The last artwork of a prominent artist can assume a near-mythic status. Take Frida Kahlo. What artistic concerns defined her twilight years? Did her work come to particular resolution, or reveal a perspective on human mortality? In fact, she painted watermelons—with a poignant nod to the end of her life inscribed into the flesh of the fruit.Read the whole article by Rachel Lebowitz in Artsy here.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
The Final Artworks of 8 Famous Artists
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Bootcamp
On September 30, from 2-4:30 pm, The Brentwood Arts Exchange and I will be once again hosting my well-known “Bootcamp for Artists” seminar at no cost to the artists.
This seminar is suitable for all visual artists interested in taking their careers to the next level.
Ever wondered how to maximize the attention your work gets from the press, galleries, and museum curators? How to present your work in a professional manner and save money in the process? How to tap into grants, awards and residencies? How to approach a gallery?
Then this is the seminar for you! This program is free, but space is limited to 40 persons, and last year lots of artists were turned away because it filled up so quickly!
This seminar always books up very quickly!
This program will be held in MNCPPC’s Brentwood Arts Exchange on the 1st Floor of the Gateway Arts Center, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722, just over the District line on Rhode Island Avenue.
The seminar, which has been taken by over 6,000 artists and arts professionals from all over the Mid Atlantic is designed to deliver information, data and proven tactics to allow artists to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts.
Sometimes called "Boot Camp for Artists" by the attendees, people as far as Arizona, California, New York and South Carolina have attended, including many, many university level art professionals.
In its seven hour format compressed into 2.5 hours, the seminar covers a wide range of structured issues including:
1. Materials - Buying materials; strategies for lowering your costs, where and how to get it, etc.
2. Presentation – How to properly present your artwork including Conservation issues, Archival Matting and Framing, Longevity of materials, a discussion on Limited editions, signing and numbering, Prints vs. Reproduction, discussion on Iris Prints (Pros and Cons).
3. Creating a resume - Strategy for building your art resume, including how to write one, what should be in it, presentation, etc.
4. Juried Shows – An Insider's view and strategy to get in the competitions.
5. How to take slides and photographs of your artwork
6. Selling your art – A variety of avenues to actually selling your artwork, including fine arts festivals, corporate acquisitions, galleries, public arts, etc.
7. Creating a Body of Works
8. How to write a news release
9. Publicity – How to get in newspapers, magazines, etc. Plus handouts on email and addresses of newspaper critics, writers, etc.
10. Galleries – Discussion on area galleries including Vanity Galleries, Co-Operatives, Commercial Galleries, Non-profit Art spaces, etc.
11. How to approach a gallery – Realities of the business, Contracts, Gallery/Artist Relationship, Agents.
12. Outdoor Art Festivals – Discussion and advice on how to sell outwork at fine arts festivals, which to do, which to avoid, etc.
13. Resources - Display systems and tents, best juried shows and ones to avoid.
14. Accepting Credit cards – How to set up your art business.
15. Grants – Discussion on how to get grants in DC, Regional and National, including handouts on who and where and when.
16. Alternative Marketing - Cable TV, Local media
17. Internet – How to build your website at no cost, how to establish a wide and diverse Internet presence.
18. Art fairs
This seminar is suitable for all visual artists interested in taking their careers to the next level.
Ever wondered how to maximize the attention your work gets from the press, galleries, and museum curators? How to present your work in a professional manner and save money in the process? How to tap into grants, awards and residencies? How to approach a gallery?
Then this is the seminar for you! This program is free, but space is limited to 40 persons, and last year lots of artists were turned away because it filled up so quickly!
This seminar always books up very quickly!
3901 Rhode Island Avenue
Brentwood, MD 20722
301-277-2863
This program will be held in MNCPPC’s Brentwood Arts Exchange on the 1st Floor of the Gateway Arts Center, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722, just over the District line on Rhode Island Avenue.
The seminar, which has been taken by over 6,000 artists and arts professionals from all over the Mid Atlantic is designed to deliver information, data and proven tactics to allow artists to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts.
Sometimes called "Boot Camp for Artists" by the attendees, people as far as Arizona, California, New York and South Carolina have attended, including many, many university level art professionals.
In its seven hour format compressed into 2.5 hours, the seminar covers a wide range of structured issues including:
1. Materials - Buying materials; strategies for lowering your costs, where and how to get it, etc.
2. Presentation – How to properly present your artwork including Conservation issues, Archival Matting and Framing, Longevity of materials, a discussion on Limited editions, signing and numbering, Prints vs. Reproduction, discussion on Iris Prints (Pros and Cons).
3. Creating a resume - Strategy for building your art resume, including how to write one, what should be in it, presentation, etc.
4. Juried Shows – An Insider's view and strategy to get in the competitions.
5. How to take slides and photographs of your artwork
6. Selling your art – A variety of avenues to actually selling your artwork, including fine arts festivals, corporate acquisitions, galleries, public arts, etc.
7. Creating a Body of Works
8. How to write a news release
9. Publicity – How to get in newspapers, magazines, etc. Plus handouts on email and addresses of newspaper critics, writers, etc.
10. Galleries – Discussion on area galleries including Vanity Galleries, Co-Operatives, Commercial Galleries, Non-profit Art spaces, etc.
11. How to approach a gallery – Realities of the business, Contracts, Gallery/Artist Relationship, Agents.
12. Outdoor Art Festivals – Discussion and advice on how to sell outwork at fine arts festivals, which to do, which to avoid, etc.
13. Resources - Display systems and tents, best juried shows and ones to avoid.
14. Accepting Credit cards – How to set up your art business.
15. Grants – Discussion on how to get grants in DC, Regional and National, including handouts on who and where and when.
16. Alternative Marketing - Cable TV, Local media
17. Internet – How to build your website at no cost, how to establish a wide and diverse Internet presence.
18. Art fairs
Wanna go figure drawing tonight?
Hyattsville Figure Drawing Group
Tue, Sep 26, 6-9pm- Figure Drawing @ Pyramid Atlantic
Model: Desi
Join Hyattsville's best, brightest and only figure drawing group! They meet on Tuesday evenings (6-9pm) in Pyramid Atlantic's beautiful gallery space in their fabulous location in the Hyattsville Arts District. Bring along your favorite art materials and draw with us!
Each session begins with 5 5-minute warm-up poses with a live model and a single, sustained pose for the remainder of the session. Please bring your own materials, paper and easel (if needed). Chairs, tables and drawing boards will be provided. Free parking in the rear of the building; please enter through the rear doors.
All are welcome; please forward this email or pass the word to anyone who might be interested in joining (under 18: legal guardian permission required).
Where: Pyramid Atlantic Art Center*
Free parking in the rear of the building; please enter through the rear doors.
When: Tuesdays, 6-9pm
Cost: $20/session or $80/5-session punch card
Walk-ins and late arrivals welcome, no experience necessary!
For More Information: https://www.meetu
Monday, September 25, 2017
Painting on the Plaza at Lake Anne
Experience the beauty and vibrancy of the Lake Anne Community as the Plaza comes alive with artists painting en plein aire, Saturday September 30th- Sunday, October 1, 2017.
Join in the fun by painting or watching the artists as they work. Purchase an original artwork to take home. And while you’re at Lake Anne, don’t forget to vote for your favorite painting and enter the drawings for door prizes. The event will be held rain or shine.
Painting Competition
The Painting on the Plaza at Lake Anne painting competition is designed in the spirit of a "day painting” competition, which challenges artists to create works of art in a short period of time. The event is open to all artists and a variety of mediums. To be eligible for prizes, artists must meet all painting competition eligibility requirements. Multiple cash prizes will be awarded. For more information, visit http://lakeanneplaza.com/event/plein-aire-event-lake-anne/.
Schedule
Saturday, September 30th 4:00pm-7:00pm – Registration and canvas stamping begins for artists participating in the plein aire painting competition. Artists begin painting once their canvases are stamped. The public is invited to join in the fun by painting or watching the artists as they work and enter the drawings for door prizes. Door prize drawing at 7:00pm.
Sunday, October 1st: 10:00am-7:00pm – The public is invited to observe artists painting, enter drawings for door prizes, and vote for the People’s Choice Award. Original wet paint artwork will be available for sale. Specific times for activities are as follows:
10:00am Check-in and canvas stamping begins
12:00pm Registration and canvas stamping ends
4:00pm Deadline for return of completed artwork for judging
5:00pm Voting for People’s Choice Awards ends.
5:30pm Winners of painting competition announced
7:00pm Door prize drawing and display and sale of artwork ends
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Washington White
DMV's cartoonist Adam Griffiths' graphic novel, "Washington White" is going to print! He has been working on it for about 9 years, and it's 600 pages, but the first installment will be printed in newspaper tabloid form (about 70 pages).
It's full color, and it's written in the form of a spy thriller, but is a civil rights science-fiction story!
It's full color, and it's written in the form of a spy thriller, but is a civil rights science-fiction story!
"Science fiction meets the aftermath of the 1960's civil rights movement in Adam Griffiths' forthcoming graphic novel, Washington White, a pseudo techno-thriller about corporate greed, gentrification, and corruption set inside the District of Columbia.The paper will be distributed around the city - artfully!
Drawn in pencil with digital coloring, the mad-cap challenges that the story's range of characters face make for a bombastic, silly, and disturbing experience."
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Mid City Artists Fall Open Studios
Mid City Artists Fall Open Studios
October 14-15, 2017
The open studios are an invitation into the artists’ workplace and into their universe. Get lost among the easels and paints and kilns and other artists materials as you mingle with the artists themselves.
Mayor’s Arts Award nominee Michael Crossett is a member of the MCA who will be showing his work along with Lucinda Friendly Murphy, Jane Cave, Branddave, Indira Marin Dingledin, Charlie Gaynor, Miguel Perez Lam, Chuck Baxter, George H. Smith-Shomari, Betto Ortiz, and Robert Wiener.
Event is free
For more information and to download a map please visit: https://www.midcityartists.com/open-studios/
October 14-15, 2017
The open studios are an invitation into the artists’ workplace and into their universe. Get lost among the easels and paints and kilns and other artists materials as you mingle with the artists themselves.
Mayor’s Arts Award nominee Michael Crossett is a member of the MCA who will be showing his work along with Lucinda Friendly Murphy, Jane Cave, Branddave, Indira Marin Dingledin, Charlie Gaynor, Miguel Perez Lam, Chuck Baxter, George H. Smith-Shomari, Betto Ortiz, and Robert Wiener.
Event is free
For more information and to download a map please visit: https://www.midcityartists.com/open-studios/
Friday, September 22, 2017
How to Be an Artist, According to Josef Albers
Albers always relied on his training as an elementary school teacher to guide his lesson plans. He rarely gave lectures—instead, he encouraged his students to learn through hands-on experimentation. This progressive teaching method proved effective. Many of his students—Eva Hesse, Ruth Asawa, Ray Johnson, Cy Twombly, Richard Anuszkiewicz, John Chamberlain, Richard Serra, and Robert Rauschenberg among them—would later become some of the most influential artists of the 21st century.Read the Artsy article here.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Bethesda Studio Space Available
Studio B, located just a short stroll from the Bethesda Metro, features workspace for local artists. The studio includes exhibit space in each individual artist studio, as well as on the main wall. Studio B has retail hours as well as hours by appointment.
AVAILABLE STUDIO INFORMATION
- Studio is 185 sq. feet
- Rent is $295 per month, inclusive of all utilities.
- Artists are required to be in the space during retail hours of Tues. – Fri., 1-6pm and during the monthly opening receptions.
- Artist has 24/7 access to Studio B and their personal studio space.
- Artist may sell artwork and there is no commission taken on artist sales.
TO APPLY
Complete the application and submit the following:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Artwork Samples
- Proof of Income
- Proof of Identity
Deadline: Friday, October 20, 2017
Application Fee: Free
Contact: artist@bethesda.org
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Call to Artists and Galleries
Application Deadline: Sunday, October 1, 2017, before midnight.
The City of Alexandria is purchasing original art to add to the City’s art collection and to display in City-owned buildings. Artists, art galleries, and art consultants working or residing in Alexandria and the Washington, DC area are encouraged to respond to this call.Project Overview: The Alexandria Art Purchase Awards call will be held biannually for the next four years, totaling eight calls with each call purchasing up to $4000 in artwork. For this first call, the concept of “Neighborhoods and Gathering Places” must be conveyed in the artwork submitted. Each call will be in three phases.
Eligibility: Applicants must be 18 years or older and reside or work in Virginia, Maryland, or Washington, DC. Artists, galleries, art consultants are eligible to submit original art.
Submissions: All artwork submitted must be original, available for purchase, and made within the last 5 years. Artwork must be two-dimensions and ready to hang on a wall. Artists are allowed to submit up to five (5) works of art for consideration. Art galleries and art consultants are allowed to submit up to (5) works of art from any combination of two (2) or more represented artists. The pricing of artwork must include framed and unframed options. The City reserves the right to negotiate the final price.
Artist Statement: In one or two paragraphs, give a first person description of the artist’s approach to their art.
Letter of Interest: In one or two paragraphs, describe how the artwork submitted expresses the concept of neighborhoods and gathering places.
Resume: Include a two-page artist resume.
Selection Process: Appointed by the Alexandria Commission for the Arts (ACA), a five-member project task force made up of two ACA representatives, two community stakeholders, and one project stakeholder will review applications submitted on CaFE and choose the artwork being considered for purchase to be displayed for three months at City Hall. After three months of community engagement and in coordination with City staff, the project task force will make their purchase award(s) recommendation(s) to the ACA. The ACA will then vote on the purchase award(s) at their monthly meeting.
The City of Alexandria is purchasing original art to add to the City’s art collection and to display in City-owned buildings. Artists, art galleries, and art consultants working or residing in Alexandria and the Washington, DC area are encouraged to respond to this call.Project Overview: The Alexandria Art Purchase Awards call will be held biannually for the next four years, totaling eight calls with each call purchasing up to $4000 in artwork. For this first call, the concept of “Neighborhoods and Gathering Places” must be conveyed in the artwork submitted. Each call will be in three phases.
- Phase one: Artists submit applications online. The Art Purchase Awards project task force reviews artist applications and selects artwork to be considered for purchase awards.
- Phase two: Artwork considered for purchase is displayed at City Hall for three months. Community engagement will be encouraged throughout the process.
- Phase three: The task force makes their purchase recommendations to the Alexandria Commission for the Arts. After approval by the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, the purchase award(s) will be announced at a reception at City Hall. Each artist chosen for the exhibition at City Hall but not given a purchase award will receive an honorarium of $100.
Eligibility: Applicants must be 18 years or older and reside or work in Virginia, Maryland, or Washington, DC. Artists, galleries, art consultants are eligible to submit original art.
Submissions: All artwork submitted must be original, available for purchase, and made within the last 5 years. Artwork must be two-dimensions and ready to hang on a wall. Artists are allowed to submit up to five (5) works of art for consideration. Art galleries and art consultants are allowed to submit up to (5) works of art from any combination of two (2) or more represented artists. The pricing of artwork must include framed and unframed options. The City reserves the right to negotiate the final price.
Artist Statement: In one or two paragraphs, give a first person description of the artist’s approach to their art.
Letter of Interest: In one or two paragraphs, describe how the artwork submitted expresses the concept of neighborhoods and gathering places.
Resume: Include a two-page artist resume.
Selection Process: Appointed by the Alexandria Commission for the Arts (ACA), a five-member project task force made up of two ACA representatives, two community stakeholders, and one project stakeholder will review applications submitted on CaFE and choose the artwork being considered for purchase to be displayed for three months at City Hall. After three months of community engagement and in coordination with City staff, the project task force will make their purchase award(s) recommendation(s) to the ACA. The ACA will then vote on the purchase award(s) at their monthly meeting.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Bootcamp for Artists Coming later this month!
Early heads up!
On September 30, from 2-4:30 pm, The Brentwood Arts Exchange and I will be once again hosting my well-known “Bootcamp for Artists” seminar at no cost to the artists.
This seminar is suitable for all visual artists interested in taking their careers to the next level.
Ever wondered how to maximize the attention your work gets from the press, galleries, and museum curators? How to present your work in a professional manner and save money in the process? How to tap into grants, awards and residencies? How to approach a gallery?
Then this is the seminar for you! This program is free, but space is limited to 40 persons, and last year lots of artists were turned away because it filled up so quickly!
This seminar always books up very quickly!
3901 Rhode Island Avenue
Brentwood, MD 20722
301-277-2863
This program will be held in MNCPPC’s Brentwood Arts Exchange on the 1st Floor of the Gateway Arts Center, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722, just over the District line on Rhode Island Avenue.
The seminar, which has been taken by over 6,000 artists and arts professionals from all over the Mid Atlantic is designed to deliver information, data and proven tactics to allow artists to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts.
Sometimes called "Boot Camp for Artists" by the attendees, people as far as Arizona, California, New York and South Carolina have attended, including many, many university level art professionals.
In its seven hour format compressed into 2.5 hours, the seminar covers a wide range of structured issues including:
1. Materials - Buying materials; strategies for lowering your costs, where and how to get it, etc.
2. Presentation – How to properly present your artwork including Conservation issues, Archival Matting and Framing, Longevity of materials, a discussion on Limited editions, signing and numbering, Prints vs. Reproduction, discussion on Iris Prints (Pros and Cons).
3. Creating a resume - Strategy for building your art resume, including how to write one, what should be in it, presentation, etc.
4. Juried Shows – An Insider's view and strategy to get in the competitions.
5. How to take slides and photographs of your artwork
6. Selling your art – A variety of avenues to actually selling your artwork, including fine arts festivals, corporate acquisitions, galleries, public arts, etc.
7. Creating a Body of Works
8. How to write a news release
9. Publicity – How to get in newspapers, magazines, etc. Plus handouts on email and addresses of newspaper critics, writers, etc.
10. Galleries – Discussion on area galleries including Vanity Galleries, Co-Operatives, Commercial Galleries, Non-profit Art spaces, etc.
11. How to approach a gallery – Realities of the business, Contracts, Gallery/Artist Relationship, Agents.
12. Outdoor Art Festivals – Discussion and advice on how to sell outwork at fine arts festivals, which to do, which to avoid, etc.
13. Resources - Display systems and tents, best juried shows and ones to avoid.
14. Accepting Credit cards – How to set up your art business.
15. Grants – Discussion on how to get grants in DC, Regional and National, including handouts on who and where and when.
16. Alternative Marketing - Cable TV, Local media
17. Internet – How to build your website at no cost, how to establish a wide and diverse Internet presence.
18. Art fairs
Monday, September 18, 2017
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Last day in NYC
Today is the last day of the 2017 Affordable Art Fair in NYC, which has proven to be highly successful... both Matthew Langley and Lori Katz rocked the house with monster sales, while art fair rookie Amy Marx had some decent sales and placed several small works into multiple collections.
On Thursday, there was a perfect example of why art fairs, with their large number of people, make sense. All day long NYC artist Matthew Langley worked the crowd, but nothing had sold. Two minutes before the fair was officially closed for the day, a couple approached his work, and $6500 later, Langley had a decent day!
I had a good fair myself, placing multiple drawings and one video piece (The Batman Brooding in the Batcave) in New York state collections.
Next? SOFA Chicago and then Context Art Miami!
@aafnyc
On Thursday, there was a perfect example of why art fairs, with their large number of people, make sense. All day long NYC artist Matthew Langley worked the crowd, but nothing had sold. Two minutes before the fair was officially closed for the day, a couple approached his work, and $6500 later, Langley had a decent day!
I had a good fair myself, placing multiple drawings and one video piece (The Batman Brooding in the Batcave) in New York state collections.
Next? SOFA Chicago and then Context Art Miami!
@aafnyc
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Friday, September 15, 2017
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Heading to NYC
Been doing the Affordable Art Fair in NYC since 2006 - heading out tonight as we'll be showcasing Dulce Pinzon, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Matthew Langley, Lori Katz and Amy Marx.
We're in booth 1.4 on the first floor... drop me an email if you need a free pass!
 |
| Matthew Langley |
We're in booth 1.4 on the first floor... drop me an email if you need a free pass!
Monday, September 11, 2017
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Linling Lu opens at Hemphill
LINLING LU
Opening Friday, September 15, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pmHemphill is opening their fall season with the exhibition LINLING LU, on Friday, September 15, with a reception from 6-8pm. The exhibition features new painting, mixed media and sculpture and is on view through December 16, 2017.
 |
| Linling Lu, One Hundred Melodies of Solitude No. 120, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 46” diameter |
Linling Lu was born in 1983 in Guizhou Province, China. In 2005 she received a bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Beijing Forestry University. Lu came to the United States in 2006 to attend Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, MD, received a BFA in painting in 2008 and an MFA from the Hoffberger School of Painting, MICA in 2011. Her work is included in private and public collections nationally and internationally and the permanent collection of the US Embassy in Beijing. This is her second exhibition with HEMPHILL Fine Arts.
HEMPHILL
1515 14th St NW
Washington DC 20005
tel 202.234.5601
hemphillfinearts.com
Saturday, September 09, 2017
The place to be tonight is AU!
The website archive for the Jefferson Place Gallery has been launched: JeffersonPlaceGallery.com
The site is in the early stages of archiving the 18-year history of the Jefferson Place, with a timeline of activities, artist biographies, images of artworks, images of exhibition-related ephemera, press clipping summaries, and a blog to expand upon the history of the gallery.
About the Jefferson PlaceFounded by several American University professors, and one of their students, Alice Denney, the Jefferson Place was the first gallery in DC to exclusively support the area’s avant garde artists. It was also the place where many of the early Washington Color School artists—Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Howard Mehring, and Kenneth Noland—first exhibited their signature masterworks in DC.
In the first few years of its existence other galleries copied their model. Duncan Phillips and David Kreeger purchased from the gallery for their collections; Vincent Melzac would donate his purchases to several museums. And the influence of the gallery had potentially greater reach: Abe Fortas, John Brademus and Sid Yates were among the gallery visitors. The former helped Johnson acquire the Hirshhorn collection; the latter two helped establish the National Endowment for the Arts.
Gallery founders William Calfee, Robert Gates, and Helene Herzbrun—along with early members like Hilda Shapiro Thorpe—would remain with the gallery long after it transitioned from cooperative to commercial gallery under Nesta Dorrance, the gallery’s second director. As the Jefferson Place evolved, it would go on to represent artists like Benjamin Abramowitz, William Christenberry, Tim Corkery, Willem de Looper, Sam Gilliam, John Gossage, Shelia Isham, J.L. Knight, Rockne Krebs, Blaine Larson, V.V. Rankine, Eric Rudd, Yuri Schwebler, Roy Slade, Elliott Thompson, and many others.
The website functions as a companion to the second project: an exhibition curated by DMV artist and art critic John Anderson, "Making a Scene: Jefferson Place," the latest exhibition in the American University Museum's Alper Initiative for Washington Art. The exhibition and catalog essay examines the first six years of the gallery: from its founding in 1957, through 1962, after the gallery had transitioned between directors Alice Denney and Nesta Dorrance. True to its title, the exhibition outlines the scene the gallery was attempting to cultivate in support of local contemporary artists.
Website Developmentjeffersonplacegallery.com is a collaboration between John Anderson and Day Eight, a DC-area arts non-profit—founded by Robert Bettmann—that helps produce and publish creative projects: including the Arts Writing Fellowship, and the D.C. Poetry Project. The site was developed by BRINK media, and supported by the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, and the American University Museum.
Museum Events
A reception for the exhibition—which includes the website—will be September 9, 6-9 pm, at the American University Museum. A salon-style event, Free Parking, will be held at the museum on Thursday, October 12, from 5:30-7:00.
The site is in the early stages of archiving the 18-year history of the Jefferson Place, with a timeline of activities, artist biographies, images of artworks, images of exhibition-related ephemera, press clipping summaries, and a blog to expand upon the history of the gallery.
About the Jefferson PlaceFounded by several American University professors, and one of their students, Alice Denney, the Jefferson Place was the first gallery in DC to exclusively support the area’s avant garde artists. It was also the place where many of the early Washington Color School artists—Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Howard Mehring, and Kenneth Noland—first exhibited their signature masterworks in DC.
In the first few years of its existence other galleries copied their model. Duncan Phillips and David Kreeger purchased from the gallery for their collections; Vincent Melzac would donate his purchases to several museums. And the influence of the gallery had potentially greater reach: Abe Fortas, John Brademus and Sid Yates were among the gallery visitors. The former helped Johnson acquire the Hirshhorn collection; the latter two helped establish the National Endowment for the Arts.
Gallery founders William Calfee, Robert Gates, and Helene Herzbrun—along with early members like Hilda Shapiro Thorpe—would remain with the gallery long after it transitioned from cooperative to commercial gallery under Nesta Dorrance, the gallery’s second director. As the Jefferson Place evolved, it would go on to represent artists like Benjamin Abramowitz, William Christenberry, Tim Corkery, Willem de Looper, Sam Gilliam, John Gossage, Shelia Isham, J.L. Knight, Rockne Krebs, Blaine Larson, V.V. Rankine, Eric Rudd, Yuri Schwebler, Roy Slade, Elliott Thompson, and many others.
The website functions as a companion to the second project: an exhibition curated by DMV artist and art critic John Anderson, "Making a Scene: Jefferson Place," the latest exhibition in the American University Museum's Alper Initiative for Washington Art. The exhibition and catalog essay examines the first six years of the gallery: from its founding in 1957, through 1962, after the gallery had transitioned between directors Alice Denney and Nesta Dorrance. True to its title, the exhibition outlines the scene the gallery was attempting to cultivate in support of local contemporary artists.
Website Developmentjeffersonplacegallery.com is a collaboration between John Anderson and Day Eight, a DC-area arts non-profit—founded by Robert Bettmann—that helps produce and publish creative projects: including the Arts Writing Fellowship, and the D.C. Poetry Project. The site was developed by BRINK media, and supported by the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, and the American University Museum.
Museum Events
A reception for the exhibition—which includes the website—will be September 9, 6-9 pm, at the American University Museum. A salon-style event, Free Parking, will be held at the museum on Thursday, October 12, from 5:30-7:00.
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