This is what a real hero looks like

Cuban Dissident Blogger Yoani Sanchez Visits Washington D.C.

Everytime that this hero blogs, she puts her life on the line in the Castro Brothers' Workers Paradise... she's a real hero in a place where heroes usually end up dead. 

And she's in DC today meeting with members of Congress!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: April 12, 2013

Southern Regional Technical/Recreation Complex, Public Art Project #3 - Inter-active Technology Artwork
Project budget: $50,000

Eligibility: Individual artists or artist teams from Maryland, Washington, DC or Virginia are eligible to apply. All must be 18 years or older. An onsite pre-application briefing will be held March 25, 2013 from 10am to 11am at Southern Regional Tech/Rec Complex 7007 Bock Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744

Contact Person:
Alec Simpson, Arts and Cultural Heritage Division
Alec.Simpson@pgparks.com; 301/446-3232 (VOICE)

Affordable Dental Care for Artists!

Maryland Art Place is partnering with students of the dental hygiene program at The Community College of Baltimore County – Dundalk Campus. Patients pay $20 for a professional checkup and cleaning (no insurance required). X-rays available at an additional cost. Please ask about discounts for current students and senior citizens.

Take advantage of this special opportunity if you are an artist in need of:

•      dental checkup
•      teeth cleaning
•      x-rays

For more information visit mdartplace.org or contact Julie Smith, 443.717.1617,
jsmith791@hotmail.com

Self Portrait as Spiderman

Self Portrait as Spider-Man
2013 Andrew Wodzianski
26 x 24 inches. Oil on canvas
Will be exhibited at The Affordable Art Fair New York 2013 next month

(e)merge art fair now accepting applications

(e)merge art fair NOW ACCEPTING GALLERY, ARTIST APPLICATIONS ONLINE

The third edition of the (e)merge art fair will take place October 3 – 6, 2013, in Washington, DC, at the Rubell Family’s Capitol Skyline Hotel.

Last year, 80 exhibitors presented rising talent from the Americas and Europe at (e)merge. More than 5,500 art supporters engaged with painting, sculpture, digital media, performance and installation works by 152 artists from 24 countries in both our gallery and our artist platforms.

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 31 and notifications will be sent out in June.

• Exhibitors may present 1-3 artists in each room
• Art being presented may include works in all media: installation, painting, photography, new media, performance, sculpture, works on paper, and video
• Artists presented should not have had a solo exhibition in a major museum or Kunsthalle.

ARTIST PLATFORM APPLICATION (CLICK HERE)
The Artist Platform application deadline is May 18 and notification will be sent out in June.

(e)merge is the only art fair that gives free exhibition space to artists without gallery representation. If you are an artist who is currently unrepresented by a gallery and has not yet had a solo exhibition in a major museum or Kunsthalle, (e)merge is your forum for discovery.

Artists whose proposals are accepted by the selection committee will be provided with exhibition space at the Fair free of charge.

To be eligible for artist exhibition space artist applicants must:
• Be currently without gallery representation
• May have had solo gallery shows, but may not have had a solo exhibition in a major museum or Kunsthalle.
• Whereas work in all media will be carefully considered, projects involving experimental works in non-traditional formats are especially encouraged. Such work may include installation, conceptual art, performance, new media, or the inventive use of materials to express challenging concepts.

Additional information on the EXHIBITOR SERVICES page: CLICK HERE

For additional questions/information: info@emergeartfair.com

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: May 1, 2013

The Artraker Fund celebrates and awards artwork which makes a direct positive change in countries that have experienced social upheaval and violent conflict. The Fund was created in 2012 by International Conflict and Security (INCAS) Consulting Ltd.

An international panel of judges from both the art and peace-building disciplines assesses submissions for the Artraker Award. They look for experimentation and engagement, audacity, change and capacity to inspire.

The final prize of GBP2,500 is awarded to the winning submission in London each year on 21 September (International Peace Day).

A further ten short listed projects / artists will be invited to join the Artrakers network. These projects / artists are promoted to peace-builders, curators and other art world professionals. They are featured on the Artrakers section of the Fund's website and in other Fund outreach publications.

The Artraker Fund Advisory Committee is a mix of members from both the art and conflict world: Susanne Bosch, Dr. Bernadette Buckley, Beatrice Catanzaro, Sandrine Crisostomo, Htein Lin, Olufemi Terry and Jason Waite.

The Fund welcomes submissions from artists of all nationalities and at any stage of their careers. See artraker.org for more information and application guidelines.

Capital Art Fair next month

The 2013 Capital Art Fair will take place in Arlington, VA, at the Holiday Inn-Rosslyn Westpark Hotel during the first weekend of April. 

A successor to the Washington International Print Fair and the Washington Print Fair, the Capital Art Fair is now in its fourth year of bringing collectible and desirable art to the Washington, DC, area. This year, the fair boasts over 20 distinguished art dealers from across the United States and Canada.

Visitors to the fair will find thousands of works on paper from great master prints to cutting edge, contemporary pieces. The original prints, paintings, drawings, and photographs span over 500 years of creative expression, offering an impressive and expansive selection to DC art collectors.

The Capital Art Fair presents an invaluable opportunity, both in access and convenience, to the seasoned art collector, as well as those looking to break into the market. It is the only art fair in the Washington, DC, area where an extraordinary range of fine art will be available for collectors, museums, and the curious to purchase. It also gives a chance for the vibrant DC art community to interact and talk with exhibitors and dealers who are highly respected in the field, many of whom are well known to the curators of DC museums and established members of the International Fine Print Dealers Association.

Tickets to the 2013 Capital Art Fair can be bought at the fair for $10. The fair hours are as listed below:
Saturday, April 6, 2013: 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday, April 7, 2013: 11 am – 5 pm

The Holiday Inn-Rosslyn Westpark Hotel is located at 1900 North Fort Meyer Drive, Alexandria, VA 22209. It is just over the Key Bridge from Georgetown and only one block away from the Rosslyn Metro stop on the Orange and Blue lines.

More information, including directions and a list of participating dealers, can be found at the Capital Art Fair website: http://www.capitalartprintfair.com/.

The place to be on Saturday!

I can tell that this is gonna be big!

Art Underground will celebrate its launch on Saturday, March 16 with an open house and free mega paint-off hosted by ArtJamz from 6pm – 10pm at 2100 Crystal Drive. This event will be an energetic opportunity for the public to get a taste of the newest arts and cultural destination in the area with tours of brand new artist studios (Studios Underground) the Gallery Underground curated by the Arlington Artists Alliance, music, beverages, and snacks. Stop by and you can also catch Synetic’s latest installment of its famous silent Shakespeare series, The Tempest, at 8 PM (visit www.synetictheater.org for tickets).

The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID), in partnership with Vornado/Charles E. Smith and the Arlington Artists Alliance (AAA), is transforming five blocks of Crystal City’s interior retail space into a vibrant arts and cultural destination with galleries, studios, interactive exhibits and activities, performance and classroom spaces, and a host of special events. This effort will create a powerful new incubator for the arts that will further activate and support Crystal City businesses and retail by attracting additional exposure, visitation, business and opportunities.

Art Underground is a collection of arts programming that will initially include:

• Studios Underground: an outlet for local artists to create, practice and showcase their talents while providing an engaging cultural experience for area residents, employees, visitors and guests.
• Gallery Underground (formerly the Northern Virginia Art Center): a showcase of original artwork by regional artists with monthly rotating exhibits to excite the imagination, stimulate creativity, and encourage repeat visitation.
• FotoWalk Underground: in partnership with FotoDC, FotoWalk is a yearlong, 1000-foot, 150-image gallery that changes every six months.
• Synetic Theater: the premier American physical theater, fusing dynamic art forms – such as text, drama, movement, acrobatics, dance and music.
• Special Events: Art Underground will host and present ongoing activities and events, including monthly ArtJamz sessions.

Details here.

The first American Pope!

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum; habemus Papam:
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Georgium Marium
Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Bergoglio
qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscum.

American in the true meaning of the word (which means "from The Americas") as Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio becomes the first Pope from the New World!

This is a win-win situation for the Church... an Italian from Argentina, which is essentially the New World's version of Italy anyway... brilliant! An Italian Pope from the New World!

The son of an Italian immigrant to Argentina, the new Pope seems like a really good guy for both of those who endorse the Church's dogma as well as those who appreciate a socially active Pope.

An a Jesuit! WOW! That even harder to believe than a Pope who wasn't born in Europe! If my memory serves me right, the only other Jesuit ever offered the Papacy declined it.

And the last Spanish speaking Pope was the Borgia Pope... cough, cough...

And by the way... his name is Pope Francis (and not Ignatius as a good Jesuit would have chosen... which is of itself an interesting sign) and NOT Francis The First as nincompoop talking heads on TV keep saying... he's the first Pope named Francis - not the first King named Francis.... otherwise the announcement would have been:  qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscum Primum.

This is what happens when Latin gets dropped from being taught in schools.

My best to the 266th Pope!

Vaya Pana!

Bring your ideas

Artomatic Happy Hour - Focus on Music

On Thursday March 28, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM join new Board Member Jerry Hergenreder to discuss strategies for the presentation of music within the next Artomatic. 

Bring your ideas and suggestions. 

Old Dominion Brewhouse
1219 9th Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20001

International artists residencies in the US and abroad.

On Wednesday March 13, 2013, from 5:00-7.30 PM, join members of the Washington Glass School, Flux Studios and invited guests for a roundtable discussion at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery about international artists residencies in the US and abroad. 

 

Register now!

702 8th St NW
Washington, DC, DC 20068

(202) 872-3396

35 Years of Zenith

Zenith Gallery is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year - in gallery years that's like 350 years! Join them at the celebration of their anniversary!

Join Us for a Celebration of Our 35th Anniversary 

Zenith Gallery at the

Sculpture Space at Eleven Eleven Pennsylvania Avenue 

"The Best of All Worlds ... Modern and Traditional Art" 

 

The Sculpture of Paul Martin Wolff and Oil Paintings by Bradley Stevens  

 

MEET THE ARTISTS RECEPTION: Wednesday, March 13, 5:30 - 8:00 PM 

 

SHOW DATES: Now through April 27, 2013  

Country & Western Ahmadinejad

Ahmadinejad!
A snowy wet Washington, DC area drive finds a Country & Western marriage between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Jerry Jeff Walker.

ESB at night

Empire State Building at night

Walk around Scope

I came in early today to re-hang the booth, as I had taken everything down last night just in case new leaks sprung. In any event, I then had time to walk around the fair a bit... here are some images:

 

One of my favorite pieces - seen at Parlor Gallery from Ashbury Park, NJ

A rare sighting of glass, from Sophia Collier Gallery, Sausalito, CA

Seen at Aicon Gallery, NYC and London

Seen at Allegra LaViola Gallery, NYC... cough, cough

Seen at La Lanta Gallery, Bangkok

Artomaticky wall from Fred Torres Collaborations, NYC

Seen at Weldon Arts, Brooklyn

What looked like colored felt wrapped around foam core to reproduce Van Gogh's works... just sayin'

Spectacular self-contained video sculpture by Marck, showing at Lich Feld Gallery, Basel

Cliteracy

The usual gorgeous light work at Baltimore's C. Grimaldis Gallery

Self contained video sculptures by Gabriel Barcia-Colombo at Muriel Guepin Gallery, Brooklyn

Rain, slush, snow and leaks

The snow storm arrived in New York overnight and this city responded beautifully... I walked several blocks from my hotel to the Scope Art Fair and the most dangerous event proved to be the New Yorkers with huge umbrellas and looking down to avoid the fierce cold wind as a slushly snow fell... as a result of the Venturi effect caused by the tall buildings, there were very fierce winds at every corner as well.

When I was a kid in Brooklyn, my high school was in Long Island City in Queens, and I used to spend over an hour in the subway going to High School... I am sure that we had school "snow days" back then. but frankly, I don't remember ever been off from school because of snow.

When I got to Scope I discovered that the the old post office's roof had been leaking above my neighbor's space (Fitzroy Knox from New York) and the two pretty gallerists were bravely securing work as the Scope crew attacked the problem.

And I must give kudos to the Scope crew.

As I stood watching them tarp over the leaks and then build a roof under the leaking area, I was thinking to myself "These union guys are really on the ball here... they might just give some of these New York unions a good name if they are not careful..."

Later I found out that these were not the union guys responding to the barely avoided disaster, but in fact the Scope crew, and they deserve a superbly earned "Well Done!"

The Scope director (Sonja Hofstetter) was on the spot and working the issue, and the tall good looking guy (who looks a little like a young Jim Carey) in charge of the work crew, was so nit picky about making sure that it was a perfect job, that even after the space had been re-roofed, he actually had a guy come over and tape  the edges and re-paint the whole thing.

In cases like this, the response of an art fair's crew to unplanned close calls like this is the key to avoiding disaster and these guys had half a dozen people on the job right away and it showed in the manner and professionalism with which they responded and the final solution to the problem.

Later on I found out that the skinny guy directing the response to the leak is in fact the owner of Scope (Alexis Hubshman), which makes this an even cooler response, as there's nothing like a hands-on boss who gets his hands dirty to make things happen.

Check out the picture to the left - these guys essentially re-roofed the leaky area and made it look good.

Great job Scopers!

Seen in a hoity toity art fair in New York...

You know how art critics are always slamming Artomatic for this and for that?

Just sayin'

Only a few days left before deadline!

One thing that nearly every artist on the planet (including myself) shares is rejection letters/emails from galleries, juried competitions, curators and your aunt Elvira... in fact, since I have been a juror, gallerist and curator for a ton of art shows, I hate to say that I've written a fuckload of rejection letters myself.

And now Worn Magazine wants them! Read the below note from them:

Dear Readers,  

I'm excited to announce that the Spring/Summer issue of Worn Magazine is well under way and will be released at the end of April. The theme of this upcoming issue is "Dreams." One way to interpret this theme is to consider the personal journey we're all on to accomplish our dreams.

One important part of this journey is enduring rejection and then going on to kick butt anyway. Because I want all aspects of dreaming to be represented in this issue (not just the typical ones) I'd like you brave souls to send us your rejection letters so that we can print them in the upcoming issue or on our website. In addition to your letter, please include a short paragraph that explains how you've gone on to kick butt since that once unfortunate correspondence.

This is your opportunity to stick it to the man! [My note: highly sexist... artists get rejection letters/emails from all sexual varieties... not just the man... that's me trying to be semantically hip as a Virgo... I know what they mean]

Personally, I have two rejection letters I'd be willing to share, one from the FBI and another from the L.A. Times. 

Please address your letters as follows:
Subject- Rejection Is the Best Protection
Send to: info@wornmagazine.com
Please include a scanned copy of your letter OR forward us the initial rejection email.
Deadline to submit letters is Monday, March 11. 
Be brave! 

Nicole Aguirre, Editor-in-Chief

Art Underground is coming to Crystal City!

I can tell that this is gonna be big!

Art Underground will celebrate its launch on Saturday, March 16 with an open house and free mega paint-off hosted by ArtJamz from 6pm – 10pm at 2100 Crystal Drive. This event will be an energetic opportunity for the public to get a taste of the newest arts and cultural destination in the area with tours of brand new artist studios (Studios Underground) the Gallery Underground curated by the Arlington Artists Alliance, music, beverages, and snacks. Stop by and you can also catch Synetic’s latest installment of its famous silent Shakespeare series, The Tempest, at 8 PM (visit www.synetictheater.org for tickets).

The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID), in partnership with Vornado/Charles E. Smith and the Arlington Artists Alliance (AAA), is transforming five blocks of Crystal City’s interior retail space into a vibrant arts and cultural destination with galleries, studios, interactive exhibits and activities, performance and classroom spaces, and a host of special events. This effort will create a powerful new incubator for the arts that will further activate and support Crystal City businesses and retail by attracting additional exposure, visitation, business and opportunities.

Art Underground is a collection of arts programming that will initially include:

• Studios Underground: an outlet for local artists to create, practice and showcase their talents while providing an engaging cultural experience for area residents, employees, visitors and guests.
• Gallery Underground (formerly the Northern Virginia Art Center): a showcase of original artwork by regional artists with monthly rotating exhibits to excite the imagination, stimulate creativity, and encourage repeat visitation.
• FotoWalk Underground: in partnership with FotoDC, FotoWalk is a yearlong, 1000-foot, 150-image gallery that changes every six months.
• Synetic Theater: the premier American physical theater, fusing dynamic art forms – such as text, drama, movement, acrobatics, dance and music.
• Special Events: Art Underground will host and present ongoing activities and events, including monthly ArtJamz sessions.

Details here.

Boots...

Seems like every other woman in New York is wearing those tall hooker boots - you know, the kind that Julia Roberts' character wears in Pretty Woman?

I'm pretty sure that I've never seen anyone in the DMV wear boots like these...

Just sayin'