The Gig is In

Last week, Marc Fisher wrote about how great "The Gig" will be in the column "A D.C. Music Museum Sounds Better and Better." The Gig being a program of the "new" National Music Center and Museum that the Federal City Council has been plugging away at for years. In October, there were a number of articles about this in the Washington Business Journal, although the articles weren't put up in the free online edition. Apparently "The Gig" will be taking over the City Museum building. Where's the public discussion and evaluation that this is the best possible use for that building and a priority cultural investment?

I got this message in email:

Decided not to return presents the day after Christmas and looking for something fun and free to do in the neighborhood? Come down to the City Museum of Washington, 801 K Street, NW, for The Gig, a free multicultural winter celebration, on Monday and Tuesday, December 26-27, 2005, from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM each day.

See an Indonesian Shadow Puppet show, a troupe of Chinese Lion Dancers; a towering Stilt Walker, amazing "Living Statutes" and a contingent of Mummers from the City of Philadelphia; Hear Calypso Steel Drums, an a cappella Gospel Choir, Jazz from the New Washingtonians, Klezmer, Hip Hop, Hawaiian Dance and Song, Mystic Warriors Andean Music, Pan Pipers, Japanese Koto, Los Amigos Mariachi, a 1920s-style Jug Band, an exotic Indonesian Gamelan orchestra and much, much more!

And you don't only have to listen and look: you can also learn to play instruments and dance, too! Take free lessons on playing piano and guitar, and how to write Hip Hop lyrics; take lessons in how to DJ and learn all the latest dance moves!

And The Gig also presents a Craftworks where you can learn to weave, make quilts, create paper-cut designs and paint icons. All programs are free of charge.

The Gig is a program of the National Music Center and Museum and is sponsored by the District of Columbia Government, the Downtown BID Corporation, the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, the Historical Society of Washington, DC, Shaw Main Streets, Inc., Yamaha Corporation of America, In Tune Foundation, the National Music Center and Museum Foundation, and the Federal City Council.
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It sounds interesting, but the behind the scenes development I still find distasteful. And I think that other places, such as the Uline Arena, could be better places for such a use.

Index Keywords: civic-engagement; concerts-music