Arts & Entertainment

SPRING ARTS 2016: galleries

‘Abstraction’ at Hillyer, ‘Turquoise Mountain’ at Sackler among season’s highlights

Published

10 years ago

March 4, 2016

Mariah Cooper

A work from ‘Typecast,’ an LGBT-themed exhibit that runs all month at Hillyer Art Space. (Image courtesy Hillyer)

Gay curator Jarvis DuBois displays his exhibit “Typecast” at Hillyer Art Space (9 Hillyer Ct., N.W.) running from Friday, March 4 through Saturday, March 26. Work from 33 artists will be displayed that explore sexuality, gender, race, religion and more from local and national artists.

Hillyer Art Space will also display “Embracing Abstraction,” an abstract painting exhibit, by artist Lina Alattar. The exhibit focuses on rootlessness, belonging, identity and the shared human experience. The exhibit will also run Friday, March 4 through Saturday March 26. For more information, visit hillyerartspace.org.

“Turquoise Mountain: Artists Transforming Afghanistan” runs at the International Gallery at Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (1050 Independence Ave., S.W.) from Saturday, March 5 through early 2017. Turquoise Mountain is an organization dedicated to teaching Afghan artists in woodwork, calligraphy, ceramics and more.The exhibit will feature Afghan artists from Kabul who will showcase their art.For more details, visit asia.si.edu.

Exposed D.C. presents its 10th annual Exposed D.C. Photography Show hosted by the Historical Society of Washington at Carnegie Library (801 K St., N.W.) from Thursday, March 10 through Friday, April 1. Forty-seven photographs were chosen from a contest presenting D.C. not as a tourist attraction but as a place people live, work and play. All photographs will be for sale.The exhibit will run Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, March 10 from 6-10 p.m. Awards will be given to photographers featured in the exhibit and there will be music by DJ Neville C. Advance adult tickets are $45, under 21 tickets are $20 and children 12 and under are free. Adult door tickets are $45, under 21 tickets are $30 and children under 12 are free. For more details, exposed.com.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery also displays “Symbolic Cities: The Work of Ahmed Mater” from Saturday, March 19 through Sept. 18. Mater’s work chronicles the transformation economically and urbanely of Saudi Arabia. For more information, visit asia.si.edu.

The National Gallery of Art (6th and Constitution Ave., N.W.) presents “Three Centuries of American Prints” from Sunday, April 3 through July 24. Highlights from the Gallery’s collection of American prints from the early 18th century through the present. Some featured work will include John Simon’s “Four Indian Kings” and Karen Walker’s “no world.” For details, visit nga.gov.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts (1250 New York Ave., N.W.) showcases “She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World” from Friday, April 8 through July 31. Women photographers’s work will present their home regions in the Middle East in work ranging from fine art to photojournalism. For more information, visit nnwa.org.

The National Building Museum presents “Small Stories: At Home in a Dollhouse” from Saturday, May 21 through early 2017. The dollhouses come from the Victoria & Albert Museum and feature suburban villas, high-rise apartments, country mansions and more. Characters who inhabit the dollhouses will also describe their lives including a woman who runs a lodging house and a surgeon. For more details, visit nbm.org.

“Martin Puryear: Multiple Dimensions” runs at the American Art Museum (8th and F St., N.W.) from Friday, May 27-Sept. 5. The exhibit features work from Puryear and includes more than 50 drawings and prints and 12 sculptures. Puryear is a local artist who had his first solo exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1977. For more details, visit americanart.si.edu.

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Sports

Jason Collins dies at 47

First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer

Published

21 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Jason Collins (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.

The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.

Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.

Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.

Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.

The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.

“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”

“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”

“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”

“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”

Photos

PHOTOS: ‘Studio 69’

Glitterati Productions hold party at Bunker

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Michael Key

'Studio 69' was held at Bunker on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP