On Columbus Day

Regardless which side of the Columbus issue you find yourself in, here's my advice to both the pro and con side: read Charles Mann's two books (1491 and 1493) and just like it happened to me, prepare not only to be educated, but also to be astonished at what you don't know, and how many of the "facts" that you think you do know, are inaccurate...

Wanna go to an opening this Wednesday?

Do not miss the spectacular painting by the vastly talented Judith Peck!

Melissa Ichiuji's Guise and Dolls workshop

The inaugural Guise and Dolls figurative sculpture exhibition is fast approaching!!

Melissa Ichiuji's last Guise and Dolls workshop was so successful, she's decided to have another 2 day class before showtime! (new students are welcome!)

This intensive two-day figurative sculpture workshop will focus on preparation for the first Guise and Dolls Figurative Sculpture exhibition titled PROGENY, opening November 3rd, 2017 at Artists and Makers Studios in Rockville, MD. 

Previous participants will have an opportunity to:

* complete works in progress

* practice presentation skills

* have their work photographed

 New students will learn basic techniques for joining soft materials and meaningful artifacts to create a uniquely charged avatar doll aligned with their innermost fantasies. This is a beautiful way to release negativity, nurture self-compassion and dial in points of power and attraction.

2 Day Workshop: October 28 & 29, 2017
Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 4pm

Location: Town of Somerset Town Hall
4510 Cumberland Ave, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Cost: $250
Materials/Lunch provided.

All levels welcome. 
No prior experience necessary. 
Registration required.

Space is limited. Early registration strongly encouraged.

REGISTER HERE:  https://www.melissaichiuji.com/news/progeny-20-2-day-workshop

More information @www.melissaichiuji.com

A little art fair video...

Artists, do you need a press list? Tips on how to promote yourself?

Press Outreach Toolkit

Hyattsville CDC + Gateway CDC with the support of the Maryland State Arts Council have developed a Press Outreach Toolkit that offers Gateway Arts District stakeholders the ability to access an online, nationwide press/media contact database called Cision.

RSVP to attend and to learn more: 

Press Outreach Toolkit
Sat, Nov. 4th at 2pm
Free, RSVP to reserve a seatBrentwood Arts Exchange



Part of BAE's ongoing "Making It As An Artist" Professional Development Workshop Series.  

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this art scammer trying to rip off artists:

From: Monalisa Buckwell 

Subject: Art Order

Date: September 28, 2017 at 3:22:30 PM EDT

Reply-To: m77bu@outlook.com

Hello,
I am Interested in purchasing artwork from your gallery inventory
therefore i will like to know if you are able to ship international
and also if you accept Visa Card/Master Card or Paypal for payment?
You can get back to me with your response along with your recently
updated web page.
Regards
Monalisa

Petty died yesterday

I remember when I first heard Petty singing that he wouldn't back down and he'd stand his ground... and that there was no easy way out... it kinda influenced me in college... fair winds and following seas in the afterlife..


 #tompetty

We're going to SA!

We're doing our first international art fair!


Cape Town, South Africa - here we come!

We'll be featuring and showcasing a solo booth for the amazing work of Amy Lin!

Frida Smoking

Just finished this piece... heading to Chicago where it will be in SOFA.

"Frida Smoking"

Charcoal and Conte with Embedded Electronics

24x36 inches

"Frida Smoking"

Charcoal and Conte with Embedded Electronics

24x36 inches

"Frida Smoking"

Charcoal and Conte with Embedded Electronics

24x36 inches

Postcards from the Edge

Call to Participate: Postcards from the Edge 2018

Host Gallery & Dates to be Announced Soon!  Postmark Deadline for Artwork: December 4, 2017

 2018 will mark the 20th anniversary of Visual AIDS' benefit art sale and we hope that you will participate.

All of us at Visual AIDS realize how lucky we are to be surrounded by a community of caring and committed artists and activists, and it is clear that our social justice mission has become even more important over the past year. It is also clear that the support of artists like you will be even more vital to the success of our work.

With this in mind, we want to express our gratitude to those who have participated in Postcards from the Edge, and we hope you will wish to participate again this year. We also would like to express a warm welcome to those who will participate for the first time this year.

The 2018 venue and dates will be announced soon, along with exciting special events and partnerships for the 20th anniversary. To ensure that artists have enough time to create original work, we are sharing the guidelines for submission now so that you can get started. 

GUIDELINES:
Create or attach an original artwork on any 4"x6” heavy weight paper. Drawings, photographs, paintings, printmaking, and mixed media are welcome. ONE ENTRY per artist. If you are in NYC and would like a blank postcard, stop by our office to pick one up.

For complete guidelines, information on mailing artwork, and to download the submission form, visit the Visual AIDS website.

PFTE is one of our most important fundraisers of the year, and its success will allow us to produce important art activism projects in 2018. By participating, artists support our mission, enabling us to produce AIDS-focused contemporary art programs and provide supplies and assistance to artists living with HIV/AIDS, many of whom are unable to continue producing work without such support.

Seated Nude in Satin

Check out this cool vintage drawing which just showed up for sale in the secondary market:

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1425013

The Final Artworks of 8 Famous Artists

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. 

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!

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*

4318 Gallatin Street, Hyattsville, MD 20781

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.meetup.com/Hyattsville-Figure-Drawing-Group-Meetup/

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 30^th- 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 30^th 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 1^st:  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

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!

"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.

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."

 The paper will be distributed around the city - artfully!

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/

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. 

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

Application: http://www.bethesda.org/bethesda/studio-b-application

Deadline: Friday, October 20, 2017

Application Fee: Free

Contact: artist@bethesda.org

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.

• 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.

Application Deadline:  Sunday, October 1, 2017, before midnight.
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.