Friday: Eddie Palmieri at the Library of Congress

South Bronx-raised pianist Eddie Palmieri established his musical reputation decades ago by innovatively combining the Afro Caribbean dance music he heard growing up in the 1950s with African American jazz. Now 87, Palmieri continues to love performing live where he often enthusiastically shakes his head and smiles while energetically pounding his fingers and sometimes his forearms and elbows on the keys. Although Palmieri has sometimes worked with vocalists, and emphasized more straight-ahead rhythms, he often, as he will be doing at the Library of Congress, digs into his Latin jazz songbook that highlights his ability to solo and improvise with his band. It’s this technique that led the National Endowment of the Arts to award him a Jazz Master in 2013, and he has won various Grammys over the years. Palmieri’s acclaimed skills also draw from the classical piano lessons he took as a youngster and the brief period as a teenager where he played timbales in his uncle’s Latin dance music orchestra. His work has been fueled by his own social justice values. Thus, Palmieri can play sweet and touching chords as he did solo on a song for his late wife Iraida Palmieri in a 2016 NPR Tiny Desk appearance, get noisy with his combo and use unusual time signatures, or combine all these different aspects as he did on his song “Justicia.” For this show Palmieri will be playing with longtime bandmates Luques Curtis on bass, Louis Fouche on alto saxophone, and Camilo Molina on drums. They’ll help provide the mix of dissonance and funky polyrhythms that Palmieri has become legendary for providing. The son of parents who emigrated from Puerto Rico, the charismatic Palmieri is likely to further enhance the evening with stories about his life between songs. Eddie Palmieri plays at 8 p.m. on Oct. 18 at the Library of Congress’ Coolidge Auditorium, 10 1st St. SE. loc.gov. Sold out, but Free RUSH passes will be available on site two hours before the concert. —Steve Kiviat

Opens Saturday: Mixed Up, Cut Up at Pyramid Atlantic

Pyramid Atlantic is known locally as a hub for artist studio space and workshops, but it’s also a hub for printmaking and paper arts more broadly, attracting workshop instructors and exhibitors from around the country and the globe. Its most recent guest is Houston-based artist Carlos Hernandez, showing an exhibit of his silkscreens and collages, as well as hosting an artist talk and two workshops. Hernandez creates both commercial and fine art works, creating concert posters and projects for corporations while also exhibiting widely, from small galleries all the way to the Smithsonian and Library of Congress. He’s worked collaboratively, founding the printmaking space Burning Bones Press in Houston and joining up with the group Outlaw Printmakers. Over the course of his storied career, he has racked up accolades including recognition from the Communication Arts Typography Annual for his playful and inventive lettering work and serving as artist in residence for the legendary Hatch Show Print letterpress shop. Mixed Up, Cut Up features works that are vibrant, frenetic, and jampacked with details, rewarding close looking. There is a level of planning that must go into making multicolored prints in order to get all the pieces to line up, and Hernandez’s work at times is meticulously planned; at other times it embraces the chaos and unpredictability of the process. His workshop on Oct. 17 (from 6 to 9 p.m.) preceding the exhibit revolves around using unconventional or mixed media in daily sketchbook use, and his own doodlings and explorations in this realm are the foundation of the finished works. Mixed Up, Cut Up runs from Oct. 19 to Nov. 24 at Pyramid Atlantic, 4318 Gallatin St., Hyattsville. Wednesday and Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. An artist talk and opening reception start at 5 p.m. on Oct. 19. pyramidatlanticartcenter.org. Free. —Stephanie Rudig

Closes Oct. 26: Gary Anthes at Studio Gallery

A photographer’s road trip through the sparsely populated west is, at this point, something of an American cliche. Gary Anthes’ exhibit Dust and Destiny on the Great Plains includes some of the expected subject matter—abandoned general stores, dilapidated farm buildings, boarded-up Main Street shops, dusty vintage cars, cracked and peeling grain elevators—and it offers a Dust Bowl warning about looming environmental decay. Still, the series benefits from its surprisingly sprightly mood, offering a striking contrast between the decay on view and the glorious light that illuminates it. Anthes—whose most notable prior exhibit in D.C. involved placing natural and man-made objects against the backdrop of interiors of an abandoned 200-year-old barn on his property—made his current collection of images during a 1,000-mile, back-road jaunt through seven states. Several of Anthes’ images feature facades with compellingly rhythmic wooden shingling, one of which includes an appealing arrangement of broken windows, in an echo of Minor White’s “The Three Thirds.” Another image, of a row of grain elevators alongside a receding rail line in Yuma, Colorado, conjures the Neoclassicism of Charles Sheeler’s painted depiction of Ford’s River Rouge plant. Anthes’ finest image may be one from eastern Colorado. It features a gently undulating field of grasslands under a mesmerizing sky in shades of blue; against this elemental pairing, a long piece of irrigation equipment jumps and snakes backward into the frame, providing a bracing sense of three dimensionality. Gary Anthes’ Dust and Destiny on the Great Plains runs through Oct. 26 at Studio Gallery, 2108 R St. NW. Wednesday through Friday 1 to 6 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. studiogallerydc.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Closes Oct. 26: Perspectives, a Morton Fine Arts’ *a pop-up project, at Washington Square 

Morton Fine Arts brings another installment of its trademarked *a pop-up project, titled Perspectives, to Washington Square. In a press release, Morton promises that this free exhibit of “’nature-based abstraction” will “communicate elements from nature directly” as experienced by the featured artists, who have been “[f]reed from the limitations of traditional representation.” Earlier this year, Morton Fine Arts staged another pop-up exhibit at Gallery B in Bethesda: Creating in Abstraction: A Pop-up Project Group Exhibition of 11 Global Contemporary Artists. Two of the highest-profile artists featured in that exhibit, Morton heavyweights Rosemary Feit Covey and Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, return for Perspectives. The other artists featured in Perspectives are Natalie Cheung, Hannelie Coetzee, Maya Freelon, Hiromitsu Kuroo, Eto Otitigbe, Andrei Petrov, and Jenny Wu. In interpreting the theme, the artists’ imaginations have varied widely: from Tzu-Lan Mann’s signature blending of Eastern and Western brushwork to Otitigbe’s blue-toned aluminum plate engravings; and from Freelon’s neon tissue ink monoprint Eclipse series to Wu’s latex-and-resin wood panel pieces. Wu’s panels, notably, feature titles that would not be out of place on a Fall Out Boy album, such as “DMV Still Does Not Default to Department of Motor Vehicles For Me,” “This Is Almost As Exciting As the Bylaw Review,” and “I Checked the Tag But I Don’t Understand the Tag.” With the unbeatable price of free and a wide variety of styles to survey, Perspectives is an opportunity for anyone who is modern art-curious but has been afraid to commit. Perspectives runs through Oct. 26 at Washington Square, 1050 Connecticut Ave. NW. Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. mortonfineart.com. Free. —Allison R. Shely

Ongoing: Mari Calai’s GENESIS at Photoworks

You can’t accuse photographer Mari Calai of lacking inspiration. Calai, in her capacity as artist in residence at Photoworks, has assembled a collection of works of unusual breadth. In one series, Calai—a native of Bucharest, Romania, who now lives in Falls Church—photographs doilies, but with a fuzzed approach that softens their fine, lacy details into near ethereality. In another series, Calai produces “chemigrams,” cameraless images made in the darkroom using light and chemicals, which she prints and attaches directly, without fuss, to the wall. The patterns in these chemigrams range from Japanese-style filigrees to abstract expressionist blobs; their toning ranges from mocha to an unexpected shade of pink. Other works teeter on the edge between realism and abstraction; some images suggest a raging fire, others like astronomical orbs, while others could pass for a foggy mountain valley—often printed on paper with subtle textures. The most impressive images veer a little closer to realism, notably a scene that appears to be sand dunes, a look upward into leaves and branches, and a spiral shell, highlighted with gold leaf. Mari Calai’s GENESIS runs through Nov. 10 at Photoworks at Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. glenechophotoworks.org. Free. —Louis Jacobson

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Saturday: Rebellion and Aesthetic Expressions With Phuc Tran and Elizabeth Ai at MLK Library

On Oct. 5, two authors from different corners of the literary world, Phuc Tran, author of Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In, and Elizabeth Ai, author of New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora, sit down with moderator Thuy Dinh to discuss their shared experiences. The core theme of their work is self-preservation as they both navigate what it means to be Asian American in today’s world. Both of their books interrogate the cycle of intergenerational trauma and cultural displacement—while celebrating the Asian American diaspora and experience. But the pair are more than just writers: Ai is a prolific director and producer of several documentaries and films and Tran is a practicing tattoo artist and Latin teacher. Dinh is a critic, author, and editor-at-large for the Vietnamese Diaspora at the Asymptote Journal. A book signing will follow the talk. Rebellion and Aesthetic Expressions book talk starts at noon on Oct. 5 at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW. dclibrary.libnet.info. Free, but registration is suggested. —Meg Richards

Saturday: Meshell Ndegeocello Honors James Baldwin at the Strathmore

 The late novelist, playwright, and essayist James Baldwin was born 100 years ago and died in 1987. This astute observer on race relations, queer issues, and humanity once noted in his writing that his thoughts were exemplified in part by the Black spiritual lyric: “God gave Noah the Rainbow sign/ No more water, the fire next time!” When Baldwin wrote that in 1963, he was spelling out the destructive post-flood fate the United States would face if Americans don’t learn from the country’s past and condemn bigotry and racial segregation. On No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, singer and multi-instrumentalist Meshell Ndegeocello, with the help of her guitarist and co-producer Chris Bruce and a handful of other musicians she often works with, gives us a race and gender history lesson and guidance on love and hate via music and spoken word. (The project also features poet Staceyann Chin and author Hilton Als.) The music is penned by Ndegeocello and her bandmates and half of the compositions feature sung or recited verses that include quoted excerpts from Baldwin. Based in New York for years, Ndegeocello grew up in the D.C. area, briefly playing bass for Rare Essence and others before moving on to her solo career that brought her some ’90s hits and much critical acclaim. This latest album has its roots in a 2016 theatrical effort she created and presented in Harlem called Can I Get a Witness? The Gospel of James Baldwin, which was based on his writings collected in his book The Fire Next Time. While the lyrical messages about the unending inhumane treatment of Black people—from enslavement through to the murder of Tamir Rice—are appalling and painful, Ndegeocello and her vocalists are steadfast in their desire as Chin chants assertively to “Find courage to speak for them.” The clever musical composing uses acoustic and digital instrumentation influenced by multiple eras of Black music to create ethereal jazzy funk. The track “On the Mountain” vocally goes from Als’ spoken word over squawking jazz horns to operatic soul via singer Justin Hicks, while the “The Price of the Ticket” is a ballad with acoustic guitar playing rooted in early 1960s Odetta-style folk with Ndegeocello plaintively asking a cop to put down his gun that is aimed at her. Other songs use Baptist church organ and gorgeous vocal harmonies to convey riveting emotions and to present Baldwin’s personal and timeless themes. Meshell Ndegeocello: No More Water / The Gospel of James Baldwin starts at 8 p.m. on Oct. 5 at the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Ln., North Bethesda. strathmore.org. $28–$74. —Steve Kiviat   

Ends Soon: Ikxisuluntuk (Swollen Foot), a Live Radio Play at Dandelion Collective DC

Created by Angel Rose Artist Collective, Ikxisuluntuk (Swollen Foot), a bilingual Nawat and English language audio adaptation of Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King, opened last week at Dandelion Collective DC. As someone forced to study Oedipus in high school and college, I found it thrilling to see an adaptation breathe new life into the Greek tragedy. Petrona Xemi Tapepechul, managing director of Angel Rose Artist Collective, has updated Sophocles’ story to focus on Tiutećan, the city of the Gods, as it suffers a terrible (and all too timely) curse: the loss of its ancestral language. A foreigner, Ikxisuluntuk (Swollen Foot), a fluent Nawat speaker, arrives and quickly becomes the King of Tiutećan. A lifelong curse follows Ikxisuluntuk and he’s forced to beg for answers and forgiveness from the city Elders. They send Ikxisuluntuk on a journey of self-discovery, betrayal, and self-doubt. In a press release, Tapepechul says, “Today, there are less than 50 first-language speakers of Nawat alive, making Nawat a critically endangered language as declared by the United Nations.” Tapepechul notes that Oedipus has been translated into dozens of languages, “and now, we have a Nawat-language version … for our communities who are working to revitalize this language for future generations.” The play previously ran this summer at Sitar Arts Center and the Mount Pleasant Library. This time around, this important production is only doing a 12-show run so be sure to catch it before it closes. Ikxisuluntuk (Swollen Foot), the live radio play, runs through Oct. 13 at Dandelion Collective DC, 3417 14th St. NW. angelrosearts.org. $20. —Serena Zets 

Ongoing: Diane Szczepaniak at Gallery Neptune & Brown

Diane Szczepaniak (1956-2019) was a Detroit-born painter who worked as an artist in D.C. since the 1990s. A retrospective of her work at Gallery Neptune & Brown, Meditations on Color and Light, includes a watery landscape limned in creamy oils; a large-scale, Op Art-inspired watercolor featuring cheerily colored, hand-drawn squares that communicate an oddly 3D texture; and patchwork-like assemblages of soft tones. But Szczepaniak’s most impressive works play with subtle gradations of color, created by careful layering of paint. In two works, Szczepaniak lightly spreads white highlights over understated fields of blue, creating unexpectedly radiating patterns. And in nine works that comprise the exhibit’s visual core, she replicates an L-shaped form that suggests the frame of a painting or a window. Within this repeated structure, Szczepaniak pairs tones such as magenta and various shades of blue with a dreamy subtlety that evokes the paintings of Mark Rothko, or, perhaps even more, the out-of-focus photographs of Uta Barth, some of which featured fuzzily portrayed windows into the obscure distance. Meditations on Color and Light runs through Oct. 19 at Gallery Neptune & Brown, 1530 14th St. NW. Wednesdays through Saturdays, noon to 7 p.m. galleryneptunebrown.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Ongoing: Power & Light at the National Archives

In 1946, coal occupied a central place in the national consciousness. That year, widespread strikes at coal mines threatened not just an industry but a crucial source of energy for the nation. The Truman Administration negotiated an agreement to end the strikes, which included one provision that’s now the subject of a National Archives exhibition: a 2,000-image survey of the coal-mining industry by Russell Lee (1903-1986), a member of the federal photography corps that documented the Great Depression. The largely forgotten survey, which spanned mines in 13 states, used black-and-white photography to spotlight both the grim working conditions underground and the families’ cramped, newspaper-lined homes, with the goal of publicizing the plight of coal workers. The subjects are notably diverse—many of the people captured on film are Black, some are Asian, and many were brought into the industry in order to keep wages low. The adults project an understandable weariness, but the children remain angelic, even when pushing a baby around in a makeshift stroller made from a discarded box of mine explosives. If images like Lee’s aren’t enough of a gut punch, the exhibit delivers an even bigger one in its final panel: A 1979 follow-up survey found significant material improvements for most mine families, but many who were interviewed voiced frustration that the nation continued to view them as backward and impoverished. Lee’s work from the 1940s “may have inadvertently contributed to this lasting stereotype,” the exhibit acknowledges. Given this, what are we to think about the value of documentary photography? At this point, I have no idea. Power & Light runs through Dec. 7, 2025, at the National Archives, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. archivesfoundation.org. Free. —Louis Jacobson

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The National Gallery of Art is usually a reliable source for first-rate photography exhibitions. In recent years, it has mounted thoughtful retrospectives on Dorothea Lange, Robert Adams, and Sally Mann, as well as British photography from the 1970s and ’80s. But as I look ahead to the fall exhibition season in D.C. photography, its lineup is even more powerful than normal.

The NGA’s Gordon Parks: Camera Portraits from the Corcoran Collection has been up since mid-July and runs through January. It features 25 portraits taken by Gordon Parks, the celebrated Life magazine photographer, between 1941 and 1970, ranging from iconic images of Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali to ordinary folk. Notable works include sculptor Alexander Calder, portrayed simply through a hand fiddling with one of his mobiles, and a group of oil field workers in Alberta, Canada, that in Parks’ hands come across as equal parts gritty and fashionable.

Also on view at NGA through January is In the Library: Life in the Impressionists’ Paris. The exhibit, which includes some 40 photographs and prints that detail the city’s urban transformation in the 1870s, supports the exhibit Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment.

Briefly on view, through Sept. 22, is the photography-adjacent Robert Longo Drawings: Engines of State. It features three monumentally scaled renderings of the U.S. Capitol, the White House, and the Supreme Court, all of which were recently donated by the artist. Robert Longo, while respectful of the edifices’ power, is less than sanguine about how the three branches of government exercise that authority; he places them in dark settings, ringed by storm clouds and spindly branches reminiscent of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Up close, you can see the smudgy imperfections of the buildings’ surfaces, especially on the Supreme Court’s marble columns and steps. 

Finally—and perhaps the NGA exhibit I’m most looking forward to seeing, due to its sprawling scope—is The ’70s Lens: Reimagining Documentary Photography. The exhibit, on view from Oct. 6 to April 6, 2025, features roughly 100 works by more than 80 artists. Appealingly, many of them are less-than-household names, including Mikki Ferrill, Frank Espada, Tseng Kwong Chi, Susan Hiller, Joe Deal, Michael Jang, and Joanne Leonard.

Another reliable source of photography exhibits in the D.C. area is the American University Museum, which launched its fall crop on Sept. 7. Notable on the photography front is Endless Transformations: The Alchemy of Connie Imboden, which features 50 works by Connie Imboden, a Baltimore-based artist whose art often captures fragmented visions of the human body, ranging from early black and whites to more recent color images that pay homage to Francisco Goya.

Other exhibits running concurrently at AU Museum feature works in other media, including a large-scale retrospective of illustrations and more by Ralph Steadman, best known for his collaborations with author Hunter S. Thompson, and painter Mark Kelner, whose “new American landscapes” substitute suburban strip-mall signage for trees and grass.

The new exhibit at Alexandria’s Multiple Exposures Gallery—an all-photography venue that mounts monthly-ish shows—is Van Pulley’s Off Broadway: Grit and Grandeur. Pulley’s work often features figures making their way around the imposing architecture of New York City, frequently revealing hidden drama. The exhibit runs through Oct. 6.

Finally, Shaw’s Foundry Gallery is mounting Double Vision, a joint exhibit by Deb Furey and Gordana Gerskovic, which runs through Sept. 29. Furey paints quasi-realistic portrayals of human characters, while Gerskovic is following up her impressive 2019 and 2022 exhibits at Foundry Gallery, in which she captured overlooked but visually compelling swatches of walls and other parts of the built environment.

Check out more of our 2024 Fall Arts Guide here.

Soomin Ham has been a leading photographer in the D.C. area since her 2016 exhibit, Sound of Butterfly, at the now-defunct Flashpoint Gallery. In that exhibit, Ham channeled heartache over the death of a parent by sifting through her late mother’s possessions and photographing them, often transforming the images through the use of water, snow, and ice, creating poignant metaphors for the fragility of life. She has subsequently exhibited frequently at Alexandria’s Multiple Exposures Gallery. Ham studied oboe at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, then earned a master’s degree in photography and new media at New York University’s now-discounted joint program with the International Center of Photography.

Here are the three exhibits Ham says she’s most looking forward to seeing this fall:

Tuan Andrew Nguyen: The Island at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, opened Aug. 16 

“The Island is a single-channel video debuting in Washington, D.C. that delves into the power of Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s storytelling,” says Ham. “His visual narratives weave together inherited history and memory, blurring the lines between fact and fiction in poetic and transcendent ways. Given the similar colonial history of my country, I feel a deep resonance with his work, which is delivered in a poetic manner.” Tuan Andrew Nguyen: The Island runs through May 4 at SAAM, G and 8th Streets NW. Free.

Endless Transformations: The Alchemy of Connie Imboden at American University Museum, opens Sept. 7

“Connie Imboden explores various subjects such as landscapes, trees, portraits, and self-portraits to discover what the world and photography offer,” Ham says. “Her endless dedication to experimenting with different approaches and new materials, while she delves into working on the same elements, has inspired my art practice.

“In her show, Endless Transformations: The Alchemy of Connie Imboden, it is remarkable to see how she uses the camera to create layered and fragmented visions of the human figure.” Endless Transformations: The Alchemy of Connie Imboden opens Sept. 7 at the AU Museum, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Free. 

Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always to Return at the National Portrait Gallery and Archives of American Art, opens Oct. 18

“Gonzalez-Torres redefined portraiture by going beyond the traditional portrayal of individuals,” says Ham. “His use of simple methods and ephemeral forms has been influential in my exploration of loss, memory, and identity.

“One of his works, ‘Untitled (Lover Boys),’ which features a pile of candy, symbolizes the loss of his loved one and the concept of eternity. Always to Return will mark the first major presentation of the artist’s work in D.C. in over 30 years.” A full circle moment: According to Ham, Gonzalez-Torres was in the same NYU program that she attended, but “much earlier than I did” it. Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always to Return opens  October 18 and runs through July 6 at the Portrait Gallery and the Archives of American Art. Free.

Check out more of our 2024 Fall Arts Guide here.

Thursday: War and Treaty at the Hamilton

As part of The View’s Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit cast reunion episode that aired in June, War and Treaty singer Tanya Trotter stepped center stage to sing the solo introduction to “Joyful Joyful.” Sixty seconds in, a male voice can be heard enthusiastically shouting from offstage “Go on, girl!” “Yes, that’s my big mouth,” Michael Trotter, co-singer and husband of Tanya, admits sheepishly. “I just could not control myself … There was a second there where I forgot that was my wife.” For Tanya (previously Tanya Blount), who performed in the 1993 movie alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Lauryn Hill (who was not at the reunion), and Sheryl Lee Ralph, it was wonderful to revisit with the people who gave her her first big break. “It was incredible,” says Tanya. “Whoopi has this way of making everybody feel like they’re that 17, 16-year-old kid again … So when I saw her and I saw—I call them my classmates—I immediately started crying because I remembered how it felt to be on that set with everybody.” The visit to The View is the latest in a continuous series of highs for the D.C. duo. This year alone has included Grammy nominations, a performance at the Emmys, another performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and touring as the opener for Zach Bryan. The year 2024 did include one awful low though. There was a cotton plant in their dressing room backstage at Austin, Texas’ Sips and Sounds Music Festival. Whoever used the plant as a set dressing was never determined; the duo received an apology from the promoter. Michael views the incident as a teachable moment. “With the temperature of our country and all that we’re going through with the ugliness of politics, I think that, in the spirit of following our current president, we need to tone it down a bit,” he says. “I would add to it—we need to tone it down a lot …What I would’ve loved to have seen is us and the promoter company come together and make a joint statement realizing that ‘Hey, the festival did not intentionally do this to us.’” Michael adds, “Also, letting people know that you can have a grievance and you can voice your grievance and it can be heard and it is not the end-all be-all.” After a brief respite at their home in Nashville, the duo will hit the road again, which includes a stop at the Hamilton on Aug. 22. As if that wasn’t enough for the couple, their biopic should (fingers crossed) start production this fall and a new album should land at the beginning of 2025. “We have a target date,” says Michael. “In good old Mike and Tanya fashion: Valentine’s Day 2025.” The War and Treaty play at 8 p.m. on Aug. 22 at the Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. thehamiltondc.com. $25. —Christina Smart

Friday: Korchfest at the Black Cat

In about a month, Ben Gibbard will take the stage at Nationals Park for the HSFestival and get quite a workout. First, he’ll perform with his longstanding indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie before toweling off and then return to the stage with his beloved electro-pop side project the Postal Service. An impressive accomplishment by most rock standards until compared with Korchfest at the Black Cat this Friday. Local drumming stalwart Brandon Korch will celebrate his 40th birthday by performing in five bands, a feat of strength most musicians looking to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome wouldn’t dare. While attending to see whether Korch collapses is worth the price of admission alone, the lineup presents a smorgasbord of punk-related genres that includes currently active bands and projects that had since gone dormant. I’m most looking forward to Pilau, whose grind-inflected hardcore is sure to make Korch sweat buckets mid-evening and the resurrection of Gnarly Rae Jepsen, a Carly Rae cover band (which includes WCP alum Matt Cohen) that will end the evening on an e*mo*tional note. Korchfest starts at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23 at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. blackcatdc.com. $15–$20. —Matt Siblo

Friday and Saturday: Local Theatre Festival at the Kennedy Center 

At its pre-pandemic peak, more than 40 theaters, universities, and playwriting collectives participated in the Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage, its free, annual Labor Day weekend festival of new play readings. Nearly every local actor in town who wanted to work over Labor Day weekend could—and the same went for anyone who wanted to see a free show. COVD ended what had been a great 18-year run. While the Kennedy Center’s Local Theatre Festival, the replacement event, which returns for its second year on Friday and Saturday, doesn’t offer the array of readings from heavy-hitter playwrights and theaters like Page-to-Stage did, it’s a step in the right direction, and at least tickets are still free. The 2024 Local Theatre Festival includes two panels, seven workshops, and 11 readings, which are mostly spearheaded by local emerging playwrights. The main draw is likely to be Friday night’s conversation between Peter Marks, the former longtime Washington Post theater critic who accepted a buyout from the paper in December, and Naveen Kumar, the New York-based freelancer for Variety recently tapped to replace him at our paper of record. Promising writer-generated readings include This Play Is Not About Brian, a semi-biographical show by Nikki Mirza, a multi-hyphenate artist wrapping up a star turn as Cynthia Weil in Olney Theatre Center’s production of Beautiful. Of the readings organized by local troupes, Spooky Action’s new musical adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita sounds the most intriguing. It’ll probably be weird, but in a good way. Teen theater geeks may be good candidates to enjoy the festival’s workshops, which will cover everything from set design to commedia dell’arte. The second annual Local Theatre Festival runs Aug. 23 and 24 at the Kennedy Center. 2700 F St. NW. kennedy-center.org. Free. —Rebecca Ritzel

Saturday: All Time Low at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Like all baby bands when they first start out, All Time Low would play any venue that would have them: VFW halls, churches, small bars—you name it. And like most baby bands, those early shows for the Towson, Maryland, band would typically have a sparse turnout. “I think the show [when] we played at Sidebar … I think we probably played for 14 people,” lead singer Alex Gaskarth tells City Paper. “There can’t have been over 20 people there. There were some really small ones but nobody knew who we were.” All Time Low don’t have issues with people not knowing who they are anymore. Twenty-one years into their career, the pop-punk quartet have released nine studio albums and their music has streamed more than 4 billion times worldwide. They also reached peak rock star status when they launched their own wine brand Everything is Wine. Not bad for a band that formed while attending Dulaney High School. Now, in celebration of their more than two decades career, the band are performing a series of shows that include playing a small club followed by a larger venue a few nights later. For Gaskarth, it’s a great opportunity for the band to get back to their roots. “We’ve been having a blast doing these kinds of clusters, these weekends of shows,” he says. “Those are the rooms that we grew up playing. I think our band really connects in those kinds of rooms and it’s really fun for us to actually be able to put on a show like that. Nothing beats that kind of energy.” Though the local small show, scheduled for August 22 at the Atlantis, is already sold out, you can still see the local band in another D.C./Baltimore suburb, not unlike their hometown. All Time Low play at 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. merriweathermusic.com. $45–$75. —Christina Smart

Saturday: Washington Salsa Festival at Eaglebank Arena

Reggaeton, bachata, and Regional Mexican music may be the biggest Latin music genres these days but salsa will forever be popular, and the Washington Salsa Festival will feature a who’s who of veteran greats from the percussion and horn-filled dance music. Salsa has managed to stay timeless for decades thanks to its combination of tuneful vocals and energetic instrumentation. The old-school stars on Saturday’s bill include the South Bronx-raised singer and trombonist Willie Colon. His raw-rhythmed 1970s solo albums and collaborative efforts with vocalists Hector Lavoe and Ruben Blades are still considered classics today. Puerto Rico’s El Gran Combo have changed members over the years since their 1962 beginning. Still, this well-rehearsed, charismatic outfit always offer three vocalists who cleverly alternate call-and-response and harmony while dancing—propelled by the group’s keyboard, drums, and bass-led musical background. Puerto Rican singer La India has sung house music and pop over the years, but her strong-voiced ’90s salsa efforts are what many still treasure the most from her catalog. The event’s lengthy bill also includes Tito Nieves, Rey Ruiz, Frankie Negron, and Los Adolescentes. Expect to see couples dancing in the aisles all night long. Washington Salsa Festival starts at 8 p.m. on Aug. 24 at Eaglebank Arena, 4500 Patriot Cir., Fairfax. eaglebankarena.com. $39–$350. —Steve Kiviat

Ongoing: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania at the National Building Museum

The central tension of the exhibit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania at the National Building Museum is between the famed architect’s “realized” and “unrealized” projects. The “realized” projects—notably the Fallingwater residence—are justly celebrated. The “unrealized” ones? They’re more of a mixed bag. To the exhibit’s credit, it communicates Wright’s vision through more than just standard architectural drawings and scale models; it has partnered with Skyline Ink Animators + Illustrators to produce high-quality digital animations that capture both exterior and interior views of Wright’s unbuilt designs. Some of these animations are simply lovely. One shows a farm cottage blanketed with swirling snow and chimney smoke; another depicts a small Rhododendron Chapel with a fireplace full of quietly licking flames; another shows a never-built addition to Fallingwater with an unexpectedly castle-like roof that features a succession of small dentiles. More mundane is Wright’s circular-ramp design for a 1,100-space vehicular garage in downtown Pittsburgh; it was never constructed, but it eventually came to fruition more than a decade later for the infinitely classier purpose of housing New York’s Guggenheim Museum. The big swing-and-miss from Wright, however, was a proposed, multi-use civic center on Pittsburgh’s “Point,” where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio River. In Wright’s vision, this triangular focal point for the city, a geographic and historical treasure, would have been overrun by a web of circle-and-spoke structures. Thankfully, the city went a different direction and built the simple, untrammeled greenery of Point State Park, which remains a civic treasure to this day. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania runs through March 17, 2025, at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. nbm.org. $7–$10.—Louis Jacobson

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Thursday: Mickalene Thomas at the Phillips Collection 

Best known for her complex and beautiful portraiture of Black women completed on a massive scale, New York-based artist Mickalene Thomas’ mixed-media paintings can be found across D.C. at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, the Rubell, and now in the Phillips Collection’s newest special exhibition, Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage. Her larger-than-life work usually speaks for itself, but Thomas is coming to town this Thursday to discuss the inspirations behind her pieces in the exhibition with Multiplicity’s curator, Katie Delmez. If Thomas’ words on craft and artistic vision strike a chord within you and leave you wanting to make your own masterpiece, you’re in luck. In addition to this talk, Multiplicity is hosting a slew of free artist events and collage workshops before the exhibit closes on Sept. 22. Allow Thomas’ words inspire you to let your inner collage artist free and make some art worthy of display in the Phillips (or your living room). The conversation between Mickalene Thomas and Katie Delmez starts at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 15 at the Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW. phillipscollection.org. Sold out, but standby ticketing will be offered dependent on availability on a first come, first served basis. —Serena Zets 

Friday: The Little Mermaid at the MLK Memorial

Live-action versions of beloved animated Disney classics were always inevitable. Once the technology caught up to the drawings, it absolutely made sense for the incredibly successful studio to revisit the highest-grossing films in their vaults. While Emma Watson as Belle in Beauty and the Beast was perfectly fine and Will Smith as the Genie in Aladdin was … blue, the reimagination that garnered the most attention in Disney’s transition from drawings to people was 2023’s The Little Mermaid. Interest in the film was high for its nearly five years of production (thanks COVID for the slowdown). Melissa McCarthy was perfectly cast as Ursula and Halle Bailey as Ariel helped make the young actor an icon to children around the globe. Due to those COVID delays, it also became one of Disney’s most expensive productions. Due to its quality, it became the 10th highest-grossing movie of 2023. The film once again cements The Little Mermaid as a Disney classic while—to the chagrin of racists who think a half-human, half-fish must be White—allowing kids of all races to see themselves as a little mermaid. All kidding aside, the most recent edition of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale is a remarkable achievement in storytelling, technology, and British tax breaks. A year after its theatrical run, it is becoming a staple of outdoor film screenings. The most inspiring of these is at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial as part of the Films at the Stone Series. With D.C. weather finally turning somewhat enjoyable rather than sweltering, it looks as if this mid-August screening will also be one of the most pleasant ways to spend an evening on the National Mall. The Little Mermaid screens at 8 p.m. on Aug. 16 at the MLK Memorial, 1964 Independence Ave. SW. thememorialfoundation.org. Free. —Brandon Wetherbee

Sunday: Dogs on Shady Lane at Songbyrd

Since forming in 2018, Dogs on Shady Lane have released only a handful of original songs, plus one precocious Beyoncé cover. But each entry in their short discography is a jewel, glittering softly with gauzy instrumentation and sharp confessional songwriting. Although the indie rock outfit began in Providence, Rhode Island, as lead singer and guitarist Tori Hall’s solo project, Hall has called upon her gaggle of musical friends for small gigs and recording opportunities since the beginning. Now riding as a four-piece band, the group still have the loose and affectionate feeling of the best jam collectives; the credits for 2022’s folky sleeper hit “Cole St.” shout out the contribution of “stomps and claps by many lovely friends.” Dogs on Shady Lane’s new EP, Knife, released by the discerning DIY label Lauren Records in February, signposts where the young group may be headed—away from those stomp-and-clap drum lines and plucky banjos and toward a more jagged, electric, soft emo sound. On standout track “Pile of Photos,” Hall’s hushed vocals are nestled amid feathery shoegaze textures that explode into teasingly short moments of catharsis, landing somewhere between Slow Pulp and Soccer Mommy. The band, which have recently made the quintessential art kid pilgrimage from Providence to Brooklyn, are stopping in D.C. as part of a late summer tour—the perfect season for languorous indie angst. They’re supported on the bill by a trifecta of up-and-coming alt acts from the DMV that have been adroitly selected to round out the wistful vibe: D.C. dream-pop duo GLOSSER, the exuberant Richmond-based band Drook, and local musician (and Songbyrd sound engineer) Ryan Plummer’s plaintive solo act Dumb Lucky. The show will prove a helpful scene sampler for any slowcore or pop punk veteran wondering what their Gen Z progeny might be listening to these days. Dogs on Shady Lane play at 8 p.m. on Aug. 18 at Songbyrd, 540 Penn St. NE. songbyrddc.com. $15–$18. —Amelia Roth-Dishy

Through Aug. 24: Belkin • Caldwell • Shull at Hemphill Artworks

A three-artist exhibit is an atypical format for Hemphill Artworks, but you can see how it came to be. Textile artists Sophia Belkin and Randy Shull and digital photographer Colby Caldwell share a large format and an appreciation for abstraction. Of the three, Shull’s work is the most different. He creates hammocks like those typical of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, where he spends much of the year; he then paints the hammocks and lets them “cure” in the sun. Shull’s finished works feature draping, spaghetti-like strands of twine whose curlicues suggest a 3D iteration of the hand-drawn contour lines in works by Linn Meyers. “Bisagras III” adds a hammock-like shape that suggests either a smiley face or the mouth of Batman’s Joker. The Baltimore-based Belkin, for her part, uses dye painting, embroidery, and textile collage while Caldwell continues the technique he has used in recent years of deploying a flatbed scanner as a camera. The works by both Belkin and Caldwell walk the line between abstraction and realism, but Belkin’s careful stitching contrasts with the seemingly random glitching of Caldwell’s scanner patterns. (In a nice twist, some of Belkin’s imagery echoes that in Caldwell’s seminal series “How to Survive Your Own Death,” which is based on a now decades-old video glitch.) What elevates Caldwell’s works is the interaction between his floral subject matter and the cubist-adjacent geometries created by the scanner glitches. In one noteworthy image, yellow flowers alternate with electronic defect patterns that suggest sharp daggers; the image becomes a fruitful pairing of beauty and danger. Belkin • Caldwell • Shull runs though Aug. 24 at Hemphill Artworks, 434 K St. NW. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. hemphillartworks.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Ongoing: Of Light and Shade at VisArts

Artist Alexander D’Agostino has a fascination with codes, secret symbols, and hidden messages, which becomes clear in Of Light and Shade at VisArts. The collaged images within are pulled from archival photos, broadsheets, and newspaper clippings, gay porno mags, and ritualistic texts—there’s a whiff of the illicit about them. The subject matter and the eras they come from hint at queer stories that were historically kept under wraps, as well as the usage of codes to both identify comrades and stay undetected to outside eyes. A huge array of chlorophyll prints done on real plant leaves lines the walls, and their production reveals the conundrum of revealing versus hiding oneself. Chlorophyll prints use the natural process of photosynthesis and pigments in plant leaves to create images: Placing objects or transparent images on top of leaves and exposing them to light causes the parts that are obscured to be left behind in the original shade of the leaf, while the rest of the leaf fades to yellow. Shedding light on these images brings them out, but expose the prints further and they’ll fade altogether. The walls are bedecked with tapestries printed with this collaged imagery using solar prints, which similarly use the light exposure from the sun to create prints. The most ingenious use of light comes from a series of artists’ books, accompanied on a shelf by a small keychain with a blacklight on it, which can be used as a code breaking tool. Shine the light across the pages, and reveal the hidden messages written throughout. These include some dirty little bon mots and scribbled love notes declaring the romance of Abraham Lincoln and his rumored lover David Derickson. It feels as thrilling and illicit as reading someone else’s diary by flashlight. Of Light and Shade runs through Oct. 6 at VisArts, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville. Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 4 p.m.; Friday noon to 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. visartscenter.org. Free. —Stephanie Rudig

Daily: Progression at Multiple Exposures Gallery

It’s a project with a design so convoluted that few would dare attempt it twice within nine months. But the photographers of Multiple Exposures Gallery are game for another Progressions exhibit, in which 15 members contribute 45 images in sequence, thematically playing off the previous image with either a photograph they’ve already taken or with a new one. The new image may mirror the previous one’s subject matter, composition, or color, but there needs to be some visual or thematic linkage. As with last year’s version of Progressions, windows and chairs are a bit overused as transitional elements (this time around, I’d add clouds to the overused list, despite their loving portrayals throughout the exhibit). The intended connections usually become clear; only a couple of times was the link so obscure that I missed it. But the real test of images in the exhibit isn’t their connection to the preceding and following photographs, but whether they stand out in isolation. Fortunately, many in Progressions do. Notable images include Irina Lawton’s spindly playground structures set against a fire-red sky; Stacy Smith Evans’ gaggle of teenagers on a European street corner; Sandy LeBrun–Evans’ bracingly rough-hewn image of a cafe patron and a figure walking through a passageway in the background; Soomin Ham’s barely visible insect on a striated, translucent surface; Van Pulley’s portrayal of a sand dune that ranges in tone from sepia to inky black; and Alan Sislen’s image of a man alongside a rural road marked by zebra-like shadows, thanks to trees lining the roadway. With Progressions, come for the brainteaser, but prepare for some wide-eyed stops along the way. Progressions runs through July 28 at Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. multipleexposuresgallery.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Saturday: The Last Podcast on the Left at Warner Theatre

Is this what theaters like the Warner were built for? Obviously, the architect of this gorgeous building didn’t foresee podcasting when it was constructed in 1929—the space originally screened silent movies. But watching three dudes chat about topics formerly reserved for dark bars and currently explored in dark corners of the internet actually works on a big stage surrounded by hundreds of like-minded individuals. Unlike some of the other podcasts acts able to sell a thousand tickets in most major markets, the fellas of The Last Podcast on the Left are not brought to you by National Public Radio or DraftKings. They’re also not trying to solve a murder or save democracy or threaten democracy by being bad li’l boys. The LPOTL dudes, comics Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski, and newest host Ed Larson, are kind of a podcast throwback, funny people exploring a topic—in this case “all things horror” (hence the name playing off Wes Craven’s 1972 directorial debut)—for 90 to 120 minutes. There are jokes, there are fun facts, there is frivolity. Close your eyes and get transported to when podcasts were better, before Spotify and your favorite public radio station helped make the art form a lot more boring. The Last Podcast on the Left starts talking at 8 p.m. on July 13 at Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW. livenation.com $49.25. —Brandon Wetherbee

Sunday: Folger Library Pop-Up Book Fair

If you loved the Scholastic Book Fair as a child, fell in love with William Shakespeare’s work in school, and have been meaning to check out the recently reopened Folger Shakespeare Library—or you’re just a well-rounded reader or thespian, this event is for you. This Sunday, the Folger invites D.C. residents into their renovated facilities for a free Pop-Up Book Fair showcasing literary work from the Folger’s 2024–25 season. The upcoming season, titled “Whose Democracy?”, will feature a production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, directed by Raymond O. Caldwell, and Twelfth Night, as well as Lauren Gunderson’s A Room in the Castle, which reimagines Hamlet from the women’s narratives. In addition to selling books, the Fair will feature a family story time, poetry reading, and literary giveaways from the Folger and local independent bookstores. Last year, while the Folger building was still undergoing massive renovations, the book fair was hosted at Capitol Hill’s East City Bookshop. This year’s event hopes to welcome the D.C. community back into the reimagined space and show that the research library meets theater has something for everyone. While you’re there, check out the Rita Dove poem carved into the west garden’s marble edge. The book fair starts at 11 a.m. on July 14 at Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 E. Capitol St. SE. folger.edu. Free. —Serena Zets 

Wednesday: Pebble to Pearl at the Wharf

The Wharf is one of D.C.’s gems—the sunsets, ambience, and liveliness accompanied by seagulls, waterfront breezes, and the smell of Old Bay from the fish market make it the perfect place to spend the summer. Its free (yes free) summer concert series Rock the Dock adds to the cacophonous sounds of the season. Presented by Pacifico, the concerts take place every Wednesday evening through Aug. 28 and offer a cool reprieve of the heat. Genres range from R&B, jazz, reggae, and go-go to country and pop covers. This week’s act is Pebble to Pearl. The local six-piece are known for playing funky, contagious dance tunes that blend R&B, blues, and soul. Lead vocalist Dari J has been praised for her powerhouse vocals and pianist Araya has been celebrated for his virtuosity. They’re sure to have you shimmying with your Dark and Stormies in hand. (Cantina Bambina is mixing some delicious drinks to make the evening that much sweeter.) Pebble to Pearl play Rock the Dock at 7 p.m. on July 17 at Transit Pier, 970 Wharf St. SW. wharfdc.com. Free. —Simone Goldstone 

Ongoing: Capital Brutalism at the National Building Museum 

The National Building Museum’s Capital Brutalism presents itself almost apologetically: The opening wall statement acknowledges that D.C.’s concrete behemoths are the city’s “most polarizing architectural landmarks,” and at one point the exhibit quotes former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp unflatteringly calling his own agency’s headquarters “10 floors of basement.” In fact, when the exhibit focuses on such buildings as the HUD headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building, Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library, and the Energy Department’s James V. Forrestal Building, it spends almost as much effort discussing innovative proposals to revitalize these alienating edifices as it does on the buildings’ historical context and their current uses. Capital Brutalism presents its topic fairly, noting that in the 1960s and early ’70s, when most of these structures were built, the architectural establishment greeted them with applause. In one clipping shown, Benjamin Forgey, Washington’s leading architecture critic from 1964 to 2006, wrote in 1975, when the headquarters of what is now the Department of Health and Human Services opened, that the building was “several notches better than anything … the federal government has constructed in Washington in recent years.” (Today, this sounds like damning with faint praise, but it didn’t at the time.) Notably, the exhibit spotlights a few praiseworthy examples of the style, each of which, a close reading will indicate, are signaled by the lack of an appended how-do-we-fix-this? proposal. They include the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, with its smooth, circular exterior and rounded interior galleries; Dupont Circle’s wedge-shaped Euram Building, which, to be fair, benefits from its largely non-concrete exterior; and the semicircular concrete vaults of the Washington Metro, which, for all of Metro’s service shortcomings, still looks more attractive than New York’s subway system any day. Perhaps the thread that connects these successes is curves; the lesson for architects is, if you must go brutalist, please junk the concrete box. Capital Brutalism runs through Feb. 17, 2025, at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. nbm.org. $7–$10. —Louis Jacobson

Friday: Yesterday & Today: DC Does Dischord Release Party at the Black Cat

D.C.-based label For the Love of Records is putting on a show to celebrate the release of their new compilation album. Entitled Yesterday & Today: DC Does Dischord, the LP is a tribute to the area’s hardcore punk heritage by some of the DMV’s most exciting artists. In case you’re new in town: Part of the reason D.C. occupies such a prominent place in punk history is Dischord Records. Started by former members of the band Teen Idles in the early ’80s, Dischord was initially run out of bassist Ian MacKaye’s parents’ house in Arlington. At Dischord, record sleeves were glued together by hand, and DIY was simultaneously a necessity and a quasi-religion. The label exploded into prominence with the founding of MacKaye’s next band Minor Threat, which released their first album in 1981. Inspired by another D.C. band, Bad Brains, Minor Threat are perhaps as iconic to D.C. as the Clash are to London and Black Flag are to Los Angeles. But Minor Threat and other Dischord bands were different beasts entirely, punk boiled down to its austere core, virulently opposed to all “rock ’n’ roll bullshit” as Dischord band Government Issue once put it. Thanks to the scene centered around Dischord, the District became a hive of iconoclastic experimentation. D.C. hardcore became a genre unto itself, and later Fugazi (a sort of Dischord supergroup composed of members from Deadline, One Last Wish, and Minor Threat) blended punk with reggae and funk to establish post-hardcore. Dischord bands like Beefeater and Embrace have even been credited as progenitors of “emo,” though that genre’s genealogy remains hotly debated. It’s no wonder For the Love of Records had to pull from such a variety of styles to properly pay tribute. On Yesterday & Today, a project conceptualized and organized by Celebration Summer bassist Greg Raelson, you’ve got everything from throwback punk in the vein of the Jam (Dot Dash) and hyper-caffeinated pop punk (Brace Face) to hardcore (Supreme Commander) and hip-hop (Breezy Supreme). Celebration Summer have a track on there too. When talking about his own music, local rapper Breezy Supreme practically sounds like he could be a Dischord artist straight out of the summer of 1985. “Everybody wants to be a trap rapper and talk about the same stuff as the next person,” Breezy said in an interview with Hip-Hop Junction. “I want to be myself and stand out and not sound like everybody else just to fit in.” The release party will, of course, include performances from many of the aforementioned acts. It’s all ages, and the proceeds will go to We Are Family D.C., a grassroots organization that provides services and advocacy to underserved seniors. Yesterday & Today: DC Does Dischord release party starts at 7 p.m. on July 5 at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. blackcatdc.com. $20. —Will Lennon

Friday: The Sixth Sense at Congressional Cemetery 

There’s no shortage of outdoor film screenings in the DMV, but not nearly enough in cemeteries. Thankfully, we have one: Cinematery at the Congressional Cemetery. After its 2023 series featuring the films of Tim Burton, the 2024 Cinematery series is somehow even better this year with its Summer of Spirits lineup. Of the four films screening (Beetlejuice played in May, The Haunted Mansion screens in August, and Casper in September), The Sixth Sense is the most appropriate to be seen where you might just see dead people. While the film introduced the world to M. Night Shyamalan and his signature twist endings, it is a flick that’s just as enjoyable when you know the twist. It’s not the easiest sell to convince someone to see a movie that seemingly everyone in the world has seen, but sometimes the setting is just as important as the feature and there’s no better setting to see this movie. Bonus, you too can also see dead people. Kind of. Finally, Independence Day is entirely too loud. Fireworks are a public nuisance. You may want to be in a quiet place watching a quiet film the day after July 4. The Sixth Sense will screen at 8:45 or 9 p.m. on July 5 at the Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E St. SE. congressionalcemetery.org. $10. —Brandon Wetherbee

Opens Saturday: Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage at the Phillips Collection

Intersectionality is more than a buzzword for the Phillips Collection, where the exhibit Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage opens this Saturday, July 6. Organized by the Frist Art Museum in Nashville and described as “monumental,” the exhibition showcases more than 50 pieces across three floors and two buildings. Themes span the human and Black experiences—particularly how history, memory, and beauty are constructed, like collages, in the mind—as evidenced by the exhibit’s strong structure, divided into six sequenced sections: “Fragmentation and Reconstruction,” “Excavating  History and Memory,” “Cultural Hybridity,” “Notions of Beauty and Power,” “Gender Fluidity and Queer Spaces,” and, finally, “Toward Abstraction.” Kat Delmez, curator of Multiplicity and senior curator at the Frist, says in the press release that 21st-century “collage is an arguably understudied and undervalued medium, especially in museum exhibitions.” Seeking to portray the diversity of the Black American experience, the 49 Black American artists whose pieces are on display range from emerging creatives to leaders in the field, including Mark Bradford, Lauren Halsey, Wangechi Mutu, Deborah Roberts, Mickalene Thomas, and Kara Walker. Explaining and exploring collage techniques to visitors is a main goal of Multiplicity, with the first exhibit section and film interviews with 11 of the artists focused on the topic. The Phillips Collection has a number of community programs built out around the exhibit, evincing an all-in dedication to the concept, including artist-led conversations and artist-guided, hands-on collage-making sessions. Multiplicity opens July 6 and runs through September 22 at the Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW. phillipscollection.org. $10–$20. —Allison R. Shely

Tuesday: Daphne Eckman at Alethia Tanner Park

There has been growing and long-overdue acknowledgment for the artistic merit of the genre of “sad girl indie rock” in recent years, thanks in no small part to the rise of Phoebe Bridgers and boygenius. Locally, our music scene is all the richer for Daphne Eckman’s arrival. Eckman’s music feels ready-made for an outdoor summer concert. It’s emotional without being oppressive, substantive while also melodic, and, most importantly, its composition of country, folk, and rock goes well with sitting on a beach towel and drinking from a plastic cup. The Annapolis-based “professional over-feeler” has opened for Vanessa Carlton and Nancy Wilson of Heart. In January, she and her four-piece band, informally known as “the ladies,” released their first album, Where You Left Me, mixed exquisitely at Sweetfoot Studios in Easton, Maryland. The album is built around “Story” (which Eckman says was inspired in part by Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees”), a song about unrequited infatuation. That said, a better starting point is the instantly infectious “Jackson Pollock,” which sounds a bit like the more upbeat work from Laura Stevenson’s catalog. Acolytes of Bridgers, Waxahatchee, and early Angel Olsen are facing no shortage of content these days, but they (we) should still make time to check out Where You Left Me (bonus: that sax riff on “Acupuncture” is pretty sweet) and see Eckman live. If all that’s not enough to sell you, she sometimes encores with a cover of Metric’s “Black Sheep,” the best song from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World … at least according to people with good taste, aka fans of “sad girl indie rock.” Daphne Eckman plays at 6:30 p.m. on June 9 at Alethia Tanner Park, 227 Harry Thomas Way NE. eventbrite.com. Free. —Will Lennon

Tuesday: Emily Nussbaum at Politics and Prose 

Emily Nussbaum has been one of the most thoughtful voices on reality television, and TV in general, in the past few decades. Her first book, I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution, published in 2019, is a must-read for any Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Sopranos fan. Her newest book, the just-published Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV, tackles the less prestigious programming on your television (or computer or phone screen). Her regular work in The New Yorker tends to go viral for good reason. Her May 20 piece, “Is ‘Love Is Blind’ a Toxic Workplace?,” answered the question most every viewer of the extremely popular Netflix series has asked themselves and led to her recent appearance on NPR’s Fresh Air. Nussbaum’s essays and original reporting are both top-notch. Whether she’s writing about the show that helped usher in our current reality such as The Real World or the best of the best scripted programs, she puts an immense amount of thought and consideration into each subject. That goes for the trashy stuff too. Really, there’s no reason the trashy content doesn’t deserve as much thought as the prestige TV that dominated screens during the first decades of this century. Nussbaum is one of the few remaining must-read critics for good reason and if you’ve ever wanted to ask her opinion on your current favorite bingeable show, here’s your best opportunity. Emily Nussbaum speaks at 7 p.m. on July 9 at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. politics-prose.com  Free with first come, first serve seating, copies of the book are $30. —Brandon Wetherbee

Ongoing: Good Sports at Photoworks

More than most types of photography, sports photography relies on luck. Not that good sports photographers can’t perfect their skills to the point where they increase the likelihood of capturing a great image when it presents itself, but this still means their work is dependent on lots of things beyond their control: How close they are to a photogenic play; whether another player gets in the way during the wrong split second; how the light hits at a given hour; what kind of reaction an athlete makes. The exhibit Good Sports at Photoworks is consistently strong, but the photographers surely know that in none of these images were they entirely in control of their destiny. In this exhibit juried by John McDonnell, a recently retired 45-year veteran of the Washington Post’s photography staff, the first place image by Phil Fabrizio captures women’s volleyballers mid-celebration. In this case, no celebration, no photograph. In the third place image, of a rodeo participant trying to control his animal, Ayln Brereton likely would have gotten a worthwhile image just by showing up at the rodeo, but the glorious eruption of mud that almost obscures the subject’s body depends entirely on the rain that doused the ring before the event, while Soufiane Laamine’s image of a surfer under a towering blue wave wouldn’t exist were it not for the precise timing of a primal force of nature. A few other contributors are able to shape their work to a greater degree than others, such as Nicolas Polo, whose rodeo images are notable for their mood, which stems from his wise use of black-and-white film. But the finest work is by second place finisher Elizabeth Billman, who contributed two images, one of football action and the other of a runner racing with a baton. Both are composed with dreamy, relentlessly sideways motion. Used constantly, this approach could become cliche. Here, it enables Billman to stand out from the pack. Good Sports runs through July 21 at Photoworks, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Saturdays, 1 to 4 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 7 p.m. glenechophotoworks.org. Free. — Louis Jacobson

Thursday: Mdou Moctar at the 9:30 Club

The Nigerien guitarist has come a long way from his first U.S. tour in 2017, when his whirlwind immersion in Washington culture included a gig at the Library of Congress and a three-day residency at Episcopal High School before culminating in a headlining performance at the Black Cat. In May, Moctar released Funeral for Justice, his second album on Matador Records, graduating from small stages and, at times, restrained folkish rock to a huge, positively head-banging rock sound. And to think he learned how to play on a homemade instrument. Moctar is modest about his distinct musical voice, explaining, “I don’t know what rock is exactly … I only know how to play in my style.” With his latest album, Moctar lends his love for ZZ Top to a crucial message. In “Funeral for Justice,” he pleads (in translation), “African leaders, hear my burning question, Why does your ear only heed France and America?” Mdou Moctar plays at 7:30 p.m. on June 27 at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. 930.com. $28. —Pat Padua

Friday: Pride Poem-a-Day Reading at Little District Books

Get ready to work those philosophical cogs like Aristotle on a sunny day in ancient Greece, because summer is the perfect time to grab one of those poetry collections gathering dust on your bookshelf for an afternoon visit to your favorite park bench. But D.C. doesn’t have the dry, mild Mediterranean climate the philosopher king enjoyed. You might find yourself desperately scanning for meaning in prose, searching for when line-breaking hyphens are stylistic or functional, wracking the last cells in your brain to grasp Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” as the heat numbs all sensibilities. Yeah, hot reader summer is not going so well. Don’t lose faith, weary reader! There’s a better way to immerse yourself in literature: Hear it from the poets themselves—in an air-conditioned room! The annual DC Pride Poems project is holding its Poem-a-Day Reading on June 28, with four of D.C.’s accomplished LGBTQIA poets. For the uninitiated, DC Pride Poems releases a video of a poem reading every day for the 30 days of June in honor of Pride Month; some of those featured poets will be reading at the event. Listen to the free-form of Richard Hamilton, author of Rest Us and Discordant, and Kim Roberts, author of six poetry books and guidebook A Literary Guide to Washington, D.C.: Walking in the Footsteps of American Writers from Francis Scott Key to Zora Neale Hurston. Or indulge in the critical lens of Natasha Sajé, author of five poetry books including The Future Will Call You Something Else, and Dan Vera, author of two poetry collections and co-editor of Imaniman: Poets Writing in the Anzaldúan Borderlands. The diversity and richness of D.C.’s queer poets will be celebrated this Friday. The four poets perform at 7 p.m. on June 28 at Little District Books, 737 8th St. SE. littledistrictbooks.com. Free. —Lizzy Rager

Saturday: FIGHTMASTER at the Atlantis

E.R. Fightmaster is most recognizable for their star turn in Grey’s Anatomy, a two-season stint on Hulu’s Shrill, and their cameo in Lucy Dacus’ “Night Shift” music video. An accomplished and history-making actor, they’re now embracing being a multihyphenate artist, creating music under their surname FIGHTMASTER. Their debut EP, Violence, came out last year and their sophomore project, Bloodshed Baby, was released earlier this month. Both EP names misleadingly evoke an aggressive intensity that their music doesn’t possess. FIGHTMASTER’s music is tender, twangy, and, above all, explicitly queer. Dancing on the tiled floor of the Atlantis as FIGHTMASTER croons onstage sounds like the perfect closing to Pride … or the perfect precursor to Orville Peck at the Anthem the following night (see next City Light). FIGHTMASTER plays at 8 p.m. on June 29 at the Atlantis, 2047 9th St. NW. theatlantis.com. $18. —Serena Zets 

Sunday: Orville Peck at the Anthem 

Orville Peck, the masked country singer-songwriter, continues to raise his profile. He’s featured on the new Willie Nelson album and Nelson is featured on his new record for two different versions of “Cowboys Are Secretly Quite Fond of Each Other.” Special guests like Diplo and Kylie Minogue are featured on Peck’s newest single, “Midnight Ride.” Elton John and Midland are some of the guests on his May EP of duets. But bigger doesn’t entirely mean better. Other than “Miénteme” with Bu Cuaron, Stampede: Vol 1. is a skippable entry into his otherwise stellar catalog. The genre hopping may be an important exercise for the 36-year-old musician, but he tends to be at his best when focused. Fingers crossed the LP version of Stampede, due to be released August 2, will be on par with the sonically ambitious Bronco from 2022 and his utterly fantastic 2019 debut record, Pony. On just two full-lengths, the South African musician who first made waves as a drummer in a Canadian indie rock band before pivoting to a new sound and persona, has proven to be one of the best modern frontpersons. Though his trajectory sounds like a Mad Libs-inspired parlor trick, there’s nothing gimmicky about his music. The sound is steeped in what initially made country music fantastic and his vocal delivery is superior to some of his 1990s country icons turned 2020s collaborators. Orville Peck may be a stage name from a seasoned performer, but his material is both powerful and easy to relate to. Based on the first few weeks of the Stampede tour, expect a healthy amount of the first two records. This is a performer playing larger and larger rooms with each tour cycle (he was at the 9:30 Club for two nights in 2022 and Union Stage in 2019), and if his star continues to rise, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in an amphitheater or arena the next time he’s in the DMV. Orville Peck plays at 7 p.m. on June 30 at the Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. theanthemdc.com. $60–$85. —Brandon Wetherbee

Ongoing: Neuroland by Michal Gavish at the American Association for the Advancement of Science

The scientifically inclined art of Michal Gavish, a D.C.-based multimedia artist, is informed by her previous career as a research chemist. In her exhibit Neuroland, Gavish seeks to answer, “How do you picture a brain”—not the wrinkly pink organ per se, but rather the “network of neurons that extend through the body and make up a person’s thoughts and personality—the chemical and electrical webs that make us all both similar and unique?” Gavish’s works include myriad portrayals of dendritic shapes, some in stand-alone paintings on canvas or paper, and some blowing gently on veils of shiny, diaphanous fabric. Indeed, the more layers of translucent, satiny fabric she uses—up to four ply in some works—the more convincing the illusion of motion within the neural system. For a layperson, it’s hard to know how true-to-life Gavish’s biological portrayals are; dopamine is rendered in violet, adrenaline in green, and serotonin in magenta. One of her more intricate paintings, of melatonin, calls to mind a twin-peaked blue mountain with white waterfalls flowing into a blue green pool. Whether or not this depiction is literal, it certainly seems like a reasonable metaphor for the hormone that plays a role in sleep. Michal Gavish’s Neuroland runs through Sept. 30 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Ave. NW. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. aaas.org. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Thursday through Sunday: Letters to Kamala and Dandelion Peace at Universal National Memorial Church

Voices Festival Productions presents the world premiere production of two plays by Wisconsin-based playwright Rachel Lynett, Letters to Kamala and Dandelion Peace. Directed by A. Lorraine Robinson, the show is staged in the basement theater of the Universal National Memorial Church on 16th Street NW. Letters to Kamala is set in the midst of the 2020 presidential race, sometime between Kamala Harris’ acceptance of the vice presidential nomination and Election Day. Originally presented as an online reading that November, this marks its first staging. Three figurative ancestors come to address the future VP: Charlotta Spears Bass (Kendra Holloway), owner, editor, and publisher of the The California Eagle, and the first Black woman to run for national office as the 1952 vice presidential candidate of the short-lived Progressive Party; Charlene Mitchell (Fatima Quander), presidential nominee for the Communist Party USA in 1968; and Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink (Mariele Atienza), the first woman of color and first Asian American woman to serve in the House of Representatives in 1965 and in 1972. In addressing the future vice president, the three women offer congratulations and criticisms. What did she compromise to advance from California Attorney General to Senator to running mate? What was necessary for her career advancement, and what was necessary to advance the greater good? At what point does admiration and symbolism trump ideological differences? Will other audiences see it before this November? Dandelion Peace, commissioned by VFP as a companion to Letters, is a political satire writ small, showing the most cynical of tactics and electioneering deployed in the seemingly idyllic setting of an urban community garden. Artist Anita (Holloway) has planted dandelions in her plot so that she can make dandelion wine. But Zuri, a history teacher who wants to transform the ethos of the garden, has labeled the dandelions as an “invasive species” to be uprooted. Moira (Atienza), president of the garden’s steering committee, is trying to forge a compromise, and be reelected. In a hilarious dance of comic villainy choreographed by Chitra Subramanian, Zuri continues to escalate matters. Can a compromise be found? Rachel Lynett’s Letters to Kamala and Dandelion Peace run Thursday through Sunday to June 30 at Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St. NW. voicesfestivalproductions.com. $20-$45. —Ian Thal

Sunday: The Crossword Show at Planet Word

D.C. is a city of nerds, which isn’t a derogatory term in 2024. It seems like every person who moves here was at top of their class and flexes those intellectual muscles at thriving and daily trivia nights. We’re a city that loves smart so much there’s a long-running, quite successful pun-based competition show in town, Pun DMV. Sometimes it’s at DC Improv, sometimes it’s at Planet Word, which leads us to this pick. Of course there’s a museum devoted to words and language located in D.C.! We love this stuff! The Crossword Show returns to Planet Word after a successful October 2023 performance. This edition is hosted by Zach Sherwin (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, YouTube’s Epic Rap Battles of History), who will be joined by local funny folks Reese Waters and Kasha Patel, deputy weather editor for the Capital Weather Gang and a very good stand-up. If you’re looking for a funny show that isn’t your typical stand-up or improv and really want to use your noggin, this show is tailor-made for your nerdtastic taste. The Crossword Show begins at 7 p.m. on June 23 at Planet Word, 925 13th St. NW. planetwordmuseum.org $20–$25. —Brandon Wetherbee

Sunday and Monday: Mulatu Astatke at Howard Theatre

Mulatu Astatke is known as the father of Ethio-jazz, arranging songs that seamlessly meld the Middle Eastern-tinged, pentatonic scales of Ethiopia with John Coltrane-rooted hornwork, Jimmy Smith-derived organ, and Latin jazz-originated percussion. Astatke was born in Ethiopia, but his parents sent him to Wales to study engineering in 1959. But his love of music led him to the Trinity College of Music in London, and later the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was the first African student. It’s also where he developed his vibraphone and percussion skills. His time in New York City led him to combine sounds he heard in the city—Afro-Latin, jazz, and funk rhythms—with traditional Ethiopian music. Atatke’s efforts with Ethiopian groups and his 1973 collaborative appearance with Duke Ellington in Ethiopia led to acclaim in his homeland and within the Ethiopian diaspora, but most of his acclaim elsewhere came later. In the late 1990s a French label released a series of reissued recordings of Ethiopian music that included an entire album of his earlier music, which introduced him to a new audience. One such listener, American film director Jim Jarmusch later placed seven Astatke songs on the soundtrack of his 2005 film, Broken Flowers. Over the decades, the now-80-year-old artist has worked with a variety of different bands, perfecting compositions both upbeat and melancholy to reflect his musical vision, combining his own vibraphone chops with busy bursts from his horn players and danceable chords from his rhythm section. Mulatu Astatke performs at 8 p.m. on June 23 (sold out) and June 24 at the Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. thehowardtheatre.com. $35. —Steve Kiviat

Closing June 28: Photographic Images and Matter: Japanese Prints of the 1970s at the Japan Information & Culture Center

The works in the Japan Information and Culture Center’s current exhibit about 1970s contemporary Japanese art straddle the line between photography and prints, buffeted by the era’s artistic movements. Of the exhibit’s 14 artists, some produced painterly works aligned with the abstract expressionists of the previous generation, including Lee Ufan’s and Shoichi Ida’s elemental homages to Adolph Gottlieb and Robert Motherwell. Other artists in the exhibit were shaped by 1960s movements. The exhibit’s conceptualists include Satoshi Saito, who photographed what appear to be carefully arranged glass panes placed in various urban settings, and Koji Enokura and Tatsuo Kawaguchi, who experimented with stains on paper (in Kawaguchi’s case, caused by small metal tools embedded in the paper). Still, others artists in the exhibit responded to op art, including Arinori Ichihara, with an image of a dizzyingly textured surface, and Jiro Takamatsu, with a streamlined, sharply receding portrayal of three upside-down park benches. Ultimately, the two most compelling artists are Akira Matsumoto and Sakumi Hagiwara. Matsumoto deconstructed photographic images into colored arrays of Ben-Day dots that sometimes devolve into dreamlike interference patterns. Hagiwara, meanwhile, created repeated images of various objects to mark the passage of time in seconds, minutes, hours, a day, a month, and a year. (The last used an apple that grew ever more desiccated over time). It’s a smart distillation of multiple strands of the era’s artistic trends. Photographic Images and Matter: Japanese Prints of the 1970s runs to June 28 at the Japan Information & Culture Center, 1150 18th St. NW. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. us.emb-japan.go.jp. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Ongoing: Sarah Hood Salomon at Multiple Exposures Gallery

The recent arc of Sarah Hood Salomon’s art began with ethereal photographs of trees, then morphed into the interaction between mutually encroaching swaths of nature and the human-built environment. Her current exhibit at Multiple Exposures Gallery allows man-made structures to replace flora entirely, as Salomon destroys some of the nature photographs she’s made to use them as fodder for resin-encased sculptures. If you look closely at the traces of Salomon’s “purposefully scratched, cut and puréed” photographs, you might make out a shading of light or dark here and there. Mostly, though, you’ll see linguine-shaped strips arranged into organic forms that suggest curled hairs, hanging moss, feathers, and brushy plant matter. Some of Salomon’s more intriguing works use thin, parallel cross sections of photographic remnants suspended within clear, hardened cubes, as if they were prepared microscopic slides. Even more compelling are Salomon’s experiments with “sanded” detritus from photographs, with dust either encased in clear, snow globe-like spheres or piled up in empty lucite boxes like a miniature experiment in land art. Artistically, it’s not clear that the sculptural transformations are more remarkable than Salomon’s original photographs were on their own. (I chose her tree photography as the second-best photography exhibit in D.C. of 2019.) But the process of altering her images is undeniably poignant. As Salomon writes in her artist’s statement, the trees she photographed were about to be uprooted for development, and by sending her images through the blender, she makes sure that they “can’t be reconstructed, just as landscapes altered by humans can’t be reassembled.” Sarah Hood Salomon’s Questioning the Photograph runs through June 30 at Multiple Exposures Gallery, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. multipleexposuresgallery.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

Next Thursday: Mdou Moctar at the 9:30 Club

The Nigerien guitarist has come a long way from his first United States tour in 2017, when his whirlwind immersion in Washington culture included a gig at the Library of Congress and a three-day residency at Episcopal High School before culminating in a headlining performance at the Black Cat. In May, Moctar released Funeral for Justice, his second album on Matador Records, graduating from small stages and, at times, restrained folkish rock to a huge, positively head-banging rock sound. And to think he learned how to play on a homemade instrument. Moctar is modest about his distinct musical voice, explaining, “I don’t know what rock is exactly … I only know how to play in my style.” He was born in a small village in Niger and came up through the ranks of intrepid indie label Sahel Sounds, whose catalog includes such pivotal compilations as Music from Saharan Cellphones. Moctar even unofficially remade Purple Rain with the 2016 film Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red In It, a rock ’n’ roll movie whose drama lay not in the typical resistance from his family, but in the daily lives of the Tuareg people. With his latest album, Moctar lends his love for ZZ Top to a crucial message. In his new album’s anthemic title song, he pleads (in translation), “African leaders, hear my burning question, Why does your ear only heed France and America?” Moctar’s band includes Mikey Coltun, with whom Moctar has worked since 2017. Coltun, now 31, grew up in D.C.’s punk scene—at 16, his group Les Rhinoceros recorded for John Zorn’s Tzadik label. Mdou Moctar plays at 7:30 p.m. on June 27 at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. 930.com. $28. —Pat Padua