HARD ART DC 1979
November 7 - December 13, 2025
University Gallery, Fulton Hall
HARD ART DC 1979
Friday, November 7 – Thursday, December 18
Exhibition Reception: Friday, November 7, 5-7 p.m.
LOCATION: SU Art Galleries | University Gallery in Fulton Hall
Punk music and culture burst forth in the U.S. in the 1970s. This exhibition, HARD ART DC 1979 brings alive the birth of the DC punk scene and its lasting impact on culture worldwide. The book (Akashic Books, Ltd.) and exhibition is framed around photographs taken by celebrated photojournalist Lucian Perkins of five seminal DC shows while he was still an intern at The Washington Post. Musician and writer Alec MacKaye appears in Perkins' photographs and pens the narrative of his time as a young teen attending these transformational shows.
HARD ART DC 1979 PROGRAMS - Free and open to the public. If you need parking on campus, visit the parking portal here.
Lely Constantinople, Co-Curator and Photo Editor
Visiting Artist Talk
Thursday, November 6, 5:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Conway Hall 156
Lely Constantinople is a photo-based artist from Washington, DC who has been exhibiting her work nationally and internationally for over twenty years. Her photographs are held in the collections of the Anacostia Community Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, as well as numerous private collections. She is also an independent photo editor, archivist, and teacher.
Lucian Perkins
Visiting Artist Talk
Friday, Nov. 7, 3:30pm
LOCATION: Herman van Apeldoorn Film Center, Fulton Hall Room 111
A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Perkins worked as a staff photographer for The Washington Post for twenty-seven years. While at the Post, Perkins covered many significant events in the U.S. and abroad, including Russia and the former Soviet Union since 1988, the first Palestinian uprising, and the wars in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He co-founded “InterFoto,” an international photography festival in Moscow and published two books: HARD ART DC 1979 and Runway Madness.
Alec MacKaye & John Nieves (English Dept) host a conversation about the punk movement.
Followed by performances by Hammered Hulls as part of the HARD ART DC exhibition.
Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Holloway Hall, Jackson Family Auditorium
Alec MacKaye is an American singer and musician best known as a member of the DC hardcore bands Untouchables, the Faith, Ignition and the Warmers. Today, he is vocalist in The Hammered Hulls, Chief Preparator at The Phillips Collection, and a writer graduating as a Lannan Fellow at Georgetown University in 2011.
Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement
Screening & Q&A with Filmmaker James June Schneider
Thursday, Dec. 4, 5:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Herman van Apeldoorn Film Center, Fulton Hall Room 111
When punk rock erupted in Washington DC, it was a mighty convergence of powerful music, friendships, and clear minds. This film is the first to explore the incredible challenges that this subculture faced when it took root in the Nation’s Capital in the late 1970’s. Featuring musicians such as Bad Brains, Henry Rollins, and Ian & Alec MacKaye, this film dives deep into the ideas and sounds from this transformative music scene.
PAST PROGRAMS:
Nick Pimentel
Visiting Artist Talk
Thursday, October 9, 5:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Conway Hall 156
Inspired by the DC art and music scene, and with a profound love for design and innovation, Nick Pimentel began his career as a graphic designer and then shifted his focus to hospitality. For 14 years, he helped lead Toolbox Creative, a full-service multimedia design firm with clients including IcelandAir, 9:30 Club, and Human Rights Watch. Nick’s restaurants and branding work include Room 11, Bad Saint, Ellē and more.
