TODAY @ 7pm! Community Forum @ Anacostia Community Museum
March 15, 2011
Community Forum
Community Development and the Arts:
Future Possibilities for the East-of-the-River Communities
This forum is part of the Anacostia Community Museum larger initiative called Call and Response: Community and Creativity. Under this initiative, we are documenting creative expression in D.C.’s east-of-the-river communities. Panelists forCommunity Development and the Arts include Juanita Britton, CEO, BZB Public Relations and Marketing Consultants; Martine Combal, Manager, Property Disposition and Acquisition Division, Department of Housing and Community Development; Duane Gautier, CEO, ARCH Development Corporation; Edmond Fleet, Executive Director, THEARC; and Ayris Scales, Interim Director, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. The program moderator is Philippa Hughes, Chief Creative Contrarian, Pink Line Project.
Order of the Program
Introduction
Sharon Reinckens, Deputy Director,
Anacostia Community Museum
Introduction of the Panelists
Philippa Hughes
Moderator-Posed Questions
Philippa Hughes
Audience Question-and-Answer Period
Moderated by Philippa Hughes
Closing Remarks
Soyini George, Outreach Specialist,
Anacostia Community Museum
About the Community Forum Series
This series is designed to explore issues and aspects of community change, economic development, and quality of life in the neighborhoods and communities of Southeast Washington, D.C. This forum is being recorded and will be a part of the ACM archives.
The Moderator
Philippa Hughes created the Pink Line Project to inspire creativity in everyone, build community and connectivity, and open portals to contemporary art for the culturally curious. Philippa also runs a consolidated and searchable calendar of all things cool and creative in D.C. and writes a widely read blog that highlights the best of D.C.'s creative scene.
Philippa is active in the arts community through her extensive involvement and collaboration with emerging artists and arts organizations throughout the city, including The Phillips Collection, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Cultural Development Corporation, Taffety Punk Theatre Company, DC51, Art Table, Ten Miles Square, Workbook, and many others.
Philippa began collecting art as a teenager and continues to build a collection that reflects her broad and eclectic taste. She left law practice to pursue her creative interests and to evangelize the power of art to transform lives.
The Panelists
Juanita Britton is a partner in Paradies-BZB, DC, LLC, an enterprise that operates retail stores in Washington metropolitan area airports. Ms. Britton’s communications and public relations savvy are focused on building bridges between corporate and community based entities. She is a consultant, motivational speaker, and trainer. She enjoys working with aspiring entrepreneurs and women in micro-economic development projects.
She operates the Anacostia Art Gallery & Boutique in Southeast Washington, D.C., and for twenty-one years the BZB Black Gift & Art Show.
Ms. Britton received a Master’s in Public Affairs from Howard University, Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Education from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. She serves on various community and economic development boards and commissions. She is also a diligent mentor of several youth in her neighborhood.
Martine Combal is Manager, Property Disposition and Acquisition Division for the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development. Ms. Combal has extensive knowledge and experience with acquisitions through tax foreclosures and eminent domain and with negotiating disposition agreements, as well as with local and federal affordable housing programs. Ms. Combal came to the public sector after completing a Master’s of City Planning and a Certificate of Urban Design from the University of Pennsylvania.
Duane Gautier founded ARCH in 1986, as a D.C. not-for-profit, community-based organization, located in the historic Anacostia neighborhood. Duane is the founder and CEO of both ARCH Training Center and ARCH Development Corporation. ARCH and its sister organizations have renovated or built more than eight hundred homes across the District of Columbia, as well as eighteen housing units just for artists. ARCH has renovated more than twenty small storefront buildings. It has developed three art galleries—Honfleur Gallery, Vivid Solutions, and Blank Space Gallery— as well as a number of creative economy businesses. ARCH has also provided pre-GED, GED, vocational training, and social services to more than ten thousand individuals or families.
Edmund C. Fleet is the Executive Director of the Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation Campus (THEARC) in Southeast Washington, D.C. With over fifteen years experience as an educator and working within the community, Mr. Fleet joined Building Bridges across the River (BBAR) in the spring of 2006. Before coming to Building Bridges, Mr. Fleet worked at William C. Smith and Company as the Director of Community Programs and as a teacher in the District of Columbia Public Schools. Mr. Fleet holds a B.A. and a Master’s of Education from Howard University.
THEARC and its program providers—Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, Children’s National Medical Center, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Covenant House Washington, Levine School of Music, Parklands Community Center, the Washington Ballet, the Washington Middle School for Girls, and Trinity University—have over two thousand children and adults enrolled in cultural arts, education, recreation, and health programs.
Ayris Scales was appointed the Interim Executive Director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in December 2010. DCCAH provides grant funds, programs, and educational activities that encourage diverse artistic expressions and learning opportunities, so that all District of Columbia residents and visitors can experience the rich culture of our city. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Scales served as the agency’s Deputy Director. Preceding her roles with DCCAH, Ms. Scales was in project management for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development where she managed the New Communities Initiative and Great Streets. Additionally she has managed a portfolio of eight development projects east of the river, totaling more than $250 million in new construction.
Ms. Scales holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Kent State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from CUNY Baruch College. During her career she has served on several boards and planning committees to address issues ranging from women’s health to community development to homeland security.
This forum is part of the "Call and Response: Community and Creativity Project," which is documenting creative expression in Washington, D.C.'s Wards 7 & 8 and is funded, in part, by the Humanities Council of Washington D.C.