WASHINGTON, June 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Halcyon today
announced the final line-up of artists, performers, and speakers
who will participate in the inaugural By The People festival,
June 21-24. Washington's largest international arts and
dialogue festival will take place in every quadrant of the city,
bringing people together around the themes of life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. The festival is intended to promote
empathy and spark civil discourse, connecting people from diverse
backgrounds and building bridges across the cultural divide.
The public is encouraged to register in advance for a free
four-day festival pass at bythepeople.org for fastest entry. Most
activities are free; a few ticketed events have modest fees.
Official activities will take place at five locations: the
Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building (900 Jefferson Drive
SW), Washington National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW), Union
Market (1309 5th St. NE), THEARC West (1801 Mississippi Ave. SE),
and The Parks at Walter Reed (1010 Butternut St. NW). Additional
locations include the Anacostia Arts Center, The Anthem, Blind
Whino SW Arts Club, Embassy of France, Gallery 102/GW Corcoran School of the
Arts and Design, Hamiltonian, IA&A at Hillyer, The Kennedy
Center, The Kreeger Museum, National Museum of Women in the Arts,
The Miracle Theatre, Shakti Arts at Bossa Bistro and
Lounge, Transformer at Farragut Square Park, United States
Institute of Peace, and U Street Music Hall.
The Smithsonian's landmark Arts and Industries Building
(A&I) will serve as the festival's headquarters. After being
shuttered for more than a decade, A&I is being developed as a
laboratory for the exploration of big questions about the future
and a vehicle for inspiring Americans about the impact of
creativity and innovation on society.
Highlights
A full-on arts takeover of Washington, By The People features more than
100 events throughout the city. Highlights include:
- A newly commissioned video installation by "Renaissance artist"
Nick Cave and a response by jazz
musician Jason Moran; interactive
installations on life, liberty, and happiness in the Smithsonian
Arts and Industries Building; a powerful large-scale work by
Imran Qureshi on the entrance
grounds to the National Cathedral; a performance art piece
including a marching band procession by Marine veteran Jefferson Pinder at The Parks at Walter Reed;
and an exhibition by two graduates of THEARC's I CAN program, among
many other arts events.
- Performances ranging from go-go to a showcase of punk bands to
ballet premieres.
- "Common Ground" discussions in which festival guests will be
randomly paired with a fellow guest or a surprise VIP for a
10-minute unscripted conversation around a shared question.
Participants will add their mutual ideas to a collective
mural.
- An augmented reality art hunt, powered by ARTECHOUSE and
similar to Pokemon Go, in which the public
uses their mobile devices to search for virtual artworks
at every festival hub, all related to the festival themes.
- Pop up performances and activities including Bridgman|Packer
Dance, who will perform the ingenious "Truck," a nontraditional
dance inside a 17-foot U-Haul truck; Mind the Heart!, a worldwide
public street art project by Israeli artists Maya Gelfman and Roie
Avidan; numberF LED truck traveling all over the District
with mobile video art experience, and many others.
- "Solstice Saturday" a Smithsonian celebration of the summer's
longest day held in conjunction with the festival. Participating
Smithsonian museums will feature free activities during extended
evening hours on Saturday, June
23.
Dialogues
The By The People Dialogues will connect the
District's rapidly growing art scene to the city's long
history of civic dialogue and debate. The series of conversations
will take place June 21 from
9:30 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. at the United
States Institute of Peace (2301 Constitution Ave. NW). Using a
moderator-less "debate" format to examine two sides of a topic and
demonstrate the necessity of civil discourse, the series features
conversations on the festival themes of life, liberty, and
happiness. The dialogues are free but registration is required.
Speakers include:
- On the topic of life (at 9:30
a.m.): Lucianne Walkowicz,
Baruch S. Blumberg Chair in Astrobiology at the Library of Congress
and an astronomer at Adler Planetarium, sits down with Armstrong
Wiggins, director of the Indian Law Resource Center, to
examine: What would be the potential implications of
discovering life beyond earth, and do they warrant the billions of
dollars spent on the endeavor? Dr. Avi
Mandell, exoplanet scientist in the Planetary Systems
Laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center, will introduce the
speakers and provide a framework to the topic
of life.
- On the topic of liberty (at 10:40
a.m.): Yousef Bashir, Palestine-born activist and
speaker, converses with Yossi Klein
Halevi, Israel-born author
and journalist, on the topic: What is the most pragmatic and
ethical way to achieve a lasting peace between the Palestinians and
Israelis? Ambassador (ret.) Barbara
Bodine, Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy
and concurrent director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy
at Georgetown University, will
introduce and frame the dialogue on liberty.
- On the topic of happiness (at 12:30
p.m.): Dr. Robert Waldinger,
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard
Medical School, and Robin
Hunicke, co-founder and CEO of the independent game
studio Funomena, examine: Research has shown that the strength of
human relationships is critical to long-term well-being and
happiness. With the rapid advancement of human interaction online,
are virtually developed relationships providing benefits to
our long-term happiness or detracting from it? A second
conversation on happiness (at 1:40
p.m.) features Todd Hitt, CEO
of Kiddar Capital, and Sonal
Shah, executive director of the Beeck Center for Social
Impact & Innovation at Georgetown University, who will
discuss the question: Is capitalism producing the impact
outcomes needed in the 21st century, and is it a solution for, or
cause of, the rising wealth gap in this country?
Artists and Performers
The line-up of artists and
performers includes Kristin Adair,
Chloe Bensahel, Michael JN Bowles,
Nathaniel Brodie, Antonius Bui,
Stacy Cantrell, Nick Cave, Rebecca
Clark, Erin Curtis,
Hosey Corona, Nekisha Durrett, Maya
Freelon, Stephen Hayes,
Linda Hesh, Avish Khebrehzadeh,
Michael Craig Martin, Estefaní
Mercedes, Kerell Partee, Jefferson
Pinder, Imran Qureshi,
Jenny Sabin, Georgia Saxelby, Rachel
Schmidt, Sheldon Scott,
Dan Steinhilber, Liliane Tomasko, Heide Trapanier, The Holladay
Brothers; Jason Moran; BalletX; Hong
Kong Ballet; Wolf Trap Opera; Terra Firma Dance Company; Dupont
Brass; Washington Performing Arts Men, Women, and Children of the
Gospel Choir; Ray LaMontagne with
Neko Case; a punk band show curated
by Sasha Lord with Sneaks,
Taraka Larson (Prince Rama), The Messthetics, and Loud Boyz;
punk video pioneer Bradley Friedman;
and DJs Baby Alcatraz and Alec
Mackaye; and Rare Essence with Small Upsetters. Virginia Shore is the festival's
Curator/Artistic Director of Visual Arts and Septime Webre is the festival's Artistic
Director of Performing Arts and Artistic Director of the Hong Kong
Ballet.
Accessibility
ASL Interpretation will be available for
the following programs at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries
Building: June 21 and June 22 (Meditation and
Mindfulness at 11 a.m., Picnic Talks
at noon; Interactive Workshops at 1
p.m.); and June 23 and
June 24 (Meditation and Mindfulness
at 11 a.m., Picnic Talks at noon,
Interactive Workshops at 1 p.m. and
Common Ground at 2 p.m.) Other access
services at the Arts and Industries Building are available by
request. Contact Melissa Rasowsky,
Smithsonian Institution, at rasowskym@si.edu,
preferably at least one week in advance of the
program.
Transportation
A courtesy shuttle will be available to
transport festival attendees between festival hubs. The shuttles
will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. approximately every 20
minutes. Signage at each hub will indicate the location of the
shuttle stop. In addition, Lyft is offering a promotional code,
"BYTHEPEOPLE" which new Lyft users can use to receive a
credit of up to $5 per ride for a
maximum of two rides. Existing users get 20% off one ride, up to
$4.
Partners and Sponsors
Partners include: 8 Arts &
Culture, 11th Street Bridge Park; The Agora Culture; Altria;
Anacostia Arts Center; ARTECHOUSE; Blind Whino; Bolamarge;
BrandLinkDC; Brightest Young Things; Corillian; Corcoran School of Art, George
Washington University; CulturalDC; DC Department of Economic
Planning and Development; DC Office of Cable Television, Film,
Music and Entertainment; DC Office of the Deputy Mayor Planning and
Economic Development; Destination DC; Earl W. and Amanda Stafford; EDENS; Events DC; FederalCity
Council; Government of the District of
Columbia, Muriel Bowser
Mayor; Hong Kong Ballet; Kaze Design; Kiddar Capital; Linder
Global Events; Lyft; numberF; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation; The
Parks at Walter Reed; Pink Line Project; The Phillips Collection;
Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington; Dr. Sachiko Kuno; Smithsonian Arts and Industries
Building; Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Latino Center;
STABLE; Swatchroom; THEARC; theatreWashington; Total Wine &
More; U.S. Trust-Bank of America; Union Market; Washington National
Cathedral; Washington Performing Arts; Wolf Trap Opera; Whole
Foods; William Grant & Sons;
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts; and YOA Youth
Orchestra of the Americas.
About Halcyon
A nonprofit organization that believes
in the power of creativity and compassion to empower humanity,
Halcyon provides space, community and access to socially engaged
artists and social entrepreneurs working to use their vision and
talent to address the world's greatest challenges. Signature
programs include Halcyon Incubator, Halcyon Arts Lab, Halcyon
Dialogue and the By The People festival. In only three years,
Halcyon's 63 social entrepreneurs have created 460 jobs, raised
more than $37 million and impacted
nearly half a million lives around the world. Founded by Dr.
Sachiko Kuno and Kate Goodall, Halcyon is based out of the
historic Halcyon estate and nearby Halcyon Arts Lab in Georgetown. halcyonhouse.org.
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SOURCE Halcyon