The Frida Kahlo Show

Last night's opening was packed to the gills with people, and the attendance even surprised me a little.

In the middle of the announcements for the award winners, someone from the crowd suddenly piped in and shouted the most off putting and random question that can be asked in a juried show paying homage to the influences of a Mexican artist on contemporary artists.

"What about the looting of art by the Nazis in Europe," shouted a young woman sitting on the chairs reserved for the artists (she wasn't one of the artists and her question was essentially what I wrote above but expressed in a more rambling way). "I just found out about this and I didn't know that the Nazis had killed so many people."

I looked at her and she smiled.

The crowd hushed for a second, a little thrown off by this odd question, considering the context of what I was talking about and the place and theme of the exhibit.

I rolled onto a discussion about how any and all empires and empires-wanna-be's had always stolen the art and intellectual ideas of the conquered, I also gave her a little lesson in art history and brought the conversation back to Kahlo.

She had a Joker-type smile frozen on her face the whole time, but she stayed quiet after that.

Weird, uh?

In any event, the prize winners:

First Prize

Tanya Gramatikova, Tribute to Frida Kahlo II

Second Prize

Diane Kahlo, Las Desaparecidas

Third Prize

Kathryn H. Cook

Honorable Mention

Katya Romero, Petalos Negros

Honorable Mention

Marla McLean

Honorable Mention

Nancy Pollack

Honorable Mention

Priscilla Pompa Alvarez

This is a very cool show... go see it.

The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery is located in the heart of Washington DC's U Street corridor at 1632 U St NW. Call them at 202-483-8600 for info.

Opportunity for Artists

artdc.org and Art Outlet are partnering with Halstead Arlington, a luxury apartment community in South Arlington, and the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, to present The ZIP Code Show, an event featuring artists and their relationships with their surroundings. The show will be held at Halstead Arlington, 1028 South Walter Reed Drive, Arlington, VA, 5:30 pm – 12:00 am, August 29 and September 5, 2009.

For the show, artists were asked to use ZIP codes and other postal code schema as a jumping off point for personal dialogues with the physical, biological, and cultural features of the earth. A team from Art Outlet and artdc.org is curating their ideas and strategies into an polyvalent exploration of artists’ personal geographies, which range from the private sanctuaries of home to public memories and actions.

Artists will be on hand to talk about their pieces at the show’s two evenings, which will include indoor and sidewalk live art and performances, and yours-for-a-donation summer libations.

They are still accepting artist registrations. Find more information here.

Wanna show at Wolftrap?

Deadline: August 1, 2009

The Arts Council of Fairfax County invites the arts community to participate in the 39th annual International Children's Festival at Wolf Trap on September 19 & 20, 2009 from 10 am - 4pm. This is a brand new initiative and a great opportunity for our local artists!

They can accept up to 30 individual artists or artist groups. Artist applications will be reviewed by a panel of art professionals. The International Children's Festival at Wolf Trap is the premier international arts education experience in the United States.

You can download the Word document at this website or and e-mail them at artsandcrafts@artsfairfax.org

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Jamel McKelvia, International Children’s Festival Intern, at jamel.mckelvia@artsfairfax.org or by phone at (703) 642-0862 x5.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: July 31, 2009

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is looking for illustration portfolios from professional visual and graphic artists. This is the first stage of the process in attaining artwork to be used to represent the next spring festival. Cash awards available. No entry fee. For more information, contact:

National Cherry Blossom Festival
1250 H St., NW, Ste. 1000
Washington, D.C. 20005

Phone: (202) 661-7584; email: lillian@downtowndc.org; or check website: www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org.