When WPA and I first started flirting with the idea of getting together, I asked an artist in the community where the drag scene was in DC. The answer was: “There is none.” 

Y’all. 

I had a panic attack. I really wasn’t sure this was going to work out (where are my people??). You see, I’m new to DC. But I’m not a total stranger. When I was a kid, I remember coming to DC with my family and touring all the big museums. The air & space museum was my favorite. I loved the freeze dried ice cream.

No, but really. There’s no drag scene in DC?? Excuse me? Um… well. It gave me serious pause. 

But then, I just couldn’t resist WPA’s charms—everyone I met along the way during the interview process was so kind and welcoming and excited to meet me and hear my ideas (the good and the bad)—there was just such a beautiful inviting sense of collaboration that became intoxicating for me. I began to learn more about WPA’s extensive history of working with queer, trans, and nonbinary artists—like Giancarlo Montes Santangelo’s recent project sowing worlds within the incompossible. I learned about the work WPA has done to uplift and hold space for the art and ideas of Black since its founding years in the mid-70s.

Giancarlo Montes Santangelo, sowing worlds within the incompossible (2023)

I began to see a new image of community forming: WPA *is* my people. This is a place where artists build communities through collaboration and dream up new utopias together.

Boom. And just like that, it was: Sign me up! I’m all in! 

But the fact remains: I’m a newbie. DC lies halfway between NYC, where I’ve spent the last 23 years of my life, and NC, where I spent the first 18 years. Joining WPA, I’m moving closer to my parents and that’s nice? (jk, no really, it’s nice!). But I’m looking for all the help I can get to make a new home here. 

Recently, Nathalie von Veh, our resident Storyteller & Regrants Manager, learned of my brief bout of DC drag anxiety and informed me that DC does in fact have a vibrant drag scene with many fabulous and experimental artists doing cool and interesting work. And she proceeded to school me (Thank you, Nathalie!).

So for our first DC Top 5 in our first monthly newsletter, I’ve chosen to share links to upcoming events and moments in history that highlight DC’s vibrant (and very much thriving) drag scene. If there are other things you’d recommend to me, please shoot me an email at tchamberlain@wpadc.org. I’m here for it!

TRAVIS’ DC TOP 5: SEPTEMBER 2023

1. Transformer 20 Book Launch Panel & Party, featuring local drag legend Pussy Noir, Thursday, September 14, 6:30-9PM at the Eaton DC (1201 K St. NW), Free. 
2. This NBC4 spotlight on Billy Swann, a former slave who became America’s first drag ball queen, played by Pussy Noir (aka, Jason Barnes) in a new short film 
3. Flower Factory, roving dance Party, with DJ Gay Z and Lady Lavender, at Zebbie’s Garden (1223 Connecticut Ave. NW), September 10th, 3pm at Zebbie’s Garden, $5 
4. Drag Queen Story Time with Tara Hoot, at Crazy Aunt Helen’s (713 8th St. SE), September 30, 10am-11:30am, $5
5. Daddy Issues, hosted by Crystal Edge every Wednesday Night at 9pm at Kiki (915 U Street NW - just around the corner from WPA!).

Meanwhile I sincerely hope you can join us on September 9th for our 2023-2024 Season Launch BBQ. We’ll share a sneak preview of the year ahead and a bit about some new directions we’re exploring together in community with our artists. Please drop in and say Hi — I’d love to meet you in person. We’ll have good food, good music, and plenty of good company to go around.

You’ll feel right at home ~

2023-2024 WPA Season Kick-Off BBQ

Saturday, September 9 from 1–4 pm (WPA)

Come one, come all for good food, good music, and good times!

This is your chance to get a sneak peak of all that we’re cooking up in the year ahead. We’ll be lifting a glass to our 2023–2024 Artist-Organizers and learning about all the fabulous things they're planning for their projects with WPA. We’ll also be announcing the deadline for our next Open Call project series, and welcoming our wonderful new Director Travis Chamberlain to DC. There’s so much to celebrate as we embark on our 48th Season together!

Food & Drink included with your ticket purchase.

*ARTISTS, PLEASE NOTE: "Artist-Pay What You Wish" tickets are available under DONATIONS. No artist will be turned away for lack of funds!** 

Otherwise, it’s General Admission. Thank you!

Wherewithal Research Presentations

Thursday, September 21 from 7–9 pm (virtual)

WPA’s Wherewithal Grant initiative annually awards $5k grants to 12 DC-area artists. Artists may apply for Research or Project support. Artists who received a 2023 Wherewithal Research Grant will share where their inquiries have been taking them over the year-long grant period. This year's Research grantees are: Ama BE, Alina Collins Maldonado, Andy Johnson, Cecilia Kim, Stephanie Mercedes, Athena Naylor, and Anisa Olufemi & Jada Amina.

RSVP to get the Zoom link here.

*Applications for the 2024 Wherewithal Grant Cycle will open September 25!

Ama BE: NGO {Palm Oil}

September 30 from 1–4 pm

(Corcoran GW, Gallery 102)

WPA hosts a public Open House with Artist-in-Residence Ama BE at the Corcoran School for the Arts & Design in Gallery 102 at Smith Hall of Art. Come by to learn about her research on the agricultural practices of first generation African immigrants living in the DC area and experience the sculptural pieces that she has been making.

Each month we’ll spotlight a different publication from a featured collection at our bookstore. For our 2023-2024 Season, we are introducing The “Project as Practice” Collection, with books that exemplify open-ended collaborative and research-driven artist projects that have inspired us.

dyke’s day, a holigay

dyke’s day, a holigay was edited and produced by 2022 Wherewithal Grantees Mayah Lovell and Fabiola Ching. Writers and artists worked together to write a 25-30 page body of work exploring what a holiday for lesbians can look, sound, feel, taste, and smell like. dyke’s day incorporates poetry, lyricism, fiction, research, sculpture, photography, and sound to iterate an ecology of enjoyment for lesbians. Learn more.



Recommended by Nathalie von Veh,

Storyteller & Regrants Manager

Visit wpa books+editions Thursdays through Saturdays 1–6 pm and browse our staff selected collection of books and prints online here.

This year WPA celebrates our 48th season as a trailblazing force in contemporary art and advocacy in DC! We’re constantly (re)discovering things from our past that inform new ways of understanding our present and inspire new ideas for our future. Each month, we’ll dig into our archive to excavate a bit of WPA history that resonates with some of the questions and possibilities we are exploring today.

WPA has a long history of curating and selling books, which began with The Book Bus (1978), a mobile bookstore for artist books that traveled the streets of DC, organized by David Golden and Don Russell. The success of the Book Bus led to Bookworks (1981-1995), a bookstore with its own dedicated storefront that presented a vast curated selection of artist books and associated programming (pictured above). Today, WPA maintains this history with WPA books+editions at its project space on 8th St. in Shaw. 

ART THAT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER

through collaboration, experimentation, and advocacy

Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) is a platform for collaborative research and project development, organized by artists.

All WPA projects are anchored by a central question that guides ongoing collaboration and experimentation through residencies organized across three stages of development: Research & Development (R&D); Presentation & Publication (P&P); Iteration & Expansion (I&E). This three-stage development model is collectively referred to as Project as Practice.

In addition to Project as Practice residencies, we provide exclusive opportunities for DC-area artists in two program areas that support experimentation with new project ideas and provide dedicated financial support for project research and presentations:

• Open Call: RFP for Artists
• Wherewithal: Research & Project Grants

If you are an artist and have a topic or subject that you want to explore with us, you can submit your idea here.

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