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Solomon Asfaw and Mel Aragaw
talk at the reception.
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Mel Aragaw is a go-getter. Wearing a bright smile and a funky hat, she easily blends in with the other suave 20- and 30-somethings milling around La Carbonara restaurant, coolly glancing at the artwork around them. But don’t be mistaken: Aragaw is all business, and this event is her creation.
The new bi-weekly reception, Spirito di Vino, highlights local art in a swanky social setting on the block of Ninth Street nicknamed Little Ethiopia. In a way, Aragaw’s event simply combines existing elements to create something original, showcasing established DC-area artists, who haven’t made it big yet, in a classy space – La Carbonara’s second floor lounge – that wasn’t being fully utilized.
“I’d been looking for a place for up-and-coming artists in the area and wanted to create an evening scene,” says Aragaw, who is a freelance marketer by day. “Sometimes you just want to unwind, hang out and talk, but there isn’t much like this in DC.”
She’s obviously not the only Washingtonian looking for an alternative to crowded bars or expensive theater shows. The first Spirito di Vino event on Oct. 21 was a big hit, with 75 attendees despite little advance notice; the second one, on Nov. 4, appeared to be similarly popular. Even at an early hour, the bar was crowded with well-dressed, well-coiffed professionals – mostly Ethiopian – who were schmoozing, nodding to the DJ’s songs, and glancing at paintings lining the walls.
Solomon Asfaw, the featured artist that night, was leaning on the bar chatting with friends. Asfaw, an Ethiopian painter who moved to Virginia four years ago, is getting a Master of Fine Arts in painting at Howard University and is focusing on expanding his style. While most of the paintings on show that night were moody depictions of life in Addis Ababa, he says he’s gradually moving towards abstract art.
According to Aragaw, the artists can leave the paintings that they hope to sell hanging on the walls for a few weeks, with all of the proceeds of sales going to them.
Downstairs, La Carbonara owner Fiku Bekele was working over a hot stove to make a patron’s pasta dinner. He says he had renovated the upstairs lounge recently but hadn’t found a way to make full use of it, so when Aragaw asked him about using it for her event, he jumped at the chance. “I have a passion for art, so I said, yes,” he recalls, adding that he hopes increased business to the lounge will mean more diners in his restaurant, too. |
