Sauna Lee Lange on the One Word Project

By Shauna Lee Lange

Kudos to J.T. Kirkland and the fine curating job he performed in his One Word Project which opened Friday night at the Arts Club of Washington. To explain the show simply, Kirkland assigned artists with a single word as a thematic launching point. The idea was to create a triangular dialogue for visual and language communication between artist, viewer, and work. Three works in the show that caught my attention were:

(a) Gregory Ferrand's "Experience." - the work was titled Judge Me Not (For I Judge Only You), acrylic on canvas, 22x28, 2006, (b) Marsha Stein's "Pride," is a drawing of St. Jerome, a haunting and technically gorgeous execution of charcoal cast drawing, 24x36, 1999, and (c) Gregg Chadwick's theme on "Responsibility," which drew the most evident enthusiasm.

Chadwick traveled from Santa Monica, CA to explain the meaning behind his Marine in a coffin surrounded by monks. Chadwick served in the Armed Forces and was deeply impressed that relatives of the deceased service member attended Friday night's opening. Chadwick said that his own father was a Marine, and as a son, he felt he had the responsibility to paint his own military experience. As a self-professed Buddhist, Chadwick eloquently spoke about how responsibility is a common thread among all people and what it meant to him to participate in the show. He is pictured here in front of his work.

Honorable mention for layered meaning in story telling has to go to the Right Reverend James W. Bailey of Reston, Virginia for his burnt photo montage/collage of a church. Bailey's original explanation of meaning and his updated revisionist explanation are fascinating reading. One really does come away understanding that in New Orleans, A.K. (after Katrina), all is not okay.

The show runs to September 29th. More than 30 artists are featured, including Andrew Krieger's sculpture on Imagination, Baltimore's Rosetta DeBerardinis' 2007 work on Fluid , Alexandra Silverthorne's print on Forgotten, Angela Kleis' Hatteras Lighthouse silver gelatin print, and James Coleman's mixed media on canvas, seno utero matriz.

The Arts Club of Washington reminds us that their third floor studio is open Tuesday through Saturday, with free arts classes open to the public every Saturday.