1980 or so in Seattle, Washington... with my little beautiful Fiat X 1/9!
Lenny Campello in his Fiat X 1/9 circa 1980 |
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1980 or so in Seattle, Washington... with my little beautiful Fiat X 1/9!
Lenny Campello in his Fiat X 1/9 circa 1980 |
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities now has an exhibition on view in their virtual gallery space, Our City, Ourselves: Women Photograph Washington.
I highly encourage you to spend some time in the exhibition; it celebrates not only the talented and perceptive women photographers working in the District over the past 40 years, but also the history and evolution of the city itself.
You can see the exhibition webpage here: http://bit.ly/CAHOurCityOurselves or you can go directly to the virtual gallery here: http://bit.ly/OurCityOurselves.
"The black is indolent and lazy, and spends his money on frivolities, whereas the European is forward-looking, organized, and intelligent."
-- Che Guevara
"The black is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations." -- Che Guevara
"Mexicans are a band of illiterate Indians" -- Che Guevara
Anderson's top 6 - OK six and a half - picks for the upcoming NFL draft:
1. Trevor Lawrence
2. Zach Wilson
3. Mac Jones (possible Trey Lance)
4. Kyle Pitts
5. Penei Sewell
6. Ja'Marr Chase
One of the most common ingredients of the artworld, and sometimes a formidable tool for emerging artists to build a resume (if you want to know what it is sooooooo important that you develop a valid and sustainable artistical resume, then you need to take my next "Bootcamp for Artists" seminar) is to respond to call for artists, art competitions, etc.
There's always a set of deadlines.
A deadline for entries to be in - the most important deadline for the artist.
A deadline for the hosting entity to respond with notifications of acceptance or rejection.
A deadline for delivery of accepted artworks
A deadline for pick up of exhibited/unsold artwork at the end of competition (if local delivered)
Three of the four key deadlines fall on the artists - and generally speaking, if you miss any of the first two (entry deadline and delivery deadline), then you are OUT!
If you miss the last deadline, there's often a daily "storage charge" until the artwork is picked-up.
One thing that I have been noticing more and more lately, is that hosting venues are often - anecdotal data seems to indicate most of the time - Missing THEIR deadline to notify artists and respond with notifications of acceptance or rejection.
This is not only unprofessional, but puts an extra burden on the shoulders of the artists, who may only have a tight window for decision-making related to the submitted artwork.
What is up with that? Why are we allowing the hosting venues to simply (often without a reason) go silent as deadlines pass and then ad hoc notify artists?
I have been on the jurying end of this process dozens if not hundreds of times, and thus as the poet Marti wrote: "I know the monster well, for I have lived in its entrails."
Here's the announcement:
Corcoran community,
I’m very pleased to announce that the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at the George Washington University has named Lauren Onkey as its next director. Lauren most recently served as the Senior Director at NPR Music, where she led a team of journalists, critics, video, and podcast makers and provided the editorial vision in creating innovative cross-platform music journalism. She will begin her director role at Corcoran on July 12.
The goal of the Corcoran’s search committee was to find a strategic leader with the vision and experience to guide Corcoran into the future. Lauren’s lifelong commitment to the arts as an educator, music scholar, museum professional, presenter and producer makes her the right leader for our school.
Throughout her career, Lauren has dedicated herself to the arts, cultural studies, education and civic engagement, and she believes that innovation and diversity are the key to growing our vibrant, creative community of cultural leaders. With over two decades of experience ranging from directing NPR Music's team to developing and managing a museum's award-winning education and community programs as the Vice President of Education and Public Programming at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Lauren is poised to lead Corcoran’s future growth. She will help increase our school’s impact and visibility and foster student success.
During her tenure at NPR, Lauren worked with NPR's newsroom and robust member station network to expand the impact of NPR Music and continue positioning public radio as an essential force in music. At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum from 2008-2015, Lauren led divisions such as Education, Library and Archives, Community Programs, and Visitor Services to provide programs, classes, and visitor experiences that engaged a broad audience in the history and significance of rock and roll music.
At the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, which provides civically-engaged humanities education to a large and diverse population of community college students, Lauren led the creation of curriculum and programming and developed strong community partnerships that provided students with opportunities for experiential learning. Lauren also spent fourteen years teaching at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, specializing in popular music studies and postcolonial literature. Over the course of her career, she has published many articles in literary studies, popular music studies, women's studies and pedagogy.
I know Lauren is excited to meet our DC community members at the Corcoran. We will share additional details in the weeks to come about her arrival. In the meantime, please join me in welcoming Lauren and her husband to our community!
Thank you,
Kym Rice
Interim Director
Corcoran School of the Arts & Design
The George Washington University
Stop by Gallery B in Bethesda and see the new exhibit featuring colorful paintings and sculptures, "People with Something to Say" by Bethesda-based artist Anna Soevik.
March 31 - April 24, 2021
Wednesday - Saturday, 12:30-4:30pm
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-215-6660
CAROLE BROWN GOLDBERG
... ON THE OTHER HAND * APRIL 10 - MAY 22, 2021 Please contact us to schedule your visit: info@addisonripleyfineart.com or 202.338.5180 Visit our Artsy page to view the exhibition: *Masks/face coverings will be required to enter the gallery, and for the entirety of your visit. For more information about the artist and her work, images from the exhibition or to schedule an appointment to view the work, please contact Ms. Romy Silverstein at info@addisonripleyfineart.com The gallery is located at 1670 Wisconsin Avenue in Upper Georgetown at the intersection of Reservoir Road |
Queens University of Charlotte, NC has a terrific virtual art, writing and performance exhibition titled ARTE LATINO.
In the past I've participated with my artwork, but this year I contributed a written piece about my childhood neighborhood in Guantanamo.
You can see the exhibition and artists here - click on my image to read my story:
The Other Art Fair, a leading artist fair for discovering emerging artists, today announced its 2021 exhibition plans. The 2021 schedule includes plans to re-introduce in-real-life events once it is safe to do so, as well as the launch of corresponding six-day Virtual Reality (VR) editions.
DMV artist Anne Cherubim is participating and so we have an insider in the fair! She notes:
Among the various interactive activities for this virtual experience, there are curator led tours, a painting class, short films, a talk on art collecting by Saatchi's Rebecca Wilson, a sound installation I'm looking forward to, you can have your portrait drawn -- just a heap of fun things to do virtually.One of my limited edition Recycled Art Project pieces is part of the Director's Picks:One of my smaller paintings is highlighted in the $500, or thereabouts, section.I'd be remiss not to tell you to come check it out. I'm in Room 2, apparently diagonally across from Brandon Boyd of the band, Incubus. Today was the first day of the fair, and it continues 'til Sunday, April 4th.There are videos telling you about each artist at the front of each booth, along with a guestbook you can sign, and a way to schedule video appointments to chat with us, for those wanting to share comments, or who have questions about work.
See my video here: https://youtu.be/uxOzze_MxHU
There are several important, major universities in and around the DMV area. In most cases each is working, as most universities do, their own, individualized visual arts exhibition program, which is normally mix of exhibitions by their students, faculty, and sometimes invited artists.
Almost without exception there is very little coordination between the different university/college venues, which in some cases boast some of the nicest exhibition spaces in the area - none better that American University's spectacular Katzen Arts Museum.
This "little coordination" is not unusual, as I imagine that in most cities this is also the same case, as the focus of the university gallery is in fact the university itselg.
And here is where we can make a major change, and use the extraordinary resources afforded to our area by these venues, and their academic standing, to help Washington expand its worldwide visual art standing.
What we need to happen is for one of the local university art school chairs, or college deans, or even university gallery directors, to take the initiative to start coordinating a joint effort to create one annual combined, joint exhibition that synchronizes a focused exhibition that is spread throughout the Greater Washington area.
Imagine a national survey of art, with a good title and perhaps even a good, donated chunk of money as a prize. Say we call it “The Capital Art Prize” (OK, OK we’ll have to work on the title) and because good ideas sometimes attract funding, maybe we can convince a major local company like Lockheed Martin or Marriott or Booze Allen and Hamilton, or (be still my beating heart), The Washington Post (owned by the planet's richest Cuban-American), to help fund it on an annual basis.
This synchronized event can be modeled somewhat on what the Whitney does, but better. The Whitney Biennial’s Achilles heel is its over-reliance on hired curators. Unless an artist lives and works in NYC, LA or SF or is already in the local radar of one of the curators for that particular year, chances are slim to none that the artist will come to the attention of those Biennial curators. Hence great art and potentially great artists may and often are ignored.
And the Whitney Biennial is not what it used to be... not even close.
In addition to the use of invited curators, also imagine that this event puts forth a national call for artists, independent and museum curators, schools, art organizations, and galleries to submit works for consideration - all to be done online, of course, and without an entry fee.
Anyone can submit and in a fair selection process, since art is truly in the eyes (and agenda) of the beholder, anyone can be selected to exhibit. A truly American concept for a national American art survey that will leave the Whitney and other continental Biennials in the dust.
And because the exhibition venues are spread around the capital area region, in galleries at Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington, American, Catholic, Howard, University of Maryland, Montgomery Community College, Northern Virginia Community College, and the many others I am sure to be forgetting momentarily, we could put up one of the largest, most diverse, and influential American contemporary art surveys in the nation.
This will take a lot of work to set up initially, as one key university person needs to take the lead and emerge from the pack of largely unknown, anonymous group of academics currently running our area’s university art programs. On the other hand, this could be an exhibition that can and will put names and faces on the international art world map, much like the Whitney Biennial sometimes elevates its curators a notch above the rest
Some universities will resist, as the easiest thing to do is to do things as they have always been done, and not really create “new” work. But given that a strong leader among our academic community emerges and takes the lead for this idea, then even if we start with a set of four or five venues, in a joint, coordinated effort, others will follow. When it all else fails to get an university or college to play along, then they must be hit via the Board of Trustees of that University.
Boom! A trustee drives the idea and the university will suddenly pay attention!
This will not be an easy job to do, and as it grows, so will the bureaucracy around it. But starting it up will be the hardest part, and as momentum grows, things will become easier. Whoever, if anyone, takes this idea and runs with it, will face many huge obstacles and many negative people. He or she will need to convince other university/college gallery directors to participate (unless a Trustee is involved). They in turn, will have to convince their superiors, who will, in turn have to approve (and perhaps help kick-start the funding) the joint project.
This leader will also have to coordinate the approach to get a local giant to fund this effort, but I suspect that once he has aligned a few colleges and universities, this may become easier (it’s never easy) as the “buzz” and need for the event develops.
This is all a lot of work, and initially, until a bureaucracy is established around the annual event, many, many volunteers will be needed. I hope that some of these can be drawn from the school’s student body, alumni who are artists, and other local artists, much like Art-O-Matic draws from the collective muscle of our area’s significant artist population.
Our area universities and colleges already have significant media resources at their disposal, to help spread the word. They run school newspapers, radio stations, etc. and also provide a constant flow of new blood to our major mainstream media.
The goal (or perhaps “the dream”) would be a national level survey of art, which may look, review and/or jury the work of maybe 50,000 artists around the nation, and select perhaps 100 each year, showcase their work around a dozen academic galleries, and award a $100,000 cash award as the Capital Art Prize, plus various other awards (Emerging Artist, Young Artist, etc.). Art of a nature and scale that will attract visitors to the university galleries, attention to our area, piss some people off, excite others, create interest, discussion and buzz around Washington and our art scene.
I initially proposed this idea locally about two decades ago - and everyone ignored it.
In a weird way that the the Covidian Monster could have never predicted, the potential end of the Covidian Age may be in fact offering us the time for this idea to spring.
There’s nothing more empowering than an idea whose time has come.