The DC Strings Orchestra presents a virtual concert Saturday in honor of Black History Month. (Photo by MFields Photography courtesy of DC Strings Workshop)

The DC Lineup for this weekend: Islamic art, street photography and Black composers

By Jennifer Anne Mitchell On Feb 19, 2021 Last updated Mar 1, 2021

Mutual aid initiatives and culturally diverse arts programs are featured throughout this edition of The DC Lineup.

The weather for this weekend, Feb. 19‐21, will start out partly cloudy on Friday followed by clear skies in the evening and into Saturday. Both Saturday and Sunday are predicted to be mostly sunny. Temperatures are forecast to range from 21 to 39 degrees.

1. Community: DC Mayor Muriel Bowser hosts the last of her administration’s virtual 2021 Budget Engagement Forums. Attendees will be able to share their thoughts on what should be prioritized in the fiscal year 2022 budget after hearing presentations from top officials. This Saturday’s gathering takes place from 11 a.m.‐noon. Registration is required to receive the meeting details, although it will also be livestreamed on the mayor’s social media channels and broadcast on Channel 16

2. Community: For the past five years, the Baltimore-based nonprofit Skylyne Foundation has hosted events in DC to help people who are experiencing homelessness. This Saturday from 1‐4 p.m., the group is gathering donations at the Community for Creative Non-Violence, 425 2nd St. NW. Requested items include hot foods and soup (to be distributed on site), canned goods, cases of water and juice, toiletries, hygiene and feminine products, school supplies, coats, winter accessories, shoes, socks and blankets. Monetary donations of $5–$10 are also encouraged, and can be given through CashApp via $skylynefoundation20.

3. Community: Centro de Apoyo Familiar is a Riverdale, Maryland-based nonprofit that supports the region’s Latino community. This Saturday, the group is hosting a free drive-thru food distribution event from 11 a.m.‐1 p.m. at Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostes Movimiento Misionero Mundial, 4401 16th St. NW. Attendees will receive fruits, vegetables and information about the group’s programs.

4. Music: The DC Strings Orchestra — part of the nonprofit DC Strings Workshop, which brings orchestral music programs to diverse audiences — is honoring Black History Month with a virtual concert hall featuring music by Florence Price and Ahmed Alabaca. Price was the first African American woman to be acknowledged as a symphonic composer and to have major orchestras perform her creations, and Alabaca is a contemporary Black composer who has produced works for film, plays and performances as well as the “Crowne Suite,” a musical reflection on the coronavirus pandemic. Music director and conductor Juan Gallastegui will lead the musicians during the show, which runs from 2‐3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are available with a suggested donation of $20. Free viewing is also available on DC Strings’ Facebook and YouTube pages.

An exterior shot of 5910 16th St. NW (Photo © Roy Sewall courtesy of DC History Center)

5. Arts: The DC History Center is offering Documenting DC: Street Photography Workshop, an online class that focuses on capturing “our city’s history in real time,” according to the description. Inspired by the center’s “born-digital” collection of nearly 2,000 high-resolution images that photographers Roy Sewall and Joel Hoffman took of every structure along 16th Street NW from the District/Maryland Line at Blair Circle to St. John’s Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square. Sewall and Hoffman will teach this class, share details on their 16th Street project and give tips on producing similar work. The workshop runs from 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday and is intended for photographers of all experience levels. Registration costs $30 for the general public and $20 for DC History Center members and students.

6. Education: The DC tech education nonprofit Tech Turn Up is hosting a free demo on the basics of podcasting and interviewing on Sunday from 5‐6 p.m. The class is geared toward youth, and will be led by musician and educator Carlos Hood and Tech Turn Up founder Tim Weedon, who once ran the first soul music academy in Scandinavia. Registration is required.

7. Arts: The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is honoring Esin Atıl, a longtime curator at the museum who died last year. Through her work, Atil shared Ottoman, Arab and Persian art with the public. Leaders from the museum will speak along with prominent arts professionals from around the world about her many contributions to the field of Islamic art. Registration is open online, and the virtual event may be accessed from Facebook. The commemoration is on Saturday from 9 a.m.‐1 p.m.

8. Arts: Unique Union is a gathering space in Ward 7 that blends creativity with wellness. This Sunday, the group is hosting a virtual workshop on making a mosaic-inspired soap dish with crafting stones and crystals — which may be especially useful for all the extra soap used to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The 90-minute class starts on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., and is part of Unique Union’s #SelfCareSunday series. Materials that attendees need to have on hand include Rockite or other quick-dry craft cement; a container about the size of a soap dish; water; polished stone, healing crystals or cowrie shells; gloves; and vaseline. Tickets are priced on a sliding scale, with limited free tickets available. Registration is required and will include a recording of the workshop to watch at a later date.

9. Arts: Cristin McKnight Sethi, an assistant professor of art history at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, curated the forthcoming exhibition Handmade: Creating Textiles in South Asia at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum. Sethi will speak about this show during a 1 p.m. virtual discussion on Saturday presented by the Textile Arts Council. Tickets cost $10 for the general public and $5 for students.

10. Music: Gain global perspective from home during Voices Across Time: A Concert From Samtavisi, a virtual watch party of the Capitol Hill Chorale’s 2019 concert in Samtavisi, Georgia. The event starts at 7:30 p.m. and includes a talk with artistic director Frederick A. Binkholder and ethnomusicologist John Graham during the intermission. The performance includes two Georgian choirs performing traditional Karbelashvili chants. Attendance is limited to 295 people, so registration is required. The event is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $15 to support the Capitol Hill Chorale as it deals with the pandemic’s detrimental impact on the arts.