Dear Friend of BloomBars,
“Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
- Rainer Maria Rilke
There’s no denying that Columbia Heights is a rapidly changing neighborhood. Both the physical landscape and the human makeup of the area have been in flux for years now, which can be exciting, but also confusing and scary—not just for old residents, but for new ones, too.
My name is Julie Espinosa and I joined the BloomBars Artist-in-Bloom family this past month. I moved to Columbia Heights about a year ago from Austin, Texas – one of the more diverse places in Texas, which I loved, and I was similarly attracted to the diversity in this unique area of DC.
Not only is Columbia Heights a completely different level of diversity than Austin, the development of the neighborhood was affecting this diversity in strange and interesting ways—ways that we sometimes have trouble finding the language to describe.
This Friday marks the launch of a new project that will hopefully help us focus on changes happening in Columbia Heights, while facilitating neighborhood engagement. The Columbia Heights Media Project is a hyperlocal multimedia project—part documentary, part participatory journalism, part community activism—supporting dialogue in DC’s diverse and swiftly changing Columbia Heights neighborhood.
Come by Friday, July 2nd between 6 and 8pm to see how we can work to extend the atmosphere of shared experience and true community beyond the walls of BloomBars to the rest of the neighborhood!
Until soon, keep blooming!
Julie Espinosa
Filmmaker-in-Residence
Learn More About Julie and the Columbia Heights Media Project
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 Guitars Not Guns:
Saturdays at 3:00 pm
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 Belly Dancing:
Mondays at 6:45 pm
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 Tap Dancing:
Wednesdays at 6:30 pm
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 Improv:
Thursdays at 8:15 pm
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Tonight: BloomScreening:
“American Outrage” featuring Guest Speaker Melissa Bisagni
Wednesday, June 30th at 8:30 pm
For the past month, BloomBars has featured the documentary film AMERICAN OUTRAGE as a part of our BloomScreen Program. The film tells the story of two Western Shoshone sisters who have been prosecuted by the United States government for trespassing, despite the fact that all they were really guilty of is grazing their livestock on land that was technically designated as Western Shoshone land.
It is our honor to welcome guest speaker Melissa Bisagni to join us at the last screening of AMERICAN OUTRAGE this month! On June 30th, Bisagni, Film and Video Programmer in the Media Initiatives Department at the National Museum of the American Indian, will attend the screening at BloomBars and will engage attendants afterward in a discussion on the topics of homeland and colonialism that are paramount both in the film and the experience of the American Indian.
- Date: Wednesday, June 30th
- Time: 8:30 – 9:30 pm
- Suggested Donation: $5 to keep the lights on at BloomBars
- RSVP on Facebook
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Saffron Holiday rocks out at BloomBars on Thursday night!
Saffron Holiday:
Thursday at 9:30 pm!
Saffron Holiday, a rock quartet from the DC-Maryland area, formed in 2010. They draw their influences from pop and rock from the 1980s, classical music, and the blues.
The band consists of Lawrence Liu (guitar, vocals), Eric Lee (piano, vocals), Cezar Lopez (bass) and Michael Scherzer (percussion, drums, backing vocals).
According to Facebook, the band’s interests include: learning, travel, caffeine products, marmite, the Federal Register and other public journals
Preview their music on Myspace!
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Columbia Heights Media Project Launch Event
Friday, July 2nd from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
The Columbia Heights Media Project is the vision for a participatory documentary and interactive media project with the potential to help us move past helplessness to a place of love—a place of awareness, care and understanding. Audio/visual media and the camera can be powerful tools… and I would like to invite you to join me in using those tools to document the stories of our neighborhood and transform the ways that we interact with one another.
It is only fitting that the launch of this project occur at BloomBars. Not only is the building located in the heart of Columbia Heights (and right down the street from where I live), it is the first place I’ve found in DC where individuals from different backgrounds really come together to interact with one another and share space on a consistent basis. My time here at BloomBars has already been invaluable and I am truly honored to be an artist-in-bloom.
Please join me as BloomBars begins this innovative film project this Friday!
Julie Espinosa
Resident Filmmaker-in-Bloom
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Muthawit & Leila Adu
Friday, July 2nd at 8:30 pm!
If you know these guys, and you know our space, you know it’s going to be packed! We’re going to have two sets, 8:30pm and 10:30pm. Please choose one set, so we can fit everyone in.
MuthaWit is a furiously evolving multicultural outfit whose musical performances marry a soulful rock dynamic with free jazz experimentation, classical sensitivity and avant-garde electronics/visuals.
Founded in 1989 by nomadic composer, designer and filmmaker Boston Fielder, members of MuthaWit’s 5-24 piece orchestra have worked with Parliament Funkadelic, Sting, Curtis Mayfield, The Family Stand, Olu Dara, Herbie Hancock, Jay Z and Organized Noize among others.
Leila Adu is a singer, composer and improviser of Ghanaian and British descent who is reinstating the piano as the original rock ‘n’ roll instrument, albeit with an audacious contemporary twist.
Her 3rd studio album, Dark Joan, has received rave reviews and was produced by the legendary Steve Albini (Nirvana, PJ Harvey, and the Pixies.)
- Date: Friday, July 2nd
- Time: Early Set at 8:30 pm; Late Set at 10:30 pm
- Suggested Donation: $10
- RSVP on Facebook
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Check the menu and get directions here.
BloomBars Gets Social
BloomBars is proud to announce a partnership with Columbia Heights’ newest restaurant, Social, at 14th & Meridian NW.
Recognizing all that we’re doing to support the growth of artists and the arts in DC, Social is teaming up with BloomBars to support your bloom, our bloom, and their bloom:
Introducing BloomBucks!
Hand a BloomBucks card (available at BloomBars) to your server at Social, and 15% of your bill comes back to support programs at BloomBars. It’s that easy!
Learn more about Social’s involvement in community arts scene, and their amazing food and drinks.
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The Garden: Open Mic – Monday at 9:00 pm!
Featuring the Busboys & Poets 11th Hour Slam Poetry Team!
Help the Busboys & Poets 11th Hour team prep for the National Poetry Slam by helping them Bloom at the Garden: Open Mic!
The 11th Hour poetry slam team will be representing the District of Columbia this year at the National Poetry Slam This week, we feature the team at The Garden: Open Mic! Gowri K. will be hosting while Jonathan B. Tucker is out of town in July, but Jonathan will be here for this show, making the transition smooth.
The National Poetry Slam this summer is in St. Paul, Minnesota, bringing together 84 teams from across North America. Hundreds of the world’s best poets will converge on St. Paul for a five day festival of non-stop performances, workshops and heated performance poetry competitions. These events will be held in numerous venues throughout downtown St. Paul – All leading up to team finals on Saturday August 7th.
Questions? Email jtucker@teachingforchange.org
- Date: Monday, July 5th
- Time: 8:30 pm to 11:00 pm
- Suggested Donation: $5
- RSVP on Facebook
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Massage by Mozart Kicks Off on Tuesday, July 6th!
Live Classical Musicians + Licensed Massage Therapists = Bliss.
Our first ever “Massage by Mozart” session is this Tuesday at 8:00 pm!
Stop by BloomBars to release your built-up stress on the first Tuesday of every month. Relax as a licensed massage therapist works out those knots in brief seated massage sessions.
Let the soothing sounds of classical music, played by esteemed classical musicians from the Capital City Symphony, melt away your remaining troubles.
Kim Washington is leading the (seated) massage therapy team. When she’s not hosting “Soul Conversations” on WPFW-FM or “Joe’s Place” on WHUR-FM, she healing people through her gift of massage therapy. Kimberly Washington is a dynamic therapist who incorporates a balanced approach to bodywork, giving a massage that leaves her clients feeling relaxed as well as renewed.
We’re looking for more therapists with seated massage tables, and talented classical musicians. If you, or someone you know, is interested, please contact us at: info@BloomBars.com
- Date: Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 (Perfect way to cap off your long holiday weekend!)
- Time: 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm
- Suggested Donation: Varies depending on length of massage.
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“The Soloist” was inspired by Gupta’s work with Nathaniel Ayers.
Making Music is About Healing People
Have you ever had the yearning to follow your heart, but were held back by what you thought you would be missing?
Doubts confront us all in our lives. But sometimes, we have the opportunity to see exactly why our passions have led us down a certain path, and Robert Gupta has lived this experience.
Gupta gave up a career in medicine to play violin for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; but always wondered: Why? Was the violin his true calling, even though he still kept up his interests in neurobiology?
Gupta’s passions converged after meeting Nathaniel Ayers – who you may remember from the Jamie Foxx movie, “The Soloist.”
Using music as therapy, Gupta helped transform Nathaniel from delusional, paranoid, and lost, into an exceptional virtuoso – “as if the music opened the floodgates of a previous life and allowed him to face memories and emotions that may have been either too painful or distant to remember. ”
“The music equalized Nathaniel and myself. It allowed us to behold each other at our most human level and relate to each other. The music allowed us to communicate at a profoundly honest level, and I understood that this was why I made music. To communicate. To heal.”
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Learn to Salsa!
Classes Starting July 7th
Every Wednesday from 7:30-8:30pm, starting July 7th, come enjoy one of the most entertaining and social styles of dancing.
Rueda de Casino salsa was born in Cuba, transferred through Miami and is now growing everywhere. Unlike other dances, rueda is danced both as a group to universal calls and in couples allowing for various levels of interaction among the dancers.
Classes start at the basic level allowing everyone, including those without experience, the chance to learn and enjoy this art form. As the class progresses, intermediate, advanced and master level moves will be introduced. Emphasis is placed on leading, following, learning calls and hand signals and simply enjoying oneself.
- Date: Wednesdays, starting July 7th
- Time Opens at 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
- Suggested Donation: $10 to support BloomBars and the instructor
- Learn More
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Screenwriting Workshop – July 10th
Do you have an idea for a screenplay?
Are you a screenwriter with a screenplay that you want to sell?
It’s time to take off your creative writer’s hat and focus your energy on effective marketing. Whether it’s your first script or 10th, finding your target market can be tough.
This informative seminar will show you how to assess the market for your script, who the players are, and what you need to do to establish contacts and productive working relationships. 
You’ll learn how to write a great logline; how to make better industry contacts and pitch to them effectively on the phone, in print and in person; how to prepare your bio; and how to protect yourself legally, tax-wise and story-wise.
The workshop includes a complementary workbook. Register now, as space is limited!
- Date: Saturday, July 10, 2010
- Time: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
- Cost: $50
- Sign Up: To reserve your seat today, contact Ola Taiwo at 1-866-731-3434 or email info@classroom34.com
- More info at Classrom 34
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Bloom in Your Room
We know that you can’t spend all your life at BloomBars (although it seems like some of you try!). Tune into BloomTV and experience our growth and creativity
This Week on BloomTV:
You’ve heard us make the Karma Kitchen pitch if you’ve been to BloomBars. It’s a really amazing place that shares our values.
Our most memorable moment happened last September on Adams Morgan Day. There was a big event at BloomBars on Saturday night. We gathered performers and friends to introduce them to the love at Karma Kitchen.
We were so moved by the meal and the environment, Shane W. Evans, who was visiting from Kansas City, offered to play a song he recently wrote on top of a mountain in Botswana.
It was a song that would be the perfect serenade for our new family at Karma Kitchen, especially since the group was mostly musicians from all over the country. This was the first time they had all come together and performed. It was a moment that will be frozen in time forever.
And to see how we paid it forward, you just have to see the video to the end!
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 Click to see how we paid it forward!
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We hear you!
More & more positive support for BloomBars on the web. You guys are great! Keep up the chatter, and let us know what you think of BloomBars on Twitter and Facebook.
 Facebook Comment of the Week:
Jon Gann:
” Completely blown away by the debut performance of Moshe Adams at BloomBars. It is truly humbling when you see your friends’ talents explode onto the scene.
 Twitter Comments of the Week:
@milksted:
@BloomBars:weird, ac!
Yes, @milksted:, we have A/C!
@DCDharma:
“Ay Carumba! RT @BloomBars: “Salsa Classes Every Wednesday at 7:30pm Starting July 7th” – http://bit.ly/aijlHx“
@ZsaZsaZiggy
RT @BloomBars: OPEN MIC NIGHT – Every Monday at 9 pm at @BloomBars:. This week we welcome Aparna Nancherla of Last Comic Standing! http://ow.ly/23RM7
@FreeinDCblog
Free Film Screening & Discussion of ‘American Outrage’ this Wednesday at 8:30pm at @BloomBars. http://ow.ly/24mhL
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Stay up to date on all BloomBars events
There’s so much going on at BloomBars! We hope that you can find the time to stop in and say hello. Wanna schedule a visit? Here are some useful links for you to bookmark:
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BloomBars is a not for profit arts organization that seeks to unite and inspire communities through the arts while nurturing artists committed to serving the community. With events, classes and programming around music, visual arts, film, dance, theater, and more, our goal is personal and collective growth.
We strive to create a larger platform for grassroots artists to have their voices heard across the globe. BloomBars redefines the traditional perception of a bar: we don’t serve alcohol and encourage all ages to attend our events, to create more meaningful human connections.
Learn more about BloomBars’ mission and vision.
Got an idea for BloomBars? Want to get involved? Email us: info@bloombars.com.
BloomBars runs on support from friends like you!
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BloomBars proudly supports the following local organizations:
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