Congrats!

To Michael Janis and all the other nominees who have been selected as finalists for the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards.

Janis is a finalist in the category of Outstanding Emerging Artist. The Mayor’s Arts Award is the most prestigious honor given by the District of Columbia to individual artists, arts organizations and patrons of the arts.

Join Mayor Fenty as award recipients are selected from among the finalists and announced live from the stage at the Mayor’s Arts Awards Ceremony on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 6:00 PM at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the Concert Hall.

Admission is free and having been to many of them, it is a boatload of fun, with great live music and entertainment and loads of good food and drinks.

Buy Michael Janis now!

New drawing for the Habatat Auction

I told you a few days ago that Habatat Galleries in Tyson's Corner, Virginia is sponsoring a special art auction for charity. Already many prominent artists have donated works of art with 100% of the proceeds going to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The artists will display their art work for silent bidding in an exhibition titled "Habatat for Healing."

Lindsey Scott, President of Habatat Galleries was nominated by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for their Man and Women of the Year contest. Ms. Scott has conceived "Habatat for Healing", a special exhibition and auction of exceptional works of art in support of LLS.

Artists such as Jon Kuhn, Mark T. Smith, Bennett Bean, Tim Tate, Tanija & Graham Carr (Australia) and Petr Hora (Czech Republic) to name a few, have already generously donated art works ranging from the $100s into the $1,000s for this wonderful event.

The exhibition opens on March 5th for display and the start of silent bidding. The exhibition will continue through the evening of April 7th when several key-pieces will be auctioned live and winning silent bids will be announced.

Woman Jumping into the Void. Charcoal on Paper. 11x14 inches framed.
F. Lennox Campello, c. 2009.
I plan to donate the above drawing to to this charity, and in the event that some of you are interested in donating a work of art for the auction (deadline is end of February), please contact:

Lindsey Scott
8020 Towers Crescent Drive
Tysons Corner (Vienna), VA 22182
703-989-7110
lindsey@habatatgalleries.com

The Art League's 42nd Annual Patrons' Show


If you were crazy enough to be hanging around Old Town Alexandria about 4 AM on a cold morning last January 17th, about that time you would have noticed people forming a long line in the brutal cold outside the Torpedo Factory. They were waiting for a chance to get original art for their collections – or perhaps some brave souls starting to collect art.

"A line for art?" you must be asking, "who is crazy enough to freeze lining up at Oh-dark-thirty just to buy artwork?"

Hundreds.

They were lining up for one of the great art deals of the year: the Art League's Annual Patrons' Show. It's very simple: artists donate original artwork to the Art League, who inspects it, selects it and often frames it. It is quality stuff, ranging from huge abstracts to delicate pencil drawings. The Art League represents nearly 1,800 artists in the area, so there's plenty of possible sources of art donated by generous artists. See some of the donations here.

It is one of the largest art events in the country, with around 600 original works of art finding a new home in one day.

Usually about 600 pieces are donated and hung salon style in the Art League’s gallery on the first floor of the Factory. The raffle tickets went up for sale at 10 AM on January 17th, and they usually disappear within an hour or two; and each ticket equals a guaranteed a work of art. Thus as work is donated, more tickets become available.

The Art League's annual Patrons' Show usually features between 500-600 works of fine art donated by Art League and Torpedo Factory artists, and the number of tickets sold matches the number of works donated. The show may be viewed in The Art League Gallery from February 4-15 (or some of them online here, and ticket-holders may come during this time to view the show and note their favorite pieces.

The actual drawing for the 2009 Patrons' Show will be held Sunday, February 15 in the main hall of the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

Thus on that Sunday, February 15 at 5PM, people who have a ticket begin gathering into the main floor of the Factory and they bring chairs, tables, food and loads of booze (this is like an art picnic) as it will be a long, loud, fun, cheery and boozy evening as the tickets are drawn at random; and as they are called, ticket-holders select a piece of art from the work on display on the walls.

Everyone with a ticket is guaranteed a work of art. The tickets cost $175 each - an amazing deal once you see the work that you can get.

The first ticket called gets the first choice and so on - you get to pick the best piece (to you) from around 600 works of art). You better pick one quickly, or the crowds begin to shout and whistle and demand a choice be made.

It is without a doubt, the most sought after art ticket in town, and often incredible acquisitions are made... and I hear that there are some tickets available on the wait list.

Call the Art League at 703/683-1780 and more details here.