The Arts : Features

D.C. wouldn't be where it is without its passionate, engaged citizens. Get to know four of them.

In our hyperconnected, digital age, people hunger for real stories. In D.C. and across the country, storytelling nights are growing thanks to the popularity of The Moth, This American Life and other programs that elevate life into art.

What could be cozier than curling up with a good book? We've rounded up 13 indie bookstores, including D.C.'s newest, where you can find your next read.

Nonprofit Critical Exposure has been helping teens express themselves through photography for a decade. 

The nationwide competiton to design an elevated park over the Anacostia has reached its home stretch, with four finalists unveiling their designs Thursday. Any would be a welcome addition to D.C.

As change comes to the NW neighborhood of Pleasant Plains, the Emergence Community Arts Collective knits neighbors together.

Fueled by collaboration, the Mile High City is investing in transit-oriented development while also preserving its historic neighborhoods. Denver has gained 50,000 new residents in the past four years, outpacing its suburbs and most other metro areas.

Public art by world-renowned artists will temporarily transform all eight wards of the city, with events and exhibits running from September through December. 

Artists are often the first to move into urban neighborhoods, and also the first to move when rents escalate. Here's how cities are working with artists to transform blight and reimagine neighborhoods.

Zines--self-published, usually Xeroxed small magazines--seem like a relic of the pre-Internet age. But in D.C. as elsewhere, the art form still thrives.

With a culture of collaboration, a willingness to change and a focus on creating the kind of urban environment that attracts creative talent, the Steel City has moved from gritty to green and is now poised for the next wave of growth.

Murals revitalize neighborhoods with nothing but a little spray paint and imagination. Here are some of the city's most recent murals--make time to look one up this spring.

In Cleveland, next-generation housing includes one of the greenest homes in Ohio and a house with a basement rock-climbing gym. In Pittsburgh, indie filmhouses are making a comeback. Read about the smartest things happening in cities around the country in this roundup.

We're taking a long-awaited vacation, so this week, enjoy these greatest hits from our archives.

From D.C. to Seattle,  alleys are being reinvented as people-friendly spaces. Often perceived as dirty and dangerous, alleys are moving beyond garbage and garages to become havens for pedestrians, public art and small business.