Harry Reid and The Internet Tax Freedom Act

From Ebay...

With the end of the 113^th Congress swiftly approaching, Congress has only a few short weeks left in the legislative calendar.  With the clock running out, proponents of the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) are actively trying to push the legislation through Congress and to the President’s desk by the end of the year. Although the Senate passed the MFA in May 2013, leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have announced their intention to find an alternative to the Senate-passed Internet sales tax bill and have refrained from moving the Senate-passed bill. Due to the fact that there appears to be little support to move the Senate passed MFA in the House, Senate leaders announced in July that they would try and pass the MFA by attaching it to the must-pass Internet Tax Freedom Act and bypass regular legislative procedure in the House.

The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) is an important piece of legislation that would make permanent the law that prevents state and local governments from imposing new taxes on Internet access and prohibits any multiple or discriminatory taxes on e-commerce. The current law is set to expire on November 1^st, which means if Congress fails to pass an extension, consumers and businesses across the country could see their Internet access bills go up in November. On July 15^th, the House passed a permanent extension of the law by voice vote and sent the bill to the Senate for consideration.

However, instead of agreeing to take up the House-passed ITFA, Senate leadership announced plans to combine ITFA with the Senate-passed MFA.

Although it is unclear if and when the Senate may move the newly combined ITFA/MFA bill, a group of bipartisan Senators has called on Senate leadership not to attach the Senate-passed Marketplace Fairness Act to the Internet Tax Freedom Act. Like eBay Inc., these Senators have expressed concerns with how the Marketplace Fairness Act would impact small tech-enabled small businesses that rely on Internet and mobile platforms to compete in the retail marketplace.

eBay Inc. continues to believe that small tech-enabled businesses should be protected from a new burdensome sales tax regime and opposes the Senate-passed Marketplace Fairness Act, because it lacks strong small business protections. If you share our concerns with the Marketplace Fairness Act, we would encourage you to visit our Action Center and tell your Members of Congress that you oppose Internet sales tax legislation that hurts small businesses.

For more information on the Internet sales tax issue and eBay Inc.’s position, please visit their issues page.

6th Annual Expressions Portrait Competition

Deadline: Tuesday September 9, 2014 at 2 PM

 

Finalists from the competition will be featured in the 6th annual Expressions Portrait Exhibit at ArtSpace Herndon Tuesday, October 7 through Sunday November 2, 2014.  This year's judge is Jordan Xu and the jurors are Judith Peck and Michela Mansuino.

Jordan Xu will announce the winners at during the awards reception on Saturday, October 11, 2014. 

First Place - $500
Second Place $200

Third Place $100
Four Honorable Mentions

Artists 18 years or older residing in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, and Delaware can enter original 2-D or 3-D portraiture. (No photography, electronic or computer generated/ assisted art, or reproductions).

 

There is a nominal $25 entry fee (non-refundable) for up to 2 entries.

Click on the links below for full details and to enter.

Get more information

Register Now

Thumbnails Are Not An Infringement

The ubiquity of digital cameras has had a dramatic effect on professional photographer fees, yet stock companies like Getty Images have benefited greatly from the new paradigm, helped in part by a Draconian lawsuit strategy that some have categorized as nothing short of extortion. However, with Getty Images sending out so many copyright infringement demand letters, the company was bound to extort the wrong target, which in this case is the Florida law firm, Schneider Rothman Intellectual Property Law

Read the whole article here.

Judy Collins 1962

Judy Collins. c. 1962 by Lida Moser

This is why...

If posting has been a little slow lately, it is because my youngest daughter Elise was getting married over the weekend and we've been hanging out in gorgeous Gig Harbor, Washington!

And here's the bride and now Mrs. Elise Torralbo Campello

rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock

Training the boy to do his Vulcan salute so that he can play rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock...

Looking at Maurice Sievans paintings

"Looking at Maurice Sievans paintings from L to R Anna Moser, Lee Sievan, Berenice Abbott."

This is a vintage 1952 Lida Moser photograph. Moser hand-printed all her own photographs and rarely printed more than 5-6 images of any photo.

The photo was hand-printed by Moser on 8 x10 inch paper and it is signed, dated and annotated by Moser in pencil recto on verso. On the verso Moser has written in pencil: "Looking at Maurice Sievans paintings from L to R Anna Moser, Lee Sievan, Berenice Abbott."

(e)merge art fair announces exhibition roster

The (e)merge art fair returns for a fourth year with the 2014 edition featuring an international roster of 85 exhibitors presenting works by 150 artists from 30 countries. Exhibitors will show new works in painting, sculpture, video, performance, installation, and other media. For four days, the public is welcome to view a carefully curated selection of emerging art at the Capitol Skyline Hotel, exhibited on three levels inside the hotel and throughout the hotel's grounds and public spaces.

GALLERY PLATFORM > galleries and art spaces:

ARGENTINA: Acuarell Contemporary Art, Buenos Aires / C-Arte, Buenos Aires / Centro de Edición, Buenos Aires / Deseado Arroyo, Buenos Aires | BELGIUM: NOMAD, Brussels / GKV/Magenta Projects, Ostend | BOLIVIA: Salar Galería de Arte, La Paz | FRANCE: galerie bruno massa, Paris | GERMANY: polarraum, Hamburg | JAMAICA: ARC & NLS, Kingston | THE NETHERLANDS: Amstel Gallery, Amsterdam | SAUDI ARABIA: Naila Art Gallery, Riyadh | U.S.A.: Adamson Gallery, Washington, DC / Alida Anderson Art Projects, Potomac, MD / All We Art, Washington, DC / Atanda Gallery, Washington, DC / Aureus Contemporary, Providence, RI / Blind Whino, Washington, DC / Bodega de la Haba Presents, New York, NY / Causey Contemporary, New York, NY / CONNERSMITH., Washington, DC / DCCAH, Washington, DC / Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC / Hamiltonian, Washington, DC / I.B.Clark Gallery, New Hope, PA / KiloWatt Gallery, Newark, NJ / Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL / Pleasant Plains Workshop, Washington, DC / Present Company, Brooklyn, NY / Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA / Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC / Transformer, Washington, DC / Victori Contemporary, New York, NY / Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC

ARTIST PLATFORM > independent artists:

Adam Hager, Washington, DC | Amy Finkelstein, Takoma Park, MD | Ana Schmidt, Getxo, Spain | Andrey Ustinov, Cologne, Germany | Anne Bouie, Washington, DC | Annie Albagli, Richmond, VA | Apollonia Vanova, Toronto, Canada | Becky Borlan, Takoma Park, MD | Ben Schonberger, Alexandria, VA | Ben Tolman, Washington, DC | Christopher Capriotti, Philadelphia, PA | Cici Wu, Beijing, China / Baltimore, MD | Dan Hildt, Alexandria, VA | Edel Gregan, Waterford, Ireland / McLean, VA | Eduardo Terranova, Cali, Colombia / New York, NY | Elizabeth Brown, Manassas, VA | Evan Hume, Washington, DC | Fawna Xiao, Washington, DC | Fiorella Gonzales Vigil, Lima, Peru / New York, NY | Galen Odell-Smedley, Mt. Rainier, MD | Heloisa Escudero, São Paulo, Brazil / Arlington, VA | Holly Bass, Washington, DC | Jake Singer, Johannesburg, South Africa | James Bernard Cole, Washington, DC | Jarri Hasnain, Leesburg, VA | Jeffrey Hensley, Ellicott City, MD | Joana Fischer, Ahlen, Germany / Miami, FL | John Franzen, Aachen, Germany / Maastricht, Netherlands | Joshua Bennett, Richmond, VA | Justin Wood, Miami, FL | Karine Falleni, Tucson, AZ | Madeleine Cutrona, Baltimore, MD | Magali Hébert-Huot, Jim Leach + Zack Ingram, Quebec City, Canada / Baltimore, MD | Mercedes Teixido, Claremont, CA | Nara Park, Seoul, South Korea / Washington, DC | Nicole Salimbene, Takoma Park, MD | Rachel Schmidt + André Singleton, Arlington, VA / Brooklyn, NY | Rebecca Ruige Xu, Beijing, China / Syracuse, NY | Sebastian Martorana, Baltimore, MD | Sha Sha Feng + Tami Gold, Brooklyn, NY | Sheldon Scott, Washington, DC | Stephen Hendee, Baltimore, MD | Sui Park, Seoul, South Korea / Brooklyn, NY | Tatiana Gulenkina, Washington, DC | Terence Hannum, Parkville, MD | Travis Beauchene, Fargo, ND | Trisha Kanellopoulos, Munich, Germany

FAIR HOURS + ADMISSION:

> Thursday, October 2
5pm – 7pm / (e)merge VIP & Press Preview. By invitation only.
7pm – 9pm / OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW
9pm - 11pm / Concert by the Pool with Furniteur, Pleasure Curses, and Chris Burns (dj set)
> Friday, October 3: 12pm – 7pm
Students with valid ID free: 12pm – 3pm
> Saturday, October 4: 12pm – 7pm
> Sunday, October 5: 12pm – 5pm

Trawick Prize

A friendly reminder that the annual Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards exhibit opens in two weeks on Wednesday, September 3 at Gallery B in Bethesda. The exhibit will showcase the work of this year’s nine finalists who were selected from more than 400 applicants. The award winners will be announced on September 4.

The public opening reception will be held Friday, September 12 from 6-9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk. Gallery hours for the duration of the exhibit are Wednesday through Saturday, 12 – 6pm.

Larry Cook, Landover Hills, MD

Lisa Dillin, Baltimore, MD

Neil Feather, Baltimore, MD

Zoe Friedman, Baltimore, MD

Nicole Lenzi, Baltimore, MD

Kim Llerena, Washington, D.C.

Jonathan Monaghan, Washington, D.C.

Martine Workman, Washington, D.C.

Naoko Wowsugi, Washington, D.C.

Here come the Pandas!

CALL TO ARTISTS: REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS THE PANDA PROJECT

Deadline for Submission EXTENDED: September 2, 2014

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) is pleased to join with the DC Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA) to invite local artists or artistic teams to provide two- dimensional design proposals for a pre-fabricated panda sculpture.

Individual Artists and Artistic Teams are requested to respond to this Call to Artists with professional and emerging qualifications. Artists or teams are asked to submit up to three (3) designs in the form of two-dimensional drawings, renderings or paintings. Digital media designs illustrating the design on the panda and mixed media proposals will also be accepted.

Artists must be able to replicate the design in a three-dimensional format -hence the panda sculpture as pictured (below).

Background:

The Panda Project is part of a special artistic exchange for the District of Columbia's Sister Cities Program within the DC Office of the Secretary. In late September 2014, a Chinese Delegation from Beijing will visit the District for a series of events and programs. The panda statue will be used to highlight the city as a symbol of cultural and economic exchange between the District of Columbia and the Chinese Embassy.

Eligibility:

This opportunity is open to artists based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (including surrounding areas in Maryland and Virginia) with special preference given to artists living in Washington, DC.

Budget:

The selected artist will receive a $4,000.00 honorarium, which will include design fee and all costs associated with design execution, materials and travel. The applicant should also have an appropriate studio space that can accommodate the sculpture during the painting process. Transportation of the panda sculpture to and from the studio space and associated costs will be covered by DCCAH.

Timeline:

July 11, 2014	Release of Invitational Request for Proposals
September 2, 2014, 5:00 PM EST	EXTENDED Deadline for receipt of application materials
Week of September 2, 2014	Review proposals and select finalist
September 2014	Project execution and completion
TBD September/October	Sculpture dedication

Selection Criteria: DCCAH will convene a Selection Committee representing diverse interests and expertise to review proposals and qualifications of the applicants that respond to this call. The committee will use the following criteria in selecting a finalist for the project, which candidates should address in their letter of interest:

• Artistic excellence and innovation as evidenced by past work.
• Creativity in enriching the public realm, streetscape or other public environments and the ability to animate public space.
• Manner in which the artist interprets cultural, social and aesthetic intersections between the District of Columbia and the Republic of China.
• Ability to connect with and engage the local community as well as the visiting public.
• Ability to work within a condensed and aggressive timeline (2-3 weeks for project completion).

About the Panda Statue:The pre-fabricated panda sculpture is fabricated from polyurethane and foam insulation with a steel armature inside the body of the statue for stability.

The statue is primed with stratum white powder and weighs 150 lbs. It will be mounted on a 500 lb. cement base. Specific recommendations for painting and/or adhering materials on the panda will be provided in detail to the selected artist or artist team.

Dimensions:

Statue - 54" (H) x 42" (W) Base - 46" (W)

Figure Now

"Figure Now"

An Exhibition of Contemporary Figurative Sculpture, Paintings and Drawings

Marlboro Gallery

Prince George's Community College

www.pgcc.edu

301 Largo Road, Largo Maryland 20774

301-322-6000

August 25 - October 2

Reception: September 18, 6 pm - 8pm

At some point, the serious study of the human figure becomes an important part of every art student's college studio art experience. How do contemporary professional visual artists interpret the figure?

"Figure Now" features a diverse range of sculptures, paintings, and drawings by figurative artists at different career points. The exhibition seeks to provide the visitor with opportunities to consider contrasting and common threads among their artwork. Some of the artists featured are Genna Watson, Adam Bradley, Jody Mussoff, Susan Yanero, and Erik Thor Sandberg.

“Figure Now” opens to the public at the Marlboro Gallery on the campus of Prince George's Community College August 25^th and runs through October 2^nd.  A reception for the artists will be held on Thursday, September 18^th, 6pm - 8pm.

A Field Guide to the Psychology and Practicalities of Becoming a Successful Artist

“Art is a form of consciousness,” Susan Sontag wrote in her diary. But for many working artists, who straddle the balance between creativity and commerce, art swells into a form of uncomfortable self-consciousness — something compounded by a culture that continually pits the two as a tradeoff. Cartoonist Hugh MacLeod captured this perfectly in proclaiming that “art suffers the moment other people start paying for it.” Such sentiments, argues artist Lisa Congdon in Art, Inc.: The Essential Guide for Building Your Career as an Artist (public library), are among the most toxic myths we subscribe to as a culture and reflect a mentality immeasurably limiting for creative people.

 Details here.

The Montreal Gazette on Lida Moser

Read an excellent piece in the Montreal Gazette on Lida Moser's passing here.

Photographer Lida Moser with ethnographer Luc Lacourcière and Quebec politician Paul Gouin, in front of Hotel Le Pic de l’ Aurore, Percé.

Photograph by: Lida Moser, 1950

The WCP on Lida Moser

Christina Cauterucci has authored a very cool article in the WCP about Lida Moser.

Perhaps her most famous photograph, "Judy and the Boys," a fashion shoot that took a turn for the hilarious when the model flipped a bunch of rowdy interlopers the bird, is one of the Library of Congress' most-requested photos for reproduction. Campello says Moser had a razor-sharp memory when it came to her past work. "You could point to one of her old photographs and she’d know the name of every one of the kids," he tells Arts Desk.

 Read the article here.

Artists' Opportunities

Maryland Art Place (MAP) is happy to announce three separate opportunities for artists working in the DC, Maryland and Virginia region. Each project presents an opportunity to receive either a cash reward or stipend. MAP is excited to make these opportunities available through valued partnerships with CyberPoint International, Harbor East Management Group, Neighborhood Design Center (NDC) and Art Lives Here.

In partnership with CyberPoint International, MAP is releasing an opportunity specifically geared towards female artists of the greater Baltimore metropolitan area.  Collectively, MAP and CyberPoint wish to commission a new work of art, as well as license the image of that new work of art, offering $750 in compensation for the original work and license. The image of that artwork will be reproduced in a limited edition and presented to the guests of CyberPoint’s Women in Cyber Security reception on October 29th, 2014.  The reception is meant to facilitate connections between women working in cyber security with the work embodying the theme of “creating connections” (social networks, computer networks, support networks.)  

Window Wonderland, a Holiday Arts Exhibit at Harbor East, is in its third year and is seeking unique, holiday presentations/installations for the participating retail locations within the Harbor East corridor.  Selected artists will receive a $500 honorarium from Harbor East.  During the unveiling, a jury consisting of Cara Ober, artist and Founder/Owner of BMoreArt, Priya Bhayana, Director Bromo Arts District, and Jessica Bizik, Editor in Chief of Baltimore Style Magazine will announce the “Best in Show” window installation, and this artist or artist collective will receive a $1,000 cash prize from Harbor East!

MAP, in partnership with Neighborhood Design Center (NDC) and Art Lives Here, are seeking proposals for a fall, 2014 IMPACT project at the former Northeastern Supply building lot in Brentwood, Maryland.  Proposed projects should engage community participation either before or during the life-span of the work.  Artists should seek to create a re-envisioned public space incorporating the use of contemporary fine art and design practices. The selected artist/artist team will receive a stipend up to $6,000 for the completion of this work.

For details, deadlines and applications artists should visit MAP’s website at www.mdartplace.org.

Mail Art Show

Deadline: August 15, 2014 

INTERNATIONAL MAIL ART POSTCARD SHOW

Enter up to three postcards. Send to:

Art by the Sea Gallery

175 2nd St

Bandon OR 97411

Open theme. No online entries, mail only. 

Cards become property of the gallery. Online documentation provided during show,

September and October 2014 on website. No entry fee. 

Details here or artbytheseagalleryandstudio@gmail.com

Photographer at the Altar of Contemporary Photography

Below you will find a sampling of images from the new work "Photographer at the Altar of Contemporary Photography." The work randomly samples the internet for well-known photographers as well as lesser known, but interesting photographic images (interesting to me anyway) and culls them into the piece for 5-10 seconds.

"Photographer at the Altar of Contemporary Photography"
Charcoal, conte and embedded video player. 37 x 25 inches.
2014 by F. Lennox Campello

Lida Moser passing noted in foreign press

Montreal's Le Devoir has a huge article on the passing of Lida Moser. Read it here.

Le Journal de Quebec also has an extensive tribute to Moser's photo legacy. Read that here.

And Radio Canada has a nice report on her life at http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/arts_et_spectacles/2014/08/13/009-deces-de-la-photographe-lida-moser.shtml

Locally, we're still waiting for the local media to write something... cough, cough...

News flash: The National Fine Arts Museum of Quebec (Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec) is preparing a retrospective of Lida's Quebec photography for next February.

MPA Looking for new Executive Director

McLean Project for the Arts 
Executive Director

Position Description:

McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) has an immediate need for an innovative, strategic leader with a demonstrated record of success in the not-for-profit world to serve as its Executive Director.  The Executive Director will lead and grow the organization at a time of tremendous excitement and momentum in the DC metropolitan area’s burgeoning art scene.

MPA is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) visual arts center founded in 1962 with a mission to exhibit the work of emerging and established artists from the mid-Atlantic region; to promote public awareness and understanding of the concepts of contemporary art; and to offer instruction and education in the visual arts. MPA enriches a community hungry for high quality visual arts by providing museum quality exhibitions and creating a cultural destination. MPA’s beautiful 2,000 square foot Emerson Gallery provides one of the few spaces available in the DC metropolitan region for large sculpture and installations.  MPA offers a wide variety of professionally taught art classes for adults, teens and children including Family Art Workshops, artist talks and workshops, and tours to area museums and galleries. MPA’s award winning ArtReach program takes art instruction into Fairfax County Public Schools and senior centers, and brings students, seniors, and those with special needs into our galleries for exhibition tours and hands-on art activities.  MPA currently has a staff of 10 full and part-time professionals, hundreds of volunteers, an annual operating budget of approximately $800,000.  MPA also benefits from an actively engaged Board of Directors comprised of community members, business leaders and arts professionals.

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will be responsible for the organization's achievement of its mission through innovative strategies in fundraising and programming. The Executive Director will ensure that the financial, administrative, and operational activities of MPA, including its galleries and studio, function at the highest levels and in accordance with the organization’s mission and values.

The Executive Director of MPA will be expected to maintain a strong, visible presence in the community, strengthen current funding relationships and develop new, diverse sources of funds that ensure the organization will achieve sustainable growth and financial stability. This position offers the opportunity for an entrepreneurial leader to have a true impact on the DC area’s cultural landscape while ensuring that MPA will be a national leader in its field.

Requirements:

• A minimum of five years experience as a non-profit executive with fundraising and management responsibility.
• Demonstrated success in fundraising with foundations, corporations, government entities and individuals.
• Knowledge of, or keen interest in, the visual arts.

• Familiarity with the Washington D.C. metropolitan area including potential funding sources in the market.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to leverage limited resources through effective delegation in order to manage multiple, competing priorities.
• A creative, innovative, and strategic thinker with extraordinary interpersonal skills who enjoys building relationships across stakeholder groups.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

• Able to create and lead a vibrant team environment with staff, Board and other stakeholders to achieve organizational objectives. 
• Desire to participate actively in MPA’s lively schedule of activities and events weekdays, evenings and weekends.
• Bachelor’s Degree

Compensation:

This is a full time, on-site position.  Compensation in the range of $55,000 – 70,000, depending on the qualifications and experience of the candidate.

Applications:

Please send letter, resume and references to:
jobs@mpaart.org

McLean Project for the Arts is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values workplace diversity.

Website: www.mpaart.org

Where is Sprouse now? On TV that's where!

We opened the Fraser Gallery in Georgetown's Canal Square complex in 1996. At the time, there were several galleries in that square: Parrish, MOCA, Alla Rogers, Veerhoff and eklektikos... at one point more galleries came in and once upon a time there were seven in total.

eklektikos (with a small "e") was the hard working gallery run by George Thomasson and his partner Michael Sprouse.

Sprouse was and remains a brilliant artist, and while he lived in the DMV, he was often considered amongst the top young contemporary painters in the area.

eklektikos moved to the 7th Street corridor sometime in the mid 2000s - to the building there that used to house multiple galleries and art dealers, across the street from Zenith, and next to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. They were kind enough to offer me a solo show, which I accepted and which sold really well... In fact, one of my drawings from that show, which at the time probably sold for around $200, showed a while back at a Sotheby's auction and went at auction for $1,100!

Cool, uh?

Anyway, a few years later, Sprouse and Thomasson relocated to Delaware, and now live by the ocean... must be nice!

In addition to continuing to create art, Sprouse is breaking new ground...

Tomorrow on WRDE TV, the Delmarva's NBC affiliate, Sprouse makes his debut with the WRDE NBC Coast TV Arts & Entertainment Report - the initial debut takes place tomorrow evening during the 6:00 and 11:00 PM news. 

For Delmarva area residents, WRDE broadcasts in HD on channels 209 and 809 on Comcast (also in Standard Definition on Channel 9 on Comcast). For viewers with Direct TV and Dish Network, use channel 31. For over the air non-cable or dish viewing, use channel 31.1.

Go Michael! We wish you the best!