We went to the UNCENSORED Preview Party at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. We snapped DC Public Library exec director Richard Reyes-Gavilan, DC Public Library Foundation exec director Linnea Hegarty, and painter Matthew Mann.
The event celebrated Banned Books Week with signature cocktails, music and art. It was founded as the annual celebration of the freedom to read, express and create. Through Sept. 27, there will be indoor and outdoor art installations about censorship. Here, performer Craig Garrett, Carolina Mayorga, whose maze is in the library’s Great Hall, Honfleur Gallery’s Piper Grosswendt, and Yoga District instructor Cara Curcio.
Programs for all ages are planned all week; the preview party featured music by Go Go Symphony. Here, DC Public Library’s Russell Martin and Victor Benitez flank Advisory Board Company’s Fabricio Torres.
The signature cocktails represented favorite banned books, such as Estadio’s Billy Chou’s Edgar Derby, inspired by Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, or Bourbon Steak’s Duane Sylvestre’s Hairy Chest, inspired by Huckleberry Finn. Here, sponsor the Proper Topper’s Christy Kehoe, Tara McCredie and Amy Compton.
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