plus, don’t miss out on the awesome giveaways! Dress in your best swimwear and get ready for a day of sun-soaked fun, laughter, and endless memories.
August 23rd – “Minecraft” Back to School Bash & Pizza Party
Enjoy some summer fun for the whole family! Join DC Fray & The Cafritz Foundation for an afternoon of inspiration + prizes as part of our community-centered Children’s Festival Event Series to provide supplies and get students and their families enthused about the upcoming schoolyear!
September 13th – Fall Carnival Experience
Ready to experience an amazing Carnival right in your own backyard? Come out and enjoy games, food, a live DJ, and loads of fun! There will even be a face painter on site! All as part of our community-centered Children’s Festival Event Series.
I am super late on sharing information from the June neighborhood development community meeting, held by the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association Development Task Force on June 17, 2025. On the agenda for discussion were the Art Place at Fort Totten and the Fort Totten Square developments. Representatives for Fort Totten Square asked to delay their presentation to the community until July so we heard from only representatives of Art Place at Fort Totten.
Paul Tummonds, land use counsel for the Cafritz Foundation (developer of Art Place), introduced Nora Riesenberg who is working with the Foundation on a new kids space pop up project in the former interim library space. If you have not already, please take the survey to share ideas about what you would like to see in the pop up space for kids. (Don’t worry if you have not attended any of the pop ups mentioned in the survey; you can still share ideas).
Art Sparks!
Mr. Tummonds shared that the Foundation planned to launch a new Art Sparks! project. That has been up for a few weeks now.
In this post, we shared information from the Foundation’s request for extension of time, about the plans for the new fence with art as well as light pole banners around the property. The light pole banners went up a few weeks before the fence.
Retail & Other Updates
Menomale & Urban Garden Brewery will be opening along South Dakota in Phase 1. Both are working on interior plans for permit and construction.
There is still space in Phase 1 for more restaurants, so more may be coming.
DC Dental Studio, a general dentistry practice, has a lease for space on second floor near corner of South Dakota & Galloway. (I met the dentist at the author talk a week or so ago. She said that construction permits took a little longer than anticipated but she is still hoping to open this year. Her practice serves primarily adults).
Social Justice School anticipates starting construction on the warehouse building on Kennedy in late July, expecting 11 months for construction.
The Foundation continues to negotiate with a children’s museum for the space behind Aldi.
The Foundation continues to have interest in having an entertainment component for Phase 2 (the phase between Ingraham & Kennedy).
The Foundation continues to seek financing for the housing component for Phase 2. When that is secured, construction will resume.
Keith Sellars, task force co-chair who organized the meeting, suggested that the developer refresh the window signage along South Dakota with “Coming XXXX” signs so that passersby know what is coming in those spaces. (Interestingly enough, a city official on a walking tour a couple of weeks later made the same suggestion). Menomale and Urban Garden Brewery are listed as coming soon on the Art Place website.
Another resident suggested that the developer put updates on the website much in the same way that they used to provide construction updates. No need for weekly updates, but proactively sharing regular updates would be a good idea.
Trash cans
Residents had previously requested that the developer install trash cans near the corner of South Dakota & Kennedy by Aldi. Mr. Tummonds stated those should be coming this month.
EV Charging Stations
A resident shared a need for EV charging stations in the neighborhood. The developer is required to have charging stations for Phase 2. In one filing, the developer indicated that the underground garage on Kennedy has 500 spaces, so theoretically, seems there should be 10 charging stations.
Kennedy Street Lot
I had previously asked the developer to finish cleaning up the lot on Kennedy Street where there is still construction and demo debris and overgrown vegetation along the fence line. I asked if they would consider putting in an interim use on that lot while they wait to resume construction on Phase 2. For example, could they put in a temporary dog run considering there is supposed to be a dog run in Phase 2 as a community benefit. It will take more than a minute for construction to resume so it would be nice to at least have a better looking lot and something in place that could easily be removed in a year or two when construction resumes. The lot was used for construction staging. Sounded like there is reluctance to put something temporary there.
Other things people mentioned:
Request for coffee shop
Suggestion to utilize the platform in Phase 2 for holiday tree
Suggestion to have food trucks on Friday and Saturday evenings
Best for ages 4–12
Next Stop...Riggs Park 