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Public art is funded

Neighborhood projects to brighten city

(Published June 4, 2001)

By KATHRYN SINZINGER

Staff Writer

Six neighborhoods in four wards have won grants totaling more than $1.4 million from the D.C. arts commission to carry out public art projects.

Community groups from Brookland, North Lincoln Park, U Street/Cardozo-Shaw, Near Northeast, 16th Street Heights and Adams Morgan received the awards and are currently in the process of selecting artists to complete the projects.

The groups took part in a citywide competition to launch the first year of the Williams administration’s Community Public Art Initiative. The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the city government’s official cultural agency which awarded the grants, is working with neighborhood residents on these pilot projects.

Community meetings were held at the end of May to present the projects to Near Northeast and North Lincoln Park residents. Meetings are planned June 4-7 in the other four neighborhoods.

The North Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association received a $35,000 grant to create a sculpture for the traffic triangle located where 13th Street NE meets Constitution and Tennessee avenues.

The Near Northeast Citizens Against Crime and Drugs was awarded $10,000 to commission a sculpture for the traffic island where Eighth and K streets and West Virginia Avenue NE intersect.

The 14th Street Business and Resident Steering Committee was awarded $25,000 for a sculpture and $10,000 for a ceramic mosaic to be created at Triangle Park, located in the 1200 block of Emerson Street NW and the 500 block of 13th Street NW. Plans for the project will be presented to the public at7 p.m. June 4 at the Metro Bus Garage, 4615 14th St. NW.

The Westminster Neighborhood Association received a $25,000 grant for painting and $5,000 for a ceramic mosaic to be created at Westminster Playground in the 900 block of Westminster Street NW. A community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. June 5 at Maya Angelou Public Charter School, 1851 Ninth St. NW, to present details of the plan.

The Brookland-CUA Neighborhood Improvement Partnership received a $35,000 grant to commission a painting and ceramic mosaic along the sides of the Monroe Street Bridge, adjacent to the Brookland Metro. A community presentation of the plan is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 6 at St. Anthony School, 12th and Lawrence streets NE.

The Latino Economic Development Corp. will present its plans for a sculpture and ceramic mosaic at the traffic island and kiosk at 18th Street and Columbia Road NW during a public meeting at 7 p.m. June 7 at the Third District Police Headquarters, 1620 V St. NW. The group was awarded $20,000 for the sculpture, $10,000 for sidewalk pavers and $5,000 for an artistically designed planter.

Copyright 2001, The Common Denominator