The National Endowment for the Arts Pays Tribute with Speeches and Song.

By Ann Geracimos

Brian Stokes Mitchell and Denyce Graves. Photo by Henry Grossman.

No shy guy, that Rocco Landesman, the top Broadway producer who has come to Washington to head up the National Endowment for the Arts. Asked at the second annual NEA Opera Honors at the Harman Center on Nov. 14 how he was adjusting to the local scene, he conceded the move was “a culture shock” since he found the capital to be all about cultivating “the power of access” in a town focused on politics.

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Hickok Cole is known for its architecture, but its annual Art Night is helping build the local arts community.

By Michael Clements

Art lover and artists mix in the offices of Hickok Cole. (Photo by Hoachlander Davis Photography)

Each year, awarding winning architectural firm Hickok Cole Architects opens its doors to allow local artists and art patrons to turn its office into one of the area’s best contemporary galleries (for one night at least). This year saw over 50 local artists showcasing their work. Judging by the amount of pink “sold” dots around, the quality of the art was high. “It’s probably one of their biggest fundraisers of the year for the Washington Project for the Arts,” (WPA) said enthusiastic Hickok Cole Architects senior marketing manager Jennifer Oh over the loud buzz of cocktail conversation. The night generated more than $60,000 in artwork sales, with post event sales expected to reach $90,000.

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Spectral tales to ponder on a chilly October night.

By Donna Evers

The Walsh-McLean House, now the Embassy of Indonesia.

The 1800’s were the heyday for ghosts in Washington. Seances were in high demand as the central attraction at house parties and even the most prominent people consulted with spiritualists in an attempt to reach their dearly departed. People believed in God and the devil with equal passion in those days and they were convinced that ghosts inhabited their former homes in search of the peace and resolution that had escaped them in death.

Now we want rational explanations for things that go bump in the night. Even so, powerful stories and images can still make us look over our shoulder on a dark evening. One such influence was the tremendous effect the 1973 film classic The Exorcist had on viewers, especially Washingtonians, who will never look at “the Exorcist Stairs” the same way. Maybe this can help us relate to previous generations’ fascination with ghosts.

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The story of the Hay-Adams House starts with two enterprising couples

By Donna Evers

The Hay-Adams house upon completion in 1886.

Houses bear witness to triumphs and tragedies. The construction and history of a property — and its destruction, in the case of the Hay-Adams House — tells the story of the men and women who inhabited it and the Gilded Age in which they lived.

Henry Adams, great-grandson of President John Adams and grandson of John Quincy Adams, grew up in privileged circumstances in Boston in the mid-1800’s. He wrote many books throughout his life and is best remembered for his autobiography, “The Education of Henry Adams,” an insightful book about the social fabric of this country in the era following the Civil War.

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