New DC arts blog

By artist Elizabeth Lundberg Morisette and it is titled "re/collections." Visit it often here.

Lessons Learned in Public Art

According to this piece in the Sun by Sumathi Reddy, there's an apparently interesting arts issues brewing in the local Baltimore arts community as the Baltimore city council contemplates legislation that would mandate 1% of public construction projects for public art.

The 1% for the Arts is a very old tradition by now in many American cities, and all of the lessons and the how to's and the tried-and-true ways to make public art be first and foremost "public" are by now established and a good way for Baltimore to take the "lessons learned" from other cities and march forward a little better prepared.

I do not think that (as the article explains) that a nine-member Public Art Commission in charge, which would select the artists and artwork, and allocate funds, is the only solution on how to run a 1% for the arts effort.

If implemented as the only way to "approve" public art, then it is in fact elitist and removes all "public" from public art. There, I've said it.

One solution is to introduce the "real" public into the public art selection process.

Such as the way that some states (such as Florida I believe) have adopted for their state-wide percent for the arts programs, which is to have the public art that will be acquired for their state buildings be chosen not by a state arts commission, or an academic arts panel, but by a selection committee drawn from the people who will actually work in the building (and live with the art).

This most egalitarian and democratic of processes for choosing art, by the people who will actually live and work with the art, is a very progressive step towards democratizing the process of public art, and removing it somewhat from the hands of selection committees and people who can be (in some cases) so far removed from "the public" that their decisions often seem to deliver either yawns or astute controversy, but little "public" to public art.

"I would very much not want to see us get timid because of the heat of the controversy that has been generated by the piece in front of the train station," said Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum. "If we intend to make this a place for living art in a public way, we have to accept and welcome the notion that not everybody is going to be happy and that is actually a good sign and we should celebrate that."

I agree with Gary Vikan (his own comments on this subject are here), but in the "everybody" who is not going to be happy, Baltimore should also include arts commissioners, arts panelists, museum directors and even artists, not just the public.

One of the great paradoxes of contemporary art symbiotism in the United States is that while they [we] generally tend to be politically very liberal (and I'm about to step into the dangerous waters of generalizing), they also tend to be very elitist, booswah and neoconcritics when it comes as to how much they "trust" the American public, or the democratization of an arts process (especially if it involves public money), when it comes to the visual arts.

The answer in my opinion is the marriage of both a properly burocratically-qualified arts commission process for some works, and also a more modern and more progressive-minded and less academically conservative process (already used by some cities and states) where the people living and working with the art, choose the art, sans academic minds with arts fields PhDs and personal artistic agendas.

Imagine the street walking, water-fountain-chatting, bus-riding, 9-5, tax-paying, let's-hurry-home-so-we-can-watch-American Idol public, actually having a say in what hangs in the hallways that they must walk through every morning on the way to the office, hurrying so that they can get a cup of coffee before the pot runs out and then they have to make the next pot.

Do it Baltimore, if anyone can and should, it's Baltimore.

Looking for a small gallery space in DC?

In the 14th Street gallery district of DC there's a 300 sq. ft. office available to be leased out to a consultant or arts person (not an artist). It's furnished, has wireless internet, track lights and a small exhibition space, so it can be made into a Curator's Office type of exhibition venue. Three big windows, common kitchen and 2 bathrooms. The landlord is asking $1,000 a month and its month-to-month.

If interested drop me an email and I'll forward it to the landlord.

Wanna go to a Bethesda opening tomorrow afternoon?

Heineman Myers Contemporary Art has the opening reception (from 2-4 PM) and award announcement for The National Society of Arts & Letters Washington Chapter Career Awards Competition 2007. The exhibition goes through March 25, 2007 and was juried by Walter Bartman, Director and Founder of The Yellow Barn, Bethesda, Maryland, Judith Brodie, Curator of Modern Prints and Drawings, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Stephen Bennett Phillips, Curator, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. and DC area artist Nicholas Simmons. The finalists are: Jennifer Davis, Sharon Servilio, Amy Sorensen, Kelly Ulcak, Shelly Vorhees and Marty Weishaar.

Wanna go to an Annapolis opening tomorrow afternoon?

"Art on Paper" opens tonight at the Maryland Federation of Art (18 State Circle, Annapolis, MD). The reception is March 18, 3-6 pm. The show was juried by Helen Frederick of Pyramid Atlantic.

Wanna go to a Baltimore art talk tonight?

George Sakkal leads a discussion on the meaning behind his work (controversial epictions of the War in Iraq) in his current exhibit at Light Street Gallery followed by refreshments on Saturday, March 17, 2007, with discussions beginning on the hour at 6, 7, & 8 PM.

Wanna do some DC music plus art on Saturday?

Heather Levy is opening an exhibition of new paintings this Saturday, March 17th, with an opening reception from 3-6 pm at Breakwell's (900 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001 (202) 289-4601 - it's at 9th and M ...across the street from the Convention Center).

There will be refreshments and live musical performances... from 3-4 PM you can hear the guitar talents of Nancy Lisi and from 4:30-6:00PM you can hear Basso Moderno Duo.

Tate at Fraser

I have been unable to see this exhibition yet, but judging from the press that it is generating, my very biased enthusiasm for District uberartist Tim Tate seems to have some widespread and diverse justification, at least as evidenced by what the critics are saying:

- Michael O'Sullivan in today's Washington Post.

- Chris Hobson in the current Washington City Paper.

- Kevin Mellema in the Falls Church News.

- Kriston Capps in the Washington Post Express.

- GOGs in the Washington Post.

- FiOS TV Sirius Satellite Radio will be recording a segment Tate and his most recent work next week.

Tate will also be giving a talk at the Smithsonian American Art Museum on Thursday, March 22nd at 3PM in the Museum's Luce Foundation Center of American Art. Free and open to the public.

Creating Heaven and Hell, Blown and Cast Glass, Video, LCD Screen, 14x6x6 inches

Wanna go to a DC opening tonight?

DCAC in Adams Morgan is having their opening for "Jolly Cowboy" (Curated by Cara Ober) tonight from 7-9PM.

Near Disaster at 1708 Gallery in Richmond, Virginia

Richmond's 1708 Gallery had a bit of a close call with fate as last Sunday a building two doors down from their space went up in flames. The gallery escaped with only minor water and smoke damage.

The timing for this sort of event is never good, but it is particularly bad this time around. This month is the gallery's annual live auction. This event contributes greatly to the annual budget of this non-profit gallery in Richmond. So, with the fire, their need for support is even greater.

There are still tickets available for the event and there is some really great work available. There are several components to the auction, with work for collectors with various budgets. There is work by gallery members (Bill Fisher, Diego Sanchez, Travis Fullerton, Cindy Neuschwander), regional artists (Ledelle Moe, Richard Carylon, Benjamin Jones, Suzanna Fields, Fiona Ross), as well as national artists like Sally Mann, Ed Paschke, and Richard Serra. There are too many great artists to list.

Details here.

Opportunity for Sculptors

Deadline: March 30, 2007

The Washington Sculptors Group, The Katzen Center at American University Museum, and Juror John Beardsley invite artists to submit work that responds to the architecture of the 6,000 square foot Syvia Berlin Katzen Outdoor Sculpture Garden of the Katzen Center at the American University Museum, in a Call for Outdoor Sculpture for “Architecture/Sculpture” Show (September 4, 2007 to December 30, 2007).

Details at www.washingtonsculptors.org or call: 202.686.8696.

Opportunity for Artists


Deadline: March 30, 2007 (postmark)

The Arts Council of Fairfax County announces Arts Council @ GRACE, a juried art exhibition offering $2,000 in prize monies. The exhibition is produced in partnership with the regional visual art center GRACE in Reston, VA.

Artists from DC, MD, or VA are encouraged to apply. Artists working in any media can submit up to five (5) images on CD, or video totaling no more than five (5) minutes on DVD. Juror: Irene Hofmann, Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD. Cash prizes totaling $2000. Entry Fee: $35 (waived for Arts Council and GRACE members). Exhibition will take place June 21 - August 3, 2007. The Call for Entries is also available for download from this website. For more information please visit the website or contact Susanna Rosenbaum at srosenbaum@artsfairfax.org.

Call for Artists

DC gallerina Kristina Bilonick has taken on a new extra-curricular gig: organizing a monthly outdoor arts market that will take place at the Ballston Metro on the second Saturdays June - October.

It's called the Ballston Arts + Crafts Market, and she's just created a blog where she's posted the call for artists and will eventually post info on the selected artists, live music and other activities surrounding the monthly event. The blog is here.

Kristina says that so far she's received a lot of jewelry and pottery submissions, but they're also looking for fine art, photography, woodworking, indy fashions, etc...

Contact Kristina at kbilonick at earthlink.net.

Wanna go to a Philly opening tonight?

Kay Hwang and Jackie Tileston open tonight at one of my favorite Philly galleries, Pentimenti Gallery.

The reception for the artists is tonight, Friday, March 16 from 6 - 8 p.m. The exhibition goes through April 28, 2007.

DCist Exposed

By Katie Tuss

Today is the last day to take in DCist Exposed on view at the Warehouse Art Gallery on 7th Street NW. Organized by the indispensable purveyors of capital city activity at the blog of the same name, DCist Exposed highlights the work of 38 metro area photographers and their unique interpretations of all that the district has to offer.

DCist Exposed is the first gallery exhibition organized by DCist and the debut show for many of the featured artists. The Guy Who Powerwashes Your Gravestone, by Thomas Anderson, juxtaposes the daily brush with the grave and serious, as a worker at Arlington National Cemetery cleans the headstones. John Ulaszek’s DC Park Police captures a mounted cop indulging in a red lollipop while surveying a ubiquitous Washington protest.

The diverse images were selected from a pool of over 200 submissions to Flickr.com, the photo sharing website that DCist regularly uses to supply its images. Stop by the Warehouse for a TGIF beer and experience neighborhood stalwarts in a new light.

The gallery is open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Save the date!

Cause and Effect: What Impact Does Art in the Workplace Have on the Workforce? is a panel at The Phillips Collection on Thursday, March 29, 2007 from 8:45-10:45am (8:45-9:20 Registration/Continental Breakfast; 9:25-10:45 Forum).

Following the forum, participants are invited to tour The Phillips Collection. $35 Registration Required - details here.

Presenters are:

- Paul Boulis, president, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois & Chairman of Arts & Business Council of Chicago, Illinois

- James Fitzpatrick, senior partner & chair of Art Committee, Arnold & Porter; Trustee, The Phillips Collection

- Abel Lopez, chair, Creative Communities for Community Foundation for the National Capital Region.

The Moderator is Glen Howard, President of Strategic Philanthropy Advisors.

Two new Smithsonian American Art Museum curators

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has appointed two new curators. The Consulting Senior Curator for Film and Media Arts is John Hanhardt and The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art is Joanna Marsh.

Hanhardt will be responsible for a media arts initiative at the museum which includes acquisitions, exhibitions, educational programs and archival research resources related to film, video and the media arts. Marsh will be responsible for research, exhibitions and acquisitions related to the museum's growing contemporary collection.

Hanhardt was the senior curator of film and media arts at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City from 1996 until last year. From 1974 to 1996, he was curator and head of the film and video department at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Before that, he established the film department and film study collection at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

Marsh comes to the museum from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Conn. where she currently is the Associate Curator of Contemporary Art. She will report to the SAAM on April 30, 2007; Hanhardt is already there.

Wanna go to a MICA multi-studio opening tomorrow?

Accompanying the annual series of thesis exhibitions at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), 31 first-year candidates in MICA’s master of fine arts (M.F.A) programs are featured in a parallel series of group exhibitions. First-Year MFA I, II, and III Exhibitions showcase works by students from the College’s Hoffberger School of Painting, Mount Royal School of Art, Rinehart School of Sculpture, and photography and digital imaging program. The exhibitions take place in Bunting Center’s Pinkard Gallery (1401 Mount Royal Avenue), in Baltimore.

First-Year MFA I Exhibition runs Friday, March 16 through Sunday, March 25, with an opening reception on Friday, March 16, 5–7 p.m., and open studios on Friday, March 16, 7–9 p.m. The 11 students exhibiting are Mount Royal School of Art students Meaghan Harrison, Jimmy Roche, Mary Tait, and Courtney Wrenn (Scrapworm); Rinehart School of Sculpture students Sebastian Martorana and Virginia Warwick; Hoffberger School of Painting students Jessie Boyko, Alan Reid, and Justin Storms; and photography and digital imaging program students Sarah Jablecki and Christine Tran.

Role of Criticism Today

David Waddell over at ARTifice reports on the "Role of Criticism Today," panel discussion that took place at the Provisions Library in Dupont Circle in DC last Wednesday.

You have to read this.

And the nation's favorite buildings are:

From Slate:

Last month, the American Institute of Architects released the results of a national poll that asked the public to name its favorite buildings in the United States. Probably no one but an architect would be interested in exactly who made the cut. Meier and Gehry did (for the Getty Center and Disney Concert Hall, respectively)—although their buildings rank below Michael Graves' cartoonish Dolphin and Swan Hotels in Walt Disney World. Such firebrands as Thom Mayne, Peter Eisenman, and Steven Holl did not. But it is the list as a whole that casts an interesting light on what Americans think of the recent spate of signature buildings. The short answer: not much.

The list is here and six of the top ten sites are in DC.