Audrey Wilson Silent Auction

As happens from time to time, every artist now and then runs out of money for materials! And this is even worse when the artist has shows coming! 

DMV artist Audrey Wilson has two shows coming up in the near future, including a solo show and a museum show, and she has run out of money for materials to produce the new work!

But we have it in our power to help out a new voice in art today (and get a good deal while we are at it!) There will be a silent auction on August 5, 2014 at the Washington Glass School from 5 to 9pm.

Several of the artists in the studio and others have donated original work towards her cause... work by Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Sean Hennessey and others.

Absentee ballots are accepted as well. Come to the Glass School on Aug. 5, or call them at (202) 744-8222 or send them an email to timtateglass@aol.com to have images emailed to you and/or to put in an absentee bid. 

Below are a few samples... 

Audrey Wilson

Ibn Firnas’ First Glider

9” x 26” x 14”

Pate de verre kiln formed glass, found objects

Retail: $1700 / Minimum: $600 / Buy it Now: $1300

 

Tim Tate

Best Day Ever!

14” x 8” x 8”

Cast Glass

Retail Price: $3500 / Minimum Bid: $ 750 / Buy It Now: $2000

Sean Hennessey

Radiance

Cast Glass

Retail Price: $400 / Minimum Bid $200 / Buy It Now: $300

Michael Janis

The Brightness We Could Not Touch

Cast Glass, Glass Powder Imagery

(2 piece work) 20” x 30” x 1.5” and 20” x 10”x 1.5”

Retail Price: $7200 / Minimum Bid: $2500 / Buy It Now: $6000

F. Lennox Campello

"Suddenly She Wasn't Afraid Any Longer XXIII"

Size:20” x 25”

Retail Price: $500 / Minimum Bid: $150 / Buy it Now: $450

The Torpedo Factory and the lucky city of Alexandria

From the Torpedo Factory to the DMV:

To our Community of Torpedo Factory supporters :

In response to the recent press coverage, particularly the article and editorial in last week’s Alexandria Times, I’m writing to provide clarification on the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s presentation before the Alexandria City Council.

On May 24th, the Torpedo Factory Art Center went before Council to request autonomy in selecting our own board members and to receive a rebate on the annual rent we pay for the public spaces. As the City owns the building, the Torpedo Factory and its tenants pay almost $400K each year in rent and utilities.  We proposed forgoing payment on $137,000 of these funds to re-invest into specific vital projects including new programming, additional marketing, new signage, architectural services and staffing.  This investment of a mere 27 cents per visitor would enable the Torpedo Factory to be a vibrant contributor to the City’s plans to revitalize the waterfront.

Council did not reject this proposal, they choose not to act on it and we hope they will re-consider it again in the Fall.  Given the immensely positive economic impact and community legacy of the Torpedo Factory, our request was not only reasonable and modest but essential to the long term viability of our organization. 

Some key facts: 

• Based on a City-funded study in 2010, the Torpedo Factory generates $16.2 million annually in direct visitor spending for the City of Alexandria.

• Our building has not been renovated since 1983, over 30 years ago. 

• While admission to our building and public programs remain free to the community, there is no line item in the City budget for the Torpedo Factory.

•  Our overhead costs are as low as possible: we spend $2 dollars per visitor as opposed to the national average for museums of $40-50 per visitor.  

Let’s be clear – our proposal was not about minor cosmetic repairs, it is about the ability of the Art Center to grow and thrive.  To do so, we need the support of both the Alexandria community and the City government.  Over the course of a year, our Board of Directors (alongside officials from the Art League and the Artists Associate) met nine times and completed a Strategic Road Map to lay out plans for growth and new programming.  There are exciting developments in progress and we encourage the community to get involved in the following ways:

Visit – we’re open seven days a week from 10 AM – 6 PM (Thursdays til 9 PM). Our numerous events and openings provide multiple reasons to come back to visit our artists.

Donate – gifts of any size will help build new programs and continue our mission to foster connections that ignite the creative spirit.

Volunteer – we always appreciate volunteers to help either on a regular schedule or for special events.

We’re grateful for this valuable press coverage and the opportunity to create dialogue on our organizational needs and plans.  Together, we can make the Torpedo Factory an even better place to experience art in person and in progress!

Eric Wallner
Chief Executive Officer
Torpedo Factory Art Center

After 22 years

In 1991, while I was living in wonderful Sonoma, California, my daughters Vanessa and Elise used to take ballet classes at the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance.

It was a great school, which (as most of these places are) back then was run mostly on love and was always short of funds, and running bake sales, etc.

I had this idea to create artwork of the students, and then hold a fund-raising art show somewhere in town. I figured that the parents would love to have a drawing of their little ones, and that would be a great way to raise funds for the conservatory.

The best gallery in town, Chevrier's Presidio Gallery, which was run by a very nice couple, agreed to host the exhibition and donate proceeds, which was a very generous thing.

And so I started to hang around the ballet a lot, getting permission from the parents, sketching the dances, both the little ones and the professionals, and after about a year, I had over a hundred works, of which I selected and framed about 50, and matted and shrink-wrapped the rest.

Opening night was sometime in early 1992.

The buzz had started earlier, and because this is Sonoma, the jewel of California's wine country and the home of its wine aristocracy, there was some interesting issues that arose from the event.

For example, the grandmother of one very famous wine family called the gallery a few days ahead of time, and informed the gallerist that she would like to pre-purchase all of the works where any of her grandchildren were the subject of, or part of (I had done many multi-people drawings). And so it happened that little Amber, who was actually a teen at the time, and a very good ballerina, happened to be in at least 20 different works (both framed and matted) and they all ended up with grandma, before the show opened.

This, unexpectedly, or perhaps predictably, caused a ruckus on opening night, as parents and families filed in to discover that some of the pieces where their loved ones were part of, had been pre-sold and thus gone.

The poor gallerist caught hell from a parent or two, although usually their child could be found in another piece.

The entire show sold out on opening night... every single piece.

A while back, while cleaning the studio, I discovered one piece that had never made it to the show... I recognized the little girl too.

To make a long story short, it is now heading to California, 22 years later!

Sonya Lawyer at Flashpoint

“A Peace (of the Dream)," Sonya Lawyer’s exhibit of mixed media works at Flashpoint Gallery is getting a lot of attention in the critical press in the DMV (in other words the WCP and WaPo)...

Read Lou Jacobson's review here and Mark Jenkins' (who used to write for the CP and who thank goodness is covering the visual arts for the Style section) here.

And you can read my review of Lawyer's impressive work from 2008 here.

The Strathmore Fine Artists in Residence initiative

Deadline: September 8, 2014

There is not enough that I can say to recommend The Strathmore Fine Artists in Residence initiative (Fine AIR) to all emerging artists.... I have been lucky enough to have been a mentor twice, and can therefore testify what a boost to an artist's career this program is... and it deals and teaches so many diverse areas.... there is nothing even close to it in the DMV, maybe even the nation.

It was established to help cultivate local visual arts talent by connecting established professionals in all aspects of the field with up-and-coming artists.  Emerging artists will be in residence in the Mansion at Strathmore from January – August 2015. During this time, each artist will have the opportunity to develop an audience in the DC metropolitan area, perfect their craft, create and implement an outreach, educational, or special event proposal for Strathmore’s consideration, and premiere a new body of artwork, including a collaborative piece with one’s mentor, commissioned by Strathmore in a culminating exhibition.

The exhibition of new work will take place in August of 2015 and will reflect the artistic growth of the artist in residence.  Throughout the residency artists meet with a professional artist mentor for career guidance and artistic critique; attend career development workshops; and have the opportunity to teach, lecture, volunteer, exhibit or otherwise participate in Strathmore visual arts programming. Apply here: http://www.strathmore.org/education/series/view.asp?id=10102314

Eligibility:
The Strathmore Fine Artist in Residence Program is open to all emerging visual artists.  All media accepted.
Fine AIR Program Timeline
•             September 8, 2014   Deadline for application
•             September 15 – 18, 2014  Select applicants invited to interview
•             September 29, 2014   Notification of acceptance
•             October 2014   Fine AIR contracts finalized
•             November 2014  Incoming Fine AIR class announced to the public
•             January 2015   Official start of the Fine AIR program
•             August 2015   Exhibition of new work

A Residency at Strathmore includes:
•             An exhibition of new work at the Mansion at Strathmore, Summer 2015
•             Strathmore’s consideration of an outreach, educational, or special event proposal
•             A professional artist mentor throughout the residency
•             Career Development workshops and experiences provided by Strathmore
•             A stipend of $1,000 (Studio space and housing are not available with this residency)

Artist responsibilities include:
•             Mandatory attendance at a Fine AIR welcome event, scheduled meetings with artist mentor, and career development workshops provided by Strathmore.
•             Creation of a new body of saleable work, including a collaborative piece created with one’s mentor, to debut at the 2015 Fine AIR Exhibition at the Mansion at Strathmore.
•             Creation of an outreach, educational, or other visual arts event proposal for Strathmore’s consideration for future seasons.
•             Volunteering at “Discover Strathmore” and “Strathmore Arts Festival” events and by providing an artist demonstration, pop- up of artwork for exhibition and/or sale, or related artistic presence.
•             Volunteer to teach, lecture, and/or demo for the visual art department at least once during residency.  Strathmore charges admission for these programs and all proceeds go toward supporting the Fine AIR program.

Gallery moves

WPG has moved to Georgetown and it is now right on the main drag of the Town of George!

 

Washington Printmakers Gallery

1641 Wisconsin Avenue, NW | Washington, D.C. 20007

202.669.1497

info@washingtonprintmakers.com | www.washingtonprintmakers.com 

Hours: Wed - Sun 12-5 pm

Wanna go to an opening this Friday?

The power of art

Remember the below drawing? It was one of the pieces that I made a few years ago for Mera Rubell's visit to my studio (see http://blog.art-tistics.com/?p=236 for the whole story).

This work is "Woman who thinks that the tattoo that she just got reads 'Bring Bush Back'" Charcoal and Conte on Paper. 14"x10." Anyway, every once in a while I get a nut job from either the vast right wing conspiracy or the even vaster left wing nuthouse sending me a nasty email as they get their perspective on the drawing from listening either to too much to some talk radio on the right or MSNBC and most other main stream media on the left (but I repeat myself).

I just got one today, and it still surprises me, but nonetheless proves the power of art to kindle responses, visceral or otherwise.

The Winged Lilith

"The Winged Lilith" - Charcoal & Conte on paper. 8.5 x 5 inches, circa 2014.

Alper Initiative for Washington Art

Every once in a while I go the Kojo Nmandi show on WAMU to discuss DC area visual art stuff… and at one of those radio shows, many years ago, I was discussing the lack of interest, or better still, apathy, that most Washington area museum curators exhibit (pun intended) towards our DMV area artists.

In what was to become a battle cry of the ignored, I noted that “it was easier for a local DC area museum curator or director to take a cab to Dulles to catch a flight to Berlin, or London, or Madrid, etc. in order to visit an emerging artist’s studio, than to take a cab to Georgetown, or Arlington, or Rockville to do the same.”

A few years after American University’s gorgeous American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center opened, I updated that statement by noting that the Katzen had taken the lead (in a one horse race) in showcasing, exhibiting and documenting the DMV art scene.  The Katzen had become, and remains, the only major DC area art museum that pays attention to its own backyard!

The driver here is the Katzen’s energetic director Jack Rasmussen. This is a man with a deep connection to the DC area art scene that goes back many decades, and it was a brilliant coup by the AU leadership to hire him.  And I say that not only based on the Katzen’s interest and support of its own city’s artists, but also because Rasmussen has proven to the other area art museums that an intelligent combination of regional artists with national and international artists can be accomplished.

What does that take? I’m not sure, but the libertarian part of me suspects a certain degree of “taking the path of least resistance” on the daily workload of other local museum curators/directors, many of which are government employees; it is much easier to take a traveling exhibition, let’s say, than organizing one from scratch.  I know that I am generalizing here, and often that’s a bad thing, but in the multiple conversations that I’ve had over the years with several generations of curators from the Hirshhorn, NGA, NPG, the Corcoran and others (yes, even other local Universities) I’ve gathered both empirical and anecdotal data to back up that impression.

Any of those museums is welcomed to please prove me wrong!

And it is because of Rasmussen’s stellar leadership and guiding hand, and the Katzen’s record with its own community that I can report the following:

Left to right, Jack Rasmussen, AU Museum Director and Curator, Carolyn Alper, and AU President Neil Kerwin
Photo by Jeff Watts, American University

“… Thanks to a major gift from alumna and art advocate Carolyn Alper, BA/CAS ’68, to the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, more resources will be allocated to the study and exhibition of Washington art.

Alper’s gift will establish the Alper Initiative for Washington Art at the American University Museum. The initiative will dedicate space for displaying the work of Washington artists, including more tightly focused, historical shows; development of space for archives of Washington art (available for both members of the public and AU students); an endowment to support more programming of events, gatherings, lectures and films; and digitization of AU’s growing collection of Washington art.”

According to AU Museum Curator and Director Jack Rasmussen: “Carolyn’s gift provides American University Museum the funds necessary to elevate Washington art to the place of prominence it deserves. All of Washington should be grateful as Carolyn has put her contributions where her heart is.”

Need more evidence? Five of the six exhibits on display at the museum through Aug. 17 feature Washington artists and collectors: Mynd Alive by B.K. ADAMS/I AM ART; Syzygy by William Newman; Continental Drift (Being Here and Being There) by Judy Byron; Passionate Collectors: The Washington Print Club at 50, with prints curated from Washington collections; and The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund: Second Act, with art by grant recipients from the region.

Thank you Ms. Alper, thank you AU and thank you Jack!

Opportunity for artists

My good bud Al Miner, who used to roam these regions, and who is also a kick-ass artist, and thus was included in the first volume of my books on DC area artists, is the juror for this show up in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Massachusetts.

Deadline: September 15, 2014 CALL FOR WORKS ON PAPER South Shore Art Center in Cohasset, MA, invites entries of original work that offer distinctive imaginative imagery using paper. Show dates October 24 - December 21, 2014. Opening Reception October 24 6-8pm Juried by Al Miner, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. $1200 in prizes - all work must be for sale. Entry fee. Details: 781-383-2787 OR https://client.smarterentry.com/SSAC