CulturalDC and The Bozzuto Group announced that more than 40 artists are moving into the 27 artist studios at Monroe Street Market, a $200 million mixed-use community coming to the Brookland neighborhood. The artists are activating the spaces with practices as diverse as painting, photography, sculpture, literary arts, leather-working, jewelry-making, filmmaking and more.
CulturalDC was approached by Bozzuto Development and Abdo Development, the community’s developers, to serve as a liaison to the arts community and to activate 27 artist studios, an Arts Walk with an outdoor stage, and the Edgewood Arts Building that will enliven the new development at the Brookland-CUA metro station. With this project, CulturalDC continues its work in creative placemaking and cultivating space for art in the DC area.
Monroe Street Market features 27 artist studios ranging in size from 300 to 625 square feet. Ground floor studios line the Arts Walk, providing street front visibility and a prime retail opportunity ideal for artists. Studios feature porches along the Metropolitan Branch Trail, concrete floors, high ceilings and garage doors. More than 40 artists will ultimately move into the studios, with many more artists and audiences served through the range of activities at the studios and in other arts uses throughout the site.
A selection of the artists that have studios are:
Kate Krezel + Avner Ofer (Studio 4)
Kate Krezel and Avner Ofer are long-time Brookland residents and artists. Krezel is a National Geographic cartographer turned leather-worker and uses salvaged and reclaimed leather to create durable and functional one-of-a-kind products. Her signature pieces include “urban holsters” or pocket-belts designed to carry tablets, phones or wallets. Ofer is a travel photographer who goes off the beaten path to capture intimate moments and glimpses into other cultures. The couple will share the studio.
Cheryl Edwards (Studio 9)
Cheryl D. Edwards is a visual artist who works with oil, ink and acrylics. She studied at the Art Student League in New York and has exhibited in many shows in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, New York, Miami, Texas and Hong Kong.
Leda Black + Marcelle Fozard + Annalisa Leonessa (Studio 15)
These three solo artists come from diverse and eclectic backgrounds. As a group, they use repurposed and discarded materials in combination with knitting, weaving or crochet to create temporary “yarn bomb” installations in their communities. They will also continue their individual artistic practices of jewelry-making, graphic design and painting at Monroe Street Market.
Alejandro Pintado (Studio 17)
Alejandro Pintado is a visual artist from Mexico City, who recently relocated to DC with his family. His multimedia and often site-specific work focuses on notions of place and identity and views landscape from historic memory. His most recent projects were based in London and Mexico City and he plans to use Washington, DC and the Brookland neighborhood as inspiration for a series of new works. Pintado also plans to use his studio for artist talks and critiques between artists and the general public.
Fred Joiner (Studio 25)
Fred Joiner is a poet/artist/curator who has been active in the literary arts scene in Washington, DC for over 15 years. He is a curator of literary and art-related events including the American Poetry Museum’s INTERSECTIONS Reading Series, Hillyer Artspace’s HOME Series, The Phillips Collection’s Voices Series and others. Joiner is also the literary editor the peer-reviewed scholarly hip-hop journal Words, Beats and Life and the Tidal Basin Review. He plans to use the studio as a workspace for his writing activities, collage and assemblage work, and as a small reading room with selections from his personal library. Additionally, Joiner will host poetry readings, workshops and small master classes.
CulturalDC is generously supported by Bank of America Charitable Foundation, The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, The Kresge Foundation, the MARPAT Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Prince Charitable Trusts, The Share Fund of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, The Washington Post Company and many other generous partners.
The Bozzuto Group is part of The Bozzuto Group of companies. Headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, and celebrating its 25th year in business, The Bozzuto Group is a diversified residential real estate company that provides a broad range of real estate services throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The company’s areas of expertise lie in homebuilding and multifamily development, as well as construction and management both for themselves and their clients. Their skills have been attested to by the National Association of Home Builders, who recognized Bozzuto as the nation’s premier apartment development company, and twice as management company of the year.
Throughout The Bozzuto Group’s 25-year history, the company has developed, acquired and built more than 35,000 homes and apartments and currently manages nearly 40,000 apartment units spread along the Atlantic Coast between Northern Virginia and Boston. The company is committed to providing quality housing for individuals of all income levels, producing and managing everything from luxury homes and apartments to affordable housing solutions. For more information, please visit www.bozzuto.com.
