DC Arts Center Decathlon

The District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC) announces the DC Arts Center Decathlon. After centuries of specialization in art that has relied on labels like painter, sculptor, photographer, etc., the District of Columbia Arts Center has asked individual artists who work or reside within a 100 mile radius of Washington, DC to submit proposals that explore the significance of what being “unspecialized” means to being a working artist today.

Submissions have been narrowed down by DC Arts Center’s Visual Arts Committee to a slate of semi-finalists: Shanthi Chandrasekar, Lee Gainer, Lisa Rosenstein, and Mary Woodall. These four artists will exhibit their works in the following ten artistic events: Textiles/Fiber Art, Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Photography, Collage, Sound, Video, Conceptual Art, and Sculpture.

During the six-month run-up to the exhibition opening on January 13, 2012, commentators will “cover” the progress of the decathletes as they create the work for the show. The selected commentators, Buck Downs, Ryan and Hays Holladay (Bluebrain), Patrick McDonough, and Karen Joan Topping, have each been assigned an artist and will visit that artist once a month. After each visit the commentator will post interviews, commentaries, photographs, and/or video on DCAC’s blog (www.dcacdecathlon.wordpress.com). Artists are also encouraged to document their progress on the blog.

By hosting this good-natured competition, DCAC hopes to spark debate around the issue of what it means to be the best all-around artist, challenge individuals to try their hand at new disciplines, and give exposure to artists who already embrace working in various media. The competition will take place from July 2011 until the exhibition at DCAC from January 13 to February 5, 2012. The exhibition will culminate in a medal ceremony, but only one artist will walk away with gold.

The Facts:
DC Arts Center Decathlon
July 2011 – February 5, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, January 13, 2012, 7–9pm
Closing and Medal Ceremony: Sunday, February 5, 2012
Contact: info@dcartscenter.org,call 202-462-7833, online at www.dcartscenter.org

Synergy

Synergy is an exhibition of artwork by the Torpedo Factory's 2011 Visiting Artists - who were selected this year by yours truly!

Exhibition Dates: August 11 – 28

Reception: August 11, 6-9pm during Second Thursday Art Night

Location: Site 2 and Site 3 Galleries, Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA

Additional information: To learn more about the Visiting Artist Program click here.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center presents this summer’s 2011 artists in the Visiting Artist Program in an exhibition entitled Synergy. The Visiting Artist Program, the Torpedo Factory Artist Association’s residency program, invites artists both emerging and experienced from around the nation to become a part of its art-making community for a summer. This year’s juror, F. Lennox Campello, international award-winning artist, author of leading art blog Daily Campello Art News, curator, art critic, and writer in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, PA, chose 11 artists for the 2011 summer program. This residency awarded these artists with the opportunity to create in a Torpedo Factory studio from June until August for one, two, or all three months.


This year’s selected artists are: Mark Thomas Anderson (Arlington, VA); M. Chava Evans (Baltimore, MD); Allison Long Hardy (Woodbridge, VA); Katie Latona (Champaign, IL); Heather McCaw (Washington, DC); Emily Moorhead (Cincinnati, OH); Linda Morrell (Castleton, NY); Liza Myers (Brandon, VT); Drew Parris (Stevensville, MD); Fierce Sonia (Alexandria, VA); Kazaan Viveiros (Alexandria, VA).

Synergy stems from the cohesive objective expressed by the visiting artists to fill their time at the Torpedo Factory Art Center (TFAC) with new audience exposure, fresh inspiration from within the TFAC and abroad, and productive studio time that, in totality, amounts to an influential and wholesome experience. Conversely, their synergy translates into quite diverse works that ranges from detritus-based installations to graphite renderings. The exhibition Synergy is centered on this aspect and displays artwork created by each artist during residency and presents interviews conducted at the start of summer on each as well. The exhibited imagery portrays each artist’s perspective and the questionnaire conveys each artist’s anticipations and aspirations for the program in a literary art form. The visiting artists’ unique creativity and individuality permeates through while collectively they comprise this summer’s 2011 Visiting Artist Program.

Join us August 11th from 6-9pm for the opening reception to Synergy held in conjunction with the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s (TFAC) Second Thursday Art Night. Come visit Site 2 and 3 Galleries on the second and third floors of the art center and view synergized art, read insightful interviews, and talk to the visiting artists!

See ya there

Right now...

What book is #47 #39 in Amazon's Bestsellers in Museums & Art Collections Books??

Right now... when this post goes up - don't know about tomorrow, or an hour from now...

Dude!

Reviews Requested

Now that many of you have finally received your copy of the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book in the mail, I'd love some reviews on Amazon.

Click here to post a review.

Drawing: Opportunity for Artists

Herewith a Call for Artists to take part in an exhibition based on the theme of drawing. The title of the exhibition is "Drawing Connections" and brings artists from all over the world together to celebrate the act of drawing on a postcard-sized work.

Details here.

All work will be documented and exhibited during the inaugural exhibition of the Siena Art Institute, 24th Sept 2011. They will also make a free downloadable catalogue from the exhibition with the names of each of the artists, medium and title. A selection committee will choose the winning postcard to be published as the cover design for the exhibition catalogue.

What they request:

- Format: Artwork should be on a postcard-sized surface, paper, card, canvas or other material (15 x 10.5cm)

- Included with work a separate sheet of paper with title, name, date and medium.

- Entry Fee: None

- Title: Drawing Connections

- Medium: Any! Must fit within the dimensions of (15 x 10.5cm)

- Deadline: Sept 15th 2011

- Send to: Drawing Connections, Siena Art Institute, Via Tommaso Pendola 37, 53100 Siena, Italy.

- Contact : info@sienaart.org & www.sienaart.org

Return of works: Work cannot be returned to the artist, unless you wish to make payment-on-delivery arrangements through UPS for the return of your postcard. At the end of the exhibition, the original pieces along with the label information will be collected into a bound portfolio to remain in the collection of the Siena Art Institute library.

Selection: While we intend to display all submitted postcards, we reserve the right to not display artwork with profane or pornographic imagery since the "Drawing Connections" exhibition will take place alongside our community arts programming.

Contact: Lisa Nonken
email: info@sienaart.org
Phone: +39 0577 532001
Website: Click here

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: August 26, 2011

Toys: Re-imagine, Re-invent, Re-discover
October 14, 2011 – January 8, 2012
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center
Prospectus: click here
All media; small to large scale works; cash awards

This exhibit seeks works of art that use toys and children’s playthings as the inspiration, subject matter, and/or medium with the goal of creating playful, amusing, nostalgic, or poignant commentaries on the role of toys in our lives. We all hold fond memories of special toys that yielded hours of entertainment, and many of us can vividly remember when a treasured toy was lost, broken, stolen, or otherwise retired. For these reasons and more, toys can be a powerful art medium, conjuring up both treasured and difficult memories of childhood, past friendships, and other recollections.

From the utterly outrageous to the sappy and sentimental, this exhibit will include all media, small to large scale. The exhibit will be installed in the Main Gallery of the Arts Building, but a small number of outdoor works will be considered for the Sculpture Garden. Cash awards will be presented.

The exhibit will be up during Garden In Lights, Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center’s award-winning holiday light show. In the spirit of the holiday season, and with the thousands of families in mind who will visit during this festive time, the jury seeks works that are engaging, and fun, and above all, playful!

Rebecca D'Angelo on the book release party

Herewith some terrific photographs of the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book release party by the Washington Post's talented photographer Rebecca D'Angelo.

Alexa Meade and Victoria F. Gaitán

Jeff Spaulding, Andrea Pollan and Leigh Conner

Alexa Meade

Alexa Meade

Victoria and Alberto Gaitán

Academy 2011 at Conner

Erwin Timmers and Carolina Mayorga (in the background)

Erwin Timmers and Carolina Mayorga checking out the book

Leigh Conner

Me

Lida Moser and Dr. Alida Anderson de Campello

Steve Krensky, Lida Moser and Dr. Alida Anderson de Campello

Me again

Robin Rose

Academy 2011

Amy Lin

Amy Lin

Pat Goslee, Victor Ekpuk and Lynn Silvester

Manon Cleary

Renee Kitani and Margarida Kendall-Hull

J.J. McCracken

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

Deadline: October 31, 2011

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery seeks entries for the next “Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.” The juried exhibition is open to artists over the age of 18 who may submit portraits in any visual-art medium, including painting, drawing, sculpture, prints, photography, electronic and digital media.

Works must have been created after January 1, 2010.

Submissions may be submitted online at portraitcompetition.si.edu between September 1 to October 31. The work of finalists will be shown in a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, March 22, 2013–January 4, 2014. The grand-prize winner will receive a $25,000 cash award and have the opportunity for a separate commission to portray a remarkable living American for the gallery’s collection. In addition, entrants may be featured on face2face.si.edu, the gallery’s blog, as the competition unfolds. Please visit this website for more information about the submission process.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: Sept. 1, 2011

Lehman College Art Gallery is looking for work indebted to the style and energy of comic book imagery for its upcoming exhibition Under the Influence: The Comics and Contemporary Art (Feb. – May 2012).

The exhibition will explore the topic through a broad range of media. Please send: 1) a CD with up to 5 jpgs,. 2) a printout of each image. 3) a resume. 4) a stamped, self-addressed envelope for return if you want materials back. Address:

Lehman College Art Gallery
Attn: Under the Influence: The Comics
250 Bedford Park Blvd West
Bronx, NY 10468

Book on Ebay stores

For some reason, some of you are having issues getting the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book on Amazon - an alternative is Ebay, where a few book dealers have the book now and it ships free! Check them out here.

In the WaPo

Check out the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book release party great photos by the Washington Posts's Rebecca D'Angelo for The Scene column - see the photos here.

Things we confirmed at the book release party

Last Saturday, as I scanned the large crowd that had braved the extreme heat to gather at Conner Contemporary’s gorgeous gallery space to celebrate the release of the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book, I also absorbed a dozen conversations going on at once, and soaked in a potent sense of artistic community that is the perfect evidence of how wrong some of the art writers around this town are when they describe our artistic community as the visual arts’ world equivalent of the Island of Lost Toys among other negative things.

Powerful and vibrant artistic community, emanating from the space itself, a spectacular gallery setting doing what art galleries have done for many of the District’s neighborhoods: leading the way towards the urban renewal of an entire community.

Intelligent and groundbreaking artistic community, rising from the directors of that space as well; Jamie Smith and Leigh Conner, not only hardworking gallery owners and directors, but forward thinkers who are in the middle of putting Washington, DC on the international art scene via the (e)merge art fair.

Talented and sharing artistic community, spilling from all the artists who came to the event and the many who sent in their best wishes. In that event we saw not only many of the artists in the first book, but also many others who were there to help celebrate the occasion itself.

Caring and generous artistic community, showcased by the multiple offers from other art spaces to host book signings and events related to the artists in the book.

I had not intended for this event to be a book sale event, but rather a celebration of the book itself, and only brought a handful of books with me, expecting that most folks would show up with their own copies, ordered online. For whatever reason, online outlets such as Amazon had quickly run out of their pre-publication orders, and most people had not received their copies, and thus the ones that I had brought with me, which I had purchased from the publisher directly, sold out within a few minutes.

I am told that Amazon has now begun shipping orders and have been re-stocked by the publisher. You can order a copy here or though your local neighborhood bookstore.

I also plan to have a couple more book signing events in the near future; stay tuned for locations.

Thank you to all of you, and now the work for volume two is about to begin!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: Friday, October 28, 2011

The gorgeous BlackRock Center For the Arts is accepting entries for their October 2012 - August 2013 exhibit season.

You can download the prospectus here.

Eligibility: Open to all artists 18 years and over residing in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC.

Special Consideration: Artists who are willing to conduct a lecture or workshop for a BlackRock standard fee will receive special consideration during the selection process.

About the Gallery: BlackRock Center for the Arts gallery is 1500 square feet of exquisite gallery space located in Germantown, Maryland. With its high neutral walls and beautiful windows strategically placed it allows in just the right amount of natural light. The windows are located above the walls which makes it an ideal space for fiber art. BlackRock Center for the Arts takes pride in the eclectic group of artists we have exhibited in the gallery since 2002.

Jurors: Jack Rasmussen: Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC.

Jodi Walsh: mixed medium artist, curator, national speaker, owner and Gallery Director of Gallery 555 in Washington, DC.

Carol Brown Goldberg: professional fine artist and lecturer, Carol has been exhibiting her work locally and internationally over the past 36 years.

Synergy

Synergy is an exhibition of artwork by the Torpedo Factory's 2011 Visiting Artists - who were selected this year by yours truly!

Exhibition Dates: August 11 – 28

Reception: August 11, 6-9pm during Second Thursday Art Night

Location: Site 2 and Site 3 Galleries, Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA

Additional information: To learn more about the Visiting Artist Program click here.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center presents this summer’s 2011 artists in the Visiting Artist Program in an exhibition entitled Synergy. The Visiting Artist Program, the Torpedo Factory Artist Association’s residency program, invites artists both emerging and experienced from around the nation to become a part of its art-making community for a summer. This year’s juror, F. Lennox Campello, international award-winning artist, author of leading art blog Daily Campello Art News, curator, art critic, and writer in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, PA, chose 11 artists for the 2011 summer program. This residency awarded these artists with the opportunity to create in a Torpedo Factory studio from June until August for one, two, or all three months.

This year’s selected artists are: Mark Thomas Anderson (Arlington, VA); M. Chava Evans (Baltimore, MD); Allison Long Hardy (Woodbridge, VA); Katie Latona (Champaign, IL); Heather McCaw (Washington, DC); Emily Moorhead (Cincinnati, OH); Linda Morrell (Castleton, NY); Liza Myers (Brandon, VT); Drew Parris (Stevensville, MD); Fierce Sonia (Alexandria, VA); Kazaan Viveiros (Alexandria, VA).

Synergy stems from the cohesive objective expressed by the visiting artists to fill their time at the Torpedo Factory Art Center (TFAC) with new audience exposure, fresh inspiration from within the TFAC and abroad, and productive studio time that, in totality, amounts to an influential and wholesome experience. Conversely, their synergy translates into quite diverse works that ranges from detritus-based installations to graphite renderings. The exhibition Synergy is centered on this aspect and displays artwork created by each artist during residency and presents interviews conducted at the start of summer on each as well. The exhibited imagery portrays each artist’s perspective and the questionnaire conveys each artist’s anticipations and aspirations for the program in a literary art form. The visiting artists’ unique creativity and individuality permeates through while collectively they comprise this summer’s 2011 Visiting Artist Program.

Join us August 11th from 6-9pm for the opening reception to Synergy held in conjunction with the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s (TFAC) Second Thursday Art Night. Come visit Site 2 and 3 Galleries on the second and third floors of the art center and view synergized art, read insightful interviews, and talk to the visiting artists!

See ya there!

Chris Shea in the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian American Art Museum acquired three furniture pieces in forged iron and cast glass for its permanent collection of notable American craft and decorative arts. The two Cafe Chairs and Arthropod Side Table by Maryland Artist-Blacksmith Chris Shea will be on exhibit at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC beginning October 1, 2011.


Smithsonian Curator Nicholas Bell commented, "Over the past 15 years, Chris Shea has developed a compelling design language that combines traditional furniture forms, muscular ironwork, and luminous cast glass in ways that are at once unexpected and oddly organic.”

The Cafe Chairs have become a signature piece for Shea, with a form derived from traditional bentwood furniture but executed in hot-forged steel, with joinery details more common to large architectural ironwork than fine furniture. The seats are cast in thick contoured slabs of translucent green glass set directly into the iron. The table is of similar design, with the name “Arthropod” referring to the phylum of creatures (such as insects and crustaceans) known for their hard, segmented organic structures.

Chris Shea designs and creates furniture, sculpture, and architectural metalwork at his forge and studio outside Washington, DC. In addition to the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Galllery, his work has been shown at Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia, Woodson Art Museum, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the National Ornamental Metals Museum, and at SOFA Chicago with Maurine Littleton Gallery. A native of Marblehead, MA, Shea studied at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee and at Penland School. He holds a BA in English from Cornell University. Chris Shea's glass work is created in association with the Washington Glass Studio and it's damned amazing in my opinion.

Another Bethesda Gallery Closing

Friday, July 15th was closing day for Anne and James Kim, who’ve run the Orchard Gallery and Framing shop on Norfolk Avenue for the past 10 years. Orchard Gallery was part of downtown Bethesda’s Art Walk, a monthly event whose participating galleries will now number at just eight, (and that’s including shops Bella Italia, Waygoose Redux and restaurant California Tortilla). “Though people appreciate the art, they are cautious about buying,” says James Kim, reflecting a trend that’s caused the demise of other Bethesda galleries, including the Fraser Gallery in March.

The art displayed in his gallery was all local. “There is no need to get national or international art. There are plenty of good artists here in Maryland, Virginia and D.C.,” he says.

Read the report in Bethesda Magazine here.

MOCA DC Responds to WCP Article

The following email from MOCA DC's Director David R. Quammen (posted here with his permission) complains about this article by Kriston Capps (does that sound familiar?) and asks for readers to comment on the issue:

I apologize for sending this so soon after the Sunday night email, but the City Paper has a bad reputation for doing schlock journalism; This is the 2nd time I've been victim of it - last time was in 1996 -- the article that hatchet-man Kriston Capps put a link to in his piece.

So my reason to send this now is to ask you to Send a Message to Michael (Schaffer - editor of City Paper) if you agree that I and MOCA DC were wrongly raked over the coals - I have threatened to sue, and Michael is looking into it. But a few messages here and there might make him clean up the collective City Paper act. Say what you want, but please do it now. go to this article, then let Michael know how you feel.

Michael Schaffer Email: mschaffer@washingtoncitypaper.com

Also, my email has been hacked and several messages were lost - so if you sent one and I didn't respond to it - please send it again and I definitely will reply - I always do, just out of common courtesy.

Thanks for whatever support you care to give on this.

David R. Quammen

Update: The WCP responds to the MOCA issue: Read David's letter and the CP response here (scroll to the bottom).

ArtSee debut

ArtSee, DC's new fine art community, has just opened its online doors. ArtSee, the brainchild of founder and CEO Elizabeth Grazioli, will be offered in major cities that will provide arts enthusiasts with the “who, what, where, when, and how” of the art scene.

ArtSee is a full service community providing the opportunity for artists and art enthusiasts to discover news, events and information, exchange art and their ideas about art and hire ArtSee to promote art in their local communities. ArtSee’s motivated professional team will also provide creative promotional and event coordinating services for artists to help their presence grow within their communities. Through social media updates and a subscription to a monthly ArtSee e-newsletter, anyone can stay up-to-date with the art scene in the city where they live.

This past weekend, ArtSee held its launch reception and inaugural art exhibition at Hillyer Art Space to celebrate its arrival in DC and the work of artists Kristin Lubsen, Blair Sutton, and Wil Scott. The event was a huge success with a turnout of over 120 supporters of the new community. Guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while engaging with the artists about their work.

Of the night’s success, Grazioli says “This was a great opportunity for the artists to meet art lovers in the DC community and in doing so they made valuable contacts and had a venue to sell their work. ArtSee aims to be accessible and affordable for all artists and provide high quality promotional services and I think that this event accomplished all three of these missions.”

To find out more about ArtSee please visit www.artseedc.com and to explore the work of the three featured artists please view their website www.kristinlubsen.com, www.wil-scott.com, and www.blairsuttonart.com

Book Release Party Pics

Artists Alexa Meade, Victoria F. Gaitán, Alberto Gaitán and gallerist Andrea Pollan

Artsee's Elizabeth Grazioli, and artists Judy Byron anj J.J. McCracken with ubercollector Steven Krensky in the distant background

Artists Jeff Spaulding and Ben Tolman

Artists Lisa Montag Brotman and Margarida Kendall-Hull

Artist Amy Lin (foreground) and photographer Lida Moser, ubercollector Fred Ognibene and photographer Colin Winterbottom in the background

The amazing photographer Lida Moser

Artists Rosetta deBerardinis and Carolina Mayorga

Artists Victor Ekpuk and Helen Frederick signing books

Video sculptor Tim Tate and artist Michael Janis (background), artist Helen Frederick signing the book for ubercollectors Gisela and Benjamin Huberman


At the end of the party... a gorgeous piece of art - part of Conner's current Academy 2011 show.
A million thanks to Leigh and Jamie: This is what community is all about and this is what DC is all about!

Release Day

The 100 Washington, DC Artists book is officially out today!

Tune in later for pics from the book release opening party at Conner Contemporary.