Jazz in the Garden

Never in my life have I paid $11.25 for a small pulled pork sandwich and a can of Diet Coke... at an outdoor food stand, of all places. Was it worth it? Yeah, I suppose. It is DC after all. And that was some pretty legit pulled pork. And furthermore, yes, because I got to listen to some John Coltrane on a relaxing Friday evening. (For free!)

It was a typical muggy DC night, albeit a little cooler than it had been in a while. Some other Glenn Fellows and I brought some snacks and purchased a few pitchers of Sangria to enjoy while sitting in the Sculptures Garden, listening to some soothing jazz. There were people, young and old, scattered about. It was incredibly refreshing to see small children, cheerful old couples, and people my age dressed in casual summer clothes (instead of business suits and other yuppie-attire). It was definitely more of a Columbus vibe; it made me feel like I was back in good ol’ Ohio again!

Because of WAIP, I missed out on my favorite Chicago music festival, Pitchfork, this summer. In past years, it had always been the highlight of my summers. I loved lying out on a blanket under the sun with friends, listening to some of my favorite bands play. The closest experience I’ve had this summer to that was the "Jazz in the Garden" event last night. It made me very reminiscent; the summer sun, snacks and drinks, music, excited people… It made the city a bit friendlier and more laidback.

At any rate, the Sculptures Garden is a great place to check out with or without the jazz event going on. It is part of the National Gallery of Art and features a collection of eclectic sculptures along with a central Pavilion Café. Some of the sculptures include a large bronze spider (to my horror), the Aurora, “whose sophisticated structural system distributes eight tons of steel over three diagonal supports to combine massive scale with elegance of proportion. Several of the linear elements converge within a central circular hub and then explode outward, imparting tension and dynamism to the whole,” a quizzical hare on a rock, and House I, a piece by OSU grad Roy Lichtenstein, which “incorporates the hallmarks of the artist's style: crisp, elemental drawing, heavy black outlines, and a palette based on primary colors.”

-B.C.