THE DISTRICT VANGUARD:
DEFYING DEFEAT THROUGH DESIGN

“Vanishing Points,” Omari Jesse. Silk screen print, 16×20. © Omari Jesse.

By Eden Elam

Last summer, I moved back to my hometown of Washington, DC after a bad breakup and a layoff. In an attempt to pull myself out of a malaise, I attended DC Design Week 2025 in search of inspiration, community, and out of pure curiosity. What I encountered was a vibrant slate of programming,gallery tours, artist salons, culinary experiences, and professional workshops, showcasing the depth of the city’s creative scene. What struck me was the lack of media coverage on these artists and on the DC arts scene in general. This absence of coverage revealed a clear gap, one that limited awareness for potential DC Design Week participants and, more importantly, failed to amplify the many artists and designers, most of them Black, who poured their time and talent into bringing the celebration to life.  

It was from this gap that the idea for The District Vanguard (TDV) began to take shape. TDV is a digital platform dedicated to producing artist profiles, guest essays, curated playlists, and announcements for community events, born from a desire to more thoughtfully document and amplify the work of Black artists and designers across the District of Columbia.

This effort gained urgency amid the fallout from the Federal layoffs and furloughs of early 2025, which contributed to a quiet recession in the city. Alongside a history of gentrification and rising unaffordability that have pushed many Black families to the suburbs and reshaped the urban landscape, the District’s Black community continues to face displacement and marginalization. At the same time, DC is often overlooked as a serious contributor to the global arts economy, pushing many artists, independent of race, to relocate in order to build sustainable creative careers.

The TDV logo was loosely modeled from the Metro (WMATA) mark and its use of the Helvetica typeface. The identity nods to WMATA’s iconic visual language, originally designed in the 1970s by Massimo Vignelli at Unimark International, and later evolved by Order Design into the digital wayfinding we move through today.

At its core, The District Vanguard exists to canonize and elevate the work of Black artists and designers from the DC area through visual storytelling and strategic media partnerships. It is an act of resistance against the unregulated arts economy that disproportionately rewards those with access to elite agents, galleries, institutions, and networks. It asks who gets recognized, who is systematically overlooked, and how cultural visibility and value are constructed, with the goal of rewriting the terms of that economy entirely.

TDV’s inaugural feature profiles the work of Omari Jesse, a DC-based multidisciplinary artist and apparel designer whose practice embodies everything this platform was built to celebrate. I first encountered Omari’s work at the Umbrella Art Fair and was immediately drawn to his ability to transform iconic everyday District scenes into vibrant compositions through color and collage. He has found a way to sustain an artistic practice while balancing a full-time job, which is a difficult reality for many creative producers in the area. His story deserves to be told, remembered, and canonized. 

As this work continues to evolve, I have found something I was not expecting: community in contribution. This dissent is both systemic and deeply personal, and it has taken shape as a love letter to the Black creators who make Washington, DC, a city I am proud to call home.

Editorial Team
TDV was brought to life by a collaborative team of strategists, designers, and artists: designer and ArtCor founder Shadé Reneé; photographer Myles Loftin; curator Anisa Olufemi; writer and professor Jennifer Rittner; music and marketing strategist Keith Elam; and development executive Jonah Nigh.

Founding Partners
In an attempt to ensure that the artists we profile best reflect the work being done across the District, and not just by the editorial team’s friends and acquaintances, TDV has established inaugural partnerships with Homme Gallery, Transformer Arts, ArtCor Gallery, and the Anacostia Arts Center.

Where to Follow
thedistrictvanguard.com
Instagram @thedistictvanguard

The District Vanguard founding editorial team, 2026.