Have you ever wondered where artists go to see art? Where poets go to hear poetry? Where musicians go to hear music, or where baristas go for coffee?  Wonder no more; you’ll find them all here at The Soundry. An oasis for the parched artist and lover of art, The Soundry boasts a studio space, a gallery, a stage, screen printing facilities, a gourmet cafe, and a constant flow of shows, weekly and special events, classes, and three flavors of open mic.

What people notice first, and remember later, is the remarkable atmosphere of the place.  Walking in is like entering another hidden world, as can only be expected of an arts incubator in a building that formerly functioned as an auto body shop.  The strong sense of all-accepting community is renewed daily by the amazing and often bizarre people and  strange spontaneous events.  Still, visitors say, at the core the place is a spirit of easygoing fun.

After dropping by a few times, people will often say;  some one should write a book about this place–  a play, a movie!.   Where is the record of this extraordinary and ever-changing place?

It starts here.

It is the mission of the Amplifier to capture the eccentric essence of day to day life at The Soundry– and we choose to accept it.  If you have any ideas, want to submit an article, send them our way, or just come up to me and chat.   I’m Allison, the newest member of the blogging team, and I’ll be leading the effort.  Most evenings you can find me in the cafe typing away, snapping photos, working on mixed media art, or knitting.  I look like this:

portrait by Soundry member Elizabeth Reid

Come, take my hand and together we will embark on a magical journey through marvelous Art-i-corn stables, the grand temples of the mad monks of melody and counterpoint, and even unto the highest Soundry Staffers in the land, Thor, philosopher king of the Peaceful Mountain, and his beautiful Warrior Queen, Jen the Berserker.

I mean, Watch this space for features such as Character Sketches depicting the wide variety of Soundry folk, The Cafe Today for the latest on what we’re dishing up, Found Art for studio doodles and other oddments, Soundry challenges whereby you, yes YOU, can win a free coffee, and more interviews, quotes and pictures than you can shake a stick at.

Tune in next time for all these wonders and more, Right here at The Amplifier.  Thanks for reading– see you at The Soundry.

Stay tuned for more details….

EXCITING NEW BENEFIT: The Soundry building is solidly built of brick and block construction. In the event of an apocolyptic event, Soundry members can seek refuge in The Soundry. Non-members will not be offered shelter.

Dr. Sketchy’s DC

June 11th Drawing Session

presents….

Bella Donna & Ken Vegas!

Bella Donna, the beautiful queen of bohemian belly dancing, and Ken Vegas the incredibly sexy drag king will perform a titillating act prior to posing for our Art Monkeys.

Belladonna is the creator of ROMKA‘, a Washington D.C.-based belly dance troupe that teaches classes and performs across the United States. ROMKA‘ hosts the monthly DC Tribal Café and annual Belly Horror Show in Washington D.C.
Belladonna’s internationally acclaimed instructional sword DVD “Sword Stylization” was released in 2008 by Insidious Media Group www.insidiousgroup.com.

Belladonna has attended workshops with renowned dance professional Suhaila Salimpour and is currently level 1 certified in the Salimpour format. In addition, she has learned from and been influenced by belly dance professionals Rachel Brice, John Compton, Jill Parker, Leila Haddad, and Amy Sigil, among others.

ABOUT KEN VEGAS:

Ken’s performance is gender-fluid which means that he does not stay in one gender binary (male/female). Why choose one gender when their is so much beauty in both? Everytime Ken performs it feels like the first time since he tries to explore new ways of expression and sometimes does not know how the crowd will react. His main intention is to entertain the audience and show them a slice of what has inspired him throughout his travels all over the world.

SIGN UP HERE ART MONKEYS!

• Abe Kinney
• Nerves (formerly Glass I)
• Kelly & Dave
• C. Boyd Norwood
• laura s.
• vinita
• Sam Munford
• John Kramer
• Mike Strain
• John Peter Giunta
• Steven F.
• Ben
• And other surprises!

FIRST MONDAYS 7-10

The live jury process for “F*ck the Machine” garnished such wonderful reviews from artists and art enthusiasts who attended and watched the process streaming live on Ustream.com, that we have decided to hold this event once a month.  (Watch how the jury went down here.) “Kiss My Arts” is a critique-style forum for artists to present their work to other artist and have honesty, frank, and thoughtful discussions about the work and how it is perceived.  Every first Monday from 7-10pm, artists are invited to bring one piece to present to an audience of other artists and art supporters.  All in attendance are encouraged to voice their opinions about the work.

Artists will present in an “open mic” style stage setting and “Kiss My Arts” will be streamed live on the internet every month.  Artists are encouraged to sign up before hand to present.  Bring your swagger, attitude, and confidence, cause you’re gonna need it!

SIGN UP HERE TO KISS MY ARTS!

Streaming .TV shows by Ustream