Call to Artists

 Deadline:  December 7, 2014

 

WHAT: The 24nd Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival

 
WHERE: In the streets of Reston Town Center, an upscale, elegant, shopping destination, located a vibrant suburb of Washington, DC.
     
WHEN:Friday, May 15 NEW Festival Launch Party - all artists invited to attend a complimentary dinner; Saturday, May 16, 10 am - 6 pm NEW Artist awards champagne reception 6:30 - 8pm; Sunday, May 17, 10 am - 5 pm.

           
From GRACE:

* Our Festival is annually produced by the Greater Reston Arts Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is to enrich community life through excellence in contemporary art. The proceeds from the Festival directly support our educational and outreach programs.

* Our Festival is limited to approximately 200 juried artists in 16 media categories. We are committed to presenting original, well-conceived, and expertly executed works, made either by hand or with appropriate tools, by the exhibiting artists.

* We encourage artists who are exploring the boundaries of their media, by incorporating the use of found objects, repurposed materials, or technology, to apply.

  

* We have made significant changes to the Festival to reflect our desire to place emphasis on the art and our artists, and were developed based on direct input from the 2014 participating artists. Some of these changes include a Festival Launch Party that all participating artists are invited to free of change on Friday, a champagne awards reception on Saturday evening for all participating artists.   

* GRACE is committed to elevating the profile of our Festival, and has doubled its marketing budget for 2015 to reach new audiences and promote interest from collectors. To enhance regional appeal and promote an art-focused atmosphere for the Festival, GRACE is also partnering with internationally-recognized earth artist Patrick Dougherty. Mr. Dougherty will construct a site-specific, immersive, temporary installation in Town Square Park, which will be on view during the Festival and will be promoted as part of the Festival activities.

* Artist amenities include ample volunteer support, booth sitters, continental breakfasts for artists, drive up booth set-up/ tear down, free bottled water delivery, indoor restrooms, reduced hotel rates, reserved artist parking for oversize vehicles, security, and artist mentor opportunities in local schools.

* We are pleased to offer ten $500 equal merit Excellence Contemporary Art Awards selected via category to ensure more equitable distribution and the award winners will be recognized in a public forum. All artists are invited to GRACE for an awards presentation with complimentary champagne and light hors'd'oeuvres on Saturday evening.  

* Of the artists who answered the question regarding amount of sales on the 2014 artist surveys, 20.5% said they sold between $6k and $20k, with 9.3% saying they sold more than $10k, and 31% said they sold between $ 500 - $5,999. The 2014 Art Fair Source Book report from 21% or our artists shows an upward trend, with average gross sales at $5,882 per artist.

* We have an aggressive marketing and promotion campaign to better market, recognize, and celebrate our festival artists with well placed advertising in prominent magazines and newspapers, arts focused catalogues, online Going Out Guides, and outreach through social media, radio and television.

*Jury/Booth fees are $50/$500 for a single booth, with corner and double booths also available. Upon acceptance artists can indicate preference on street location for an additional fee.

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS:  
Deadline:  December 7, 2014

Notification:  January 21, 2015
  

Apply at Juried Art Services http://www.juriedartservices.com/index.php?content=event_info&event_id=840

      

For more information please visit  www.restonarts.org

Call or Email questions to Erica Harrison 703.471.9242 ext. 113
ericaharrison@restonarts.org

Streaker and other things... Context Day Two

Today was the opening to the general public of the Context Art Miami fair.

We arrived a few minutes after the official opening time of 11AM, as did most other dealers (we saw the hardworking Leigh Conner hustling to Art Miami).

This is the result of trying to get off the highway to North Miami Avenue... this simple operation seems to be a permanent parking lot at practically any time.

Plan for about 15-20 minutes to get from the highway to the fair; traffic is that bad!

Today was a much calmer and slower day than yesterday, with noticeably less young women, slim as rifles (and just as dangerous) confidently walking the aisles of the fair on needle heels and unshaven young studs with shiny hair, otherwise clean as a new stiletto, taking phone pictures of the artwork.

The day went fast, with the only novelty being the arrival of a couple of well-known DMV artists, Tim Tate and J.T. Kirkland, as well as a local guerrilla artist paddling his artwork ($20 a painting) while streaking through the fair.

Context Art Fair: VIP Preview

In typical Floridian puzzle-weather, it was very rainy up in Hollywood Beach, which is where we are staying as we have for the last few years. A few blocks south, the sun was bright and fully ready to endorse the VIP opening at Context Art Miami.

Once we got to Wynwood, we dropped off a piece for a special exhibit that the Art Miami folks had arranged with the local Marriott hotel. It was a delicate dance of driving in the serpentine challenges presented by Maimi drivers, but we installed the piece (a wonderful sculpture by Elissa Farrow-Savos) and headed back to Wynwood.

We finished off labeling the work, which brings to mind the interesting tidbit that just a handful of years ago, one seldom saw any labels at art shows or art fairs. It was as if all curators and gallerists in the upper artsmosphere of the art world that made a decision to endorse David Parnas' information hiding principle. Today, it is the opposite, as delivering as much information about the work seems to be the trend.

We've always used labels... just sayin'.

I rushed through the fair to try to get a flavor for the quality of this year's Context... and my report is that new director Julian Navarro has done a spectacular job: this is by far the best art fair that we've ever been honored to be part of; Context has set new standards this year... more on that later.

Simon Monk wall at Context Art Miami - Alida Anderson Art Projects

There were long lines waiting for the 5:30 opening at both Context Art Miami and Art Miami, as I was very impressed how the crowds increased as the evening progressed. The Wynwood district where several of the art fairs are staged is a pretty congested area without the art fairs and unless you are savvy enough to dance the traffic dance, it can be challenging on the night when everyone wants to go to the art show. In addition to the two best-known Art Miami fairs, there are several satellite fairs in Wynwood which now use Art Miami as the magnet fair, just as all satellite fairs use Art Basel Miami Beach as the magnet fair.

Almost immediately DMV artist Audrey Wilson broke the ice and at the same time proved my point about the importance of art fairs for artists. Wilson sold a major piece to a collector who has now bought one of her pieces at Context Art Miami 2013, Wynwood Art Fair 2014 and now Context Art Miami 2014. He also bought one of my drawings, which was nice.

It is always good to break the ice on opening night... as the night ended I sold three more of my pieces.

Overall I noticed that all the dealers around us seemed to be making sales, and this is a great indication of the hard work that it takes to get a critical number of collectors to an art event.

Tomorrow the fair opens to the public.

Unloading day

Today it was the typical brutal day as we unloaded and started setting up at Context Art Miami in Wynwood.

After trolling around for a while looking for a parking spot, we found a Doris Day spot nearby the loading docks for the fair. The place was a beehive of workers delivering crates, European gallerists walking back and forth barking worried orders on their cell phones, cleaning crews on a constant battle to keep the place clean, Haitian day workers hanging around hoping for a job, security checking badges and asking for wrist bands, and the savage art sounds of hammers banging and drills drilling and the random and heartbreaking sound of glass breaking somewhere.

Hundreds of trips later we had taken most of the art out of the van with only one casualty - this is the brutal part of driving your work down instead of having it shipped and delivered to your booth.

Ran into the DMV's Andrea Pollan and then Calder Brannock; both are working the fairs.

After a ten hour day we are 90% done... all the work for opening night is hung, and almost all labeled; all the electronics are working, and Simon Monk, Dulce Pinzon and me are on the walls and Audrey Wilson and Elissa Farrow-Savos are on the floor.

The VIP Preview is tomorrow. The fair opens on Wednesday.

At the Embassy of Argentina

Art exhibition at the Embassy of Argentina:
Interpretation of Trees: New works by Felisa Federman
Dec. 3rd to Jan. 30th
Reception: Wed Dec 3rd 6:30-8pm

Embassy of Argentina
1600 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington DC 20009

View from the room

Another reason why artists need to find a way to get to ABMB in December...

In the land of flowers

Took an Oh-Dark Thirty flight to Florida today in prep for Art Basel Miami Beach week, as we'll be participating at the Context Art Miami fair in Wynwood.

The most able Audrey Wilson arrived last night to Ft Lauderdale and picked me up at the airport.

As soon as you land in FLL you know that you are in the land enriched by the historic Cuban diaspora.

Check out the cuisine at the airport!

Studio Gallery DC looking for new members

Studio Gallery DC now accepting applications for membership. 

Studio Gallery DC, located in Dupont Circle, is the District's longest running artist's cooperative showcasing contemporary work by emerging and mid-career artists living in the DC metropolitan area. 

If you are interested in submitting an application please visit the Studio Gallery website and view the past exhibitions to see if this is an appropriate venue for your work. 

For more information, email the Gallery director.

ArtsAction DC

A new arts coalition, ArtsAction DC, has been meeting monthly at Arena Stage since the spring of 2014. The coalition of 40 organizations represents performing and visual arts and the creative economy. The group is developing a study entitled "Funding for a Cultural Plan for DC," which the group intends to release prior to the FY16 Budget process next year with the goal of making the case for increased funding for the arts in D.C.

AOM party

You're Invited to the Artomatic Holiday Party on Friday

Please join AOM for Artomatic's Holiday Party this coming Friday, December 5 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in The Gallery Walk at Reagan National Airport -- the location of Artomatic Takes Flight. They'll share information about exhibiting and volunteering at Artomatic. If you plan to attend, please RSVP here.

Heading South

The van was packed today, almost everything fit... almost. It will soon head South to Context Art Miami, where we will be in booth E-44 and showcasing the work of British painter Simon Monk, Mexican photographer Dulce Pinzon, and the sculptures of American sculptors (and DMV area artists) Audrey Wilson and Elissa Farrow-Savos.

Oh yeah... had to drop $1600 in repairs to the van just prior to the drive to Miami... better here than on the road!

I fly down on Saturday and will start daily reports on Monday!

Who's going to ABMB this year?

The below list is courtesy of The Center for the Creative Economy

DC Area Artists - Art Basel Miami - 2014

..........................................................

VENUE Aqua www.aquaartmiami.com

Jennifer Jacobs, Aqua Art Miami Director  jjacobs@art-miami.com

(T) 503.810.7903

Mayer Fine Arts - Aqua Art Miami

Judith Peck judithpeck@prodigy.net (with Mayer Fine Arts at Aqua Art Miami)

Victoria Gaitan (with Mayer Fine Arts at Aqua Art Miami)

Morton Fine Art - Aqua Art Miami

Stephon Senegal (Morton Fine Art, Aqua Art Miami)

Victor Ekpuk vekpuk@yahoo.com (Morton Fine Art, Aqua Art Miami)

Hamiltonian Gallery - Aqua Art Miami - www.hamiltoniangallery.org

Joshua Haycraft <haycraftj@bhbitb.com> (Hamiltonian Gallery at Aqua)

Annette  Isham <annette.isham@gmail.com> (Hamiltonian Gallery at Aqua)

VENUE Context Art Miami www.contextartmiami.com

Alida Anderson Art Projects - Context Art Miami info@alidaanderson.com

Audrey Wilson audreywilson4@gmail.com (with Alida Anderson at Context Art Miami)

Lenny Campello lenny@lennycampello.com (with Alida Anderson at Context Art Miami)

Curator’s Office – Context Art Miami  www.curatorsoffice.com

Larry Cook <larrywcookjr@yahoo.com> (Curator's Office at Miami Context Art Miami)

VENUE Latin American Art Pavilion latinamericanartpavilion.com

Latin American Art Pavilion latinamericanartpavilion.com

Joan Belmar Joanbelmar@gmail.com (The Latin American Art Pavilion at Red Dot Art Fair) curated by Dennys Matos

VENUE PRIZM Art Fair

Contact: Prizm Art Fair www.prizmartfair.com in Miami and the founder director is Mikhaile Solomon

Holly Bass hollybassdc@yahoo.com

Shaunte Gates Studiogates.gates@gmail.com

Wesley Clark wclark79@gmail.com

Amber Robles Gordon amberroblesgordon@gmail.com

Jamea Richmond Edwards ejamea@gmail.com

Irene Clouthier, www.ireneclouthier.com

Adrienne Gaither adriennegaither.com

VENUE Art Miami www.art-miami.com/

Connersmith Contemporary http://www.connersmith.us.com/

Erik Thor Sandberg  iconologicart@gmail.com

Sheldon Scott  https://www.facebook.com/servingsheldon

DC Area Galleries

Alida Anderson Art Projects info@alidaanderson.com

Connersmith Contemporary info@connersmith.us.com

Hamiltonian Gallery paso@hamiltonianartists.org, angie@hamiltonianartists.org

Morton Fine Art - MFA Amy Morton mortonfineart@gmail.com

Curator's Office andrea@curatorsoffice.com

Mayer Fine Arts www.mayerfineartgallery.com

Miami Organizations that have shown DC artists via application (Note: Aqua Art Miami doesn’t show individual artists, but only galleries via a rigorous application process; however, in the past they have vetted individual performance artists)

From Holly Bass - Map from 2012 - Beginners Guide to Art Base Miami

http://www.boydlevel.com/pdf/MiamiGuide2012.pdf

Beginner's guide to Art Basel:

Art Basel Miami Beach For Beginners | The Pink Line Project

Another scam

This is a scam - they're just beginning to hit artists and galleries with their own domain names:

Subject:   alidaanderson domain and keyword in CN From:   "David Zhang" Date:   Tue, November 18, 2014 11:55 pm To:   info@alidaanderson.com Priority:   Normal

(Please forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent. Thanks)

We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China. On Nov 17, 2014, we received an application from Huabao Holdings Ltd requested "alidaanderson" as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names. But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it's necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?

Kind regards

David Zhang

General Manager

YIGUDNS (Headquarters)

B06, Yujing Building, No.1 Jihe Road,

Shanghai 201107, China

Tel: +86 21 6191 8696

Mobile: +86 138 1642 8671

Fax: +86 21 6191 8697

Web: www.yigudns.com

Quantum of the Seas in NYC

Super talented DMV area photog Alan Sislen writes...

I was in NYC this weekend doing some photography.  Last night I was shooting lower Manhattan from New Jersey and heard this enormous ships horn.  Coming up the Hudson River was your "Channeling Jackson Pollock: Rock, Paper, Scissors” being transported by Quantum of the Seas!  In the background is the World Financial Center and the Freedom Tower (One World Trade Center).

Thank you Alan!

Amber Robles-Gordon at the Capitol Skyline tomorrow

OPENING RECEPTION TOMORROW --  THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20 FROM 7-9PM

OPENING RECEPTION

November 20, 2014, 7-9pm

LOCATION

South Capitol Street Facade
Capitol Skyline Hotel
10 I (Eye) Street SW
Washington, DC 20024

WPA presents a new work by DC-based artist Amber Robles-Gordon as the second installation in its South Capitol Skyscape series. For the 50-foot banner on the South Capitol Street façade of the hotel, WPA has excerpted a portion of Robles-Gordon's new work entitled At the Altar: Dance of the Serpents. Created through the artist's signature assemblage process combining textiles and found objects, the work takes new form using a recycled hammock as its support and foundation, representing the structural constructs of the past and the restrictive patterns of repetitive thinking.

The next copyright act???

Chris Reed is a former senior policy advisor to the Register of Copyrights and author of Copyright Workflow for Photographers.

Check out his piece here.

Jane Haslem to close after 55 years

Jane Haslem Gallery, the DMV's longest running art gallery will host its last "formal exhibition" after 55 years of operation!

For those of you who don't know, 55 years is close to 873 years in people-years! Haslem's Artline was (and is) one of the planet's first gallery sites on the Internets; it made its debut in 1995, the year before we opened the Fraser Gallery in Georgetown!

When we opened, we already had a website ready to fly hosted on the old Geocities server... back then you could count the DMV galleries with a web presence in one hand and Haslem had set the standard.

 TOM EDWARDS
November, December 2014 & January 2015
Opening Reception:  December 6, Saturday, 3-7 pm

also exhibiting new watercolors and prints
by ANNE CHESNUT, NANCY McINTYRE, and ELIZABETH PEAK

Check out their last formal show here.

Channeling Jackson Pollock is at sea

Remember this commission for Royal Caribbean's spectacular new ship "Quantum of the Seas"? 

That amazing new cruise liner is now in its break down maiden cruise and my piece is now fully installed and at sea!

"Channeling Jackson Pollock: Rock, Paper, Scissors"

Jenkins in the WaPo

The Washington Post's Mark Jenkins reviews the “Lines Drawn: America’s Artists Look Beyond the Politics of Red and Blue,” at Charles Krause/Reporting Fine Art and has a nice mention of my piece "Obama as Atlas."

Read the review here and then come to my talk tomorrow afternoon at 4:30PM as I discuss the piece.

CHARLES KRAUSE/REPORTING FINE ART 
1300 13th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-638-3612

Sunday, Nov. 16 @ 4:30PM
For all you grubs, refreshments will be served

I will also have a very cool piece of art that I will give to the person who asks me the best question during or after the talk!

"Obama as Atlas" by F. Lennox Campello (2008 -  2014)

Please come ready to discuss (and debate) the piece... beware that I am a Virgo and thus inclined to use facts (with references) in all my arguments.

Also, Art and Circuses, a very cool new DMV art blog by artist Michele Colburn has published a very eloquent review here. Please visit this new blog frequently!

See ya there!

Campello Art Talk This Sunday!

This Sunday I will have the honor to discuss my piece "Obama as Atlas" which is part of the very cool LINES DRAWN: America's Artists Look Beyond the Politics of Red and Blue exhibition at:

CHARLES KRAUSE/REPORTING FINE ART 
1300 13th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-638-3612

Sunday, Nov. 16 @ 4:30PM
For all you grubs, refreshments will be served

I will also have a very cool piece of art that I will give to the person who asks me the best question during or after the talk!

"Obama as Atlas" by F. Lennox Campello (2008 -  2014)

Please come ready to discuss (and debate) the piece... beware that I am a Virgo and thus inclined to use facts (with references) in all my arguments.

Also, Art and Circuses, a very cool new DMV art blog by artist Michele Colburn has published a very eloquent review here. Please visit this new blog frequently!

See ya there!

Bethesda Art Walk returns tonight!

The Bethesda Art Walk returns this Friday, November 14 from 

6-9pm, showcasing artwork created locally, nationally and internationally. 

Enjoy several galleries by walking throughout downtown Bethesda to learn more about the Bethesda arts scene and featured artists.

NOVEMBER PARTICIPANTS

Consider It Done

7806 Old Georgetown Road 

Gallery B
7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E 

Studio B
7475 Wisconsin Avenue 

"Tunnel Vision" Public Art Exhibition
Bethesda Metro Station Tunnel

Waverly Street Gallery
4600 East-West Highway 

More Info.

Art Scam Alert!

The art scammers are all over Al Gore's Internet(s) over the last few days... Beware of these mutants!

From:  Gloria Suellen (garyroberts965@gmail.com)

Good Day,
How is everything with you? I picked interest in your artwork and
deemed it necessary to write you immediately. I will like to know if
you have shipped internationally before and if you have a merchant
that enables you to accept Visa Card or Master Card for payment?.
Could you please respond with your recently updated website so we can
proceed from there
Best Regards
Mrs Suellen

---

From:  Lindsey Richard (lindsey@lindseyart.com)

Good day,
I want to place an order in your store/Gallery/Company and i will like to know 

if you ship to Singapore and my payment will be remitted via Credit Card Issued 

in United States.
 
Please let me know if you can assist me with the order,and please do not forget 

to include your website in your reply.Your quick response will be highly appreciated,

I will be very glad if you treat this email with good concern.
 
Best Regards,
Lindsey Supply Co.
Shun Li Industrial Complex,
603 Sims Drive, #03-10,
Singapore 387384

That last mutant also uses excelshopping.consulting1998@gmail.com as an email address...

Update: Also this email address:  kess.sloa@gmail.com

Heading to the UK

Because I work my ass off, and because I am lucky to be represented by five very hard working galleries in the US and Europe, and because I am perhaps the most reasonably-priced (and needless to say uber talented) artist on the planet, I manage to sell a lot of work each year.

As a result, I don't usually note individual sales here, but every once in a while (such as in this case) a sale stands out. And the small drawing below is heading to the United Kingdom to the collection of one of the top ten art collectors on Earth!

"Hamas Wants Him Dead"
Charcoal and Conte on Paper. 7x5 inches
2014 by F. Lennox Campello.