Friday, August 04, 2017

We're in Austin!

Anderson looking out the window in Austin

The Bourgeon Book

The Bourgeon Book is a product of the renowned local nonprofit Day Eight, and draws on dozens of interviews, poems, and essays by artists that originally appeared in Bourgeon, the organization’s literary magazine. The book was originally published in 2013 to praise from local media and former Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser. A recent grant from the National Endowment for the Arts has allowed Day Eight to produce an expanded e-book version featuring nearly twice as many essays from painters, dancers, authors, sculptors, and poets across D.C.’s vibrant, multicultural arts community—a community that has never been more necessary or mobilized.

Robert Bettmann—Day Eight founder, general editor of The Bourgeon Book, and Brightwood resident—is an artist himself, and a worthy representative for this city’s creative populace. Robert is available for interviews and can speak with eloquence and expertise to some of most pressing issues facing our city today: What role can artists play in modelling community and solidarity, in D.C. and elsewhere? How can collaboration between local artists serve as a model for greater community mobilization? How will D.C.’s arts scene rise to the occasion as the local creative resistance to an arts- and diversity-averse administration?
While the arts and arts journalism continue to free fall along with the global economy, the model innovated by Bourgeon is clear. Perhaps it is now, as it always was, that the artists will lead the way.” 
                              –from the preface by journalist Leonard Jacobs

Call for proposals

Artists wishing to be considered for an exhibit in the Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) galleries are invited to submit a general exhibit application. The HCAC Exhibits Committee meets quarterly to review applications and select artists for the exhibit space. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group. The Committee also welcomes proposals from curators and organizations.
 
Detailed entry guidelines are available in the Exhibit Opportunities section of the HCAC website at hocoarts.org, for pick-up at the Howard County Center for the Arts, or by mail by calling 410-313-2787 or emailing info@hocoarts.org. The next deadline for submissions is Sunday, October 1, 2017.
 
HCAC manages two galleries at the Howard County Center for the Arts with over 2100 square feet of exhibit space. The HCAC gallery program was established to enhance the public’s appreciation of the visual arts, provide a venue to exhibit the work of local, regional, and national artists in a professional space, and provide leadership in the arts by presenting a broad spectrum of arts in all media from both emerging and established artists.
 
HCAC presents 11-12 exhibits per year of national, regional, and local artists, including two-person, small and large group, juried, curated, and community shows.
 
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10am-8pm, Saturday 10am-4pm, and Sunday 12-4pm. To learn more about HCAC programs and exhibits, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or visit hocoarts.org.