First drawing chosen for the Women Artists of the DMV show

Because for the last few decades I have mostly focused on drawing, that genre of the fine arts is dear and near to my heart and very special to me.

Jody Mussoff is one of the legends of the DMV's art scene and there's nothing much that I can add to her spectacular career over the last few decades other than to honor her work ethic, her artwork, and her deep footprint on the DMV art scene.

Her artwork is in the collection of many major museums, including the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Princeton University Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, University of Maryland, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Yale University Art Gallery, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Delaware Art Museum, the Kunsthalle Nürnberg, and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts.

Behold One girl, two cats, c. 2021, colored pencils on paper, 17x14 inches.

One girl, two cats by Jody Mussoff

The first sculpture chosen for the Women Artists of the DMV is...

The first sculpture chosen for the 2025 Women Artists of the DMV survey show comes from the talented hands and mind of a terrific artist whose work I've written about extensively, admired and seen spread and cross boundaries for years since this epic performance decades ago!

Melissa Ichiuji is one of our most innovative artistic minds in an area that flourishes with an over abundance of geniuses. At first look, one could attempt to categorize her as one of the leading textile artists on the planet - and you would both be (a) not wrong in doing so, and also (b) wrong in just assuming that her talents are confined to that genre of the fine arts.

Why? Because she's also a remarkably gifted painter, installation artist, performance artist, and clearly an acolyte and follower of Picasso's directive on how to be a great artist: God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the cat. He has no real style. He just goes on trying other things.

With one important adaptation: In Ichiuji's case, at least in my superbly fine tuned senses, she has clearly developed an unique sense of style that manages to cross all the borders of her artistic explorations into genres, media, subject matter, materials and recondite art niches.  It is hard to express in words how she manages to deliver an eloquent imprimatura into all her artworks - like an imprimatura in painting, her initial layer of Ichiujiness applied to a artwork's ground/start/base ends up saying "Melissa Ichiuji was here", no matter what the media or subject matter.

Behold Goddess of the Burning House,  2016, 12 x 7 x 3 ft, Steel, acrylic, and electrical wiring.

 Goddess of the Burning House
by Melissa Ichiuji
2016, 12 x 7 x 3 ft, Steel, acrylic, and electrical wiring

An open letter to the NMWA on the Women Artists of the DMV show

In the spirit of open transparency: As most of you know by now, I am in the middle of organizing a monster of a survey show for 2025 with the aim of not only exhibiting a curated, 4-venue exhibition to survey a snap shot of women artists working in the DMV region, but also (and this is kind of new) to attempt to catalog and document ALL female artists working and living in the DMV (more on that later).

I have also come up with the idea of getting our area museum curators to come and visit the four venues so that their eyes can be exposed to the talent in their own backyard.  

Why? Because it has been one of my pet peeves for the last few hundred decades that our area museums (with the notable exception of American University's Katzen Art Museum) tend to ignore their own area artists.  In fact, several years ago, while discussing the DMV's art scene in the old Kojo Nmandi radio show on WETA, I put it as (using the Hirshhorn as an example for nearly all DC area museums): 

"A Hirshhorn curator would rather take a cab to Dulles to fly to Berlin, or London, or Madrid to visit the studio of an emerging artist in those cities that take a cab to Georgetown, or Alexandria, or Rockville, to visit the studio of an emerging DC area artist." 

This letter, with slight adaptations, will go to all area museums, to include university museums:

27 December 2024

Kathryn Wat

Chief Curator

National Museum of Women in the Arts

1250 New York Ave NW

Washington, DC 20005

Dear Ms. Wat,

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): Next September – October 2025, four visual art venues in the DMV will showcase nearly 200 works of art curated from over 2,000 entries from female artists from the DMV as part of the survey show “Women Artists of the DMV.” I have secured a promise from a major DMV area collector to purchase and then gift to the NMWA one of the exhibited pieces – the work would be selected by the NMWA, not the collector.

Background: According to the research done by the Washington City Paper in 2017, the term “DMV”, which is used to refer to the District, Maryland and Virginia (a.k.a. the Greater Washington Capital region) first appeared in a Daily Campello ART NEWS blog post that I wrote in 2003 – And yes! I therefore do claim that I invented it!

The Greater Washington, D.C., capital region (the DMV) is not only home to some of the best art museums in the world, dozens of art galleries, non-profit art spaces, alternative art venues, and art organizations, but it also supports and fertilizes of the best and most creative visual art scenes in the nation. This scene is kindled and ignited to a large extent by female artists of all ages, races and ethnicities – an artistic female universe significantly more diverse than just about any of other major city on the planet. By the same logic and path, the artwork created by these fertile minds examine every possible corner of the visual arts genres and creative corners. Celebrating this art scene, which spreads across the three geographic areas that make up the DMV, in 2023 I proposed to curate an exhibition of 100+ works by 100+ women artists comprised of both leading and established female artists plus talented emerging contemporary female visual artists who represent the tens of thousands of women artists working in this culturally and ethnically diverse region in order to assemble a group show to showcase the immense power of the visual arts being created by these artists and also document a snap shot in time for the female artists working in the region.

100-200 works of art take a lot of exhibition space, and thus this curated exhibition will be spread across four venues in the DMV:

• The Katzen Museum at American University in Washington, DC

• The Athenaeum in Alexandria

• Artists & Makers Gallery complex in Rockville

• The Galleries at Strathmore Mansion in Rockville

Additionally, I am currently working a deal with Schiffer Press, the publisher of my 2011 “100 Artists of Washington, DC” book which for one glorious day in 2011 was Amazon’s best-selling art book (and which is in the SI collection), to publish a book on the exhibition. 

Furthermore, I am also working with the Smithsonian Institution’s Art Archives to archive the exhibition materials as part of a survey snapshot in time for DMV area female artists.

As the date of this letter, I have received over 2,000 emails from area female artists wishing to be considered for the exhibition.  As I can only select about 10% of those to physically exhibit a work at one of the four venues, I also plan to include a plan to project ALL artists onto the walls of the Katzen Museum, document that process, and deliver the materials to be archived by the Smithsonian.

As a result of my extensive presence over the last few decades at fairs such as Art Basel Miami Beach and dozens of others worldwide, I have cultivated a relationship with major art collectors from all over the planet, and this is where NMWA comes in for this exhibition, as a DMV area collector has offered to buy one work of art from the exhibition to be chosen by the NMWA and then donated to the NMWA for its permanent collection.  The attachment has a list of artists who, as of the date of this letter, have agreed to participate in the exhibition; I expect that quite a few more will eventually be added to that list.

Questions? Thoughts? Recommendations? Please feel free to call me at (___)___________ or email me at lenny@lennycampello.com or lennycampello@hotmail.com

Warm regards,

Lenny Campello

 

CC: Susan Fisher Sterling

Virginia Treanor

Winton S. Holladay

Susan Goldberg

Nancy Nelson Stevenson

An open letter to the Smithsonian Archives on the Women Artists of the DMV

In the spirit of open transparency: As most of you know by now, I am in the middle of organizing a monster of a survey show for 2025 with the aim of not only exhibiting a curated, 4-venue exhibition to survey a snap shot of women artists working in the DMV region, but also (and this is kind of new) to attempt to catalog and document ALL female artists working and living in the DMV (more on that later) - or at least those that I can identify + those who reach out to me + those who others identify for me.

As part of that process, I've written and mailed a letter to offer the Smithsonian Institution the opportunity to archive the exhibition materials as part of a survey snapshot in time for DMV area female artists.

The materials offered to the SI would consist of a flash drive which would contain a Powerpoint presentation documenting all 2,000+ female artists who submitted art for consideration so far, and (hopefully) one image per artist.  Additionally, in view of how fast technology ages, I would also include a digital screen device (a digital frame) to “play” the Powerpoint presentation as needed in the future.

And here's another idea that I am working on which is going to be a fuckload of additional work, but I am planning to document ALL female artists whom I know, ALL female artists who are nominated by someone (everyone can nominate, although I've also asked about two dozen DMV area illuminati for nominations), and ALL female artists who email me about being reviewed for the show.

What's the idea? Stand by... will expand on it after the New Year's!

Here's the letter:

27 December 2024

Anne Helmreich

Director

Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Art

MRC 507

P.O. Box 37012

Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Dear Ms. Helmreich,

According to the research done by the Washington City Paper in 2017, the term “DMV”, which is used to refer to the District, Maryland and Virginia (a.k.a. the Greater Washington Capital region) first appeared in a Daily Campello ART NEWS blog post that I wrote in 2003 – And yes! I therefore do claim that I invented it!

The Greater Washington, D.C., capital region (the DMV) is not only home to some of the best art museums in the world, dozens of art galleries, non-profit art spaces, alternative art venues, and art organizations, but it also supports and fertilizes of the best and most creative visual art scenes in the nation. This scene is kindled and ignited to a large extent by female artists of all ages, races and ethnicities – an artistic female universe significantly more diverse than just about any of other major city on the planet. By the same logic and path, the artwork created by these fertile minds examine every possible corner of the visual arts genres and creative corners.

Celebrating this art scene, which spreads across the three geographic areas that make up the DMV, in 2023 I proposed to curate an exhibition of 100+ works by 100+ women artists comprised of both leading and established female artists plus talented emerging contemporary female visual artists who represent the tens of thousands of women artists working in this culturally and ethnically diverse region in order to assemble a group show to showcase the immense power of the visual arts being created by these artists and also document a snap shot in time for the female artists working in the region.

100-200 works of art take a lot of exhibition space, and thus this curated exhibition will be spread across four venues in the DMV:

• The Katzen Museum at American University in Washington, DC

• The Athenaeum in Alexandria

• Artists & Makers Gallery complex in Rockville

• The Galleries at Strathmore Mansion in Rockville

Additionally, I am currently working a deal with Schiffer Press, the publisher of my 2011 “100 Artists of Washington, DC” book which for one glorious day in 2011 was Amazon’s best-selling art book (and which is in the SI collection), to publish a book on the exhibition. 

This letter is to offer the Smithsonian Institution the opportunity to archive the exhibition materials as part of a survey snapshot in time for DMV area female artists.

As the date of this letter, I have received over 2,000 emails from area female artists wishing to be considered for the exhibition.  As I can only select about 10% of those to physically exhibit a work at one of the four venues, I plan to include a plan to project ALL artists onto the walls of the Katzen Museum, document that process, and offer the materials to be archived by the Smithsonian.

The materials would consist of a flash drive which would contain a Powerpoint presentation documenting all 2,000+ female artists who submitted art for consideration, and one image per artist.  Additionally, in view of how fast technology ages, I would include a digital screen device (a digital frame) to “play” the Powerpoint presentation as needed in the future.

Questions? Thoughts? Recommendations? Please feel free to call me at 301/__________ or email me at lenny@lennycampello.com or lennycampello@hotmail.com

Warm regards,

Lenny Campello

The first photograph chosen is...

The first photograph chosen for the 2025 Women Artists of the DMV survey show comes from the camera of a great photographer whose work I've admired and seen grow and diversify and cross boundaries for probably three decades or more.

Camille Mosley-Pasley can teach lessons - not only on how to take a great portrait photograph, which she can easily do, but also on how hard work and a spectacular work ethic can help deliver results.

For the survey show I selected "I have chosen Impatience serves no purpose. I am trying to learn patience. I count grains of sand and stars. I have no desire to learn acceptance," a gorgeous photograph that should be used in every art school on the planet to teach not only amazing composition in planes (note the six different linear horizons in the photo cleverly broken by the vertical figure which is peaked by a triangle of light), but an intelligent marriage of image, psychology and masterful titling abilities.

Behold  "I have chosen Impatience serves no purpose. I am trying to learn patience. I count grains of sand and stars. I have no desire to learn acceptance" 

Impatience serves no purpose

I am trying to learn patience

I count grains of sand and stars

I have no desire to learn acceptance

By Camille Mosley-Pasley, c. 2023

Archival pigment print

12"x18"  framed to 20"x28"

The next work chosen for the 2025 Women Artists of the DMV

Teresa Oaxaca is a 21st century master and also a paradox of an artist.

The reason for that statement is that this incredibly gifted artist has demonstrated the ability, skill, presence, and consistency over the years that yield work that would have easily merit not just be one of the privileged few to hang in a survey show of the enormous magnitude as the 2025 Women Artists of the DMV show is shaping to be, but have easily been picked centuries ago, and centuries into the future for any survey exhibition.

She's an artistic time traveler who is resonant in 2025 and in 1925 and in 1825.. and don't be frightened, but also 1725, and Velazquez would be entranced by her work in 1625! And in a thousand years from now, Aliens from other planetary systems will be seduced by her work.

This is a rare skill - her work appears to explore some of the iconic painting genres of the glorious past days of painting - and it does that as well as any master of the time back then - but then it adds that brilliant psychological nuance, so cleverly embedded and drafted into the visual presentation, that makes you stop and observe, and study and start creating mind narratives about what she is so brilliantly offering and presenting on canvas for your review.

It is this crucial (and sooooo hard to accomplish) skill, buried deep in her work, that makes her a triumphant timeless painter, who easily resonates in this century.

Behold The Feast Of The Gods, Oil on Canvas, 44x65 inches, c. 2023:

The Feast Of The Gods by Teresa Oaxaca
Oil on Canvas, 44x65 inches, c. 2023

This week's update for the Women Artists of the DMV show

Here's another updated list of the DMV area female artists who have agreed to participate so far in the 2025 "Women Artists of the DMV" survey show! 

Loads more to come as I await confirmations! I am also still having trouble reaching some artists that I'd like to invite to the show... so far my emails have either been suffering from spam folderitis or just being ghosted... 

I am also somewhat surprised how difficult it is to find some artists' contact information... and soooooo.... if anyone knows the following artists, please tell them to email me: 

Marian Van Landingham, Iona Rozeal Brown (now known as Rozeal), Lillian Burwell, Danni Dawson, Zoë Charlton, Sylvia Snowden, Margo Humphrey, Hadieh Shafie, etc.

Before I forget: If I've invited you to the show and you've agreed to participate, but you're not listed below, please email me (lennycampello@hotmail.com) and let me know... or if I've misspelled your name :-) 

And the "in the show" list so far...

Shiri Achu 

Maremi Andreozzi 

Erin Antognoli

Sondra N. Arkin

Michele Banks 

Marilyn Banner 

Suzi Balamaci 

Kate Barfield 

Jennifer Barlow 

Denée Barr 

Holly Bass

Jennifer Lynn Beaudet 

Julia Bloom 

Lori Boocks 

Margaret Boozer 

Laurie Breen

Lisa Brotman 

Dianne Bugash 

Shante Bullock

Melissa Burley 

Judy Byron 

Rachel Carren 

Elizabeth Casqueiro 

Mei Mei Chang

Anne Cherubim

Shanthi Chandrasekar 

Hsin-Hsi Chen 

Irene Clouthier 

Amanda Coelho

Ellen Cornett 

Kathy Cornwell

Rosemary Feit Covey 

Sheila Crider 

Andrea Cybyk 

Jenny Freestone 

Andrea Cullins 

Joan Danziger 

Anna U. Davis 

Jenny Davis 

Tanya Davis 

Patricia de Poel Wilberg

Wendy Donahoe

Margaret Dowell

Mary Early 

Bria Edwards

Cheryl Edwards

Dana Ellyn 

Hyunsuk Erickson 

Cynthia Farrell Johnson 

Felisa Federman Cogut 

Cianne Fragione

Helen Frederick 

Genie Ghim 

Susan Goldman

Carol Brown Goldberg 

Margery Goldberg

Janis Goodman 

Freya Grand 

Graciela Granek 

Josephine Haden 

Debra Halprin 

Elyse Harrison

Muriel Hasbun 

Rania Hassan 

Mira Hecht 

Francie Hester 

Ellen Hill 

Leslie Holt

Michal Hunter 

Melissa Ichiuji 

Selena Jackson 

Martha Jackson Jarvis  

Barbara Januszkiewicz 

M. Jane Johnson 

Jessica Kallista 

Jenny Kanzler

Maria Karametou

Lori Katz 

Sally Kauffman

Zofie King 

Kate Kretz 

Bridget Sue Lambert

Susan LaMont 

Linda Lawler 

Ngoc Le

Kyujin Lee 

Harriet Lesser 

Shelley Lowenstein 

Carol Levin 

Taina Litwak 

Dalya Luttwak 

Kara Lin 

June Linowitz 

Shelley Lowenstein

Laurel Lukaszewski 

Caroline MacKinnon

Akemi Maegawa 

Susan Makara

Joey Mánlapaz 

Katherine Mann

Isabel Manalo

Anne Marchand 

Isabella Martire 

Lucinda Marshall 

Amy Marx 

J.J. McCracken

Donna McCullough 

Anne Meagher-Cook  

Maggie Michael 

Marily Mojica 

Michele Montalbano 

E.J. Montgomery

Sharon Moody 

Ally Morgan 

Camille Mosley-Pasley 

Jody Mussoff

Georgia Nassikas 

Leslie Nolan

Teresa Oaxaca 

Claudia Olivos 

Helena O'Neill Gallego 

Erica Orgen 

Marian Osher 

Betsy Packard 

Dora Patin

Judith Peck 

Monica Perdomo

Sandra Pérez-Ramos 

Patricia Edwine Poku-Speight

Susana Raab 

Marie Ringwald 

Amber Robles-Gordon 

Alla Rogers 

Roxana Rojas 

Christine Ryan 

Nancy Sausser 

Karen Schmitz 

Lian Sever 

Susan Shalowitz 

Janathel Shaw 

Gail Shaw-Clemons 

Elzbieta Sikorska 

Alexandra Silverthorne 

Judy Southerland 

Molly Springfield 

Pritha Srinivasan

Renee Stout 

Zsudayka Nzinga Terrel 

Patricia Underwood

Andrea Way 

Ellyn Weiss 

Joyce Wellman 

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

Sharon Wolpoff 

Shawn Yancy

Suzanne Yurdin

Helen Zughaib

"Courage" is the next work selected for Women Artists of the DMV

Joey Mánlapaz not only can paint with the best of realist masters, but she can run circles around most artists when it comes to hard work... the work ethic of this artist, when combined with her enviable technical, allegorical and observational painting skills, all add up to deliver work that is not only the kind of work that "stops" the strolling crowd in a museum, but also delivers a moment in time captured in glorious detail.

About this work, she notes:

It is an upfront, radical & perhaps political painting that commemorates a significant, and yet disturbing, event in recent D.C. history. As an artist who devotes all my oeuvre on Washington, D.C., I felt very strongly to represent an aspect of my city that believes in social justice and freedom to assemble peacefully. I pulled together a montage of placards held by non-violent citizens who marched on Lafayette Square to protest systemic racism that led to the brutal killing of George Floyd and others. It was a rude awakening to see how the Trump administration completely mishandled this grave & incendiary situation. And yet, with an upcoming second Trump administration, already fraught with controversy, the open practice of police brutality, white nationalism, misogyny, and alternative facts will again be the norm

Behold Courage, 2024, 42”x60”, oil on linen:

Courage, 2024, 42”x60”, oil on linen by Joey Manlapaz

And the next piece selected for the Women Artists of the DMV survey show is...

I've been doing art fairs all over the world since 2006, and I've literally seen, reviewed, curated, awarded, inspected, admired, gawked, etc. at tens and tens of thousands of artists in my lifetime.

As such, my next sentence comes from a immensely educated background, with loads of empirical and anecdotal data to back up my bombastic nature and the statement. 

Sharon Moody is the greatest living trompe l'oeil artist on planet Earth. 

Does her work fool your eyes? Check

Has her artwork evolved in the last few decades, ever growing in presence and impact? Check.

Is she represented by some of the top hyper-realism galleries in the nation? Check.

Is she a super nice person? Check.

Behold Falling Away, 18x24, oil on panel, 2024.

Sharon Moody - Falling Away
18x24, oil on panel, 2024

This week's updated list for Women Artists of the DMV

Here's another updated list of the DMV area female artists who have agreed to participate so far in the 2025 "Women Artists of the DMV" survey show! 

Loads more to come as I await confirmations! I am also having trouble reaching some artists that I'd like to invite to the show... so far my emails have either been suffering from spam folderitis or just being ghosted... but if anyone knows the following artists, please tell them to email me: Marian Van Landingham, Iona Rozeal Brown (now known as Rozeal), Lillian Burwell, Danni Dawson, Zoë Charlton, Sylvia Snowden, Joyce Wellman, Margo Humphrey, Marily Mojica, etc.

Before I forget: If I've invited you to the show and you've agreed to participate, please email me (lennycampello@hotmail.com) and let me know... or if I've mispelled your name :-) 

And the "in the show" list so far...

Shiri Achu 

Maremi Andreozzi 

Erin Antognoli

Sondra N. Arkin

Michele Banks 

Suzi Balamaci 

Kate Barfield 

Jennifer Barlow 

Holly Bass

Jennifer Lynn Beaudet 

Julia Bloom 

Lori Boocks 

Margaret Boozer 

Laurie Breen

Lisa Brotman 

Dianne Bugash 

Shante Bullock

Melissa Burley 

Rachel Carren 

Elizabeth Casqueiro

Anne Cherubim

Shanthi Chandrasekar 

Hsin-Hsi Chen 

Irene Clouthier 

Amanda Coelho

Ellen Cornett 

Kathy Cornwell

Rosemary Feit Covey 

Sheila Crider 

Andrea Cybyk 

Jenny Freestone 

Andrea Cullins 

Joan Danziger 

Jenny Davis 

Tanya Davis 

Patricia de Poel Wilberg

Wendy Donahoe

Margaret Dowell

Mary Early

Bria Edwards

Cheryl Edwards

Dana Ellyn 

Hyunsuk Erickson 

Cynthia Farrell Johnson 

Felisa Federman Cogut

Helen Frederick 

Genie Ghim 

Susan Goldman

Carol Brown Goldberg 

Margery Goldberg

Janis Goodman 

Graciela Granek 

Josephine Haden 

Debra Halprin 

Elyse Harrison

Muriel Hasbun 

Rania Hassan 

Mira Hecht 

Francie Hester 

Leslie Holt

Michal Hunter 

Melissa Ichiuji 

Selena Jackson 

Martha Jackson Jarvis  

Barbara Januszkiewicz 

M. Jane Johnson 

Jessica Kallista 

Jenny Kanzler

Maria Karametou

Lori Katz 

Sally Kauffman

Zofie King 

Kate Kretz 

Bridget Sue Lambert

Susan LaMont 

Linda Lawler 

Ngoc Le

Kyujin Lee 

Harriet Lesser 

Shelley Lowenstein 

Taina Litwak 

Dalya Luttwak 

Kara Lin 

June Linowitz 

Shelley Lowenstein

Laurel Lukaszewski 

Caroline MacKinnon

Akemi Maegawa 

Susan Makara

Joey Mánlapaz 

Katherine Mann

Isabel Manalo

Anne Marchand 

Isabella Martire 

Lucinda Marshall 

Amy Marx 

J.J. McCracken

Donna McCullough  

Maggie Michael 

Michele Montalbano 

E.J. Montgomery

Sharon Moody 

Ally Morgan 

Camille Mosley-Pasley 

Jody Mussoff

Georgia Nassikas 

Leslie Nolan

Teresa Oaxaca 

Helena O'Neill Gallego 

Erica Orgen 

Marian Osher 

Betsy Packard 

Dora Patin

Judith Peck 

Monica Perdomo

Sandra Pérez-Ramos 

Susana Raab 

Marie Ringwald 

Amber Robles-Gordon 

Alla Rogers 

Roxana Rojas 

Christine Ryan 

Susan Shalowitz 

Nancy Sausser 

Karen Schmitz 

Lian Sever

Gail Shaw-Clemons 

Elzbieta Sikorska 

Alexandra Silverthorne 

Pritha Srinivasan

Renee Stout 

Zsudayka Nzinga Terrel 

Andrea Way 

Ellyn Weiss 

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

Sharon Wolpoff 

Shawn Yancy

Suzanne Yurdin

Helen Zughaib

The fourth piece for the Women Artists of the DMV show

Kate Kretz is fearless.

How do I know that? I don't know it based on actual evidence, but once you explore this talented artist's ventures into so many diverse art planets in the universe of the fine arts, it is easy to arrive at that conclusion.

For all I know she may be terrified by red ants, or spiders, or whatever, but she is not afraid to put her brush, or sewing needle, or whatever art weapon is at hand to deliver some of the most extraordinary political and social commentaries being created today by a fine artist anywhere in the world.

Not just the DMV, but the world.

Behold "Gunlicker I", oil and acrylics on Gatorboard.

"Gunlicker I" by Kate Kretz, Acrylic and Oil on Gatorboard
c. 2015 20x16 inches (oval)

The third work selected for the 2025 Women Artists of the DMV show

I've curated over 200 group art shows in the DC area since the mid 90s, and as I continue to point out, often I find that the first few pieces chosen often also speaks about the show as a whole.

My formula for group shows is essentially the same, and a proven, successful, and bordering on brilliant technique: 

• the group show is a pyramid of artists at various points in their artistic career and development - blue chip, well-known artists; 
• a large set of well-known, mid career artists; 
• and the pyramid's wide and powerful base: a set of young (not simply in age, but perhaps also in artistic age - think of a 95 year-old artist who just started painting five years ago) artists who need the exposure and push that a well-attended, widely publicized, and wildly successful art show offers their young careers.

Renée Stout is an international blue chip artist, and easily fits on the top tier of the pyramid - this immensely talented and multi-skilled artist, moves easily between genres and media with the ease which at first glance appears so easy to the uninitiated, but it is in reality the hardest task for any fine artist.

Stout's magical ability to use her art not only as a showcase of her enviable talent, but also as a breath taking weapon to deliver ideas, positions, historical references, social and political commentary is what makes her such a formidable presence in the contemporary art scene.

Her artwork may seduce you, or surprise you, or inform you, or anger you... but it will always deliver an intelligent punch to the solar plexus of your mind.

Behold "Cracked Baby", acrylic on wood:

Cracked Baby by Renée Stout
11 x 10 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches, c. 1998
Courtesy of Hemphill Artworks

Women Artists of the DMV: Updated List

Here's another updated list of the DMV area female artists who have agreed to participate so far in he 2025 "Women Artists of the DMV" survey show! 

Loads more to come as I await confirmations! 

Shiri Achu 

Maremi Andreozzi

Sondra N. Arkin

Michele Banks 

Suzi Balamaci 

Jennifer Barlow 

Holly Bass

Jennifer Lynn Beaudet 

Julia Bloom 

Margaret Boozer 

Laurie Breen

Lisa Brotman 

Shante Bullock

Melissa Burley 

Rachel Carren 

Elizabeth Casqueiro

Anne Cherubim

Shanthi Chandrasekar 

Hsin-Hsi Chen 

Irene Clouthier 

Amanda Coelho

Ellen Cornett

Rosemary Feit Covey 

Sheila Crider 

Jenny Freestone 

Andrea Cullins 

Joan Danziger 

Jenny Davis 

Tanya Davis 

Wendy Donahoe

Margaret Dowell 

Bria Edwards

Cheryl Edwards

Dana Ellyn 

Hyunsuk Erickson 

Cynthia Farrell Johnson 

Felisa Federman Cogut

Helen Frederick 

Genie Ghim 

Susan Goldman

Carol Brown Goldberg

Janis Goodman 

Josephine Haden 

Elyse Harrison

Muriel Hasbun 

Rania Hassan 

Mira Hecht

Michal Hunter 

Melissa Ichiuji 

Selena Jackson 

Martha Jackson Jarvis  

Barbara Januszkiewicz 

Jessica Kallista 

Jenny Kanzler

Maria Karametou

Lori Katz

Zofie King 

Kate Kretz

Susan LaMont 

Linda Lawler

Kyujin Lee 

Harriet Lesser 

Shelley Lowenstein 

Taina Litwak 

Dalya Luttwak 

Kara Lin 

June Linowitz 

Shelley Lowenstein

Laurel Lukaszewski

Akemi Maegawa

Joey Mánlapaz

Isabel Manalo

Anne Marchand 

Isabella Martire 

Amy Marx

Donna McCullough  

Maggie Michael 

Michele Montalbano 

E.J. Montgomery

Sharon Moody 

Ally Morgan 

Camille Mosley-Pasley 

Jody Mussoff

Georgia Nassikas 

Leslie Nolan

Teresa Oaxaca 

Helena O'Neill Gallego 

Erica Orgen 

Betsy Packard 

Dora Patin

Judith Peck

Sandra Pérez-Ramos 

Susana Raab 

Marie Ringwald 

Amber Robles-Gordon 

Roxana Rojas

Gail Shaw-Clemons 

Alexandra Silverthorne 

Pritha Srinivasan

Renee Stout 

Zsudayka Nzinga Terrel 

Andrea Way 

Ellyn Weiss 

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

Sharon Wolpoff 

Shawn Yancy

Suzanne Yurdin

Helen Zughaib