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Exhibition Preview

The May 2003 St. Petersburg exhibition of Down By the River: Anacostia, A Place of Spirit explored the cultural life of Anacostia, the importance of faith in the history of the emancipation, and the role of spiritual life in a community.

The exhibition included a core of artwork from our 1998 and 1999 exhibitions, new works by Anacostia elementary children, several pieces from a photographic journal titled, Building Bridges of Understanding on democracy through D.C.'s architecture by two university students from Russia and America, and accompanying seminars and special events.

The exhibition was displayed at the House of Scientists which is an historic Romanov Palace that is located near the Hermitage. The House of Scientists is known for their exhibition halls and for their work with orphans.

We have included a brief preview of works from the exhibition below. You may also be interested in reading about our exhibition advisory committee in Anacostia and our host committee in St. Petersburg.

Building Bridges of Understanding: Anacostia

Photograph: Frederick Douglass' House by Rachel Eisley

As a celebration for Black History Month 2003, we presented an exhibition, Building Bridges of Understanding: Anacostia at the Anacostia Professional Building on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue in downtown, historic Anacostia. The exhibition traced and explored the themes of justice, democracy, beauty, and religious liberty through the architecture of Washington, DC (including Anacostia). The importance of the exhibition was that it connected the rich history and culture of Anacostia to the vital life within the Federal city and the National monuments.

The first project of its kind by the two artists featured photographs and narrative exploring the ideals of a democracy and the realities and spirit of the city. Included in the exhibition was the photographic documentation by JMU student, Rachel Eisley and a narrative by Ilya Ivanov, who is a university student from St. Petersburg, Russia, currently studying in the United States. Also, included in the exhibition were collages of color snapshots taken by the photographer when she visited Roslyn Cambridge's classroom at Lucy Ellen Moten Elementary School, Anacostia After Hours Gracious Arts Program, and the Icon Workshop for children in Anacostia that we ran.

The community response from the exhibition was wonderful! There was an empty office space right off the lobby of The Anacostia Professional Building which we were able to use for a gallery. The building is almost the central hub of Anacostia as it houses many doctor's offices, social services, and a deli, so many people stopped to look at the exhibition while they passed through the lobby of the building. Many of the people who work in the building said that they loved being able to look at the gallery while on a break from work. Everyone who viewed the exhibition commented on how wonderful it was to see the beauty of Anacostia in the pictures and learn about the history of Anacostia as seen through the eyes of a foreigner. Many people didn't know that the non-discript grassy square next to Saint Phillip's Church in Anacostia used to be the slave auction square or that the famous abolitionist, Frederick Douglass lived in Anacostia and you can still visit his house today.

After such an optimistic response from the community and the building employees and managers we are praying that in the near future we will be able to use the gallery space as a community arts center with rotating exhibitions and programs for the children in Anacostia.

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St. Petersburg, Russia May 2003 Exhibition:
"Down By the River: Anacostia, Place of Spirit"

Following is a selection from the 58 pieces of artwork that were in the exhibition:

Jacob Wrestling the Angel, o/c by Karen Laub-Novak

Crossing Anacostia, pastel by Joe Fitzgerald

Cookie Cutters, o/c by Marguerite Quinn

L.C. Mearite, o/c by Lynn Donovan

Green Porch, o/c by Suzanne Nicholson

Anacostia, o/c by Nick Paciorek

Morning Has Broken, w/c by Lee Boynton

Mother and Son of the River, b/w photo by Lamont Mitchell

Donzella and Daeshaunda, b/w photo by Carole Barbee

And He Heard, bronze by Karen Swenholt

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Ms. Roslyn Cambridge
Art Teacher, Lucy Ellen Moten Elementary School (Anacostia)
Anacostia After Hours Gracious Arts Program

Mr. Carl Cole
Advisory Committee, Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Representative of Washington, D.C., Advisory Board of the Executive Council of the Chesapeake Bay Program
Vice Chair, Potomac Heritage Partnership

Mrs. Patricia Hutchins
Artist
Great Falls, Virginia

Rev. Fr. William Lewis
Rector, The Chapel of St. Philip the Evangelist (Anacostia)

Ms. Joy Majied
Consultant, Majied & Associates Consulting

Mr. Lamont Mitchell
Owner, Imani Catering (Anacostia)
Anacostia Coordinating Committee
Former Special Assistant to Mayor Anthony A. Williams

Ms. Carol Parris
Educator, Anacostia After Hours Gracious Arts Program (Anacostia)

Mrs. Marguerite Quinn
Artist
Director, Anacostia After Hours Gracious Arts Program (Anacostia)

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Down By the River: Anacostia, A Place of Spirit
Host Committee (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Irina Alexashina
Assistant Rector
The Teacher's Advance Training University

Inga Invanova
Russian Coordinator
The Dutch-Russian International Center

Svetlana Mahlina
Assistant Rector
The St. Petersburg State University of Culture

Boris Stolyarov
Chief of The Russian Center of Museum Pedagogy
The State Russian Museum

Alexandra Boitsova
Assistant Director
The St. Petersburg City Youth Creativity Palace

Nadezhda Oleinik
Teacher of Methods
Youth Creativity House #1, Central District of St. Petersburg

Ludmila Popova
Director
Youth Creativity House #2, Central District of St. Petersburg

Yuri Solonin
Dean, Philosophical faculty
The St. Petersburg State University

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