Wanna go to a museum opening tonight?

Winter exhibitions at American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center will open Feb. 4, 2023. Exhibits include Madayin, the first major exhibition of Aboriginal Australian bark painting to tour the U.S., photojournalism from World War II, and The Trawick Prize for Contemporary Art.

The opening reception, free and open to all, takes place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight, Feb. 4. Please refer to the museum’s website for the most up-to-date information on museum events and visiting the museum. 

The Trawick Prize: 20th Anniversary Emerald Award celebrates the impact of The Trawick Prize for Contemporary Arts, a visual arts prize that honors artists from Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia in an annual juried competition. 

Now in its 20th year, the prize was established by Bethesda, Md.-based community activist and philanthropist Carol Trawick in 2002. To date, The Trawick Prize has awarded over $300,00 to local contemporary artists and has exhibited the work of more than 200 artists who reached the level of finalists in each year’s competition. 

This exhibition presents the work of artists who were awarded the “Best in Show” in the competition over the last 20 years, and features contemporary paintings, sculptures, film, mixed media, and many others. 

This year, the juried competition will result in selecting “the best of the best” over the past 20 years, awarding the artist with The Trawick Prize Emerald Award. On view through March 19. I'm also going to walk through the show and select my own "Best in Show."

The exhibition features artists working in a variety of media including sculpture, painting, mixed media, film, and more. Works from artists such as Neil Feather, Jiha Moon, Jo Smail, and many others will be displayed in the galleries. Themes span a range of concepts important to each artist from race, oppression, and genealogy to culture, humanity, and emotion to name a few.

In the words of Carol Trawick “there is no need to travel to see great art, there are numerous talented artists right in our backyard!” 

Featured artists:

Lauren Adams 

WonJung Choi 

Richard Cleaver 

Larry Cook 

Oletha Devane 

Neil Feather 

Mia Feuer 

Caroline Hatfield 

Lillian Hoover 

Gary Kachadourian 

Cecilia Kim 

Maggie Michael 

Jonathan Monaghan 

Jiha Moon 

David Page 

James Rieck 

Jo Smail 

Lomax & Wickerham