I think if there was a contest today for coolest girl in town Philippa Hughes would win it by a landslide. The Pink Line Project, which began as a way for her, an art lover, to engage meaningfully with DC’s art community has grown into citywide phenomena. Where there is art in this town Pink Line is there.
Hughes was once a lawyer but began throwing salons and blogging about her adventures and art events on her blog Hoogirl.com which grew into the Pink Line Project. The Project is a way for artists and art lovers to connect, often in fun and interesting ways. Pink Line brings art to art lovers, the art-curious or those looking for a cool night out.
The Pink Line Project has temporarily taken over the R.L Christian Library kiosk at 13th and H Street NE and transformed the space into a Temporary Emporium…Temporium for local artists to exhibit and sell their wares.
DC’s Office of Planning is collaborating with Hughes and other creatives from around the city on ways to use empty spaces such as the library kiosk. The Temporium is modeled on similar projects in other cities but is the first of its kind in DC. The project aims to prove that areas like H Street can support retail efforts such as these.
The artists featured in the Temporium all work in wearables such as jewelry, ties, scarves and clothing. At the opening last Friday many of the artists were on hand to talk about their work. The scarves and cowls by de*nada are gorgeous and luscious. The designer Virginia Blanca Arrisueño was eager to talk about the designs and her work. She designs here and then travels to her native Peru twice a year where they are handmade.The scarves are warm and also attractive and present yet another reason to wish these 100 degree days begone so we can get back to snuggly clothing.
There is a surprising amount of cool stuff in the smallish space. I saw belts by Hill artist John Wye and again made a mental note to just buy one already. Where there are hipsters there are cool t-shirts and there are some funky t-shirts by Dopeville. There were adorable diner-waitress-style shirt dresses complete with name tag begging to be worn with cowboy boots or maybe go all out Flo and do a beehive, toss in some gum and get to wise crackin’.
I’m always looking for earrings to fall in love with only to lose some place silly like the Atlantic ocean or my own house and the Temporium offers some lovely and reasonably priced new victims jewelry. The website also mentions cosmetics by Beauty Technik but I didn’t see them on opening night. I’ll have to go back and see what they have going on in the lip gloss area.
In addition to the great shopping there are several trunk shows scheduled.The evenings will feature DJs to spin tunes while you shop. Bring the kids on August 8th for an event raising awareness on hunger offered by DECOY. A full list of events can be found here.
The Temporium only runs Thursday through Sunday until August 15th so catch it while you can.