Help to fund Alma

From hardworking and super-talented DMV area artist Alma Selimovic:

I am an artist who lives and creates in Mount Rainier, Maryland. I work with metal, but experiment with other materials such as plaster, digital media, photo transfers, fiberglass, etc. I have my own studio and I am involved in my local community, teaching art to kids at Art Works Now.

Six years ago, I would have never thought my life would have taken this direction. As one of the more prominent LGBTIQ activists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I faced violence and threats. In late 2009, I came to the USA where I was granted political asylum.

I was new to USA, hardly making a living, struggling with language and barely making basic connections with other artists. For me, it was hard to imagine going to graduate school, having my own studio, and working endlessly.
But, here I am. Seven years later. I feel blessed to have a life I have. And, I would like to give something back. I took an opportunity to be an artist in residence at the INSTITUT FÜR ALLES MÖGLICHE, for two months (May and June, 2017) in Berlin, Germany. My focus there will be to create live digital drawings of people from Eastern Europe who are queer, trans and/or gender neutral. At the same time, I would like to record their life stories and incorporate them in the final work. I want to capture each person’s uniqueness and give their stories a different kind of voice. Incorporating visual and sound in my work is experimental for me and I am really excited to take that step. My drawings/instalations will be exhibited in Berlin, Bosnia, USA and potentially at a few other locations.

Where your money will go?

I would like to compensate travel and time of all of my models. Most individuals are transitioning or struggling in far worse ways than I ever did. I am turning to you for help. Please donate as little as you can or as much as you want. In return, you will become a part of this project and monitor its progress. You will also get a copy of my work, mailed to you upon my return to the US. If any of my work is sold during the exhibitions, part of the profit will be donated to LGBTIQ organisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Please help me help others tell their stories. Please help me make these stories count. Only together we can make change.

If you are not familiar with my work you can chek it out at www.almaselimovic.com.

Thank you,
Alma

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Hurry!!!! Last minute call for artists!

Not much time... act now!

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through the work of its Employee Resource Groups (ERG), supports local organizations in different ways such as volunteering our time, sponsoring tables at fundraising events, and holding events to promote their work. This year, Latinos in Philanthropy, one of the five foundation ERGs, is hosting ArteFest  on Thursday December 8^th at 2:00pm, as a way of promoting the work of local Latino artists, such as yourselves. This event aims at promoting your work but also our culture among foundation staff and supporting our local Latino arts community.

This event is an opportunity for you to promote your work and make yourself known to an audience who may not necessarily be familiar with your art.   You are welcome to bring your business cards and any other promotional material you would like to distribute.

It will not be possible to hang paintings in the conference room where the event will be held.  Instead, we will provide you with easels as it has been done for past events.  We understand that the standards you may be used to are different due to the high quality of your work; therefore, we thought it was important to communicate this information as soon as possible.   On a personal note, prior to joining the Gates Foundation, I spent 15 years working with many of the area’s museums and galleries and private collectors, focusing on the accessible display of all types of works.   I am happy to address any questions or concerns that you may have, pertaining to the set-up, logistics, and display at this small event.    I may have even installed your work(s) in the past, in one of the public offices in DC, through a partnership my former company had with the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.

Because of the foundation’s nonprofit status, we are also not allowed to compensate you for your time; however, we can refund you for transportation expenses, if necessary.

The foundation is located at: 1300 I Street, NW (near the McPherson Square metro stop). 

If you're interested, please email Laura Casey by Friday, Nov. 26th!

Her email is   Laurie.Casey@gatesfoundation.org

“Unprecedented” Van Gogh Sketchbook Controversy

Two respected art historians ignited controversy on Tuesday when they proclaimed 65 ink drawings in a newly revealed sketchbook to be authentic works by Vincent van Gogh. But the Van Gogh Museum responded swiftly with a wholehearted rejection of the claim. So what are the opposing stories and why are art world experts describing the faceoff as “unprecedented”?

Read the fascinating article by Abigail Cain here. 

At The King Street Gallery

The King Street Gallery presents the 44th Annual Faculty Exhibition. The exhibit opens December 5, with a reception December 8. This exhibition features artwork by notable emerging and established DC artists. The prolific faculty and staff of Montgomery College’s Visual and Performing Arts department exhibit recent work in this annual exhibition. The show includes notable local artists Iona Rozeal Brown, J. J. McCracken, Michael Booker, Jake Muirhead, Renee Lachman, Jeremy Flick, Ellington Robinson, and Kate Kretz, among others.


Representing varied interests and backgrounds, faculty exhibit paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, and more. The 44th Annual Faculty Exhibition includes pieces previously exhibited nationally, as well as never-before seen artwork.


The 43rd Annual Faculty Exhibition runs December 5– January 27 at the King Street Gallery. A reception will be held Thursday, December 8 from 6–8 p.m.


 The event is located at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center.


For more information, visit http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/. Free and open to the public.

Frida Kahlo Painting Rediscovered after 60 Years

Frida Kahlo, Niña con collar, 1929. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.

For six decades, the whereabouts of Frida Kahlo’s 1929 painting Niña Con Collar remained unknown. The only evidence that oil-on-canvas portrait had even existed was a black-and-white photograph taken by Lola Álvarez Bravo in the artist’s catalogue raisonné from 1988. Now, the work has resurfaced at Sotheby’s and is slated to go to auction next week as part of the house’s Latin America: Modern Art sale, with an estimate of $1.5–2 million. But the story of how the work arrived at the auction house is about more than its expected price tag. 

Niña Con Collar has remained with a single owner, one of the artist’s former assistants, since 1955, the year after Kahlo’s death at the age of 47. As a token of gratitude, Kahlo’s husband Diego Rivera gifted the painting to this assistant, who had worked closely alongside the artist at her Mexico City studio.

Read the whole fascinating article by Isaac Kaplan here. 

Blame it on my Navy training

Email from a major Miami glossy magazine comes in yesterday: 

 

"Need 200 words and an image on ABMB week... can you do it?"

 

I respond yes.

 

Just sent it...

 

Shocked editor responds: 

 

"WOW, my favorite new writer. You have no idea how many weeks of pulling teeth it takes me to get 60 words from some people."