Forget the Scenic Route—Just Follow the 92!

Kathryn Cornelius, Deliverables [still], 2006.

Tonight the Art Not Ads trucks roll out to patrol the District over the weekend. An updated Web site lists the artists who are participating and provides a few snapshots of their work. So if you position yourself well, you may catch a glimpse of a truck (or trucks) hauling billboard paintings made, respectively, by Maggie Michael, Karen Schoenstadt, and Ian Whitmore.

To the right is a still from Kathryn Cornelius's video, Deliverables, which will be shown on a truck-mounted video screen, along with Colby Caldwell's Know There There—which looks like it continues on the recent video work he's done—Brandon Morse's Non-Sequitor, and Jose Ruiz's Wife Beater.

There are also trucks featuring poetry by E. Ethelbert Miller and Lucille Clifton, among others.

Now, where you'll need to set up to catch the trucks is up to debate. As I understand it, the organizers don't want to list the info on the Web site for fear that trucks that take divergent routes, get lost, or hit traffic will not reach their destinations at the right time, which would disappoint viewers. I understand that, but look—this is a city that runs on WMATA's public transportation. We're used to the trains not running on time. If the trucks never came at all, it'd be no different than waiting for the Green Line on off hours.

Nevertheless, G.p knows where (most all) the trucks will be when. Of course, just about everyone who's interested will see them along the 14th Street corridor outside the galleries, where they'll be parked temporarily on Saturday night. That's a real problem with the organization of this event—many more people should be interested. Many more people should be interested without even knowing that they're interested, and they should only realize that they're interested when they see the trucks and make the mental connection to the street stickers and ads all over the city. And they should see those trucks—which should circle like sharks in the stop-and-go traffic connecting U Street, Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, and H Street NE. (Fuck Georgetown.)

Why, for example, the organizers decided to chart the trucks' course as if it were a marathon—plotting the Whitmore truck through Arlington and Clarendon for two hours today, or sending the video truck to Shirlington at 10pm tonight—is completely beyond me. This project thrives on interaction with pedestrians—the pedestrians who aren't walking around Shirlington on a Friday night.

Below the fold I've posted the dizzying, far-too-complex driving instructions, which I'm told the drivers have already all but ignored anyway. The hope is that they'll get into the heart of town and stay there. But I don't mean to end on a sour note—I like projects like these, and they always suffer for execution, and I think I'll see it Saturday night and that'll be fine. To end on a brighter note, and to kick off your weekend, here's a shot of Ian Whitmore dirtying up his billboard with mud (a picture his girlfriend probably doesn't want me broadcasting to the world).

FRIDAY

Video

Route for video truck/ Friday September 15 from 6 pm till midnight

Video truck will meet Welmoed Laanstra at 1515 14 Th Street NW Washington DC
at 4 pm. Truck driver will receive maps and magnetic logo door tiles there.
Truck will drive as following. I have maps for each area.

6 pm ,Arlington. Start at the Ellipse Art Center, Arlington VA 4350 North Fairfax Drive, suite 125. Contact is Lisa Marie Thalhammer, 703-228-7710( she will meet you and say hi if she can. Please drive into the driveway for a few minutes.There used to be parking meters in front of the Center that they have turned over into ZIP car spaces. See if you can park around there. If not, drive around the area for about an half an hour

6.30 pm- make your way over to Clarendon Metro down Clarendon Blvd, onto Virginia Square Metro, Courthouse Metro and Rosslyn Metro..Just past the Rosslyn Metro entrance on N. Moore street, cross 19th and pull over in front of the new
Bike Oasis( NW corner of 19th & N. MooreStreet). It will be open until 7pm that evening. Then make your way into Washington DC by way of Key Bridge that will take you into Georgetown.

7.30pm Georgetown/ Dupont Circle. As you enter into Georgetown, drive on M Street . Take a right on Wisconsin and drive south till you hit K Street. That is Georgetown Harbor. Take a left on K Street and drive around a bit. Then make your way back to M Street by taking 30th or 29 th Street. Cross M Street and drive up 29 th or 30th Street up to P Street. Take a right on P Street and that takes you to Dupont Circle. Arrive at the circle, drive ¾ around the circle and take a right onto Connecticut Avenue. Drive by Provisions Library and then take a right on Florida Avenue. Take another right on 19 th Street and then make a right on Q Street. Cross over Connecticut, you are now on the 1100 block on Q Street and take another right at Florida Avenue. At the intersection, take another right at Connecticut and drive down Connecticut Avenue, past Conner Contemporary Art . Drive around the area between Florida Avenue, Massachussets Avenue and Connecticut Avenue for about an hour.

9pm- Adams Morgan Make your way to Adams Morgan, going North on Connecticut pass by the Washington Hilton,, stay to the right and go on Columbia Road. Take a right on 18 th Street and drive down and up 18 th Street between Florida and Columbia Road for about 15 minutes.After that , going down on 18 th Street, towards Mass Avenue, pass Lauriol Plaza and make a left on Massuchussets Ave. Take Mass Avenue to the first circle, Scott Circle drive around for about ¾ of the circle and take a right onto Rhode Island Avenue. Take a left on 14 th Street, pass by the Studio Theatre on 14 th Street and Viridian Restaurant and make your way up to the U Street Area. Take a right on U Street , drive by the Lincoln Theatre and then make your way back via 13 th Street to Logan Circle. At Logan Circle make a right onto P Street . At the intersection of P Street and 14 th Street, take a left onto 14 th Street South

10 pm Shirlington make your way on to 14 th Street downtown that will take you to the 14 th Street Bridge into VA. Then you make your way to the 4000 block of South 28th Street into Shirlington . This is where the WETA studio’s are located, and many restaurants etc. This particular block might be a bit tricky but see where you can drive around for a bit.

11 pm Downtown/ Georgetown and Howard University Make your way back into the city via 395 , take the 14 Street Bridge again( route 1) on your way to the Capitol Building and Union Station which is at the intersection of Mass Avenue and North Capitol Street .Drive around that area for a bit and then make your way back into the city by taking Massaschussets Avenue, go by the Convention Center and NPR (intersection 7 th Street NW , New York Avenue and Mass Avenue) . Stay on Massuschussets Avenue till you hit Dupont Circle, drive half way around the circle and make a right on P Street. P Street will take you into Georgetown. Take a left on Wisconsin and a right on Prospect Street( there is a restoration hardware store at the corner) Pass by Café Milano.. Take a right on 35 th Street and go up to Q Street. Make a right on Q Street and a right on Wisconsin . Drive down to M Street and take a left on M Street. Take M Street to 22nd street and make a left. At the intersection with Mass Avenue go straight and that is Florida Avenue again.Pass by restaurant Nora.Take Florida Avenue all the way to Georgia Avenue and make a right on Georgia Avenue. You are now back at Howard University.Drive around that area on Georgia( same as 7 th Street) up along Howard University and drive around the Shaw Metro stop.

12 midnight/ end of shift

Painting (Whitmore)

Painting truck

12 noon / Arlington - truck starts at the Ellipse Art Center, 4350 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington VA .Telephone is 703 228-7710. There is no parking but there is a driveway in front of the art center and if you could just hang out there for a few minutes that would be great. One of us will be there to meet with you and hand you over the magnetic logo tile for the door. Then make your way to Central Library on Wilson and N. Quincy Road (1015 N Quincy St, Arlington, VA 22201) . Drive around there for a bit and then make your way to Clarendon. At the Clarendon Subway Station, across the street from 3101 Wilson Avenue (SW Corner Wilson Blvd and Highland St, Arlington, VA 22201), there will be three parking meters reserved for the truck. W13100N, W13102N, and W13104N, They are reserved for Friday afternoon from noon till three but you will not spend that much time there. If you can park the truck, please stay for about an hour . From there, move on to Rosslyn, In Rosslyn right across the street on the Rosslyn Metro Entrance (1700 N Moore St, Arlington, VA 22209), there is a new bike” store” called Bike Oasis and if you could stop there for 5/10 minutes if you see a space and/ or drive around that area for 5/10 minutes, that would be great. And then make your way over the Key Bridge into Georgetown

2 pm/Georgetown/ Dupont Circle/Takoma Park/ Silver Spring.Now you are in Georgetown on M Street.Take a left onto New Hampshire Ave to Dupont Circle. Drive around the Dupont Circle area for about 15 minutes. The traffic circle at the center of Dupont Circle is a good way to get attention.You can go up and down Connecticut Avenue a bit as well. Drive by Conner Contemporary Art (1730 Connecticut Ave NW # 200, Washington, DC) and Provisions Library (1611 Connecticut Ave NW).Go back to the circle and then go up New Hampshire Ave, right of the circle and make your way up to the district line. You are now driving up to Takoma Park , stay to the right , the left lane turns into Blair Road, and you will see the sign for 410 ( East-West Highway) and take that left. Stay on East West Highway, pass the Takoma Park Library (101 Philadelphia Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912) on your right and cross over Piney Branch Road. Stay on 410 until you get to the intersection with Colesville Road and drive around the new downtown Silver Spring area for about 15 minutes. Do not forget the Silver Spring Subway. The subway is at Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue. Fenton Street, Wayne Avenue and Colesville Road are good streets to drive on. Once you are in the center of the new downtown Silver Spring, drive by AFI (American Film Institute, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910) and the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Commision (801 Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20910) and Whole Foods (833 Wayne Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910).

3 pm / Howard University/ New Convention Center Get back to 410 in the center of Silver Spring and take Colesville Road North to University Blvd. At that intersection you will see Blair High School (51 University Blvd E, Silver Spring, MD). Drive around in front of the school for bit and then make your way back down on Colesville to downtown Silver Spring. Take Georgia Avenue South, pass Pyramid Atlantic (8230 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD) on your right and make your way to Howard University (2041 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20060). At the intersection of Georgia and Florida, drive around a bit in that area for about 15 minutes. Go back onto Georgia Avenue South (becoming 7th Street) and make your way to the intersection of Georgia, New York and Mass Avenue. You will see the Convention Center on your right and the NPR studios on your left (635 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20001). If you stay on Georgia (it is now 7th Street) you will pass the Goethe Institute (812 7th St NW, Washington, DC) on your right and drive under the China Town Arch (H Street, between 6th and 7th St) and then make your way back to NPR. Drive around that area for about 15 minutes.

4 pm / Tenley Town. Take K Street West to Penssylvania Avenue and then take a right on Wisconsin to go north on Wisconsin. Drive up Wisconsin Avenue to Tenley Town Circle. Take the Circle southbound (the direction you came from) and take a right on Nebraska and pass the NBC studios (4001 Nebraska Ave NW, Washington, DC), and drive by the American University Katzen Center at Ward Circle where Mass Avenue and Nebraska Avenue come together. Take the circle twice and go straight on Nebraska. That will change into Loughboro Rd. Drive up to Sibley Hospital (5255 Loughboro Rd NW, Washington, DC). Right before you reach hospital grounds, take a right on Dalecarla Parkway, that will turn into Western Avenue if you just keep going straight and make a right on Wisconsin Avenue to Friendship Heights.

5 pm Friendship Heights. Drive around the Mazza Gallery area for about 15 minutes and then take a left on Militairy Road to go to Connecticut Avenue. On Connecticut Avenue you take a right and drive towards downtown. Pass by Politics and Prose, Buck’s Fishing & Camping (5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC). When you hit van Ness /UDC university and Subway, drive around there for a bit (10 minutes) and then keep on going on Connecticut Avenue until you hit Cleveland Park. Spend a few minutes in that area and then drive on towards the ZOO (3001 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC). If you could find a place to stop there for a 15 minutes, that would be good but if not, move on Connecticut Avenue over the bridge , by the Washington Hilton and then you hit Dupont Circle again.

6pm K Street and Capitol Hill. Stay on Connecticut Avenue till you hit K Street. Farragut North Subway entrance on the left hand side. Make your way on to 17th Street. Drive by the Corcoran Gallery of Art (500 17th St NW, Washington, DC) by making a right on F Street. Make a right on 19 th Street . Drive by the World Bank Headquarters (1818 H Street NW). Make right on M Street towards Thomas Circle. Go ¾ on the circle and get on to Vermont Avenue and drive by Americans for the Arts at 1000 Vermont Avenue. Go down 15th Street to Pennsylvania Avenue to Constitution Avenue and make your way to Capitol Hill. Pass the Senate Office Buildings, The Dirksen Building and The Russel Building, on your left hand.

7pm H Street Corridor. Take a left on Maryland Avenue and make your way up to H Street NE. Drive up and down H Street for a bit and pass by the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St NE, Washington, DC). H Street turns into Benning Road. Drive around that area and make your way to the Armory Stadium (2001 E Capitol St Se, Washington, DC) .

8pm /end shift

SATURDAY

Painting by Maggie Michael

2 PM–4 PM. Arts on Foot / entrance on 7th Street NW/ F Street

6 PM–8 PM 1515 14 th Street/ between P and Q Street NW.

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Poetry by E. Ethelbert Miller and Lucille Clifton

noon–2 PM Arts on Foot/ entrance on 7th Street NW / F Street

6 PM–8 PM 1515 14 th Street/ between P and Q Street NW.

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Video by Kathryn Cornelius, Colby Caldwell, Brandon Morse and Jose Ruiz

6 PM–8 PM 1515 14 th Street NW/ between P and Q Street NW

9 PM–11 PM The Green in Downtown Silver Spring/ Ellsworth Drive ( accross from the Whole Foods)

11.30 PM–2 AM- Adams Morgan/ U Street /Cardozzo/ Georgetown