2013 ELECTION GUIDE, PAGES 5-9
Art Lives Here project launches by Rosanna Landis Weaver
The name of the project “Art Lives Here” is a three-word proclamation affirming the temporal and geographical presence of art, and its symbol is a bright red arrow with these words on it. The project itself is far ranging. Brooke Kid, the project’s artistic director, summarizes it as “a visibilty campaign for the Gateway Arts District with a concentration of programs in Mount Rainer, to highlight our efforts in creative place-making.” The spring season of the project, a long time in the planning, officially launched at Busboys and Poets on April 5. Four of the 32 collaborating artists and artists groups presented information about their work and performances. Nehemiah Dixon III, an artist who has exhibited at museums including the Phillips Collection, and now teaches art at Joe’s Movement Emporium, conducted what Kidd calls “an art attack,” which she describes as a visual art flash mob. Dixon provided the logo arrows printed on cardstock, along with various art materials and encouraged attendees to decorate their own Art Lives Here arrows, to take photos of them “pointing the way to where art is” and send them back to the group. Maurice, Philippa and Friends, a group that centers around jazz
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Hyattsville Life&Times
Vol. 10 No. 4
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
THE
BIG HUNT SUSIE CURRIE Twenty-month-old Arcadia Warner starts filling her basket at the cityʼs annual Easter Egg Hunt, held on March 23 at Magruder Park. See more photos on page 16.
Where the sidewalk ends
University Hills residents oppose adding infrastructure by Susie Currie
A single item was on the agenda at the Hyattsville City Council’s March 25 meeting: the University Hills Green Streets Project, which calls for improving (and in some cases adding) infrastructure. The neighborhood lies north of Northwestern and west of Adelphi Road, and many people who live there turned up in force that night to express their views. The same could not be said for the councilmembers themselves. Of the 11 seats on the dais, six were empty, including the mayor’s. With only five legislators, attendance fell short of a quorum, which meant that the council could not have an official meeting. Instead, Council President Matt McKnight (Ward 3), who acted as chair in the mayor’s absence, announced that the evening would go forward as a public hearing. Patrick Paschall, who is running unopposed in
Ward 3, reported that in the course of campaigning, he had heard from many residents that “sidewalks on Gumwood, Wells and Stanford are not just acceptable but desired. Rosemary Lane doesn’t want any improvements at all, including sidewalks, drainage and paving.” The city’s sidewalk policy, which lists several exceptions, “is that continuous pedestrian sidewalks are important public infrastructure and that the sidewalks should ordinarily be installed and maintained on one side of every block of every Citymaintained street (two sides where existing).” But some residents of University Hills do not want sidewalks. Several returned the following week to repeat their objections during the council meeting of April 1. One was Rose Fletcher, who lives with her husband, SIDEWALKS continued on page 17
April 2013
Wingard bows out of Ward 1 race
Leaves one incumbent, five open seats in race by Susie Currie
Less than a week after filing paperwork to defend his seat on the Hyattsville City Council, Ward 1 representative Eric Wingard withdrew his bid. Wingard, a NASA engineer, said that just days after he declared his candidacy, he was offered a chance to work on a joint project with the European Space Administration (ESA). The job Wingard will involve frequent travel to Europe, he said. Since September, he’s been working most of each week in California, which has meant frequent absences from council meetings. “It was an honor to sit on the council,” said Wingard, who was elected two years ago to finish Marc Tartaro’s term after Tartaro was elected mayor. “[But] this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” It’s not the only transition ahead for the 14-year city resident. By September, he says, “my family and I will be relocating to another part of the state.” (So, too, is Council President Matt McKnight.) “The community is fantastic, and it was a tough decision,” said Wingard. His abrupt decision brings the total of open seats on the council to five, meaning that half the council will be freshmen after the May 7 election.
Included: The April 10, 2013 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section