Women who Work, Care, and Create at Zenith

l-r: Black Bird by Elizabeth Ashe,  Serenity Courage Wisdom by Jacqui Crocetta, 

Nasty Woman by Elissa Farrow-Savos, 

Neither Mine Nor Yours #11 by Michelle Dickson, Mari Virens (Green Ocean) by Susan Freda

Featured Artists: Elizabeth Ashe, Jacqui Crocetta, Michelle Dickson, Elissa Farrow Savos, Susan Freda, Katherine Owens, Lynda Smith-Bugge, Paula Stern, Emily Tucci. 

Women who Work, Care, and Create

Show dates: January 14 - April 13, 2019

MEET THE ARTISTS RECEPTION: Wednesday, January 30, 5-8 pm   

    

VIEW EXHIBIT

Zenith Gallery Inc., 1429 Iris Street, NW, Washington, DC 20012

RIP Michael B. Platt

DMV Photographer and printmaker Michael B. Platt died unexpectedly of a heart attack this morning... 

Platt has a show opening soon at American University and also in Australia... as a good friend put it succinctly: "Life is fragile."

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this scammer!

From: Ralph ralphlauren0071@gmail.com

Subject: ***SPAM*** PAINTINGS INQUIRY !!!

Hello There, How are you doing? My name is Ralph Lauren from NC.I observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of art work,. I stormed on some of your works which i found quite impressive and intriguing. I must admit your doing quite an impressive job. You are undoubtedly good at what you do. With that being said, I would like to purchase some of your works as a surprise gift to my wife in honor of our upcoming wedding anniversary. It would be of help if you could send some pictures of your piece of works, with their respective prices and sizes, which are ready for immediate (or close to immediate) sales. My budget for this is within the price range of $450 to $5000. I look forward to reading from you in a view to knowing more about your pieces of inventory.(ralphlauren0071@gmail.com) Best regards, Ralph

A call for work about the environment

Deadline: March 2, 2019. 

This is an open call exhibition hosted at National Humanities Center (NHC). This show will be installed in time for NHC’s three-day summit Beyond Despair: Theory and Practice in Environmental Humanities. 

VAE and NHC are looking to showcase art about, including, referencing, and showcasing anything in the environment.

Details here.

Art-Business Conference in the Washington DC metro area

Of interest to artists!

The Clark Hulings Fund for Visual Artists (CHF) is excited to announce its Art-Business Conference in the Washington DC metro area, an event that seeks to inspire visual artists to “Conquer the Changing Marketplace.” This weekend-long business- development workshop will give professional working artists the chance to take a deep dive into the business side of their art careers. Scheduled for March 23 and 24, 2019, the two-day conference is co-sponsored by Artists and Makers Studios, an art center complex dedicated to providing a supportive and vibrant environment for artists to realize their creative goals.

The event manifests CHF’s assertion that “Art is a business and artists should run it.” With the art market undergoing rapid and significant change—not only with regard to technology but also HOW art is marketed, bought, and sold—artists need toreclaim their rightful position at the center of the industry. The Art-Business Conference will help them to take charge of their careers, captivate their audience, maximize the extraordinary professional advantages they already possess and sell their art effectively and profitably.

Topics will include building an action plan, creating a brand story, rocking their portfolio, multiplying revenue streams, pricing for profit, selling art online effectively, building a strong support team, squashing resistance, sales strategies, and much more. All sessions are interactive, allowing artists to work together and engage conference leaders with their specific business questions.

The program will be led by Elizabeth Hulings, CHF director and co-founder; Carolyn Edlund, CHF sales director, and events manager; and Daniel DiGriz, CHF education director. “With a vibrant gallery scene, museums attracting visitors from around the globe, and unparalleled public art, we are thrilled to deliver tangible business skills and training in this exciting market, and to partner with Artists & Makers Studios.” says Hulings.

The event fee is $395, but CHF is offering an extra early-bird price of $295 until January 15, and an early-bird price of $345 until March 1, 2019, when the regular price of $395 starts. Tickets are available here. In addition to conference admission, ticket holders will receive one year of “Colleague”-level access to CHF’s Business Accelerator Portal, a comprehensive online learning and community resource for working artists.

About The Clark Hulings Fund

The Clark Hulings Fund for Visual Artists (CHF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that champions economic sustainability for working artists. We do this by delivering business education and entrepreneurial learning through a rigorous Business Accelerator, a Digital Learning Portal, in-person education events in local communities, and a federation of artist-formed and artist-led networks of opportunity. All of this work achieves one aim: equip visual artists to thrive as self-sustaining entrepreneurs.

Call for Artists and Sites for ARTsites 2019

Deadline for all submissions is March 1, 2019

The Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) announces ARTsites 2019, a multi-site public art initiative. HCAC is looking for artists with large-scale sculpture that is fit for year-long outdoor display as well as publicly-accessible outdoor areas in Howard County to display the sculpture.

 

About ARTsites:

ARTsites 2019 is a year-long public art exhibit that will take place at up to 12 sites throughout Howard County from August 2019-July 2020. Sites and artwork will be selected from submissions by a panel of arts and public art professionals. The goal of ARTsites 2019 is to make art more accessible to the local community by placing sculpture at sites throughout Howard County. The sculptures will serve as visual anchor points that will enhance and activate community spaces.

 

Call for Artists:

Artists with public art experience may submit up to six existing works for consideration, or propose new work with proper concept drawings and/or models. Sculpture should have a strong visual impact and must be of a scale suitable for outdoor display; of sound design, free-standing, and suitable for public viewing; and able to withstand an outdoor, high-traffic, unmonitored environment with little or no maintenance. Selected artists will receive a grant of $2,500 for the temporary loan of the work, insurance, installation and de-installation. There is no fee to enter.

 

Call for Sites:

All community, commercial and public sites in Howard County are eligible to apply. Sites must be visible and accessible to the public. Sites should consider that public art should be placed where it will enhance and activate the space; where it will be highly visible; where it will create a place to congregate or be in a location that experiences a high amount of pedestrian traffic; and where it will not block windows, entranceways, etc. Preference will be given to sites that have, or are willing to install at their own expense, a concrete pad for the sculpture, though some sculpture may be appropriate for lawn sites.

 

Complete guidelines and submission information are available in the Exhibit Opportunities section of the HCAC website at hocoarts.org, at the Howard County Center for the Arts, or by calling 410-313-2787. 

Job in the Arts

MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE

(CONTRACTUAL)

STATE WAGE GRADE: 13

SALARY RANGE: $17.88 – 28.27/ hour

MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

DIVISION OF TOURISM, FILM AND THE ARTS - MARYLAND STATE ARTS COUNCIL

The Maryland Department of Commerce is seeking qualified applicants for the full-time, contractual position of Management Associate within its Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts’- Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). The primary responsibilities of this position are to provide administrative, secretarial, operational, and technical support to the Grants and Professional Development Director. Duties consist of: database and grants management to include maintaining, updating, and merging grant applications; inputting contact information; reviewing application materials; assembling and compiling grant data, spreadsheets, and mailing lists, as requested; in addition to monitoring and tracking data submitted. Incumbent will provide technical assistance to grantees regarding grant awards regulations and reporting procedures; input and/or merge final report data for all grants using agency’s Customer Relationship Management (Salesforce.com) system. 

Individual will maintain the grant filing system for all MSAC grant programs; log in performance contracts and evaluation forms from artists and schools; and track incoming contracts and evaluation forms. Incumbent will establish contact and maintain communication links with official partners; maintain, schedule, and attend panel meetings preparing meeting and briefing documents, compile reports and routine correspondence; screen and direct calls; schedule appointments; arrange travel; and provide support to all MSAC events and meetings. The incumbent will assist in preparing internal and external professional development opportunities for grants processes and program-related content, assist with the implementation of an annual, statewide arts symposium, and coordinate and support local and regional, topic-specific professional development opportunities for all stakeholders and organize professional development requests from constituents.

The selected employee will be well organized; able to work independently; have an aptitude for detailed work; possess proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite – including both Excel and Access, Google Mail and/or other relevant programs; have experience with database software applications and the ability to prepare reports/charts; possess strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills; the ability to effectively present information, explain policy, respond to internal and external inquiries; and complete concurrent and high priority tasks. 

How to Apply:

Interested and qualified candidates should submit their resume AND completed supplemental questionnaire (next page) to Anna Halikias atAnna.Halikias@maryland.gov by the closing date listed below to receive consideration. Please describe in detail any job duties relating to the qualifications stated and include any computer software used (ex. Excel, Access, etc.) in each of the positions you held.  

Those unable to submit via email, please mail your resume and completed supplemental questionnaire to:

MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE -OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Attn: Management Associate- MSAC

World Trade Center – 401 E. Pratt Street, 10^th Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202

NO LATER THAN: Tuesday, January 29, 2018 – 5:00 PM

If you have any questions about this recruitment, please contact the Department of Commerce at 410.767.6300. 

You may also visit our website at: http://commerce.maryland.gov/commerce

PINK Ranchos and Other Ephemeral Zip Codes opens Feb. 14

Carolina Mayorga: PINK Ranchos and Other Ephemeral Zip Codes
February 14-May 19, 2019
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm 

VIPINK VIP and media exhibition preview
Wednesday, February 13 12-2pm
RSVP 

Opening reception and performance
Thursday, February 14 6-8pm
Cambuche Party: A Pink Musical. Performance: 6:45pm
Participants: Juan Felipe Mayorga (musician/piano player), Daniela Zuluaga (performer), Carolina Mayorga (performer). Piano intervention by Alberto Gaitán.

Choza Artist Party
Featuring artists Maribeth Egan, Heloisa Escudero and Jessica Kallista 
Thursday, March 21 6-8pm 

Performance Art in Latin America
Conversation with Independent Curator Laura Roulet 
Wednesday, April 17, 12-1pm 

Square Foot Give Away: Community-based program with audience participation.
Saturday, May 11 2-4pm

RSVP for public programming is encouraged but not required

Organization of American States
Secretariat for Hemispheric Affairs
AMA | Art Museum of the Americas
201 18th Street NW
Washington DC 20006 

Torpedo Factory Art Center Residencies!

For the fifth year, the Torpedo Factory Art Center welcomes four emerging artists to participate in the Post-Grad Residency Program: J Houston, Michaela Japec, Nava Levenson, and Kim Sandara. 

The jurors were Nicole Dowd, program director at Halcyon Arts Lab, and Leslie Holt, artist and co-director of Red Dirt Studio. 

This competitive juried program provides three months of exclusive access to a studio in the Art Center. Therein, artists can create and sell work, interact with the public, and connect with other arts professionals. The residency is unique for addressing the critical post-graduation juncture in an emerging artist’s career, offering an opportunity for professional development, networking, and a chance to define their practice outside of the academic context. 

Applications were open to recently graduated students who earned a bachelor’s or master’s art degree from an accredited university. Submissions were accepted from across the nation, provided artists submit proof of their permanent residence in the area and/or commitment to contributing to the future of the region’s arts scene. 

“This program is about hosting and supporting rising artists within our creative community,” said Brett Johnson, director of the Torpedo Factory Art Center. “The residency has many opportunities for innovation and collaboration, between artists and visitors alike. We hope this studio continues to be a place where people exchange perspectives, techniques, and ideas.” 

The program culminates in a group exhibition in Target Gallery, the Torpedo Factory’s contemporary exhibition space, November 8 – December 8, 2019.

Personally, I quite like the works of Michaela Japec!

2019 is a Big Year for Art Entering the Public Domain

On Jan 1, 2019, we not only ushered in a new year but also an unprecedented amount of creative works entering the public domain. “Public domain” refers to creative works that are not protected by copyright so anyone can use them in any way they would like, such as reselling or using the material to create new or updated versions, without having to obtain permission from the previous owners nor compensating them.

Jennifer Jenkins, director of Duke University School of Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain said in an interview with  Smithsonian Magazine, “We haven’t had a day quite like this in decades. . . The public domain has been frozen in time for 20 years, and we’re reaching the 20-year thaw.”

Read the whole article here. 

Maryland Traditions Project Grants

Maryland Traditions, the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council, is currently accepting applications for Project Grants. Applications are open until February 15, 2019.

Maryland Traditions Project Grants support short-term research and programming focused on folklife, or living cultural traditions. Successful Project Grants fund the project-based activities of professionals, community scholars, organizations, and artists as they identify, document, support, and present Maryland folklife. Past Project Grants have supported performances, festivals, oral histories, filmmaking, fieldwork, and other activities focusing on folklife.

For more information, contact an MSAC staff member using the information in the Project Grant application. To access the application and review grant guidelines, visit https://www.msac.org/grants/maryland-traditions-project-grant.

Why Do We Care How Long It Takes Artists to Make Their Work?

In truth, most cultural experiences deal with time. It might take you a week to read a novel. A play or film lasts around two hours. A song plays on the radio for about three minutes. It’s more difficult, however, to bracket the process of looking at a work of visual art. Unlike filmmakers or writers, painters and sculptors have little control over their audience’s attention spans. A sense of time isn’t embedded in their media, which offers visual artists a unique provocation or challenge.

Read the piece by Alina Cohen here.

Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History and Curatorial Studies

This past September, in a major effort to increase diversity in the field, the Walton Family Foundation awarded Spelman College a $5.4 million grant to establish the Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History and Curatorial Studies.

Read about it here... 

Opportunity for artists

Entry Deadline: 1/14/19

The Roanoke Arts Commission (RAC) is seeking up to eight artists to exhibit in the fifth AIR: (Art in Roanoke), a temporary sculpture exhibition running May 17, 2019 through April 26, 2021.  

The RAC is accepting submissions now through January 14, 2019 at 11:59 pm MT from experienced artists for freestanding sculpture. Artwork may incorporate interactive as well as functional elements.  This invitation is extended to all artists 18 and older regardless of where they live.  In addition to finished pieces, proposed work will also be considered.  

There is no entry fee. 

Artists chosen to participate will receive a stipend of up to $4,000 per selected artwork.  All stipends are payable in one lump sum upon completion of the installation and receipt of an invoice. 

In addition, one artist will receive a $1,000 People’s Choice Award. Voting will take place the weekend of Festival in the Park, one of the major festivals held in the park on Memorial Day weekend, 2019.  

Details here.

Opportunity for Artists: Create a Flag!

Entry Deadline: 1/25/19

HER FLAG is a collaborative art project to celebreate the 100th anniversary of voting for women in the U.S. in 2020. 

They need an female artist/illustrator from all of the 36 states that ratified the 19th amendement to create a 16' by 28', thirty-six stripe reinterpretation of the American flag. Each artist will create work that will be printed onto outdoor flag grade material. NO SEWING IS NECESSARY. 

Details here.

Seven new apps for artists

Check them out here.

Art Basel 2018 reviewed

My review of Art Basel week 2018 and recommendations on how to navigate the art fairs have been published in Gansevoort Magazine in New York.

Read it online here.

A tree fell in exile

Four years ago my father died on this day... here's my eulogy from two years ago:

"Hoy se ha caido otro roble en la selva del amargo exilio" is how I always thought that my father's eulogy would begin once he died.

"Today another oak falls in the jungle of bitter exile," began the eulogy for the man whose bloodlines my children and I carry on.

Florencio Campello Alonso died today at age 90 in Miami, the heart of the bitter Cuban Diaspora. Like many Cubans of his generation, he was the son of European immigrants to Cuba. His Galician parents left the scraggy mountains of northern Spain's ancient Celtic kingdom and in the first decade of the 1900s migrated to the new nation of Cuba upon its liberation from Spain.

Galicians have always been uneasy subjects of the Spanish crown, stubbornly hanging on to their ancient Celtic traditions, to their own language and to their bagpipes, so it is no historical surprise that they left their mountain homelands en-masse and headed to the new tropical paradise of Cuba, free from the heavy hand of the Spanish monarchy.

And thus it was never a surprise to me that my father was both a fighter against heavy-handed rulers, a lover of freedom, and one who was never afraid to re-start a life for the better, even if it involved discarding the old. 

My father could have been one of the privileged few who currently rule  atop the food chain of Cuba's Workers' Paradise. But instead of accepting the benefits of oppression, this most valiant of men chose the harsh path of right over wrong.

And he paid for it dearly (he spent years in Concentration Camps), but when he died, his soul was clean.

In his youth, my dad worked the brutal hours of the son of an immigrant who was slowly building a small financial empire in eastern Cuba. My father was pulled from school as soon as he learned to read and write, and like his two other brothers and eight sisters, he was expected to work and contribute to building a familial empire.

And he did, as my mother relates the stories of my father's childhood in the fields of eastern Cuba, a blond creole in a land of jingoist natives... he trying to out-Cuban the "real Cubans"... how he organized a labor union of the exploited Haitians who worked almost as slaves at the Los Canos Sugar Mill, how he joined a group of bearded rebels in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra in the fight against a tyrant, how he ran for the leadership of the Sugar Workers' Union and beat the Communists to the post, and how he spent years in a Castro Concentration Camp, jailed for the crime of refusing to join the Party, because he believed in Democracy and not Communism. 

And because of that stubbornness, in the 1960s he was offered the bitter pill of exile, and this brave man decided to choose family... and left his birth place, and thus became another immigrant within two familial generations and brought his wife and child to another new land.

And it is to him that I owe the greatest gift that a father can give a son: the opportunity to grow in freedom in the greatest nation in the history of this planet.

It is because of my father's courage that I was raised in this country and not in a land bloodied by brutality and oppression.

It is because of my father's teachings that I was raised with the conviction that freedom is not free and never to be taken for granted; after all, he fought for freedom and then Castro, the man who inspired  the fight, ended up being a worse dictator, eventually destroying all notions of freedom for all of his people.

It is because of my father that I was taught that every citizen owes his  nation some form of service, and that's the main reason that I signed (at age 17) to serve in the US Navy.

It is because of my father that I despise anyone who hides behind the mask of victimism to excuse failures and shortcomings.

When our family arrived in New York in the 1960s, my father began to work in a factory three days after he landed at the airport; my mother (who came from a privileged Cuban family and had never worked a day in her life) found a job as a seamstress five days later. That pattern was repeated for decades as they worked their way in a new nation.

"We thought we'd be back within a few years," was the answer given to me when I once asked the question about leaving their birthplace. When that didn't materialize, they became fierce Americans in the "United States of Americans" sense... these were the "America None Better!" set of immigrants, and in my Dad's case, you better be ready to fight if you dissed the USA.

"Americans"!

Always a fighter he was... and always for the right reasons.

Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we  recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

And my Dad loved this nation even more than he once loved Cuba... perhaps it is the genetic disposition of the serial immigrant. After all, his father had left his own ancient Celtic lands and kin for a new land... which he learned to love dearly.

My father always wanted to make sure that I knew that I was an "Americano" and not another forced-on label.

"Labels," he'd say, "are just a way to separate people."

By labels he meant "Hispanic" or "Latino" or anything with a "-" between two ethnic words.

I also remember as a kid in New York, when he bought a huge Hi-Fi record player-color-TV console... that thing was huge. He bought it "lay-away" and he'd pay $10 a week to the store and him and I would walk all the way from our house on Sackman Street to the store on Pitkin Avenue to make the payments every Saturday - he never missed a single payment, and that taught me a lesson.

It was soon playing my Dad's favorite music, which oddly enough was Mexican music (Cuban music was a close second)... and he knew all the words to every charro song.

Guadalajara en un llano, Mejico en una laguna... 
Guadalajara en un llano, Mejico en una laguna...Me he de comer esa tunaMe he de comer esa tuna.... aunque me espine la mano.

That Jorge Negrete song... being shouted often on weekends at the top of his lungs from our apartment in a mostly Italian neighborhood in East New York in Brooklyn must have raised some eyebrows.

My dad and I watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon on that TV set... we also watched loads of Mets games... and in 1969 and 1972 went to Shea Stadium to see the Mets win in '69 and lose in '72. He really loved baseball and he really loved those Mets!

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, so my Dad decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

He and my mother spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

When I visited him today in Miami, he looked good and freshly shaven... this is a good thing, as my father was a freak about hygiene... and that's a common "creole" trait.

The Hospice nurse almost teared up when I told her that my parents have been married for 60 years.

I looked at this old "gallego"... his skin as white as paper, his eyes as blue as the sky, and his head (once full of blond hair) as bald and shiny as the old Cuban sing song ("Mira la Luna, mira al Sol... mira la calva de ese.....") and I saw the generations of Neanderthals, Denisovans and Gallego Homo Sapiens that led to my bloodlines... the generations of fighters, of strugglers, and of tough guys who didn't take no for an answer and who made a better place for others. 

And I felt at peace and grateful.

And as my father died tonight, after an extubation,  all that I can think  to say to him is "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Dad... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children and it is no coincidence that you died on El Dia de Los Reyes.

Opportunity for Mid Atlantic Artists

Deadline: March 25, 2019. 

The Arlington Arts Center has announced a call for submissions for a new regional biennial, which will take place for the first time in the fall of 2019. 

Featuring work by artists from across the Mid-Atlantic, the exhibition will explore current material and conceptual trends with a focus on work that "addresses the concerns of the present moment, whether political, cultural, personal, economic, artistic, or all of the above." 

The exhibition and accompanying programming will include artists at various stages of their careers, with an eye towards exhibiting work by young and emerging artists alongside groundbreaking new work by artists with longstanding connections to the region and its art scenes. 

The exhibition will be curated by Blair Murphy, AAC Curator of Exhibitions. 

Notification Date: June, 2019. 

Exhibition Dates: September 21 – December 14, 2019. 

Submit an application here.

From 1978!

Holy 1978! 

These two paintings apparently were sold at auction this past June. They were done when I was at art school at the University of Washington in Seattle. I remember that I got a C- for them, and was reprimanded for "writing on my paintings, especially in a foreign language..." 

I sold them a week later at the Pike Place Market for $25 each to a Cuban-American airline attendant who used to fly into Seattle often... they then disappeared for 40 years! 

The verses are by Jose Marti

You can see the auction details here and here.