2025 Capitol Art Book Fair April 5th and 6th

• A major art fair, Superfine Art Fair, operating a curated project space with 100s of artist books
• An interactive project space run by Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
• 35 exhibitors from around the country and many DMV-local exhibitors!

Attached is a guide to some of the rights businesses have when it comes to ICE. We are working on setting up a zoom session to hopefully answer more questions that folks may have.

 

 

Business rights with respect to ICE 2025 (1)

 

After three years of leading CHAMPS as executive director, Julie Aaronson is departing to return to the federal government. We greatly appreciate Julie’s work at CHAMPS, particularly to strengthen our relationships with key District agency leaders and our councilmembers. Her work on advocacy and connecting businesses with each other and the larger community is a great base upon which her successor can build. We are pleased to welcome Tony Tomelden as our new executive director. Tony’s experience managing restaurants across DC brings valuable small business owner insights and relationships to CHAMPS as we build on previous successes to develop and grow our Capitol Hill economy.

CHAMPS has formed a partnership with Heartland Payment Solutions that can bring the best in payment and HR technology to your business. If your business needs HR or payment solutions, consider reaching out to Heartland! William and Alam can help identify where their resources can help your business save money and work more efficiently.

Our relationship partners are:

Alam Vides, Relationship Manager
alam.vides@e-hps.com

CHAMPS and our business members urge our elected officials to consider ways to protect the Capitol without imposing limitations on our business and economic development.

Permanent fencing around the Capitol and associated buildings is a detriment to our neighborhood and makes Capitol Hill a less appealing destination. Capitol Hill is not only the Capitol complex, it is a thriving multigenerational neighborhood where approximately 40,000 residents live, work, and play. Permanent fencing with razor wire is not a welcoming gateway to our neighborhood.

We are particularly concerned about the closing of Constitution and Independence Avenues, which creates a huge separation between the Capitol Hill neighborhood and downtown. The fencing impacts visitors, tourists, and residents stopping by retail businesses and restaurants.  Permanent closure of these roads will hamstring customers’ access to our small businesses at the same time that vaccine availability gives us hope for bringing more people into stores and restaurants.  Additionally, permanent fencing gives residents and visitors alike a feeling of imminent threat and can deter people from coming to the neighborhood. Shoppers and diners have many choices across DC, and as we seek to emerge from this pandemic that has decimated small businesses, we ask that decision makers consider safety options that strike a balance with the traditional openness of our neighborhood and access to retail and dining.

Supply chains are delayed, mail service is delayed, and stores can accommodate a smaller number of shoppers due to social distancing requirements. This means it will be more important than ever to shop early and shop local! While the graphic is focused on books, the message is universal for all small businesses.

Below are links to several size posters and an Instagram sized post that you can print to hang in your shop, use in social media or in your newsletter to remind customers to shop early!

Thanks East City Bookshop for sharing this resource from the American Booksellers Association.

Embrace fall and support local businesses with CHAMPS Shop Fall Event! Participating business will be open online, in store or on the sidewalk (weather permitting) on September 26 and 27! Shoppers can register to access discount codes and be eligible for giveaways by participating businesses! 

Please wear masks, socially distance and follow businesses’ shopping guidelines. Registrant email addresses will be provided to CHAMPS participating businesses. 

Capitol Hill Art League – 545 7th St SE. Sidewalk. Capitol Hill Art League Artists will be showing and selling Sept. 26 ONLY from 11-5pm on CHAW’s front lawn. Colorful, original art, prints, greeting cards and more from local artists including Karen Cohen, Allison Stettler, Nancy Arbuthnot, Felicia Reed, and Elin-Whitney Smith. Shop for gifts or yourself!

Bitter Grace – Online – Bitter Grace is a lifestyle brand beyond clothing that offers a holistic approach to helping people improve their style and self-confidence so they feel empowered to influence and lead without compromising who they are. Cap Hill location coming soon!

Clothes Encounters – 202 7th Street, SE. In store and sidewalk. Shop inside and out for great deals on sustainable clothing and hourly giveaways! Open 10 am – 4 pm Saturday and Sunday.

Clutter Doctor – Online. Provides customized, hands-on residential organizing services for a tiny closet or your entire home. $50 off your first organizing session!

DCanter – A Wine Boutique – 545 8th Street SE. In store and online. Shop from a global selection of boutique wines made by small producers and family-run wineries. Our selections include sustainable, organic, and biodynamic wines. Shop in-store from 12pm-6pm on weekends and 4pm – 9pm weekdays. Shop online anytime! Registered participants receive a discount code for an online purchase.

East City Bookshop – 645 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Suite 100. In store, online and sidewalk (courtyard of 645 Penn Ave SE). 1 pm to 6 pm Sat and Sun. Register to win a totebag of books!

Frager’s Hardware – 1115 Pennsylvania Ave SE. In store and online. 50% off our selection of boutique outdoor patio furniture! Available in store or online!

The Hill Is Home – Online – Love the blog? Love our mugs? Get your very own adorable The Hill is Home mug! Only $20. If you buy more than one mug, you’ll get a THIH Capitol Hill Bingo t-shirt– while supplies last.

Hill’s Kitchen – 713 D Street SE. In store. No products available online. Face masks required for indoor shopping (covering nose and mouth) and limit of 4 customers at a time. We aim to make this a safe shopping experience!

Johnson Law Group – 1321 Pennsylvania Ave SE. Online. Twenty (20) percent discount on legal services: wills and estates, business law, property issues and transactions; elder law.

Labyrinth Games & Puzzles – 645 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Online, in store, sidewalk. Join us for prizes and community fun! Open 11am to 5pm Sat. and Sunday.

Magic Maker Solutions – Online. Home & office organization. Complete downsizing & moving coordination. Personal & professional lifestyle management. Instant stress relief. Fall in love with your home (or office) again! Call us for your FREE 15-minute Wish List Review and receive Friends & Family pricing when you book our Virtual Power Hour or a Magic Making Mission.  

Maria Helena Carey Photography – Online – It’s almost holiday card season! Memorialize your pandemic posse with a #porchportrait by local photographer Maria Helena Carey. Contact her at mme.meow@gmail.com or follow her at Maria Helena Carey Photography.

The Miracle Theatre – 535 8th Street SE. In store (see hours) and online.

Register for a chance to win a tote bag or t-shirt. 

While closed, The Miracle Theatre is offering the following:

• Curbside Concessions every Friday from 5-7pm
• Virtual Cinema: new independent films added each week!
• Online Store: t-shirts, tote bags, gift cards

PHOTOPIA portraits by elizabeth dranitzke – Online – Authentic portraits of families, playful but professional head shots and empowering portraits of women. Register for Shop Fall to win a Fall Family Mini Session: a 20 minute weekday shoot at a safe distance in a fave Capitol Hill park or landmark or on your front stoop.

The Yard: Eastern Market – 700 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Online. Purchase Day Passes online for access to work from the space during business hours, M-F 9am – 5:30pm. Purchase a one or two week bundle and receive a discount!

Guest blog by Amy O’Donnell, Magic Maker Solutions

What a whirlwind, roller coaster ride, and really strange trip this has been…

I hope this finds everyone safe and still relatively sane. The last 2 1/2 months have been life-changing in more ways than any of us could have ever imagined. 

It’s been exhausting to take everything in, adjust, pivot, change everything we know and love, and, to think about what our personal and professional future will and could look like EVERY SINGLE DAY.

It doesn’t matter now if you’ve taken this time to relax, re-consider, re-create, re-build, or rejuvenate—hopefully, you’ve been able to balance of all of the above.  And now that you’ve gotten used to a whole new world at home… it’s about time for your professional fresh start and to get back to business.

Here are what I feel are the most important things to remember about reopening:

Safety first. Your health and that of others are STILL the #1 priority. Having sanitizer handy, making mask-wearing mandatory, hand-washing, cleaning, social distancing–that’s going to be the new normal for a while. Set the example and your expectations with everyone NOW. 

Take the time to learn how everyone has REALLY been and where they feel they’re at now—maybe they’ve found new talents, interests, or ideas of their own that could be beneficial to your business. Find out what kind of support they need to get back in the groove.  You know how hard it is to come back after a long vacation?  It’s going to take a lot more time and energy to recover from a crisis.

Be patient. Get used to just being back at work and the new way of doing things.  It may take someone a little longer to pick up a new process. Give them grace like you’ve been giving yourself and let them know you’re there for them.  After all, they’re there for you. 

Wish you had done more to prepare?  Don’t worry…you still have plenty of time.  Just focus on what’s in front of you now and staying healthy.   Business may not pick up right away—remember, everything else is starting to reopen too. 

Be mindful and observant of others when you’re out and about. Instant gratification is virtually impossible right now…especially with so much going on behind the scenes with staffing, scheduling, and sickness.  I couldn’t believe how many complaints I heard about 2-day shipments coming late when millions of other orders were being placed at the same time. Think of the logistics. The technology, the number of steps, and how many people it takes to get something done during a pandemic when you’re trying to protect yourself and your family.  The mode of transportation to get from point A to B and beyond.  

Yes, we all have high standards and want to go above and beyond for our clients, but, sometimes, it’s not going to be humanly possible.  I hate feeling like I’ve been stripped of my superpowers, but if this time has taught us nothing else, it’s that we can’t control everything.  And it’s ok.  

Just breathe, do your best, keep the lines of communication open, and be honest with yourself and others.  Take baby steps and pace yourself.  We’re conditioning for a marathon now and just need to make it through Phase 1 now. We have 3 more after that. 

Every day will be a victory and an opportunity to discover different, better ways of doing what we love.  Surprises, struggles, and setbacks…we can’t stop those, but we sure can choose how we react to them and who we need by our side to get us through this. 

You are NOT alone. We ARE stronger together.

Amy O’Donnell
Founder/CEO & Main Magic Maker
Magic Maker Solutions Inc. 
magicmakersolutions.com
301.291.5767