Grants for Arlington County, Virginia artists

Deadline: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 9:00 PM

Spotlight Grants are intended to encourage Arlington-based Visual, Media and Performing Artists to develop and present innovative new arts projects or programs that benefit Arlington County and its residents, increase access to and involvement in arts experiences for Arlington residents, and respond to diverse community needs.

Details and application here.

Christina's World on view

The family of Andrew Wyeth and the Brandywine River Museum invite the public to a celebration of the life and work of Andrew Wyeth, who died on January 16. This special event will be held Saturday, January 31, from 9:30 to 4:30 p.m. Complementary admission will be offered to all visitors on this day.

Andrew Wyeth's most famous painting, the iconic Christina's World, will be on view at the Museum for the celebration.* On loan from The Museum of Modern Art in New York, this is the first time the painting has been on view in the region. It is rarely seen outside New York City. The Brandywine River Museum currently displays 38 other paintings and watercolors by the artist.

"Andrew Wyeth once told an interviewer that 'Painting has been my one interest, nothing else but art,'" recalled Jim Duff, Director of the Brandywine River Museum. "The finest way to honor him is to enjoy the art he created."

The documentary film, Self Portrait: Snow Hill, produced by Betsy James Wyeth and narrated by Stacy Keach, will be shown in the Museum's Lecture Room every hour on the hour starting at 10 a.m. Incorporating many of Andrew Wyeth's works of art along with family photographs, home movies, personal letters and footage of Andrew Wyeth, this moving program provides insight into his private world.

In addition, memory books in which visitors can leave their thoughts will be located in the museum.

Exhibiting American art in a 19th-century grist mill, the Brandywine River Museum is internationally known for its unparalleled collection of works by three generations of Wyeths and its fine collection of American illustration, still life and landscape painting.

The Brandywine River Museum is located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. The museum is open daily, except Christmas Day, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Visit the museum's website here.

Tim Tate at the LA Art Show

Shasta McBride at the LA Art Scene Examiner reviews the LA Art Show and highlights DC artist Tim Tate.

Read it here.

Call for Fiber Artists

The Washington D.C. metropolitan area has some of the finest national and internationally known fiber artists in the country. BlackRock Center for the Arts is proud to present the 2nd Annual “Tribute to Fiber Art” Juried Exhibition. Their goal is not only to support our local area fiber artists but to give East Coast collectors an exhibit of exceptional quality.

Juror Jodi Walsh first started this exhibit at APEX Gallery on 7th Street in Washington DC. “Tribute to Fiber Art” was reviewed by the Washington Post and grew into an outstanding exhibit that was supported by the Smithsonian by giving annual tours to their collectors.

Because of her extensive travels overseas Jodi understands the importance of fiber art to the art world. Waslh says that “fiber artists have given new life to their medium by exploring new techniques and media. Combining the old and the new creates art work that is both stimulating and highly collectable. With the support of BlackRock Center for the Arts fiber artists have a new home to exhibit their work and fiber art collectors will enjoy visiting this pristine gallery to view an exceptional exhibit.”

Eligibility: Open to all fiber artists residing in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC over the age of 18. Fiber Art: artwork that is created of fiber material. Please note that they will not be accepting clothing pieces. Fiber artists interested in the exhibition should contact Lee Stern at lstern@blackrockcenter.org or call Lee at 240-912-1050 for a copy of the prospectus.

Award: As in the tradition of the original “Tribute to Fiber Art” Juried Exhibition a solo exhibition the following year will be awarded.

Dates and Deadlines 2009
Saturday, January 31 - Deadline postmarked or delivered by 2:00pm
Thursday, February 5 - Jurying
Week of February 9 - Notification
Thursday, February 26 - Delivery: between 9am – noon
Tuesday, March 3 - Installation of work
Friday, April 10 - Pickup 9am - noon

Exhibition Timeline
Exhibition - March 4 thru April 9
Reception - Saturday, March 7, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Gallery Hours - Mon – Fri: 9am – 5pm, Sat: 10am – 2pm

Art of Obama

Art of Obama.com has an ever growing collection of pro Obama artwork online. You can submit your own Obamart by emailing it to contact@artofobama.com with all the appropriate details.

Congrats!

To the capital region's Michael Janis, who has just been selected as the Outstanding Emerging Glass Artist 2008-2009 - from the Florida Glass Art Alliance.

Janis was nominated by Myrna and Sheldon Palley (uber glass collectors whose glass collection makes up Miami's Lowe Art Museum via the just opened Palley Pavillion).

For years I've been telling you: buy Michael Janis now!

Congrats Mike!

Ronaldus Magnus

Nearly 38 million Americans watched inauguration coverage of President Barack Obama on Tuesday, the most popular inauguration day on television since Ronald Reagan took office in 1981.

Nielsen Media Research said Reagan's 41.8 million remains the record.

Details from the HuffPost here.

Also in the HuffPost is this story about MSNBC's poor ratings. I can understand that; during the election year, I was an avid MSNBC watcher.

But somehow now that the election is over, and we're all trying real hard to support the new president, and unity is the word in the air, MSNBC (especially the once fun Keith Olbermann, whose feud with Bill O'Reilly has gone from funny to stupid) seems boring, repetitive and divisive, and more and more a self-licking ice cream that is more and more the exaggerated ying to the FoxNews' yang.

So part of my "change" resolution for 2009 is to stop paying attention to those from the extreme right and the nutty left who profit by feeding us division as the only solution.

And to create more art.

Flying Pigs

The WaPo on flying pigs; read it here.

Christie's woes

“We have begun to implement a companywide reorganization, which includes significant staff reductions, not renewing many consultants’ contracts and the continuation of other cost-reduction initiatives, that will ensure we remain competitive and profitable in 2009,” Christie’s said in a statement on Monday, without saying how many positions might be cut or giving any further details.

In the last months, auction prices dropped together with financial markets, ending a decade-long boom in the art market that was buoyed by record bonuses paid to financial executives.

Read the NYT article here.