Thursday, December 6, 2012
Works by the "Somerset Artists" include oil, watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, charcoal, prints, photography, wire sculpture and jewelry.
Looking for art to view a little closer to home than the National Mall? Check out the "Somerset Artists' " exhibit at the Friendship Heights Village Center. The exhibit features the art of artists from the Town of Somerset, and runs through Jan. 2, 2013. Works include oil, watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, charcoal, prints, photography, wire sculpture and jewelry. An opening reception takes place on Sunday, Dec. 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Friendship Heights Village Center. Artists exhibiting work in the exhibition include: Cathy Abramson (oil painting), Iris Amdur (acrylic and mixed media), Judy Baldinger (abstract acrylic), Makarind Dehejia (watercolor), Ursula Dehejia (water color collage), Josiane Faubert (oil painting), …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voters waited in long lines at the Friendship Heights Village Center to select their candidate for president and to vote on several referendum questions.
The Friendship Heights Village Center was one of the busier polling locations in Chevy Chase, MD, on Election Day 2012. Even at noon, there was a long line of residents waiting to vote at the community center (4433 South Park Ave.)—the line stretched outside the building and nearly to the street corner. Many voters waited over an hour to cast their ballots. Evangelos Katsaitis, 62, a Greek immigrant and longtime voter, did not support Question 6, which would legalize same-sex marriage, for religious reasons. While he believes that same-sex couples should have some state-supported protections such as civil unions, those protections should have “nothing to do with marriage," he said. Catherine Orchard, 23, voted in support of Question 6. “It…
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The Friendship Heights Village Center's newest resident is a big red fish in need of a name.
Friendship Heights Village Center has a new resident: A big red fish who swims in the reading room and who needs a name. This new fish in the aquarium over the center's non-fiction books is a Red Devil fish. Native to Central America, "These fish have a bad reputation in the [fish-keeping] hobby due to their destructive and extremely territorial behavior," World Cichlids Online reports. "However, if kept in an appropriately sized tank without tankmates, Red Devils soon become happy, well-adjusted members of the family. As with most medium to large cichlids, Devils are highly intelligent and will become very owner-responsive as they grow." The Red Devil "is a freshwater fish ... [with] razorsharp teeth, strong jaws and is very aggressive (…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
It's not too late to celebrate Independence Day. Stop by the Friendship Heights Village Center to see an Independence Day-themed, juried art exhibit.
This month, make Independence Day last a little bit longer with a visit to the Friendship Heights Village Center to see Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue—A Celebration of the Fourth of July, a multi-media, juried exhibit sponsored by the Village of Friendship Heights and open to all area artists. This year's juror is artist Millie Shott, art curator at Friendship Heights Village Center whose artwork is included in the collection of the Georgetown University Hospital, the Marriott Collection, the Public Art Trust Collection of Montgomery County, the National Geographic Society and Fairfax Hospital, as well as in the personal collections of many area art collectors, according to the Friendship Heights Village News. Shott teaches …
Monday, December 19, 2011
Ron Nessen, a journalist and former White House press secretary, spoke at the Friendship Heights Village Center on Thursday, Dec. 15.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Kate Oczypok
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Ron Nessen, former White House press secretary and journalist, held a book-signing event for his new publication Making the News, Taking the News: From NBC to the Ford White House, and spoke at the Friendship Heights Village Center last Thursday evening. Nessen talked to a crowd of about 25 senior citizens, enthralling them with tales of being press secretary for President Gerald Ford in the ‘70s and working as an NBC correspondent in Vietnam. “I remember when I was 10 years old, my mom asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Nessen said. “I said, 'a writer.' Then, she asked how I’d make a living. That’s why I became a journalist.” Nessen dished on anecdotes from his life, allowing his audience a brief look at life as a journalist in…
Monday, November 14, 2011
Storyteller and poet Anne Sheldon will tell stories about mythical characters—like Rumpelstiltskin and Arachne—known for weaving or spinning at the next "Tales in the Village" event on Wed., Nov. 16, at the Friendship Heights Village Center.
Anne Sheldon is a weaver of words. She started out as a children’s librarian in Washington, DC, telling stories that she’d learned out of books for children’s storytime. But after a while, she came to see storytelling as more than just reading a story out loud—it was performance art. “When you’re telling a good story, you have your own little theater going on in your head,” she says. Sheldon is also a poet, and she likes to knit, too. So, naturally, she has developed a repertoire of stories to tell that involve spinning, weaving and other fiber arts. “Long before women had the vote or any kind of rights at all, [spinning and weaving] was their kingdom … their expertise”—something women did to keep their families and communities warm.” …
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Ellouise Schoettler will perform "Finding Gus"—a one-woman, one-hour performance bringing family genealogy to life—at the Friendship Heights Village Center on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m.
When Ellouise Schoettler started researching her family's history two decades ago, she had no idea her research would turn into a performance. “I was finding really interesting … things about my family,” said Schoettler, a Chevy Chase artist and storyteller originally from North Carolina. But when she tried to tell her children what she had found out about their great grandfather, they weren’t interested—they were polite, but bored. When Schoettler stumbled across a storytelling event in Washington, DC, though, something clicked. “You have to make [an audience] interested” in a story to make them stick around, she realized. “You have to bring those characters alive,” by acting out how they might have lived and how they might have looked …
Friday, July 29, 2011
Classes in Zumba—a high-energy cardio workout to Latin and International music—will be offered at the Friendship Heights Village Center on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Elena Menshutkina teaches one of the most popular fitness programs in the world—Zumba. According to the Chevy Chase instructor, the fitness craze was created by accident. Beto, an accomplished dancer and fitness instructor in Cali, Colombia, forgot his traditional aerobics music when he went to teach a class. He improvised with his own mix of music from Latin tunes he had in his backpack. His class ended up loving it and that day Zumba was born. Zumba is a fitness program based on Latin and international music and dance steps that creates a challenging cardio workout. Menshutkina discovered Zumba in her gym. “Since I always enjoyed dancing to Latin music, I loved it instantly,” she said. She was working out regularly but work and stress …
Monday, July 25, 2011
This month, local artists showcase patriotic works of art at the Friendship Heights Village Center. We get the scoop from artist and show curator Millie Shott.
In an annual artistic celebration of our nation's history, local artists contribute works of patriotic art to "Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue—A Celebration of the Fourth of July" at the Friendship Heights Village Center. The show, which will be up through the end of the month, was conceived and curated by artist and teacher Millie Shott. The art pieces reflect traditional Independence Day themes—baseball games, family cookouts, the beach, fireworks and parades. "I think the community really enjoys seeing the patriotic interpretations of the celebration," Shott says. The works of art range from a disgruntled Statue of Liberty in Jim Callahan's painting "BP" to a patriotic figure made of mesh in Sandy Siman's "Waiting for the …
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Every Thursday at 6:15 p.m., a dedicated group gathers at the Friendship Heights Village Center for a hearty game of Scrabble.
For three hours every Thursday, words are the name of the game for Harriett Karuhije and Janet Floam. The two are part of a group that meets weekly at the Friendship Heights Village Center to play the timeless board game of Scrabble. “Ten years ago, a member of the center created the Scrabble group,” Karuhije said. “She’s since moved to Chicago and we kept up the tradition.” The group, which is open to the public, is more free-wheeling than structured, something Karuhije and Floam agree makes it more fun. “Sometimes we’re up to 14 people, but during the summer when more people are away, we have a steady group of four to five,” Karuhije said. Many of the group’s core members are currently vacationing all over the world, including in Italy …
Eric S.
12:01 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
I got in line right before 7 am, and thankfully they had done most of the line wrapping inside the building, because it was cold. Took about half an hour. Lines were dead when I came home around 7 PM. I wish I'd voted after work. more ›