Freelancer writer Mark Jenkins has been writing the "On Exhibit" column at the Washington Post Weekend magazine lately. Today he delivers a pretty good review of the Douglas Gordon show at the Hishhorn.

Gordon was also reviewed earlier in the Post's Sunday Arts by Blake Gopnik.

Only a few days left to apply! The deadline is March 1, 2004.

The Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District is accepting applications for the 2004 Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, an outdoor Fine Art and Fine Craft festival that will take place in the Woodmont Triangle area of Bethesda, Maryland.

The festival will take place, rain or shine, on Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16, 2004. 150 booth spaces are available, $275 for a 10' x 10' booth, $25 application fee. All original fine art and fine crafts are eligible, no mass produced or commercially manufactured products are allowed. $2,500 in prize money.

Deadline for applications is March 1, 2004. To download an application form, visit www.bethesda.org or send a SASE to:
Bethesda Urban Partnership
Bethesda Fine Arts Festival
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

For more information contact the Festival Director, Catriona Fraser, at (301) 718-9651.

Note: This is a great opportunity for artists to take their artwork directly to the buying public. The top fine arts festivals, such as Coconut Grove in Florida get well over a million people in attendance, and this one, in its first year, will present area residents with a great opportunity to see 150 artists and fine artisans all in one place. Since it is a juried fine arts festival, only fine arts and fine crafts will be exhibited. One of the rare local opportunities where an art venue actually will get tens of thousands of visitors in two days.

For Marylanders...

The Maryland Humanities Council Has Two Grant Categories.

The MHC awards grants to support programs that engage public audiences in the Humanities - history; philosophy; languages; literature; ethics; linguistics; archaeology; comparative religion; jurisprudence; the history, theory, and criticism of the arts and architecture; and those aspects of the social sciences employing historical or philosophical approaches. The Council has recently revised the criteria and guidelines for its grant program, which can be found at their website.

There are two grant categories: Opportunity Grants (up to $1,200) which are accepted year-round on a rolling basis and Major Grants ($1,201 to $10,000) which are awarded in two competitive rounds per year. The next Major Grant round - for projects beginning on or after July 1,2004 - is about to start and Drafts Proposals are due March 1 to deadline April 15. For projects beginning on or after Jan 1, 2005, Drafts Proposals are due Sep 1 to deadline Oct 15, 2004. Earlier submissions are recommended so that they can give feedback or help. Complete information on Major Grants can be found at this website. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Stephen Hardy at 410-771-0653 or email him at shardy@mdhc.org.

Oportunity for artists...

Deadline May 7, 2004
The City of Gaithersburg invites area artists to submit an application to exhibit in one of their four art galleries (Gaithersburg Arts Barn, Kentlands Mansion, Activity Center at Bohrer Park, and City Hall Gallery).

The exhibition season runs from October 2004 through September 2005. Applications are available as of March 1, 2004 and must be postmarked or received by 5 pm on May 7, 2004. For an application please call or email the Gallery Director, Andi Rosati at 301-258-6394 or email him at arosati@ci.gaithersburg.md.us.