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Catalogue Blog

Around Town: April 29-May 1

Welcome to May, Greater Washington! We have a busy Catalogue weekend, so you definitely could celebrate the new month with one of our non-profits …

FRIDAY, APRIL 29

5:30 PM — For just $20, enjoy a delicious meal of soup and bread in handcrafted bowls donated by local artists. And support Food for Others with its mission of helping the hungry of Northern VA. Stop by Giving Circle to learn more.

7:30 PM — The Dwelling Place hosts its annual event, Carnival of Chocolate, at the VisArts Center in Rockville. Expect plenty of chocolate, plus a live and silent auction. All tickets (with discounts for kids!) are available on the Dwelling Place website. Continue reading

Reading the Numbers

When we think about literacy, we often consider letters rather than numbers. But over the past few years, financial literacy has become ever more crucial — and more widely-discussed. And as of this past week, even Elmo has joined that discussion.

For his preliminary lessons in personal finance, Elmo learns the difference between a “need” and a “want,” emphasizing that his father likes the word “prioritize.” The three-and-a-half-year-old Elmo also learns about “deferred gratification” when he realizes that he needs four more dollars to buy a sparkly “stupendous ball” rather than a standard, less-stupendous rubber ball.

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In The News …

Welcome to Wednesday, Greater Washington! Non-profits news to come …

DC Collaborative Congratulates Mayor’s Arts Awardees — Many Catalogue cheers to the 2011 winners, who were announced last week at the Kennedy Center! A winner in 2007 for Innovation in the Arts, the Capital Fringe took home this year’s award for Excellence in Service to the Arts. Now in its 32nd year, Dance Place received a well-deserved nod for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education. Congratulations!

Low Health Literacy May Have Deadly ConsequencesWebMD Health News reported yesterday that, according to a new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association, “nearly one in five people with heart failure have low health literacy, making them more than twice as likely to die as a result of their condition … even after adjusting for other risk factors, such as age, heart pumping ability, and coexisting illnesses.” (Learn more about Catalogue’s Health non-profits, who are working to improve access to care and education) Continue reading

Theatrical Congratulations

Monday was a big night for the Washington performing arts community — and for quite a few Catalogue non-profits! Yesterday marked the 27th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, which recognized “156 theatre artists, ensembles, and productions nominated in 26 categories,” as well as three special awards. And we would like to send Catalogue cheers to:

- Adventure Theatre for Outstanding Production (Theatre for Young Audiences) for If You Give a Pig a Pancake.

- Synetic Theatre for Outstanding Costume Design, Director, and Ensemble for Othello and Outstanding Lighting Design for The Master and Margarita.

- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for Outstanding Director and Resident Play for Clybourne Park, which will return to the Woolly stage this summer.

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Quotes for Monday

“To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits: logic and common sense will only interfere. But once these barriers are broken, it will enter the realms of childhood visions and dreams.”

Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978)

“It is not enough to know your craft — you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but for us imagination is worth far more.”

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Around Town: April 23-24

TGIF, Greater Washington! Make sure to enjoy the spring weather during the day … and then, head to one of our non-profits for the evening:

Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts (at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th Street NW)

At 5:00 PM on Saturday, Smith Farm co-founder Michael Lerner will offer a free talk about the promotion of physical health, paired with reflections on how we might find meaning and a sense of peace while living in troubled times. Stop by Busboys and learn more!

DC Youth Orchestra Program (at Kennedy Center Terrace Theatre, 2700 F Street NW)

Don’t miss the Youth Orchestra’s final concert of the season, this Saturday at 6:00 PM! You will also be treated to performances by the 2010-11 Season Concerto Competition Winners.

Dance Place (3225 8th Street NE)

On Saturday at 8:00 PM, Wally Cardona returns to Dance Place with his new ever-changing solo: “Strong Opinion — Time with a Local Expert.” For the curious, a Q & A session will follow the performance.

The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts (733 8th Street NW)

Do not forget, Rags only has ONE more performances remaining: Saturday at 8:00 PM. Nab your tickets right here for this dramatic, musical evocation of turn-of-the-century America.

In The News … (More!)

Expanding upon yesterday’s post, check out more news coverage for our non-profits!

What do women really want? — Earlier in April, Joan Kuriansky, executive director of Wider Opportunities for Women, contributed this opinion piece to Politico, addressing the unique concerns of women voters in this election cycle. She points out that “female voters, like men, are focused on the economy. But women care about kitchen-table issues — investments in public education, affordable health insurance, protecting Social Security, equal pay enforcement, minimum wage increases and job training … Polling shows women are more concerned than men that family income will not be enough to meet basic expenses.” But has either party addressed those concerns directly?

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In The News …

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which “killed 11 workers and sent more than 200 million gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf waters:”

BP oil spill: The environmental impact one year on — As the BBC asked yesterday afternoon, “what environmental impact did one of world’s largest accidental oil spills have on the region’s wildlife and habitats, and has it been as bad as it was feared at the time?” At this point, scientists still cannot say for sure: it is still “too soon for long-term impacts to manifest themselves, such as disruptions to ecosystems’ food chains.”

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7 Questions – Charles Phaneuf (Joe’s Movement Emporium)

Good morning! We’re pleased to introduce … Charles Phaneuf, managing director of Joe’s Movement Emporium/World Arts Focus in Mount Rainier. Open 7 days a week and 12 hours a day, Joe’s is home to 25 regional artists and performance groups, offers 3-4 hours of after-school programs daily, and hosts an intensive summer arts camp for low and moderate-income families. Learn even more right here …

1. What was your most interesting recent project, initiative, partnership, or event?

Working on creative ways to build our audience and generate revenue. In the past, Joe’s has been funded largely by foundation and government partners but resources are not what they used to be. We have to grow individual giving and devise creative ways to partner with businesses beyond traditional sponsorships. In the last few months, we did a percentage sale at a restaurant (Hank’s Tavern in Hyattsville) that was also a preview event for shows in our season, so it brought artistic content out to the community and had an audience development goal. We’re working with Hank’s, our local framing shop (Fountain Framing) and hopefully some other businesses to create offers for Deals for Deeds, which we won two weeks ago. We hope that these efforts and others will help build a deeper relationship with our partners and audiences while also funding programs so that we don’t have to cut services and can continue to grow.

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Quote for the Day

Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts.”

– Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Music is a higher relevation than all wisdom and philosophy.”

– Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”

– Victor Hugo (1802-1885)