In 2014, as Hamiltonian Artists, we successfully applied for a $15,000 grant to become the local programming partner for 5x5 curator Justine Topfer from Out of the Box Projects (San Francisco, CA).
Organized by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, 5×5 is a temporary public art biennial, for which five contemporary art curators are selected to work with five artists to develop and present exciting, temporary art works in public spaces throughout Washington, DC. The resulting twenty-five projects serve to activate and enliven publicly accessible spaces and add an ephemeral layer of creativity and artistic expression to neighborhoods across the District of Columbia.
As the local partner organization, my team and I created additional programming events around the artists Justine had selected for her curatorial project (home)land. For Sanaz Mazinani's U.S.A.I.R.A.N installation (Artforum review here), we organized a free concert by Iranian-borne singer Parnaz Partovi. Bronx-based artist Abigail DeVille's The New Migration piece was accompanied by a Second Line and in partnership with BicycleSPACE and Washington DC's Bike Share program, we organized a free bike tour of various 5x5 sites throughout the city. The tour was guided by local artist Calder Brannock, founder of The Adventure Residency Program, and 5x5 artist Marley Dawson.
