Home > Newsroom > DC’s Golden Triangle Earns Prestigious Award for Collaboration with Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery That Brought ‘Burning Man’ Art to Streets
Washington, D.C. (October 25, 2018) – The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) has been awarded a Pinnacle Award from the International Downtown Association (IDA) for its collaboration with the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery bringing the art from the Burning Man festival to the streets of Washington, D.C. The groundbreaking collaboration brought six spectacular, large-scale artworks to the neighborhood for an outdoor exhibition throughout 2018.
IDA presented the Golden Triangle with the Pinnacle Award in the Events and Programming category, this week at its 64th Annual Conference and Trade Show in San Antonio, Texas. The award marks the second year in a row that the BID has been recognized by the international organization, as it was honored in 2017 with IDA’s Excellence in Urban Place Management Award in the Downtown Leadership and Management category.
The Pinnacle Award was given to the Golden Triangle BID for its landmark project No Spectators: Beyond the Renwick which features six art installations that were first exhibited at the legendary Burning Man festival, including Mischell Riley’s 20-foot tall sculpture of Maya Angelou and Kate Raudenbush’s 23-foot tall luminous temple to time and technology. The outdoor exhibition, which has attracted national media attention, is an extension of the Renwick Gallery’s exhibition, No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man, and marks the first time the Renwick has helped to bring public art to the streets of Washington, D.C.
“This project was a colossal undertaking, but one that has brought so much excitement and inspiration to the streets of downtown DC,” said Leona Agouridis, Executive Director of the Golden Triangle BID. “It’s gratifying for our team to be recognized and this project illustrates the value of collaborations with art museums and cultural institutions for downtown areas.”
The Golden Triangle BID team worked with commercial property owners, the National Park Service, and the District of Columbia government, among other entities, to identify strategic locations for each of the artworks. The BID also secured a major donation from the ride-sharing company Lyft in support of the project. The outdoor exhibition and concurrent programs, including 25 walking tours to-date, have attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors and resulted in a 24% uptick in daily foot traffic, on average, at four of the six sites.
“These innovative projects set an outstanding example for cities around the world,” said David Downey, IDA President and CEO. “IDA members continue to champion livable, vital, and thriving urban centers. Each of these projects has made its particular city a better place for the people who live and work there.”
A complete list of the 2018 Downtown Achievement Award winners is available online at www.downtown.org.
About the Golden Triangle BID
The Golden Triangle BID is a non-profit corporation that works to enhance the Golden Triangle — the 43-square-block neighborhood that stretches from the front yard of the White House to Dupont Circle. The primary focus of the BID is to provide a clean, safe, and vibrant environment within this remarkable neighborhood, and to retain and attract businesses to the Golden Triangle. The BID connects its members to numerous resources, events, and information in and around the neighborhood and strives to increase quality of life through public safety and maintenance services. Together with corporate and government partners, the BID develops and implements programs that strengthen the vitality of the Golden Triangle. For more, visit goldentriangledc.com.
About IDA
IDA is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are city builders and downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit www.downtown.org. Learn more about the 64th Annual Conference & Tradeshow at www.idaconference.org.
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Samantha Schmieder
sschmieder@goldentriangledc.com
202-463-3400
