By 1959 he owned a large estate and provided milk for most of the region around Guantanamo. By 1961 the Socialists of the Castro Revolution had shown their true cards and declared themselves Communists and confiscated all of his assets. Within two years there were milk shortages all over the island and they remain to this day.
This is what we Americans of Cuban ancestry mean when we say that "we've seen that movie and know how it ends..."
All Howard County artists are invited to participate in HoCo Open 2021, HCAC’s annual, non-juried exhibit showcasing local artists. In lieu of a one-day drop-off, entries will be accepted online beginning November 5th on a first-come basis, one entry per artist, until 100 submissions have been received. The drop-off dates for the exhibit are December 17 & 18. Accepted artists will be provided with instructions for scheduling a specific time to drop off their artwork at the Center for the Arts.
HoCo Open will be on display from January 9 – February 20, 2021. For the full prospectus and to apply, visit their website.Let's go back to normal in 2021! Apply for the annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival.
Now in its 30th year, the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival has a long-standing reputation for showcasing high quality, hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind artwork in a dynamic outdoor setting. The Festival provides an opportunity to engage directly with exceptional artists, as juried in by leading art practitioners and artists in the visual arts field, that meet a high level of artistic standards. This unique open-air event is presented in Reston Town Center and attracts affluent patrons and knowledgeable collectors from the Washington, DC metropolitan region and beyond.
This year, the 2021 Festival will implement new health and safety adaptations for the care and consideration of all.
Artist applications are accepted through ZAPPlication through December 27, 2020
Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) is pleased to announce the 2021 Susan Beech Mid-Career Artist Grant opportunity for mid-career artists. The purpose of this grant, established by San Francisco-based jewelry collector Susan Beech, is to recognize a mid-career artist who has made a substantial contribution to the field and to provide resources to develop and implement a significant jewelry-related project that the artist would not otherwise have the ability to undertake.
The 2021 Susan Beech Mid-Career Artist Grant is open to makers between the ages of 35 and 55 at the time of the proposal deadline, and must have an active and ongoing record of activity in the field.
The proposed project should be about jewelry, loosely defined. There must be a specific outcome to the project, and it must be completed within a two-year time frame. Examples could include (but are not limited to) creation of a new body of work; a book, catalog, or other publication; research and development (including travel study); performance art involving jewelry; or an educational/social initiative involving jewelry. A proposed budget must be included as part of the proposal.
A proposal that was previously submitted may be submitted again.
The grant recipient will receive a cash grant of $20,000, to be paid over the two years in which the project will be implemented.
Grant proposals must include:
The jury of distinguished professionals for this grant cycle will be: grant founder and collector Susan Beech (United States); internationally recognized maker and educator, Daniel Kruger (Germany); and curator of jewelry at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Emily Stoehrer (United States).
The deadline to apply is midnight, MST (Denver, CO, USA), on January 10, 2021. More information and complete guidelines can be found at www.artjewelryforum.org.
Colton’s Time Machine - Book 4: Betsy Ross, Mount Rushmore, and the Statue of Liberty
by Rebecca Massey
Colton is a young boy who has a bunch of dragons as friends – read Colton’s Pocket Dragon books for that series. In this time travel series, a spin-off the original series – he wants to expose the dragons to a little American history, so he builds a machine to time travel and off we go.
Concurrently with my reading the books, I also had my son Anderson – who was 10 at the time – read them and give me his impressions. He liked them, and because Anderson is already a history buff, he enjoyed learning the somewhat deep in the weeds facts that Massey likes to communicate in the stories.
Anderson and I agreed on that aspect – if one enters the make believe reality of the fact that these are aimed at children to start with, and if one sets aside the pedantic tendencies of the Virgo that I am (I was bothered by the facts that the historical people that Colton visits seem to immediately accept time travel and the existence of dragons with little resistance… but we overlooked that and did enjoy the learning parts cleverly woven into the narrative.
One thing that did bother us was the static quality of the illustrations. While no credit is given to the illustrator, it appears to me that they are computer generated illustrations, which while the serve the basic goal of an illustration – to “illustrate” a passage in the story – they felt and looked computer-generated and lacked the individuality of a human-made illustration. My apologies in advance if these were indeed hand-made by a human… I would check the DNA for Vulcan blood.
We learned a lot and that’s all that counts… really. We learned what the 12 folds in the proper way to fold an American flag mean – something that after serving almost 23 years in the US Navy I actually never knew; we learned the history of the Pledge of Allegiance, and we learned that Betsy Ross eventually made six more flags after the first one.
We also learned the spectacularly cool name of the Mount Rushmore sculptor, and the “secret room” that he started to carve into the mount. Colton’s liking of sculptors then leads the reader to Bertholdi’s Lady Liberty (we did know his name) and the story behind what is perhaps the most famous statue in the modern world.
In summary, this book is both immensely readable and superbly informational to get your little tyke ahead of his peers when it comes to cool aspects of American history and how easy it is to believe in dragons.
This may be of interest (or not!) to some collectors who like unusual art - a very early 1976 (pre-art school) and very weird painting of mine based on the Hotel California song! - super low starting bid!
The link for the work may be found:
https://www.weschlers.com/auction-lot/f-lennox-campello-cuban-american-b-1956-hotel-cal_F18442BBEC
If anyone is interested in bidding, they will need to register in advance.
CALL FOR ENTRY!
When I was a kid in Brooklyn, my dad and I used to be great New York Mets fans, and we'd go to Shea Stadium several times a year to watch the amazing Mets!
I also saw several of the 1969 playoff games and 3 World Series games that year!
While I was a student at the University of Washington School of Art, I often used the Mets' superstars of my youth as inspiration for class assignments... here's a couple below...
 |
| Nolan Ryan Pen and ink on paper, circa 1979 by F. Lennox Campello |
 |
| Tom Seaver Limited Edition etching circa 1980 by F. Lennox Campello |
This is "The Last Unicorn", I did it as a commission for a private printing of the book by the same name... around 1978 when I was a student at the University of Washington School of Art.
 |
| The Last Unicorn Watercolor on paper 16x24 inches, c. 1978 by F. Lennox Campello |
Portico Gallery is hosting a mini artist reception for Adrienne Moumin only allowing 12 guests plus 4 staff/volunteers not to exceed 16 people total. At check-in, the gallery staff will take temperatures with a non-contact thermometer and everyone will need to have a mask or face covering and maintain social distancing. You MUST have a ticket to attend. Masks/face coverings are mandatory while inside the actual gallery. We will serve drinks outside on the portico and maintain social distancing while socializing.
Portico Gallery is unique in that we have three sets of double doors that open onto a portico (covered porch) that runs the length of the gallery. This will enable guests to access the outdoors, have fresh airflow throughout the gallery, and enable safe distances from one another.
We have already hosted one mini-reception and it was very successful and everyone had a good time.
As we will be socializing outdoors please dress for a lovely October evening.
Portico Gallery
3807 Rhode Island Avenue
Brentwood, MD 20722
Zoe Schlacter
Darn
September 26 – November 14, 2020
Transformer
1404 P Street NW
Visible like a diorama through Transformer's storefront window, Zoe Schlacter invites us into an exuberant, stylized, textured world. In this site-specific installation, the Brooklyn-based, Nashville-raised artist embraces everyday craft materials, reimagines traditional textile mechanisms, and celebrates the queer, creative impulse. Yarns extend from hand-made, wall-mounted, loom sculptures as paper mâché sculptures and fabric paintings dart across the floor.
Referencing the playfulness of Memphis design and plasticity of objects of art and pleasure, Schlacter employs the sharpness of graphic design to wink at the perception of sexually graphic content. Through negative and positive space, they explore ideas of (w)holeness, visibility, and mending. Trans/forming the gallery by deconstructing the language of weaving, Schlacter embraces the potentiality of queer identity, style, and connection through fiber, form, and space.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Zoe Schlacter is an interdisciplinary artist and designer living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Schlacter earned their BFA in textiles from the Rhode Island School of Design, where they learned both traditional crafts and contemporary design skills. Read full artist bio at transformerdc.org.
 |
| Cuba: Isla Acribillada (Island Decimated by Stabs) 1980 Handcolored Monoprint with embedded broken blade pieces |
Paint-Out in Historic Ellicott City: October 15-18
Be a part of the Paint It! Ellicott City Open Paint-Out! Grab your painting gear and head to Historic Ellicott City to paint alongside our juried artists during our annual plein air event. In lieu of our temporary community exhibit, this year we will be hosting an online exhibit of Open Paint artwork as well as promoting photos of the event/artwork on social media. Artists will have the opportunity to submit their photos to be shared. For more details and to register for free, click here.
I first proposed a version of this model about a decade ago, when there was (even then) a sense of art fatigue brewing in the art world.
In a post Covidian world, I suspect that a lot of people will still be a little leery of large group gatherings, and art fairs based on pre-Covidian standards may be a bit antiquated in the Brave Chickenized New World.
Herewith a revised Campello Art Fair Model
This is an etching of Rodin (after Rodin) that I did in the late 1970s at the University of Washington School of Art.
 |
| Rodin (after Rodin) by F. Lennox Campello, c. 1978 |
As mentioned here, the McLean Center for the Arts sponsors a very good painting competition every couple of years called "Strictly Painting."
A few years ago, around 1999 or 2000, the juror for that year's version of "Strictly Painting" was Terrie Sultan, who back then was the Curator for Contemporary Art at the Corcoran.
I thought that this choice was a little odd, as Ms. Sultan, in my opinion then, was not "painting-friendly."
In fact, with all due respect, back then I even blamed her for diminishing the great Corcoran Biennials, which used to be known at one point as the Corcoran Biennial of Painting. As such, they were essentially the only well-known Biennial left in the nation that was strictly designed to get a look at the state of contemporary painting, which was somehow surviving its so called "death."
It was Ms. Sultan who decided to "expand" the Biennial and make it just like all other Biennials: Jack of all trades (genres) Biennials. In the process, depending on what side of this argument you're on, she (a) did a great service to the Corcoran by moving it into the center of the "genre of the moment" scene - like all other Biennials, or (b) gave away the uniqueness of the nation's top painting Biennial title.
Even decades later, and with the Corcoran all but a memory, I'm aligned with the minority who supports camp (b) but understand those who defend her decision to become just another player in camp (a).
Most people think that her decision and drive were the right thing to do in order to bring the Corcoran to a world stage, but clearly it didn't work, since the Corcoran has since folded.
But I digress.
When she was announced as the juror, I decided to see if I could predict her painting selectivity, sensitivity, process, and agenda. It was my thesis that I could predict what Ms. Sultan would pick. So I made a bet, and decided to enter the exhibition with work created specifically to fit what I deduced would be agreeable to Ms. Sultan's tastes.
I felt that I could guarantee that I would get into the show because of the transparency of the juror's personal artistic agenda. It is her right to have one; I have them, in fact, we all have them.
I was trained as a painter at the University of Washington School of Art, but around 1992 or so, I stopped painting and decided to devote myself strictly to my love for drawing.
So I had not picked up a brush in several years when I decided to enter this 1999 competition, designed to survey the state of painting in our region. It was my theory that Ms. Sultan would not be in the representational side of painting. It was also clear that she (like many curators) was seduced by technology in the form of videos, digital stuff, and such trendy things in the then novel Internet era.
And so I decided to see if I could marry digital stuff with painting.
And what I did was the following: I took some of my old Navy ribbons, and scanned them in to get a digital file. I then blew them up so that the final image was quite pixilated. I then printed about five of them and took slides of the printed sheets of paper. I then submitted these slides to the competition, but identified them as oil on canvas paintings. My plan was that if accepted, how hard could it be to whip up a couple of paintings after the fact?
I titled them with such titles as Digitalism: National Defense and Digitalism: Expeditionary Medal and so on.
From what I was later told, several hundred painters submitted work.
And Ms. Sultan selected about only about seven or eight painters in total. And not only was I one of them, but she picked two of my entries.
I was elated! I had hit the nail right on the head!
I felt so superior in having such an insight into this intelligent woman's intellect that I (a painter no more) could create competition-specific work to get accepted into this highly regarded show. And then I began the task of creating the two paintings, using the pixilated images as the guide.
And it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. For one thing, I had submitted the "paintings" in quite a large size; each painting was supposed to be six feet long. And it didn't take me long to discover that there are a lot of color nuances and hues in an average pixilated image. And I went through dozens and dozens of rolls of tape as I pulled off the old Washington Color School trick of taping stripes (in my case small one inch square boxes of individual colors - hundreds upon hundreds of them) in a precise sequence to prevent smudging and color peeling, etc.
I painted for at least six hours every day, switching off between paintings to allow the previous day's work to dry off enough to allow a new layer of tape to be applied. I did all the varnishing outside, which usually attracted all the small neighborhood ruffians. It was incredibly hard work, and I was ever so sorry that I had even gotten this crazy idea. All my nights were consumed.
But eventually they were finished and delivered to MPA and Ms. Sultan even wrote some very nice things about them in the exhibition's catalog. 
