Mount Pleasant's Secret History: Part II

This will be the second local history event by Radio CPR and Mount Pleasant Temporium. It's a follow up to last week's Audio Story Telling class, which I heard was a great success. From the organizers:

Radio CPR presents
The Mount Pleasant  Secret History Showcase, Part II

Thursday March 10th 6:30PM-8:30PM

Don Juan Restaurant: 1660 Lamont St NW

Enjoy great food and drink at Don Juan and listen to stories about some of the movements, projects and organizations born in Mount Pleasant from those who lived them: Escuela de Rumba, Neighbors Consejo, 90s punk rock, Radio CPR, Centro d’Arte, La Casa, the Blue Skies Collective and more....

Mount Pleasant's Secret History

One of the bonus features of the Mount Pleasant Temporium has been excellent programming. Plays, classes and workshops have added another dimension to the retail space at 3068 Mt Pleasant Street. 

Tomorrow Radio CPR continues the trend with a Mt P-based workshop that will actually take you into the neighborhood; much more than a simple presentation. This sounds awesome! The sign up page is here. Oh yeah, it's free! From the organizers:

Audio Story Telling Class

Saturday March 5th 3:00PM-6:00PM

The Mt Pleasant Temporium: 3068 Mt Pleasant St NW

The prevailing stories about Mount Pleasant often give a simplistic version of this dynamic neighborhood. Go beneath the radar with Radio CPR and uncover some of the neighborhood's secret histories and hidden gems.

Learn the basics of audio recording and interviewing, then go out into the field with CPR DJs to collect Mount Pleasant stories.

FREE. Space limited. To sign up go here http://bit.ly/hBVLz8

and... stay tuned for part II of our Hidden Histories Series:

Secret History Showcase

Thursday March 10th 6:30PM-8:30PM

Don Juan Restaurant (1660 Lamont St NW, corner of Mt Pleasant and Lamont Sts)

Listen to stories about some of the movements, projects and organization born in Mount Pleasant from those who lived them: Escuela de Rumba, Neighbors Consejo, 90s punk rock, Radio CPR, Centro d’Arte, La Casa, the Blue Sky Collective

Temporium Debut a Blast

Friday night proved to be one of the best nights I've ever had in the neighborhood. The local feel good event of the year was made possible by a serendipitous finding of  fall-like temperatures, a last minute DCRA C of O and a who's who of Mount Pleasant friends and family.

The Temporium looks and feels like a real, permanent, retail store. The vendors each have their respective sections, but the flow and layout says permanent and professional. A lot of hard work went into this; that much is clear. Of course, Nana will make a more permanent go of it in this same space (3068 Mt P St NW) after the Temporium closes on March 13. Hats off to Nana for hosting the Temporium. We are all grateful!

During the grand opening on Friday (7-9pm) residents filled the sidewalk in front of the store because it was SO packed inside. One could barely get inside, let alone focus enough to shop, but we did. At points, the line formed at the register and continued to the back of the store next to DJs from Radio CPR and the cakes, cookies and sodas. Ward One city council member Jim Graham spoke as well as a handful of others including staff from Office of Planning and the owner of Nana.

So many friends were present, including many I hadn't seen in a while. Good to see you all. Just a wonderful gathering. I met a few new folks as well. Always good to do that every now and again, too. Ercilia's Restaurant next door seemed to get a spillover boost, as did Haydee's. (Also, word on the street is that the voluntary agreement with Haydee's is no more. Great news if that's true and I'll report more on that as I find out more info.)

Art, ceramics, lamps, clothing, posters, pillows; you name it, it's probably being sold. Even on yesterday's rainy late afternoon, there were 8-10 people shopping in the store when I walked by. All prospective businesses, Mount Pleasant will support you! Come on in. Our neighborhood would welcome you. But for now, we are happy to support the local artists and other vendors at the Temporium. This will be a fun month!

Jim Graham gives a speech

I was stuck standing in this spot for a while

Mount Pleasant Temporium Opening Friday

Window installation in progress.

Finally! The Mount Pleasant Temporium will open this Friday and has a full line up of events ready to go. The temporary arts and performance space at 3068 Mt Pleasant St NW has been a work in progress the last few weeks with a flurry of activity this past weekend.

All of the events are open to the public and FREE, even performances. A diverse group of vendors has been curated and they will sell wares during retail hours for the duration of the Temporium. You can see the full list here. The opening reception is this Friday at 7pm and the first special event performance is SpeakeasyDC's storytelling session this Saturday at 7pm. More events here.

Here's a note about the theme of the Temporium form the organizers"

"The theme of the Mt. Pleasant Temporium is storytelling, which is woven throughout the retail aspect of the shop to give visitors a truly engaging experience with the products for sale and the stories behind the artists who made them. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in the theme by leaving their own handwritten stories in the Temporium’s storefront window installation...

During the 24-day run of the project, several Mt. Pleasant businesses will feature their own stories in storefront displays and offer specials to Temporium customers."

The dates of the Temporium are this Friday, February 18 through Sunday, March 13. It will be open every day during this period.

Retail hours are 2-7pm on weekdays and 11am-6pm on weekend days. Performances will generally happen outside that frame -- like Friday's opening reception from 7-9pm.

Get excited! See you Friday.

For more news, announcements and general merriment, follow The 42 Bus.

Temporium Adds Events, Opening in February

Ben Claassen (bendependent.com)

The Mount Pleasant Temporium continues to solidify plans, but much is still up in the air at the pop up retail and events space on 3068 Mt Pleasant Street NW.

Some artists have been announced and the list features some familiar local, quality names. Some of the highlights are bookbinder Moira McCauley, Smash co-owner and clothing maker/curator Daisy Lacy, comic genius Ben Claassen, and all around textiles master Kristina Bilonick. Check the entire list here.

As for the opening date, it is still to be decided. The recently set date of this Friday, January 28 seems to have slipped and the Temporium will likely open during the first week of February at the earliest.

However, the organizers continue to schedule events and the datebook is filling rapidly. A selection from the still coming together list:

Make Something Awesome: Hello Craft will lead a Valentine's themed craft making session with outcomes such as stationary sets, heart buttons and heart shaped cupcake toppers. Feb 10, 5-7pm.

Speakeasy DC: Essentially a mini-class, this as of yet named event will be run by Speakeasy DC. They are known for teaching the art of storytelling and generally cultivating the oral tradition. Feb 19, 7-9pm.

Music and Comedy: Two bands and a comedian walk into a bar. Or a temporium, I guess. Alma Tropicalia will play Brazilian music, Cigarette will play "whispercore," and in between writers of The Foly will entertain with stand-up and readings from their lit magazine. No, I don't know what whispercore is. Feb 7-10pm.

I'm From Up Top: This is a an original play. In it, eight people play the role of the main character in order to fully portray the fluid mindset of the the young man as he reflects on the peer and societal pressures put of adolescence. Set in DC and NYC during hip hop's golden age. Feb  24, 7-9pm.

More events to some as they are revealed. This is shaping up to be a pretty cool concept and I hope the organizers do open sooner rather than later. Stay tuned for more and check The42BusDC on Twitter for the most up to date info on the Temporium.

Pop-Up Retail: The Mount Pleasant "Temporium"

3068 will become Temporium, then Nana

Temporary Emporium. Temporium. And we've got one!

The DC Office of Planning and Mount Pleasant Main Street are partnering to activate an empty retail space by turning it into a temporary marketplace featuring local vendors. The retail space is located at 3068 Mount Pleasant Street NW. The partnership consists of a $15,000 award from the DC Office of Planning to the Mount Pleasant Main Street organization. Specifically, this award originated with DC OP's Temporary Urbanism initiative.

3068 is the future home of Nana boutique and formerly housed  Mount Pleasant Deli. The Deli closed late summer 2009 and the new vintage boutique will open in spring of 2011 after the Temporium closes.

The Temporium will operate on 24 as of yet unspecified days during late January through the end of February. Approximately 20 artists will offer items for sale and the theme is storytelling (the motto: "What's Your Story?"). So, in addition to art sales by local artists, there will be related events like autobiographical and theatrical storytelling sessions and live musical performances. Scheduling has yet to be released, but I will post  announcements as they come in.

Hopefully we can replicate or exceed the success of the District's first Temporium. It was placed on H Street NE during the summer of 2010 and visited by 1,600 people over just four weekends. 

Volunteers are still needed. If you interested or just want more information visit the Mount Pleasant Temporium website here.