Sometimes blog comments are so good they deserve a blog post all of their own. Such is the case with Fred Joiner's comment on a post about last night's reception for the Fall ARCH Artists in Residence who happen to be from Northern Ireland.  While I could write about the ignorance displayed by at least one commenter, I rather focus on Fred's first hand experience as a Ward 8 participant in the program. Perhaps I am biased because I have had the pleasure of working with ARCH over the years, including participating in an exhibit on Ward 8 bloggers, but I would go to bat for any worthwhile organization.  This is not about newcomers vs. twenty-year residents or "carpetbaggers" (still laughing at that one).  This is about everyone working together to bring Ward 8 to the world and the world to Ward 8.  We have so many wonderful organizations and programs East of the River and we should support them. There is indeed something here for everyone but everything doesn't have to be (and frankly can't be) everything to everyone. Let's encourage diversity and inclusion and not smother it with fear, suspicion, or criticism. Sometimes it can be "and" and not just "or." - The Advoc8te

Fred's comment:

The sage Fred Joiner

I am a young afr. amer. man, poet and visual artist who has owned property or lived in Ward 8 (Hillsdale, at STanton and Douglasss)for almost 8 years...I am a newcomer, i don't claim to be anything else.

Arch Development Corporation's Residency program in partnership with Belfast Exposed Photography gallery and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland helped me, another DC poet and two young people from SE make our first all expense paid trips to Belfast for 10 days.
Also earlier this year ARCH sent me and another young photographer from SE, who got his GED through
ARCH to do residencies in Belfast N.Ireland.

To date this residency program has sent me to N. Ireland 4 times and to be honest that is no big deal. what is a big deal is that people who may have never seen or talked to an African American before or never met someone from Washington DC before got a chance to interact with us because this residency.

It is also through this residency that the first ever Go-Go Photography Exhibit was shown right here in SE and will soon be made into a book.

(Un)Lock It Go-Go  Exhibit at The Gallery at Vivid Solutions, another ADC project

So ARCH is not only bring artists here to DC but also send us out into the world to represent SE, DC and America. I urge all artist from the area to get involved with what is going on with ARCH developement (Honfleur, Vivid, the Hive, etc) if you want to be a part of the all good things going on with art in DC

Bridging the international gap