Wilson Building Art Collection

Deadline: This Friday!

As I mentioned here, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is currently accepting applications for the Wilson Building Public Art Collection and the deadline is this Friday.

The Wilson Building is located downtown at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in our capital.

The historic building serves as the headquarters for the Mayor and City Council for the District of Columbia. The works purchased through this call for entries are specifically designated for permanent installation in the Wilson Building.

And this is a very big building, with some very art-friendly walls, is just waiting to be filled with artwork. Only DC, Virginia and Maryland artists are eligible, and I believe that DC residents have some priority.

And as I've said before, I really think that this collection stands a chance to become a very strong and significant opportunity to put together (in one place) a very good sampling of Washington, DC regional artists.

And (of course) this being a public art collection, it immediately leaves out all nudity and any remotely controversial subject - but that's not the Commission's fault, nor the curator's; it's just an unwritten rule in American public art.

Nonetheless I think that this opportunity is as good as any as they come because:

(a) There's no cost associated (entry fees, etc.)
(b) It's easy to enter (you can send slides or CD ROM)
(c) You have a month to prepare (deadline is Feb. 24, 2006)
(d) The curator (Sondra Arkin) is actually someone who has really deep roots in the DC art scene, and knows what makes it tick - artists, galleries, dealers, schools, etc.

No excuses!

And I sincerely hope that some of my fellow gallerists encourage some of their big name area artists (just as we have) to apply and submit to this call, and hopefully be included in the closest that we'll have in this area to a permanent DC artist exhibition.

Download the application here.