by Peggy Robin
Last Saturday, we presented five nominations in these four categories:
BEST GIVEAWAY Hyperlink
BEST ANIMAL STORY
BEST QUERY/ISO linked
BEST ADVICE/RESPONSE TO A QUERY
Today the show goes on with the nominations in these three categories:
BEST LONG DISCUSSION THREAD
PHOTO OF THE YEAR
POST OF THE YEAR
As explained last week (in Message #220602), we'll be presenting the nominations in one message per category, to allow sufficient space to describe what makes each nominated post Listy-worthy and include any photos, without making any one message excessively long or going over the 500 kb maximum for images in a message.
First up: BEST LONG DISCUSSION THREAD. This is the only category that requires a note about the qualifications: "Long" means at least six messages sent in by separate list members, and "discussion" means that differing points of view are advanced, which rules out, for example, a long thread that simply names good shoe repair places or fun sports bars.
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1. Going Carless in DC. Nancy R. kicked off the discussion on Feb 18, Message #210683, when she posted that she'd given up her car and maybe should've asked for tips on carfree living first, but in any case, she'd welcome them now. Ten different car-free list members were happy to give advice and encouragement, including practical tips about all of the following: car-shares, good delivery services, short-term rentals (with some pros &cons for specific rental apps); public transportation (bus/rail); insurance considerations, and of course, the health benefits of being outdoors and getting some exercise on foot -- 13 good messages over 6 days. If this one wins the Listy, I wish I could award it to every single one of the dozen list members who contributed, but my stock of little, golden "Like" statuettes is limited, and so they'd have to accept a virtual nod, while the physical object would go to Nancy R.
2. Ranked Choice Voting. A few weeks before the November 2024 election (remember that -- or are you trying to forget?), with Initiative 83 "Ranked Choice Voting" up for a vote, the CP Listserv hosted a lengthy debate -- 63 messages! --on the ballot measure, and I am happy to report it was everything a moderator could want in a Listserv debate. Posters on both sides made thoughtful, evidence-based arguments. The messages were, for the most part, informative, respectful of points made by the other side, and free of hyperbole, finger-pointing, or the sort of straw-man target-shooting that has all too often characterized debates on most other forms of social media. I would also venture to guess the discussion helped a good many on-the-fence voters make up their minds.
But with dozens of different posters, who gets the nomination? Normally, my first choice would be the poster who kicked off the discussion....but in this case, that would be....me. On October 5, in Message #218376 I posted an announcement of a public discussion panel being held at a church, where civic leaders would discuss the pros & cons of Initiative 83. The Listserv discussion took off from there. So, having reviewed all 63 messages, I nominate the one I thought made the most persuasive argument. For me, that would be Sarah B., who looked at the results of the Ward 7 Democratic Primary in June 2024, a race that featured ten candidates, with the winner getting a mere 23.6% of the vote -- went on to present her analysis of the vote, making the point that RCV would have given far more voters far more of a say in the outcome (Message #218610 on October 11).
The entire thread ran just one day short of 3 weeks, from Oct 5 to Oct 24, under three different subject lines, but you will find the bulk of them threaded together by the subject line ISO pro/con on Initiative 83,
3. The Art Critics of Cleveland Park. The jumping-off point for this discussion was an agenda item (Section VII., item #1) tucked away inside the announcement of the July meeting of ANC 3C propsing that the ANC send a letter of support for a grant to fund the painting of a mural along the second-floor facades of the 7-Eleven & Tax Center building along Connecticut Avenue and wrapping around the corner to Ordway Street. Alert list member Ana E. clicked on the links to the artist's renderings (#1 rendering and #2rendering), and wondered how it happened that such a large and prominently place public art project should be slated for approval by the Commission in just TWO DAYS -- and there's been no public discussion about it? (Note: There had been an earlier verison of the ANC notice, Message #215577 on July 8, that mentioned the project but did not include the artist's rendering -- and apparently the earlier announcement slipped by without attracting any attention -- at least not on the Listserv.)
Ana's initial message included these two aesthetic/architural arguments:
"First, the building is lovely as is (for a 7-11) the sandstone facade is original and part of the assembly of buildings recognized by the Art Deco Society. Second, art is a very personal matter: what is lovely to one person can be a horror to another. The proposed mural is large, and from the rendering, striking. In this case, everyone waiting to cross Connecticut at the light will be forced to endure the visual punch."
A flood of reaction followed. Flood? More like a tsunami. Forty-two more messages poured in over just a couple of days, coming from 38 different list members. I went back over all the posts and kept score: 7 in favor; 28 opposed, with 3 posts not taking a position but giving information about the process or advising on the best way to communicate with the ANC members.
While there was vehement disagreement between the pros and the cons, the discussion remained civil, and it was often noted that taste is a personal matter and there's no right or wrong about art. However, we did get some well-informed explication on the following topics: the history of the building and historic preservation concerns about its sandstone facades; consideration of the place of the Art Deco movement in Cleveland Park architecture; the role of public art in establishing a sense of place in a neighborhood; whether the figures in the mural were representative of the age range of residents in the neighborhood; and whether the color palette in use was "garish" or "vibrant" -- and even a brief art history review of the symbolism of the color red in art!
To do justice to the range of opinion, let me present snippets of the messages from eight different posters:
Leila S: "Thank you, Ana, for your thoughtful and spot-on observations and critique of the mural proposed for the Conn/Ordway corner. My short take is that it adds to the visual cacophony of the corner, and the block."
Chris B.: "I think the mural looks great and will add to the neighborhood. I wasn’t even aware of this mural and the related ANC vote until your email. Thank you for alerting me!"
Jessica W.: "I think the mural is terrific! It’s vibrant, fun, and a perfect new landmark for the neighborhood. Kudos to the artist and all involved."
Kay F.: "The sandstone facade is a lovely and historic Art Deco feature of this block—an absurd place to put a mural, corner or not. I will be telling them a resounding No."
Richard R.: "I would add my voice to the dismay at the plans for the proposal for the rather garish mural on Connecticut Avenue and Ordway Street above the 7-11. It looks cheap and chaotic. Public art should blend in. This does not. It's an eyesore. Of course, others may disagree. But for something that we residents of Cleveland Park will look at every day, it seems to me that you need a pretty strong majority to approve it."
Leila A.: "I also agree [with Ana..] The mural is rather honky-tonky. That, of course, is my personal opinion. There really should have been an open competition for such a mural and let the community decide since we have to live with it."
Erin S. "Thank you, Claire Sharp [the artist] - for your boldness, your art, and your good intentions! (And, for what it is worth, you may just be ahead of your time to some degree here, but as a mom of two boys who graduated from Eaton Elementary in recent years and myself having lived in CP for now twenty years, I absolutely feel that the proposed mural is representative of me and my children, their friends and families, and other families at John Eaton. Others may disagree, and I respect that)."
John B.: "In contrast to most murals in DC, which liven up otherwise undistinguished blank brick walls, the proposal here would permanently cover the original limestone fabric of this historic Art Deco building. The proposed image also appears to obscure the characteristic Art Deco frieze detail at the top of the façade. It would also obscure a subtle but significant detail in the architect’s original design: the elegantly radiating pattern of the limestone blocks framing the oval windows."
Following the listserv discussion, the ANC meeting on July 15 drew a lively crowd. Let's cut right to the conclusion - from Message #215802 on July 15, posted by Judy K.: "With a total discussion of about one hour and 25 minutes, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 3C voted 6-2 just before 9 PM this evening NOT to submit a letter to the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities in support of a grant application with designs for two murals by local artist Claire Sharpe on the building at 3433 Connecticut Avenue (on the corner with Ordway, above the 7-11 store)."
It's not often that a Listserv debate culminates in an action that settles aything. Most Listserv debates (on parking, on the service lane, on the Connecticut Avenue bike lanes, on the Cathedral Commons Giant) go on for years and years before anything dispostive happens....if it ever does. This was over in three days!
Ana, I think you have achieved a first in Listserv/ANC history! If you win the Listy, I can tell you that your little golden plastic statuette of the thumbs-up gesture will look just perfect sitting on your mantelpiece among all the lovely objets d'art you've collected from fine artists and sculptors. Not tacky at all!
4. Deadly Driving Continues. Bad driving and the danger to pedestrians are perennial topics of discussion on the Listserv, and I can't say that this thread, or any of the ones in years past, has contributed in any meaningful way to a decrease in bad driving; in fact, this year's discussio began when Jonathan C. posted the link to a Washington Post article showing that traffic deaths are on track to reach record heights in DC. From that post on November 14 (Message #219694 ) there followed 33 more posts, running from Nov 14 - 25, not just wringing hands but talking about possible ways to turn the situation around. Of course, with such a consequential subject, there would be heated disagreement over the right approach. I'm not a traffic engineer, so I can't judge the messages on the substance; as moderator I lean toward the ones that make the case in plain language -- and in this case, with accompanying pictures. I'm talking about the two messages submitted by Kathy R., describing the nightly rush hour recklessness that occurs when commuters, racing up Connecticut Avenue, routinely run the light at Connecticut and Devonshire Place (on Nov 19). In her first message on Nov 19, Message #219862 she gave a link to her first batch of photos illustrating the danger. In her follow-up message (#219862 ) on November 20, she not only sent a few more photos but shared her album so that others could contribute to documenting the problem. Now if only she could send out traffic tickets!
5. We should put up a statue to..... [List members fill in the blank!]. Eleanor O. (yes,it's the same Eleanor who won the Listserv's Poster of the Year award in 2022 ) was the originator of the idea of putting up a statue to Grover Cleveland. (Message #215890 on July 17). She proposed that the president (first term: 1885 - 1889; second term: 1893 - 1897) who lent his name to our neighborhood, be turned into a neighborhood-defining monument, to be erected at the corner of Connecticut and Ordway. Ten very enthusiastic messages followed on this thread, all in support of the idea, and most adding some refinement, ebellishment, or a colorful example of an iconic statues that bestowed a sense of identity and place to a neighborhood in some other city around the world. Randi S. thought it would be amazing if the statue were done in the hyper-realistic style of sculptor seward Johnson (Message #216006 on July 21). Eleanor returned to the conversation in Message #215960 to say the statue would work best if it would "have Grover Cleveland sitting on one end of a park bench. Great photo opps for everyone: Zoo traffic. Birthday party guests, local politicians, prom dates, brides & grooms. The groom could bring a top hat as a prop to be photographed in." What a lovely idea -- so it seemed a good first step in bringing this beatific vision to pass is to confer a Listy nomnation on the poster who proposed it. Eleanor, you've done it again!
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Next up: Nominations for PHOTO OF THE YEAR.
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The Cleveland Park Listies come out on the last four Saturdays of the year on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local. The winners will be announced on December 28.
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