Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this scam artist:

From:	Alison McCoy (a.mccoy009@yahoo.com)
Sent:	Mon 9/09/13 10:26 AM
To:	lennycampello@hotmail.com (lennycampello@hotmail.com)

Hello,

My name is Alison McCoy.  I found your profile on the internet. I am interested in purchasing an artwork from you for the decoration of my guest room at my new residence in Munich, Germany. Would appreciate if you can send me few pictures of the works you have available for sale so that I can make an easy choice of mine. Better still, send me a web link where I can have a view of your recent works.

I look forward to read back from you.

Thanks.

Alison.

36 STUDIOS - PART 2 (Charm City Edition)

Remember when Mera Rubell kick started a sudden new interest in DC area artists with her studio visits? If not, read all about it here.

Anyway - it's all about to happen again in B'more!

Mera Rubell, co-founder of the Rubell Family Collection and co-owner of the  Capitol Skyline Hotel and the Lord Baltimore Hotel, will be conducting studio visits of Baltimore-area artists in a 36-hour marathon session from 6:00 am Saturday, October 26 through 6:00 pm Sunday, October 27, 2013.

Ms. Rubell will be conducting the studio visits in her role as a curator for SELECT 2014, Washington Project for the Arts' 33rd annual art auction exhibition, taking place at Artisphere in Rosslyn, VA from February 27 through March 21, 2014. (Artwork will be available for purchase the night of the SELECT gala, March 22, 2014. Check WPA's website next month for details.) Rubell, who is based in Miami and New York, but frequently visits Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD for 36-hour periods to visit her hotel properties, is known for her passion for contemporary art and her deep commitment to artists. Since the family's acquisition of the Lord Baltimore Hotel in the spring of 2013, Rubell has been increasingly interested in the vibrant Baltimore art scene and engaging with artists there.

In 2009, Rubell and WPA Executive Director, Lisa Gold, conducted a similar studio visit marathon when Rubell participated as a curator for WPA's 2010 auction exhibition, selecting works by 16 artists from the DC region and generating a substantial buzz in the art community. While 36 straight hours of looking at artwork may be considered extreme by some people, Ms. Rubell and her husband, Don, often conduct brief, intense studio visits during their collecting trips to China or Europe, so this project is just business as usual for the Rubells.

"We are thrilled that Mera is set on exploring and discovering the artists of Baltimore, " says Lisa Gold, who will again be accompanying Ms. Rubell on her studio visit marathon. "I was so impressed with Mera's focus and intensity during the entire duration of our last adventure. I'm sure she'll bring it all back to Baltimore so these artists better have their game on!"

Artists will be invited to sign up for a studio visit appointment via an open call. Any practicing artist with a studio in the Baltimore area (inside I-695) can submit their name, contact information, studio address, and website URL to WPA through the WPA website by midnight on October 1 to be entered into a lottery for studio visits. 36 artists will be selected and their studios plotted on a map which will be used to determine appointment times beginning at 6:00 am on Saturday, October 26. From these visits, Rubell will select 12-15 artists whose work will be included in the SELECT exhibition and art auction gala.

Reporters interested in joining a portion of the 36 Studios tour may contact Lisa Gold at lgold@wpadc.org to make arrangements. For more information about 36 Studios, SELECT 2014: WPA Art Auction Exhibition and Gala, or Washington Project for the Arts, please contact Blair Murphy, Program Director, at 202-234-7103 x1 or bmurphy@wpadc.org.

At Gallery Har Shalom...

Gallery Har Shalom announces the opening of "The Power of Color,"  an exhibit that includes acrylic paintings by Alexandria artist Ana Elisa Benavent, blown glass by Bethesda artist Jane Callen, fiber art by Bethesda artist Floris Flam, and photography by Richard Paul Weiblinger of Laurel, MD.

Benavent (www.anaelisabenavent.com) explains that she paints emotions in colors.  In her words, " . . . large fields of colors start talking to and playing with each other, layer over layer . . . ."   She exhibits at The Art League Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria and at Foundry Gallery in Washington, DC.

Callen (www.ncagg.org/gallery/callen) blows glass in clean shapes inspired by nature's colors.  Her intention is "to maintain a beginner's heart and mind: open, no assumptions except love."   She blows glass at Glen Echo Park and has also studied at DC Glassworks/Sculpture Studios and Corning Museum of Glass.

Flam (www.florisflam.com) enjoys using a wide range of fabrics and quilting threads and often incorporates her own dyed and painted fabric. She discovered the world of art quilts in 1986 and, since 1991, has studied design and technique at workshops at the Quilt/Surface Design Symposium in Columbus, OH.

Weiblinger (www.weiblingerphotography.smugmug.com) prefers images with chromatic strength and notes that photography allows him to "pursue the art of transforming everyday objects into images that progress from 'everyday' to art."  A self-taught photographer, his work has been shown in numerous juried exhibits and included in magazines such as Smithsonian Zoogoer and Audubon Naturalist.

Gallery Har Shalom, located at Congregation Har Shalom, 11510 Falls Road, Potomac, MD

Opening Reception: Sunday, September 22, 2013, 11am - 1 pm
Exhibit dates:  Through Monday, October 28, 2013
Call for hours and directions:  301-299-7087

For further information and directions to Gallery Har Shalom, please call the Har Shalom office at 301-299-7087.