While some people might know the nation’s capital for the White House, Capitol Hill and monuments, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Office of Cable, Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME) are highlighting the creative community that boosts the District’s economy and culture and is shared throughout the country and world.
“We are proud to be an arts city, and it’s true: 202 creates,” said Bowser in a statement in July about nominations for the Sept. 24 Mayor’s Arts Awards. “Our creative community brings us so much joy and helps us tell the story of the real D.C.”
Before honorees are awarded at the end of September at the 39th annual Mayor’s Arts Awards at the Lincoln Theatre in Northwest, D.C., the District is celebrating creativity in a major way through 202Creates month, kicking off on Aug. 29 with a celebratory event at the DC Water headquarters in Navy Yard.
OCTFME Director LaToya Foster said the District’s creative community is critical to the economy.
“The creative community contributes $13.8 billion to our city’s economy. Let me say that number again, $13.8 billion comes from the creative communities across our city. That means it’s our theaters, it’s our musicians, our performers, our dancers… culinary, hairstyling, barbering, graphics, artists, painters, there are sculptors, and now we have art and technology,” Foster told The Informer on WIN-TV.
She said the mayor has a longstanding commitment to celebrating District arts and realizes the value their work brings to the District overall.
“Mayor Bowser took a look at that and sat back in 2016 and said, ‘You know what? We’ve got to do a little bit more with our creative community. We’ve got to let them know that we see them, that they’re given proper platforms to get their messages out,” Foster explained. “So that’s where 202Creates came from.”
The Aug. 29 kickoff for 202Creates at DC Water showcases the diverse ingenuity in the District’s creative community and features artists including Antwon Vincent, better known as “Noochie,” of “Noochie’s Live From The Front Porch.”
“Everybody needs to see Noochie’s ‘Front Porch ‘series. That front porch is not to be played with. That front porch is iconic, and he’s bringing that to the 202Creates kickoff. And we couldn’t be more excited. We also have Heru the hip-hop violinist, we have the Allure Band, we have Jason Cerda with the Latino flavor. We’ve got DJs, we’ve got games, we’ve got so much more immersive experiences, all in celebration and gratitude, quite frankly, from Mayor Bowser of the creative economy here in our 202,” Foster said.
Audiences will see the roots of the “Front Porch” series when Noochie takes the stage.
“We’ve got all these guests now, but the ‘Front Porch’ started with just me on the mic freestyling, and then I brought my band, and the rest is history. So we’re just going to give you a little reminder why all these artists are coming over here,” Noochie told The Informer.
Noochie said he’s excited to bring the “Front Porch,” to the DC Water headquarters in Navy Yard for the 202Creates celebration.
“202Creates sheds so much light on what’s here right now. And you can actually come [in person], because you’ve got to watch the ‘Front Porch’ on YouTube,” he said before plugging a Front Porch Series concert at the Kennedy Center in April 2025. “202Creates provides so many opportunities throughout the season that we all get to be a part of the artist community and the artistic community comes together.”
Foster listed some of the many activities Washingtonians and visitors alike can tap into as the city celebrates the arts and artists.
“You have the DC JazzFest taking place at The Wharf (Aug. 28-Sept. 1). You have the H Street Festival coming up (Sept. 21). You have Art All Night (Sept. 27-28), where there are events focusing, once again, on arts and culture in the city, but it’s an all-night affair that goes on across all eight wards of the city. There is Fiesta DC (Sept. 28-29), there’s theater week (Sept. 26-Oct. 13), and at the end of the month, Mayor Bowser closes it out with the Mayor’s Arts Awards (Sept. 24),” Foster said. “This will be the 39th annual Mayor’s Arts Awards. That’s going to be a big deal— getting us ready for the big number 40 next year– so you don’t want to miss that as well.”
Noochie told The Informer that it’s important for local creatives to tap into 202Creates and similar programming in order to connect with the District’s creative community at large.
“It’s not just musicians. There’s art, there’s behind-the-scenes players that the musicians need to know, because this is a music business, at the end of the day,” he said.
An artist himself, Noochie knows the power of networking across the city’s creative culture.
“You know that’s part of why these events are very important– to build a network around your work, people understanding your work, people acknowledging it,” he explained. As creative myself. I’ve been to a lot of these events prior to everybody knowing my name, or prior to everybody seeing me. And then now, once I do something of some substantial significance, now people are able to be like, ‘Oh, he was always there. I used to see him.’
While he said he is still continuing to build and grow, Noochie offered words of wisdom for all creatives and all dreamers.
“It’s just making a name for yourself and building the network. When you actually put more work in, the net starts working. That’s the point.”
To RSVP to the kickoff or for more information about 202Creates, go to 202creates.com.