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
