Entertainment & Sports Arena: May 2021 Newsletter

Washington Mystics Return to Entertainment & Sports Arena for 2021 WNBA Season

Basketball is back on the St. Elizabeths Campus! On Saturday, May 15, the Washington Mystics took on the Chicago Sky as one of the first games to kick-off the WNBA season. This marked the first game for the Mystics back in Congress Heights since the winning the WNBA Championship in 2019. The game was nationally televised on ABC and open to a limited number of fans (Washington Wizards star Russel Westbrook among them), with a final score of Sky 70 - Mystics 56.



The Entertainment & Sports Arena team worked diligently to ensure that all fans had the ultimate guest experience. New health and safety procedures are in place, including socially-distanced seating, enhanced sanitation and air purification, a mask requirement for all persons 2 years and older, touchless security screenings, and a new bag-free policy for all fans. Read more about the Arena's new policies here.

R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center Hosts Walk-Up Vaccination Site

Are you ready to get vaccinated? Check out the vaccination sites across Washington, DC, including at Events DC's R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center in Ward 8 and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Ward 2. Don't want to wait? Check out wait times here.

Growing Food in Southeast – THEARC Farm and Bridge Park Plots

THEARC Farm is the anchor site of the 11th Street Bridge Park, helmed by Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR) Farms network.  The farm was built in 2010, when BBAR staff added 21 raised beds alongside Oxon Creek. The project farm was to encourage healthy nutrition in the community and utilize green space in a positive way. Kale, chard, lettuces, garlic, tomatoes, mint, and basil were just a few of the fruits and vegetables planted in the first season.  Within five years, THEARC Farm expanded to include 22 raised beds, an 18-tree orchard, a season-extending hoop house, three community compost bins, four in-ground rows, medicinal & culinary herb gardens and a bee hive!

Ten years later, the small garden has fully evolved into an urban Farm – one of the largest of its kind east of the river.  The raised beds gave way to a second hoop house; the number of in-ground rows has quadrupled; the orchard has nearly doubled in size, its fruit trees pollinated by bees from not just one, but three honey-producing hives.

The Bridge Park Plots, a network of six DC urban farms and gardens supported by the 11th Street Bridge Park, grows and distributes organic fruits, vegetables and herbs to families East of the Anacostia River. Started in Spring of 2016, each site was built in partnership with a faith community, early childhood learning center or public housing community at the request of community leadership.

Residents may join the C.R.I.S.P (Community, Raised, Inspired & Sourced Produce) Farmshare to receive seasonal produce and locally made foods from local growers and makers. C.R.I.S.P. operates from May through November, with pick ups on Saturdays from 10:00 am-2:00 pm at THEARC (1901 Mississippi Avenue, SE).

Support community farmers and growers by registering for the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program which is a member-based program where community residents pay a sliding scale fee according to income and receive access to a variety of produce.

Craig Kraft Brightens Up Anacostia

Beacons of colorful light radiate from a distinguished building on Good Hope Road, SE, in Ward 8’s historic Anacostia community that serves as the home gallery and studio for neon artist Craig Kraft. Originally from Ames, IA, Kraft has gained national recognition for his neon light works, establishing himself as one of the leading neon sculptors of today. For the past 25 years, he has been a faculty member of the Smithsonian Institution Studio Arts Program.

With sculptures featured in over 120 exhibits across the United States (17+ solo), Craig Kraft’s work includes public art installations throughout Anacostia DC, at the Washington Square Building, and outside of the Shaw (Watha T. Daniel) Neighborhood Library. He has had solo exhibitions at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Gallery Neptune, Osuna Art, and DC Arts Center, as well as a host of private commissions and group exhibitions.

Learn about Craig Kraft’s neon/light workshops HERE.

For WTEF, Tennis is More Than a Game

For 65 years, the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (WTEF), an Events DC Community Grant awardee (FY2021, Cycle 1), has serviced young people across the District through their after-school and summer programs. Based in Ward 7 with East and West DC Campuses, WTEF offers outdoor (in-person) tennis and academic programming at three Washington, D.C. locations to DC Public School (DCPS) 1st through 5th grade students. The mission of the WTEF is to empower youth in underserved areas of the District to reach their highest potential through academic success and exposure to the lifelong skills involved in playing the sport of tennis.

During this unprecedented time of the Covid-19 global pandemic, the efforts of the WTEF have not waivered. WTEF after-school programs continued throughout 2020 and well into 2021 with one-on-one virtual tutoring and group distance learning sessions, as well as outdoor tennis instructional clinics.

To ensure the utmost attention to precautionary measures, WTEF facilities and programming underwent a full restructuring in 2020. Hybrid programing will continue through spring and summer of 2021. Summer 2021 Camps start June 21.

Sitar Arts Center Selected to Share Insights on Successes and Challenges as an Arts Organization of Color

In March 2021, Events DC Community Grant awardee Sitar Arts Center (FY2021 – Cycle 1) was one of 21 organizations featured in a new report, The Alchemy of High-Performing Arts Organizations, Part II: A Spotlight on Organizations of Color. The Sitar Arts Center was chosen to speak about the reasons for their success and the unique challenges they face as an organization that provides after-school, Saturday, and summer art programs for DC’s youth born into a world of unequal access to opportunity. They discussed specific challenges in 2020 due to COVID-19, including taking their 20th Anniversary Gala virtual, as well as effectively pivoting their classes to online programming by providing their students with devices and supplies. So far in 2021, they have been able to bring back popular in-person programs such as Camp Sitar, S.E.A.L. (Sitar's Emerging Arts Leaders) Teen Program, and a variety of early childhood arts classes.

Read the full report - The Alchemy of High-Performing Arts Organizations, Part II: A Spotlight on Organizations of Color

Watch videos from the 20th Anniversary Gala and Events

View full schedule of programs available this summer