ArtsMedia News Returns

The second season of the TV show ArtsMedia News returns in a couple of weeks, and we'll be videotaping a segment next week.

As some of you know, I am the talking head (or often voice) discussing the Greater DC area art scene, doing reviews of area shows or interviewing DC area artists and curators.

The show airs on Thursdays at 8:30PM and and Saturdays at 8:30AM on the MHz TV Network.

In some of the next few segments, we'll be covering the Alexandria Festival of the Arts next weekend, and later on I'll be taking the camera crew (maybe next month) through some of the openings of the Dupont Circle galleries on their First Friday Art Walk.

Bethesda Artist Market Returns Sept. 11

On Sunday, September 11, 2005, from 10am-5pm, the Bethesda Artist Market returns to Bethesda Place Plaza, 7700 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda (one block from the Bethesda Metro stop). The event features artwork and fine crafts for sale by nearly 30 regional and local artists working in painting, photography, jewelry, turned wood, blown glass, metalwork and mixed media.

Details here.

---

Arts on Foot Returns September 17

Arts on Foot is a one-day event on September 17, 2005 from 11AM-5PM celebrating arts in the Penn Quarter. The event takes the place both as a street festival and in neighborhood venues and institutions between 4th and 14th Streets, from Pennsylvania Avenue to L Street.

The Art Market is located in the "T-Shaped" Street Festival adjacent to the Hotel Monaco and National Portrait Gallery (currently closed):

Street Festival Location:
F Street, NW between 7th and 9th Streets
8th Street, NW between E and F

In addition to the Art Market artists, museums, restaurants and theaters will have activities in the Street Festival and there will be a stage with music and dance performances.

Details here.

Dawson on Coble

Jessica has a very good interview with Mary Coble in yesterday's WaPo. Read it here.


More on Coble at Conner Contemporary here.

Emergency Relief Fund to assist arts organizations and artists

I'll be donating all the proceeds from my Katrina art auctions (plus my own donations) to the Southern Arts Federation.

The Southern Arts Federation has established an Emergency Relief Fund to assist arts organizations and artists residing in Gulf Coast communities most devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Distribution and decisions on the use of funds will be made by state arts agencies. Donations may be made by check or credit card. Please make checks out to: Southern Arts Federation Emergency Relief Fund.

All donations are tax-deductible. Please, click on the following link to complete the donation form -- here.

David Dombrosky
Contemporary Arts Manager
Southern Arts Federation
1800 Peachtree Street NW
Suite 808
Atlanta, GA 30309
404-874-7244 ext. 22
FAX 404-873-2148

Katrina Art Fundraisers

Below is a listing of area artists who are having artwork for sale/auction and who will donate the proceeds to a reputable charity to help with the Katrina disaster. If anyone else knows of anybody else, please email me. Be generous.

Matt Achhammer

James W. Bailey

F. Lennox Campello

Warren Craghead

Paul Goode

Duane Kaiser and also here.

J.T. Kirkland.

Tracy Lee

Alexandra Silverthorne

Samantha Wolov

DCist looking for art writers

DCist is looking to improve its visual arts coverage, but in order to do that they need writers who are qualified and willing to review galleries, art venues and museum shows.

If you are interested, contact Rob Goodspeed at Rob@DCist.com.

Katrina Art back up at Ebay

I've relisted the artwork that Ebay removed yesterday.

See and bid for one or both of them here. All proceeds will be donated to a reputable Katrina relief fund.


Bid for the Kahlo oil here


Bid for The Morrigan here

Also opening today

JET Artworks has the opening for GO FIGURE! – a group exhibition of 22 artists running from August 31 – October 8.

This exhibit is a survey of artists working in a variety of media – painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and video – all using the human form, face, or figure in some way.

There will be two receptions – September 2 and 9, 6-8pm. JET Artworks is located at 2108 R St. NW 202.232.4407 / hours are Wed-Sat 12-6, Sunday 12-4PM.

Katrina and the Arts

Just follow Bailey's Blog and you'll begin to shake inside your soul at the destruction and loss.

Bailey is doing a spectacular job so far in leading the Arts BLOG reporting from inside the destruction area.

And we all knew that he would, didn't we?

Auctions cancelled by Ebay

In case you're wondering what happened to the two auctions that I had going, to raise some funds for the Katrina victims, they have been terminated by Ebay. They sent me the below email:

We appreciate that you chose eBay to list the following listing(s):

7347481288 - The Morrigan signed Celtic print 4 Katrina Relief Fund
7347617747 - 1981 Frida Kahlo oil portrait signed 4 Katrina relief

However, your listing was in violation of eBay's Charity policy and has been removed from eBay. We have credited all associated fees to your account and notified eBay users associated with the transaction that it has been cancelled.

We would like to take this opportunity to let you know what part of your listing is not permitted.

Your listing(s) contains the following information:

Title States: Katrina Relief Fund
Description States: All proceeds from this auction will be donated to one of the charities helping with the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
Title States: Katrina relief

I've asked Ebay why they terminated it; perhaps they have a blanket policy like this in order to avoid scams.

Update: I've relisted both items. Bid for them here.

Openings

Tomorrow is the first Friday of September and thus usually time for the openings and extended hours of the Dupont Circle area galleries. However, because of the holiday weekend, it seems that some of the area galleries are having the opening receptions next week sometime. Make sure to check their websites for the correct times.

Anyway, I've already mentioned the Mary Coble performance at Conner. This is also the last few days to see the "Introductions" exhibition at Irvine; this is the acclaimed show of some talented young artists who have recently graduated from art colleges on the East coast. The show closes Sat. Sept. 3, 2005.

A few doors down, Washington Printmakers has "Interior Alternatives," recent monoprints and monotypes by Carolyn Pomponio, and they are having a reception for the artist from 6-9PM.

Also on Friday, Monument Snowboards is having their End of Summer Bash at Club FIVE, located at 1214-B 18th Street, NW Washington, DC. Why am I mentioning that event here? Because Kelly Towles, Adam Stab, and Ron Thompson will be exhibiting work at the party, and get this: They're having an open bar from 9:30 to 10:30PM! You can pay $5 instead of $10 if you go here and RSVP. Please go and support a small indie snowboard company and the artists; all for $5 for on open bar hour of fun!

There are loads of new openings next week, both in the District and in Bethesda; check later for those times and places.

Kahlo for Katrina Relief

I've put a second piece of my artwork online at Ebay to raise funds for the victims of Katrina. This piece is an original oil wash on gessoed paper that I did when I was a student at the University of Washington School of Art. It measures 19x15 inches and it is matted to 24x20 inches in a white, pH-balanced, acid free mat.


Bid for it here

The piece is part of my well-documented obsession with the image of Frida that started in 1977 when I first visited Mexico City. It has a very low starting bid price.

Artwork for Katrina Relief Fund

Following the lead of a few other DC area artists, I am putting one of my pieces of artwork for bid on Ebay, and I will donate all proceeds of this and other forthcoming auctions to one of the many relief funds for the victims of Katrina.

On auction is a signed, limited edition print titled "The Morrigan," from my Pictish Series. It has a very low starting bid!

"The Morrigan" is a limited edition, signed and numbered print on paper. Signed, titled, numbered (3 of 10) and dated 2005 in pencil recto on front and also signed, dated and titled in pencil recto on verso. Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and Provenance. Stamped with artist's stamps on verso. The signed print is 3 x 12 inches on 60 weight paper. Matted in a pH-balanced, acid free white mat to 8x20 inches.


Bid for The Morrigan here

The 2005 Trawick Prize

10 Finalists Compete for $14,000 in Prize Money!

Ten finalists will display their artwork at The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards exhibition held at Creative Partners Gallery in downtown Bethesda. The top four winners will be awarded $14,000 in prize monies making this visual art competition one of the largest in the nation. The exhibition will run from September 6 –30, 2005, with a public opening scheduled for Friday, September 9 from 6-9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk.

Creative Partners Gallery is located at 4600 East-West Highway in downtown Bethesda, and gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 12-6pm.

Nearly 400 artists from Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. submitted work to the third annual Trawick Prize. The first place winner will be awarded $10,000, second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A "young artist" whose birth date is after April 8, 1975 will also be awarded a $1,000 prize sponsored by our Fraser Galleries.

The 10 artists selected as finalists are:
Christine Buckton Tillman, Baltimore, MD
Bernhard Hildebrandt, Baltimore, MD
Dean Kessmann, Washington, D.C.
Michele Kong, Baltimore, MD
Gabriel Martinez, Washington, D.C.
Maggie Michael, Washington, D.C.
Jiha Moon, Annandale, VA
Daniel Sullivan, Baltimore, MD
Sonia Denise Tassin, Baltimore, MD
Jason Zimmerman, Washington, D.C.

Entries were juried by Olga Viso, Director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Andrea Pollan, an independent curator, fine arts appraiser and art consultant and Dr. Thom Collins, Executive Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD. Catriona Fraser, my business partner and co-owner of the Fraser Gallery with locations in Bethesda and Georgetown, is the non-voting Chair of The Trawick Prize.

The Trawick Prize was established by Carol Trawick in 2003. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda. She is Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment and past Chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. Ms. Trawick is the owner of an Information Technology company in Bethesda, Trawick & Associates. She is also the generous sponsor of the annual Bethesda Painting Awards.

The second annual Trawick Prize was held in September 2004. David Page from Baltimore, MD, was awarded the 2004 "Best in Show" with $10,000; Jeff Spaulding of Bethesda, MD was named second place and was given $2,000; Randi Reiss-McCormack of Lutherville, MD was bestowed third place and received $1,000, and the 2004 "Young Artist" award of $1,000 was given to Marci Branagan of Baltimore, MD.

For more information, please visit www.bethesda.org or call 301/215-6660.

Slides from Digital Files

A few years ago I posted about making slides from your digital files. It was available through Slides.com.

And now Colorslide.com can make slides from your digital files for as low as $1.65.

Mary Coble's blood

When I was in art school at the University of Washington in Seattle, one of the practices that was in vogue at the cool art places outside campus were "blood etchings," where one would use a scalpel to "draw" on someone's skin (usually the back), very lightly, so that it would just barely open the skin and cause a thin line of blood to appear. Then paper would be applied to the finished "drawing," and a blood etching would be produced. With luck, a second "ghost" image was also then produced.

This Labor Day weekend, at Conner Contemporary, Mary Coble brings that practice to spectacular new heights and will stage a live performance in which hundreds of names of murdered GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-gendered) hate-crime victims will be continuously inscribed all over her body, using a tattooing needle without ink. The action will continue for a period of over ten hours, beginning at 6pm on Friday, September 2nd. The gallery will be open until 8pm that evening. The entire event will be webcast live here.

Throughout the performance contact blood impressions will be made on paper after the tattooing of each name. An exhibition of the prints and performance documentation will then be on view from September 9 - October 22, 2005.

Great Art at Great Prices

Bid online for terrific art at great prices in a benefit auction for Whitman-Walker Clinic.

Bid here.

Interviews

DC's Pretty City has a terrific profile of the Vancouver's street srt scene with interviews of artists weakhand, the dark, Office Supplies Inc. and nokin.

Read it here.

And Dana Ellyn Kaufman answers questions at Black Cat Bone.

And earlier Bailey had Matt Sesow here.

Brutal

I have a brutal work week this whole week, and next week the Campello sisters are coming to visit.

Tons of new shows opening as the art season begins this Friday. Check later for more details.

Silverthorne at 2AM

Alexandra has a great idea!

And she's not even in the shower!

Read her idea here.