For more than a decade, artist Maya Freelon has created striking abstract sculptures and installations from tissue paper and water stains. Her technique — letting water gently drip so the paper’s color bleeds organically — arose from happenstance, when, as an MFA student, she discovered a stack of old tissue paper in her grandmother’s basement.

You know this by now: D.C. is a town of museums and public art that's free more often than not. But art in D.C. is still not accessible enough for Halcyon CEO Kate Goodall.

Thurs., June 21–Sun., June 24, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (until midnight on Sat., June 23)

Picnic Talks on the National Mall: 12 noon–1 p.m.

The blue paint on the Washington National Cathedral’s steps is definitely deliberate.

Halcyon this week announced the final line-up of artists, performers, and speakers who will participate in the inaugural By The People festival, June 21-24. Washington’s largest international arts and dialogue festival will take place in every quadrant of the city, bringing people together around the themes of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

For the first time, a unique blend of international art and dialogue is coming to every quadrant of the city at once. Halcyon's four day "By The People" festival will take place from June 21-24 at various festival hubs, satellite locations and one-time event spaces throughout Washington, DC.

If you stand outside Washington National Cathedral, you’ll see blue splotches covering its hundred-year-old steps. The paint starts at the Cathedral’s imposing front entrance, dribbles down the stone steps, and spreads like water across the sidewalk.

By WAMU's Mikaela Lefrak

If you stand outside Washington National Cathedral, you’ll see blue splotches covering its hundred-year-old steps. The paint starts at the Cathedral’s imposing front entrance, dribbles down the stone steps, and spreads like water across the sidewalk.

Washington’s inaugural arts and dialogue festival – will take place in every quadrant of the city, bringing people together around the themes of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. By the People is intended to promote empathy and spark civil discourse, building bridges across the cultural divide – exactly what we need at this moment in time. Halcyon is organizing the festival in association with the Smithsonian, numerous cultural organizations, government agencies and businesses.

By the People Festival: At the inaugural By the People festival, created by the start-up incubator Halcyon House, artists will cover the District with yarn (as in Stacy Cantrell’s yarn-bomb at the Parks at Walter Reed), light (Nick Cave’s “Untitled” projection at Washington National Cathedral), fabric