Two Don't-Miss Events this Weekend

Mid-City Artists Open Studios

The very popular semi-annual Mid-City Artists open studios will take place this weekend, giving residents and visitors in the Dupont/Logan/Mid-City/U Street areas a chance to visit more than 20 local artists in their studios. The last event attracted thousands of visitors to the neighborhood. A map of the studios and more information about the event can be found on the Mid-City Artists website. Maps are also available at the gallery. If you missed the recent Sondra N. Arkin solo exhibition at the gallery, you will have a second chance to see some of the works from that show in her studio on Sunday.

Last Weekend for Artomatic

This weekend also marks the end of a very successful Artomatic festival. The (roughly) biennial extravaganza is hosted this time around byVornado/Charles E. Smith, which has made 90,000 square feet of space available on the 6th and 8th floors of its building at 2121 Crystal Drive in Crystal City. The show exhibits art by some 600 artists who took space on a first-come, first-served basis. There is a broad range of art from the not-so-good (or worse) to the truly outstanding. See Washington Post art critic Michael O'Sullivan's review, among many posted on the Artomatic website. O'Sullivan likens the Artomatic visit to a treasure hunt. A fair analogy. The site is Metro accessible (a few blocks from the Crystal City station) and free of charge (although donations are welcome and very much appreciated). Artomatic received considerable support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Crystal City BID, the Warehouse Theater, Gallery and Cafe, the Cultural Center of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington and washingtonpost.com. Hats off to all of the sponsors.

Look for works by gallery artists Sondra N. Arkin, Ellyn Weiss and Ming Yi Zaleski. There are terrific contributions by Tim Tate, Laurel Lukaszewski and many other talented local artists. I am hoping to post my top 10 list soon