A letter from the new WPA Director

In the past 100 days, I have met with 100 DC-area artists. Not individually, but in groups. We've met in studio buildings, in bars, here at WPA's new gallery. I asked them lots of questions. I listened and took notes. It was a real wake-up call.

 

One of the things I heard time and again was that artists are fleeing our city. There are two principal reasons for this. First, DC has gotten too expensive, so they are moving to the Virginia and Maryland suburbs. Or they are migrating to Baltimore or Los Angeles. The point is, while the population of DC grows, its artist population shrinks.

 

The second reason artists are leaving is because there just aren't many opportunities left for them here. The Corcoran and a number of  important galleries have closed. The (e)merge art fair is on hiatus. Where are artists to exhibit? How can they sell?

 

These conversations underscored for me WPA's great responsibility to this community. It isn't enough for us to simply present exhibitions and events. We need to find ways to retain the existing talent so vividly in evidence in the Auction Gala Exhibition.

 

"But how?" you ask.

 

Well, one immediate way is to attend our Auction Gala on April 9  and buy some art. Proceeds from that event are split 50-50 between the artists and WPA. You can buy tickets here.

 

Beyond that, this is a much longer conversation that I look forward to having with you over the coming year. Stay tuned for more on this subject. In the meantime, let's celebrate and support the artists still in our midsts. I will see you at the Gala.

 

Yours,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Peter Nesbett, Executive Director

Dr. Fred to get Alice Denney Award

I am thrilled to report and announce that my good friend and DMV ubercollector Frederick P. Ognibene (or Dr. Fred as we call him) is the recipient of the WPA's 2016 Alice Denney Award for Support of Contemporary Art. 

The award will presented by Andres Tremols at the opening reception of the WPA Auction Exhibition, March 31, 2016 at 8pm.

Frederick P. Ognibene is a Washington, DC-based collector of contemporary art who for decades has has been an avid supporter of artists and arts organizations in the District. He is respected and loved by many for his unflappable loyalty to causes he believes in, his optimism, his kindness and compassion, and his extraordinary knowledge of the history of local contemporary art.

"Fred's encyclopedic knowledge of the people and events involved in the DC contemporary arts scene is testament to his dedication to that community, for decades now."
-Jim Ritter, WPA Chair

When he stepped down from the Washington Project for the Arts' (WPA) Board of Directors last summer, Fred was its longest serving member. He first joined the Board of Directors in 1995-just prior to the organization's merger with the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He co-chaired the annual WPA/Corcoran's art auction for three consecutive years (1997-99). From 2011 to 2013, he served as the WPA's Chair. Though no longer on the Board of Directors, he remains committed to the WPA, as evidenced by his serving as a co-chair of this year's WPA Auction Gala.

"Fred is a pillar of the DC contemporary arts community and we are lucky to have had his energy, time, and commitment for the last almost twenty years."
-Kim Ward, past WPA Chair

Fred began collecting contemporary art in 1984 and is an avid supporter of emerging and mid-career artists. Today, his collection includes nearly 350 works by local, national, and international artists. He takes much pride in getting to know the artists whose work he owns.

"Do you know the simultaneous thrill and comfort of being in Fred Ognibene's presence? I do, and I am proud to be one of the many artists he has known and supported for more than a decade. May we all lead lives as visionary, vibrant, and hard fought as Fred's and Alice Denney's."

-Maggie Michael, artist, Washington, DC

In addition to his service to WPA and his collecting, Fred Ognibene has supported Washington, DC's art community in other ways. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Cultural Development Corporation of DC as well as on its Arts Incubator ("Flashpoint") Committee. He is a past member of the Hirshhorn Contemporary Acquisitions Council and its Curators' Circle. He has served on the Host Committee of (e)merge Art Fair in Washington, DC and was recently asked to become a member of the inaugural Host Committee for Untitled Art, San Francisco, in 2017. Many works in his collection have been loaned to museums and other arts organizations for their exhibitions and he has donated works to the permanent collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

"Fred's collection is both profound and critical. And he has inspired others to become more courageous in what they collect."
-Jason Gubbiotti, artist, Paris, France

Fred Ognibene resides in Washington, DC. He works at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where he is the NIH Clinical Center's Deputy Director for Educational Affairs and Strategic Partnerships. He holds a MD degree from Cornell University Medical College and a BA in Biology magna cum laude from the University of Rochester.

 "Dr. Fred rocks!"
-Lenny Campello, Jack of all trades, Master of All, Potomac, MD

ABOUT THE ALICE DENNEY AWARD

Initiated a decade ago, the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) Alice Denney Award for Support of Contemporary Art is named for Alice Denney, the founder of the WPA, and is presented annually to honor an individual who supported the organization for many years and has made a sustained commitment to the greater DC arts community.

Past recipients*:

Molly Rupert (2012)
William Christenberry (2011)
James F. Fitzpatrick (2010)
Jack Rasmussen (2009)
William Paley (2008)
Robert Lehrman (2007)
Kevin MacDonald (2006)
Susan and Dixon Butler (2005)

*Note: The award was not given from 2013-2015

(e)merge art fair news

From the (e)merge art fair folks:

The (e)merge art fair plans to expand into a larger venue in Washington, DC. Because we are currently focused on making the transition to a new event location, the next edition of the fair will take place in 2016. We eagerly anticipate announcing our new venue in the coming months.

 

Building on the success of (e)merge to date, we will enlarge our format to include a variety of booth options for gallerists while reinforcing the experimental spirit of the independent artist platform. We believe this is the best trajectory for effective growth as we plan the fifth edition of the fair.

 

DC leadership recognizes (e)merge’s role in the city’s cultural future: “With iconic arts institutions like the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center, and exciting new initiatives like the (e)merge art fair…cultural tourism is one of the city’s growing sectors. As Mayor, Muriel Bowser will work with the arts and business communities to create the synergies needed to grow our creative economy to rival New York and Chicago.” - The Bowser Administration Transition Plan.

  

We would like to thank our gallery and artist exhibitors, host committee, vetting committees, cultural partners, sponsors, media partners, panelists, and attendees for supporting the first four editions of (e)merge. We look forward to keeping you updated as we fulfill our new vision and re(e)merge in our new venue!

 

Sincerely,

 

Jamie Smith + Leigh Conner

Connersmith has a new building

From Connersmith:

Leigh Conner and Jamie Smith are delighted to announce the purchase of 1013 O Street, NW, Washington, DC as the new home for the CONNERSMITH gallery and the (e)merge art fair offices. 
The three-story building, built circa 1900, is situated in the heart of the Shaw Historic District, within two blocks of Logan Circle, Blagden Alley, and Naylor Court; within four blocks of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and Mt. Vernon Square Metro Station; and within walking distance of many of the city’s major art museums.
 
“We are excited to create an ideal space where collectors and curators will experience our artists’ works. We have engaged the acclaimed HapstakDemetriou+ architecture/design team to realize our vision of blending technological innovation with the original character of the historic structure.” – Leigh Conner
 
“It is extremely inspiring to share in the revitalization of Shaw. The cosmopolitan energy of this great DC neighborhood is the perfect environment for contemporary art. We are thrilled to deepen our investment in the nation’s capital as our international outreach continues to expand.” – Jamie Smith
 
Founded in 1999, in Washington, DC, CONNERSMITH launches groundbreaking exhibitions of works in diverse media. The gallery maintains long-term representation of internationally influential artists who are based in DC, the US, and abroad and works with important Collector and Artist Estates.

 

Mathematics and the art fair model

Much has been written about the phenomenon of art fairs as the new salons of the 21st century, as magnets where galleries congregate and collectors and curators, and celebrities, and the illuminati go to see and buy art. Furthermore, anecdotal figures from the major fairs seem to confirm that a lot of artwork is being sold by galleries at the fairs. My own experience in doing art fairs for the last ten years confirms this fact - I have my own positive empirical evidence, most recently with the great Context Art Miami fair for the past two years.

Here in the DMV, we've had our own taste of a major "Miami style art fair" with artDC in 2007 - and that fair was a major failure, as that basic fair model didn't work in the Greater Washington area, which historically has a well documented degree of apathy when it comes to actually buying art or getting the main stream press interested... or the immense reluctance that suburbanites have in driving to DC over the weekend to parking-challenged areas.

Subsequently to that epic art fair failure, the (e)merge art fair - a hotel variation of the "art fair inside a huge building/tent" model, where the fair is held in a hotel (in this case the Capitol Skyline Hotel) - has had more success

And yet... an idea that I have been mulling in my head for years now keeps bugging me.

Stick with me here.

There's another "world" out there of fine art fairs that, because of the curious high brow attitude of the "high art" cabal, never really gets any attention from the art media, etc.

These are the outdoor art fairs that some of us know well, and many more others think they know well even though they've actually never been to any of the good ones. I am talking about the outdoor art festivals that get ranked as the top ones by Sunshine Artist magazine; fairs such as the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver, or the Ann Arbor Arts Festival (actually four separate art fairs that draw over half a million visitors), and of course, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival in Miami, which routinely attracts about 150,000 visitors in the Miami area.

Immediately the clueless sap esso tutto who have never been to one of these top-of-the-line outdoor art festivals will think and imagine what they visualize as an outdoor art market: dried flowers, teddy bears and watercolors of barns. 

Don't get me wrong, there are thousands and thousands of these type "art" fairs around as well - but those are NOT the ones that I am talking about.

I am talking about the cream of the Sunshine Artist Top 200 list. These are shows where only original art, not reproductions, are allowed, and photography has very severe rules (must be done by the photographer, limited editions only, signed, archival processes only, etc.). These shows are highly competitive to get in (they're juried), and usually offer quite a lot of money in prizes for the artists. The jurors vary from museum curators, art center managers, art critics, artists, etc.

I guess I'm saying that there's some curatorial legitimacy to them as well... for the elitista amongst you.

But the real destination to which I am driving here is attendance: thousands.

Locally in our area, there are several of these exceptional fine arts outdoor festivals: The Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival attracts around 30,000 people; the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, and the Bethesda Row Arts Festival also attract those numbers of people and are all highly competitive.

Consider the median income in either Bethesda ($185K) or Reston ($105K), and what you get out of it is a lot of people with a lot of disposable income. As a whole, the DMV itself has a median household income of around $90K - that ranks highest among the U.S.'s 25 most populous metro areas.

Art price tags at these local fairs range from $100 to $20,000. So there's a somewhat comparable universe of prices to the DC area gallery market, as an example.

And I submit that a lot of the people who attend one of these outdoor fine art festivals do not have the "formation," as a Communist would say, to dare set foot in a white cube gallery... and have probably never heard of Art Base Miami Beach.

If Mohammed won't come to the mountain gallery, then bring the gallery to Mohammed (don't kill me radical "non-Islamic" Islamonazis).

So here's the issue that has been brewing in my head:

All of these huge and highly successful outdoor arts festivals (as far as I know) only allow individual artists to sell their work at the fairs. Why doesn't an enterprising fair organizer go one step further and add a whole new angle to the outdoor arts festival and set aside a whole section for independent commercial fine arts galleries? 

Or even better: create an outdoor gallery-only fair with one of those huge tents like they do in Miami? But somewhere in the DMV with plenty of parking and/or Metro Access?

Because the entry price point is a substantial fraction of what it costs to sign up for a gallery art fair such as the 26 or so fairs during Art Basel Miami Beach week, the financial mathematics of this idea make sense to both sides of the equation.

For fair organizers, they could offer the gallery a basic price tag of $2000 for the weekend, which (for an additional fee) would include a 10 feet by 20 feet double tent and display equipment. Or -- and this is a big or -- the organizer, in order to attract the art galleries, could offer them zero entry fee and instead a 10% commission on all sales. This may get a little sticky in the monitoring of sales and unreported sales by art dealers who lack ethics and scruples, so a flat fee is probably the best and easiest idea.

Another option: Align with the Smithsonian Institution and set up a giant tent on the National Mall. We all know of at least a dozen other fairs - none of them art - that do this on a regular basis on the Mall.

The Washington Art Fair on the National Mall!

For the gallery it would offer them an opportunity to expose their artwork to possibly thousands of new potential collectors, exposing most of them, for the first time, to an art gallery.

It's all in the numbers.

No art gallery that I know gets 30,000 visitors a year, much less in a weekend. Would any of them turn down an opportunity, for a reasonable amount of money (much, much less than it costs them to advertise in an art magazine that will only reach a few hundred people in their local area), to expose themselves to a few thousand potential new clients?

You do the math: 1% of 1% of 30,000 people is 3 new sales over a weekend. Not even to mention the possible future sales of new people who become exposed to the gallery at the festival, and start attending openings: new blood collectors.

I would do it.

Now let's see some enterprising art fair organizer run with this.

Comments welcomed.

A few thoughts on (e)merge and the theory of Thermodynamics

The fourth edition of the (e)merge art fair just concluded on Sunday, and I feel pretty sure that I can take a decent shot at guessing that the fifth iteration will come next year.

I remember how surprised the DMV art scribes were in announcing (e)merge's return for a second iteration in 2012. After all, the international art fair model, so successful in most of the planet's capitals had been tried  before here, most recently by ArtDC, and had been an abject failure.

The DMV "art press" was really surprised!

"People in DC just don't buy art," will tell you failed gallerists and failed art dealers (and most DMV artists).

In any endeavor, the reasons for failures usually appear to trump the reasons for success (and thus why many slackers love socialism as long as somebody else is willing to work hard), and thus the scribes' 2012 surprise that (e)merge was returning was but a true representation of shock from the scant DC area art press; they all but expected for (e)merge to fail. 

When it came back in 2013, and again this year, the surprise was somewhat lessened, and the hardworking bloggers added impetus to the drive. The mainstream media's "lessened surprised" will hopefully never be replaced by the DMV mainstream media's usual attitude towards the capital region's visual arts: apathy.

In fact the WaPo is a 2014 sponsor - Yay!

Back on track: It is clear that (e)merge's continuity is mostly the result of Connersmith's dynamic duo partners' hard work and faith on the DMV visual arts future.  Jamie Smith and Leigh Conner are savvy, experienced and connected art world personalities, and they are not afraid of hard work, extraordinary leaps of faith on the promise of the future, as well as the occasional ass kick... to make things happen. 

But I think that the most positive result to that unexpected continuity for DC's only art fair model (and as I think the near future will show) is that (e)merge is now providing a bridge to what can best be described as a kindling new revival to the DMV visual art scene.

Think warmth.

The "outside the DMV" art cabal is sensing something here in the area... I know this because there's no one on this planet that knows more about the DMV visual art scene than I do.

That was not irony, that is fact, and my evidence is that I am constantly getting emailed, queried, called, probed and asked for data, info, opinion and input about a diverse and mind-blowing set of issues all centered on the focus of DMV visual arts... this has happened for years, after all, I am an eloquent, erudite, outgoing, high IQ, likable, sexy, good-looking, hard working person who doesn't think of any of this stuff as "work."

Newspaper editors, everybody else's art critics, radio, art fair organizers, artists, gallerists, blah, blah, blah... they are all always reaching out to me for the most precious thing on the universe: Information.

And there's a theory (actually a law) of thermodynamics that is also adapted to other fields and now often used to predict (of all things) a virus or cyberspace attack (before it happens) based on the second law of thermodynamics as exemplified by the flow of hot water through a pipe... cough, cough.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you probably are really, really good at what you do, but stand zip chance of being invited to join Mensa.

And that law of thermodynamics, which when first discussed over a decade ago in application to cyberspace traffic was laughed at, can now routinely be applied to nearly everything dealing with information.

The DMV visual art scene's water is warming up folks... and (e)merge's continuity is a big part of it... is it the gas heater heating the pipe? or the warming water running though it? Not sure, and there's very little tangible evidence to prove what I am submitting here, but listen to the Lenster when he tells you that there are a lot of excited Rydberg atoms in the DMV visual arts waters, as the temperature of a group of particles (of which (e)merge is a key one) is always a great indication of the level of excitation of a system.

There are (of course) notable exceptions to this rule, such as systems that exhibit negative temperature -- like the DMV mainstream press, which (ever since Gene Robinson killed the visual arts coverage of the Washington Post's Style Section a few years ago when he was sadly made the Style Section editor for a disastrous few years), continues to fail to inform its diminishing readership about the plastic arts.

When it all happens, whatever it is about to happen with the DMV visual arts scene in the near future, they will be surprised and shocked once again...

Go (e)merge! See ya next year! And... Thank You!

ProPanels at (e)merge

Another option to show work at (e)merge is to use ProPanels -- it is a truckload of work to haul these panels to the second floor, but they allow galleries to hang much heavier work than Command hook allow. It also provides a way to hang some lights on the panels.

In this pic by Anne Marchand, you can see work by Simon Monk on the rear, a sculpture by Elissa-Farrow-Savos on the pedestal and a video piece by me... behind me.

(e)merge on Saturday

Remind me to remind myself that when the Nats are playing, it is not a good idea to be driving around the ballpark when the game ends.

In case you're wondering what a room at the (e)merge art fair looks like, here's the corner showing the work of Judith Peck on the dark wall and Jeannette Herrera on the console and one of my pieces on the stripey wall.

Three of a kind at (e)merge

Tim Vermeulen, Lenny Campello and Judith Peck
(e)merge art fair, Washington, DC
Rooms 205-206, Capitol Skyline Hotel
Photo by Akemi Maegawa

VIP night at (e)merge

Pretty impressive opening at (e)merge last night... good crowds, including significant presence by many of the DMV's museum curators, directors and independent curators, and (of course) the ebullient Mera Rubell.

We had some good opening night sales - five of my pieces and one of Elissa Farrow-Savos' major sculptures (see image to the right), which went to the collection of a well-known DMV art collector.

And a shout out to DMV uberartist Victor Ekpuk, who bought my piece in the WPA's room at (e)merge; it is always an honor when a fellow artist buys your work!

Simon Monk at (e)merge

"Mind the Store"
Oil and Alkyds on Wood by Simon Monk

British painter Simon Monk will be featured at the (e)merge art fair next week in the Capitol Skyline Hotel.

We will be in rooms 205 and 206.

In addition to Monk's amazing work, we will also feature the work of DMV artists Audrey Wilson, Judith Peck, Tim Vermeulen and Elissa Farrow-Savos (who sold over a dozen sculptures at (e)merge last year!).

We will also show the work of former DMV painter (and now a California girl) Jeannette Lilith Herrera.

Need to borrow...

A call out to the DMV arts audience: I am in need to borrow two sets of Pro-panels (http://www.propanels.com) for (e)merge art fair next month... I just need them for about a week during the fair and will gladly trade a piece of original art for them... 

Send me a note if you can lend me some and I will pick them up and return them after the fair.

(e)merge coming up!

We will be in rooms 205 - 206... Please come by and say hello... We will be showcasing the work of Tim Vermeulen, Judith Peck, Jeannette Herrera, Simon Monk, Audrey Wilson, Elissa Farrow-Savos and the kid.

(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

She had a great talent for jumping through hoops

"she had a great talent for jumping through hoops"

2014. Polymer clay, oil paint, found objects

27 x 6.5 x 22 inches by Elissa Farrow-Savos will be at (e)merge art fair this coming October.

Come early... Elissa sold 14 sculptures last year at (e)merge.

A brooding man

"A Brooding Man" is an original watercolor on 300 weight, Ph-balanced, acid free, white paper. It is signed and dated on the lower front margin and on verso. Circa 2014. The painting measures approx. 13 x 13 inches. The watercolor has been professionally float framed in a minimalist black wood frame. Come see it at the (e)merge art fair this coming October.

Major moves

There seem to be all kinds of moves going on around the DMV these days; The Washington Project for the Arts, one of the DMV's leading artist service organizations and contemporary art presenter has announced that the “organization will move to street-level office and gallery space in The JBG Companies' Atlantic Plumbing mixed-use residential and retail development in the U Street Corridor cultural district. As WPA marks its 40-year anniversary milestone in 2015, the new space matches the forward-looking vision for the future of the organization with unprecedented opportunities to expand programming and increase impact within the Greater Washington area.”

WPA will move into 1,500 square feet in the main Atlantic Plumbing building at 8th and V Streets NW - adjacent to the 9:30 Club, DC's renowned music venue - by early fall of 2015, which coincides with the launch of the organization's 40th anniversary celebration.

"We are thrilled to offer our artists and the community a dedicated exhibition space. Combining WPA's administrative offices with new galleries in such a visible, flexible, contemporary space will greatly enhance our programming capabilities," said WPA Executive Director Lisa Gold. "We are imagining exciting new possibilities for our artists, partners, and supporters to experience art and engage in dialogue. And, as we approach this important anniversary milestone, this new space is a transformative step towards an illustrious future for WPA." 

 "WPA is a perfect fit with our vision for Atlantic Plumbing," said Robin Mosle, a JBG Executive Vice President. "We are pleased to partner with this inspiring and longstanding arts organization to bring new access to a wide range of art - not  only to Atlantic Plumbing, but to the immediate community recognized for its rich arts heritage."

The WPA space fronts 8th Street NW and will include a gallery to house exhibitions and events, staff offices, and retail space for original artists' works. The space will operate Monday through Saturday from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m. with occasional evening events.  

 "The U Street corridor is an ideal home for WPA, given its artistic spirit, history, and diversity," said Kim Ward, chair of the WPA Board of Directors. "Since its founding, WPA has programmed and presented exhibitions in a variety of spaces - remaining versatile and responsive to the art of the times, while acting as a leader in creating partnerships with other arts organizations and institutions. We will continue to do that from a location that will provide a strong community hub for the arts with expanded room for programming and exhibitions."

Also moving are art entrepreneurs Leigh Conner and Jamie Smith, who have  announced they are seeking the next DC home for their powerhouse CONNERSMITH gallery and the (e)merge art fair office. Recently, Smith and Conner accepted an offer from the Capital Fringe Festival to purchase their art space in NE Washington, DC.

Smith and Conner moved their business from Dupont Circle NW to the Trinidad neighborhood in NE DC in 2007 when they purchased an auto body shop at 1358 and 1360 Florida Avenue, NE. The art entrepreneurs converted the two-story building and courtyard into an arts space at a time when the area was known for multiple homicides and police checkpoints.

In the renovated space, CONNERSMITH presented, free to the public, 56 solo exhibitions and 10 group shows of art by established, mid-career, and emerging artists, including Leo Villareal, Zoë Charlton, and my former mentoree, the immensely talented Wilmer Wilson IV. A gallery hub formed with the arrival of neighboring galleries, demonstrating the transformative power of art within a resilient community. While based in Trinidad, CONNERSMITH supported its artists’ exhibitions in museums and biennials nationally and abroad and made over 32 presentations at international art fairs. In 2011, Smith and Conner launched (e)merge, DC’s own international contemporary art fair.

“This transition is a natural evolution for us,” said Conner, “We programmed the Dupont Circle space for eight years and our Northeast space for seven years. Now, we are excited to expand our international presence and digital reach while establishing a new exhibition base in DC.”

“Strengthening our international relationships will advance the missions of CONNERSMITH and (e)merge,” explained Smith. “The gallery and the fair are competitive in the global art market and both strive steadily to contribute to DC’s growth into a world destination for contemporary art.”

Smith and Conner are very enthusiastic about Capital Fringe’s acquisition of the property and look forward to the space’s continued arts usage with the realization of Fringe’s vision for their festival’s new permanent home.

CONNERSMITH will celebrate its last exhibition in the Florida Avenue, NE space with the opening of the annual student show, Academy 2014, and pre-fair party for (e)merge, on July 12, 6-9 pm. WaPo story with some misquotes inaccuracies here.

We will be at (e)merge this year again...

We got accepted to the (e)merge art fair!

We will be once again showing in the DMV's only world-class fine arts fair.

We will be exhibiting the work of Judith Peck, Tim Vermeulen, Elissa Farrow-Savos and moi of course!

Details later...

(e)merge art fair deadline approaching!

(e)merge art fair NOW ACCEPTING GALLERY, 

ARTIST APPLICATIONS ONLINE

The fourth edition of the (e)merge art fair will take place October 2-5, 2014, in Washington, DC, at the Rubell Family’s Capitol Skyline Hotel.

The DC region is home to one of the nation’s wealthiest, youngest, most highly educated populations. (e)merge provides inside access to a rapidly expanding cultural market with immense economic power.

EXHIBITOR PROSPECTUS (CLICK HERE)

ONLINE APPLICATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED

GALLERY PLATFORM APPLICATION (CLICK HERE)
The Gallery Platform application deadline is May 30 and notifications will be sent out in June.

Additional information on the EXHIBITOR SERVICES page: CLICK HERE

For additional questions/information: info@emergeartfair.com

(e)merge art fair will take place October 2 – 5, 2014

The fourth edition of the (e)merge art fair will take place October 2 – 5, 2014, in Washington, DC, at the Capitol Skyline Hotel. The Washington Post also returns as the Presenting Sponsor of the fair. We have done the fair multiple times and last year we had a GREAT fair and plan to apply again in 2014.
ONLINE APPLICATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED

GALLERY PLATFORM APPLICATION (CLICK HERE)
ARTIST PLATFORM APPLICATION (CLICK HERE)
EXHIBITOR PROSPECTUS (CLICK HERE)

The (e)merge art fair connects emerging-art professionals from around the globe with collectors, curators and cultural decision makers in Washington, DC. The relaxed environment of (e)merge creates a focused, authentic art experience for a new generation of art consumers in the capital region.

“It doesn't take more than a couple of hours to stroll through compact fairs like Liste in Basel, Independent in New York, Untitled in Miami Beach or (e)merge in Washington, DC, and each has enjoyed increasing cachet in recent years.”

- Kelly Crow, “An Art-Fair Survival Guide” - The Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2014

Metropolitan Washington DC is home to one of the nation’s wealthiest, youngest and most highly educated populations according to recent reports from Forbes, The Economist and The Washington Post. (e)merge delivers inside access to this rapidly expanding cultural market.

In 2013, 80 exhibitors, including Present Company, Brooklyn, NY; NOMAD Gallery, Brussels; and Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, [and Alida Anderson Art Projects, DMV] presented rising talent from all over the world at (e)merge. More than 5,500 art supporters engaged with painting, sculpture, digital media, performance and installation work by 150 artists from 30 countries in the fair’s Gallery and Artist Platforms. (e)merge’s exhibition program inspires a new echelon of art collectors and offers curatorial access to the latest movements in emerging art.

“Because (e)merge is committed to helping gallerists meet the challenges of today’s art market, we have expanded our Gallery Platform with new pricing and format options, offering exhibition spaces on the first three floors of the hotel, including second-floor guest rooms, main-level booths, and spaces in the garage.”
- Jamie Smith, Director, (e)merge art fair

The (e)merge Artist Platform presents a vetted selection of works by independent artists displayed throughout the hotel’s public areas. (e)merge is the only art fair that gives free exhibition space to artists without gallery representation. The 2014 (e)merge Vetting Committee members are: AI WEIWEI, artist, Beijing; MIKA YOSHITAKE, assistant curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; and JEFFREEN M HAYES, director, Rebuild Foundation, Chicago, St. Louis & Omaha.

The 2014 (e)merge Advisory Committee members are: Petra Leene, director, Amstel Gallery, Amsterdam; Amy Raehse, director, Goya Contemporary, Baltimore; José Ruiz, artist/curator, Present Company, Brooklyn; and Yvonne Force Villareal, co-founder, Art Production Fund, New York.

The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, will present the second annual The Phillips Collection Emerging Artist Prize at the 2014 edition of (e)merge. Museum Director Dorothy Kosinski and Curators Klaus Ottmann and Vesela Sretenović will select the winner from works on display at the (e)merge art fair. The Phillips Collection Emerging Artist Prize is made possible by the generous support of Hank and Carol Brown Goldberg.

ONLINE APPLICATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED from GALLERIES and ARTISTS. deadline: May 30, 2014.

Loads of information on the EXHIBITOR SERVICES page.