The Bush administration's 2005 budget proposes to give the National Endowment for the Arts its largest budget increase (15%) in 20 years. Read it here. If approved by Congress, the endowment's fiscal 2005 budget would stand at $139.4 million, up from the $121 million it received this year. Last year the NEA approved 2,000 grants.

Newsweek photographer Luc Delahaye has declared publicly that he is no longer a photojournalist and is now an artist. Read the Guardian story here.

My vote for the best photojournalist in the world is our own Washington Post's Carol Guzy.

Deadline to submit applications: March 15, 2004
The National Endowment for the Arts announces funds for the promotion of various art projects, regardless of the size or type of applicant organization. Proposed programs should be of national, regional or field-wide significance; tour in several states; or provide an unusual or especially valuable contribution because of geographic location, including local projects that have significant effects within communities or that are likely to serve as models for a field.

Eligible applicants include State and local government entities, nonprofit organizations, community action agencies, and private institutions of higher education. The deadline to submit applications is March 15, 2004. Awards range from $5,000 to $150,000. For further information go to this website to determine your appropriate staff contact. Also see: www.fedgrants.gov.

Faith Flanagan organizes MUSE, which is a monthly art salon at DCAC. Each session is an opportunity to talk about contemporary art at a monthly get-together. Each salon features a discussion with a member(s) of the local arts community, followed by a chance for audience members to show slides or samples of their work.

The next MUSE is this Sunday, February 1, 7:30pm when the guests are Robert Lehrman, gallery owner George Hemphill, and Washington Post art critic Blake Gopnik. They will be joining MUSE this month to discuss collecting art, museum trusteeship and stewardship. For more info email Faith at salon@dcartscenter.org.

Swann Foundation to Award Fellowship for Caricature and Cartoon Research - DC
Deadline: February 13, 2004. Administered by the Library of Congress, the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon promotes the study, interpretation, preservation and appreciation of original works of humorous and satiric art by graphic artists from around the world. The Swann Foundation Fund awards one fellowship annually with a stipend of $15,000 to assist ongoing scholarly research and writing projects in the field of caricature and cartoon. For more complete information, visit their website.

Some artist residencies...

Artist Community: Montana Artists Refuge.
Deadline: May 15, 04. The Montana Artists Refuge is an artist-led residency community, which provides a variety of affordable short and long-term living and studio spaces for visiting artists in the uniquely scenic, historic mining town of Basin, MT. The Refuge was established for artists to be able escape from the day-to-day struggle of living in order to have the gift of time, freedom and solitude to create and rejuvenate. The Refuge exists to create a quality environment for artists to work, as well as the opportunity for artistic collaboration in a creative community. The Refuge supports a variety of contemporary arts disciplines such as visual, music, performance and literary arts. Additionally, the Refuge maintains programs that are designed to enhance the residential programs and create a thriving and vital community for the arts both within the residencies and the greater community. As of December 2003, the Refuge has hosted more than 100 artists from 24 states and seven nations including Poland, China and South Africa. The Refuge has also hosted Native American artists from such nations as the Cheyenne, the Blackfeet and Crow. Qualifications: The Montana Artists Refuge is a 501(c)(3) corporation and has been in existence since 1993. The Montana Artists Refuge has created a vital artist community in a rural setting which includes art exhibitions, live performances and workshops and foster community awareness and participation in the arts. How to Apply: visit website and download application here.

Byrdcliffe Arts Colony - New York
One-month residencies for artists. Beautiful, historic setting, secluded yet close to town of Woodstock, NY. Private room and studio space in rustic turn-of-century inn. Access to galleries, performances, hiking. $600 per four-week session. June-Sept. Deadline: April 1. Summer cottages also available May-Oct.; March 1 deadline. Send SASE to The Woodstock Guild, Artist in Residence Program, 34 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY 12498.

Jentel Artist Residency Program - Wyoming
Jentel Artist Residency Program offers one-month residencies in rural ranch setting that include accommodation, studio, and $400 stipend to visual artists and writers. For application download it here or send request with self-addressed label and $.60 postage to: Jentel Artist Residency Program, 130 Lower Piney Creek Road, Banner, WY 82832. Deadline: January 15, 2004 for May 15-December 13, 2004 residencies. Deadline: September 15, 2004 for January 15-May 13, 2005 residencies.

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Deadlines for its Small Projects Program:

Deadline: March 4, 04. The Small Projects Program (SPP) offers grants up to $1,000 to District of Columbia individual artists and arts organizations. The program seeks to make grant funds more accessible for small-scale arts projects. Projects may include but are not limited to: Art presentations; Assistance in fundraising, marketing, and management; Documentation of artistic activities through photography, brochures, portfolios, and demo tapes; Conferences, workshops, or seminars that will enhance artistic and professional development.

Upcoming deadlines for Small Projects Program applications is Thursday, March 4, 2004, 6:00 pm. Workshops to help artists fill out applications will be held on Thursday, February 26, 2004, 12:00 - 1:00 pm The SPP workshop will be held at the Commission's office at 410 8th St., NW, Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20004. Download the FY2003 Small Projects Program Guidelines and Application here. For more information on the Small Projects Program or to receive an application in the mail, please call Lionell Thomas at (202) 724-5613 / (202) 727-3148 TDD.

I'm in San Diego for a bit... will post some more opportunities and some insights about the San Diego art scene when I get back...

Video artist and photographer Darin Boville comes through again with some valid and intelligent thoughts and ideas on the drive to kick-start DC's art scene.

"I read your #9 on your list of things to do to make the DC area a center for the arts. You are absolutely right that there is little coverage of the arts (visual arts) in the DC area. But I don't think we are ready to move on the media ideas yet...here are a few things to think about (you'll need to have these answers ready to talk with the money-people and the news people anyway--let's work it out ahead of time):

1) List and describe the ten most interesting DC-area art news items that didn't get covered by the Washington Post, radio stations, etc. What are we missing by not having this coverage? The list that is produced needs to be good--it needs to make people sit back and think, "Damn, I didn't know *that* was going on!" If we don't have that we won't get covered. We won't *deserve* to get covered.

Don't get sidetracked with the idea that art shows deserved to be reviewed, say, like movies. Movies are in a different world, news-wise. They've got a huge audience, genuine stars, and big money. Count the dollar value of the tickets sold in one night, on one screen at your local movie theater. Multiply by the number of screens within a 20-minute radius. Compare to total yearly gross sales of contemporary art in the DC area. Forget about being reviewed like the movies.

Be jealous of the theater. They get reviewed and we don't. Why? Maybe demographics? People who can afford theater ticket prices are very desirable to advertisers. If you were in charge of the Washington Post and faced those same business pressures what would you choose to do with your limited space? Hold this thought (see below).

2) Sponsors. Money is not cheap. What are we offering? A chance to support the DC art scene. Whoopie. That translates as giving hard earned money to a charity that is by and large peopled by and which on the whole supports people who do not like the same sorts of large corporations which are giving the money. And for this unrewarded generosity the corporation is asked to expose itself to the chance that the programming it supports will endorse or display highly controversial (sexual and political) topics that the corporation is frankly not interested in supporting. It has its own stake-holders, ya know. Have we thought out the moral decision we will need to make when we come with our hand out? Yes, go for the money, but what will we say to all of the arts people who will soon cry "censorship"? Liberals eat their own. Remember that.

Even with reassurances that care will be taken and respect for the sponsor will be demonstrated, we still haven't given them a compelling reason why they should care. Come to think of it, why should they care?

3) So what to do? Build from the ground up. We need data. We need data to convince all those media people that we aren't talking about charity for the arts (yawn) but about doing something to please their existing audience and doing something to attract the people that will make up those desirable demographics.

How big is the audience for the visual arts in the DC area? How does it breakdown by region, by gender, by race, by income level? How many people in the Washington Post's audience, for example, read the existing articles on the DC arts scene? Those demographics. I haven't a clue. Do you?

Start with the Post itself. Do they ask questions in their demographic surveys that are relevant to the arts? We either need to analyze that data, get them to include arts questions in future surveys, or do our own data collection.

4) So there is something we can do right there. Call all the local galleries. Get them signed on to our bran-spanking new "I love the Arts (in DC)" drive. Everybody at every opening gets a postcard with demographic fill-in-the-blanks. We hand them out in Dupont Circle, Bethesda, etc. Pre-paid postcards, of course. Nothing is free. We gather data. At the same time we build support through the data collection effort itself. In fact, the data collection effort is real news and the results of the data collection are news, too. No need to beg for reviews. We've got news. Heck, we might even develop a list of people who want to be on the new DC-wide arts mailing list (the one that we just now decided to put together) and--heaven forbid, a list of possible financial supporters (not to buy art, but to fund our future arts-building activities).

That's enough for now!

--Darin"

One more thing for die-hard Castro apologists to try to defend: Fidel Castro has sentenced 10 Cuban librarians to 20 years in jail for stocking George Orwell's 1984 in Cuban libraries.

One more thing for blind devotees of the United Nations to try to defend: After Castro sent the 10 librarians and 65 other dissidents into his prisons, the notorious U.N. Human Rights Commission (which I think is headed by that human rights leader Lybia) refused to pass a condemnation of Castro and now has also turned down a resolution introduced by Costa Rica calling for the immediate release of the prisoners.

It is brutal repression like this that fuels the art of many Cuban artists within this poor island prison and part of the reason that Cuban art is in such high demand.

No 9.
The Media
I am going to spend very little time bitching about galleries coverage by the Washington Post. The bottom line is simple – on this side of the fence (artists, collectors, readers and gallery owners) it appears that we all think that the Washington Post delivers scant coverage of the Greater Washington area gallery art scene, especially in proportion to the other “arts” covered by the Post. Although there are far more art galleries than theaters (for example), the Post does around 400% more theatre coverage than gallery coverage. Essentially between Jessica Dawson's 45 or so yearly columns each Thursday (except when she’s away or on vacation) and Michael O’Sullivan’s occasional gallery review in his Weekend column, the Post ‘s coverage of the area’s art galleries could be doubled and it would still be less than its current coverage of theatre, performance, music, dance, opera and even fashion.

So, let’s pretend that for some reason someone would convince John Pancake, the Post’s very hardworking Arts Editor, or his boss (Style Editor Gene Robinson) that the paper’s coverage of the city’s gallery scene is not commensurate with the size of Washington’s gallery scene and the newspaper’s reputation as a leading world publication. That would be, by itself, a great leap forward in helping to fire our the embers of our “art scene.”

But don’t hold your breath.

Yet, this area is still one of the most powerful media centers in the world, and I think that ingredient number nine in our ten-step list is definitely the media. In fact I believe that if we can get just some of these ideas started (in regards to the media) that even the Post would be forced to follow and “notice” the galleries, our artists and our area scene.

But let’s forget the Washington Post for a minute. Let’s look at the other media.

A little while back, we had some exposure to the power of a few seconds of television attention to an art show. As I noted in some of my postings, Scott Hutchison’s show of large nudes in our Bethesda galleries attracted the attention of a local newscaster, who then came and did a little segment on the “controversy” created by the nudes.

It was amazing what this little air exposure did, we had a large number of visitors, who otherwise wouldn’t have even heard of the show, come by – most just to see the show – others to express their support. But the point was that just a minute or so of TV exposure brought more people to the show than a huge review in the paper - any paper!

I know that WETA’s “Around Town” usually gives Bill Dunlap 4-5 minutes to discuss a museum show and then hurry through a couple of “Best Bets” before the other panelists get back to theatre and the movies. But that’s it!

So why don’t more local TV stations devote some time to our area artists and galleries?

Why?

I know that economics are a driving issue – and that their main driver is after all – the news. But they also have a cultural mission, which in TV news land translates into reporting on and about the movies.

TV stations already spend a lot of time on movies – as I noted earlier, I have a particular bitch about the “Arch on the Arts” segment, when Arch essentially just reviews movies 99% of the time – call it “Arch on the Movies” or have Mr. Campbell start attending (and discussing) some art shows.

What we need is just for one local TV station to take the lead and provide one minute a week – one miserable minute a week – dedicated to reviewing a local art gallery or an area artist. Call it “Gallery Minute” and sixty seconds of visual sweeps of the gallery, the artwork, 25 seconds of someone talking about the art, some contact info, dates and bingo – we’ll have an exponential increase in attendance to that show, and the beginning of more awareness of our gallery scene.

And that is precisely what TV can bring to the game – visual awareness to let viewers know that there are dozens and dozens of art galleries in the Washington, DC area and thousands of artists!

And I suspect that if one leading TV station were to do this once a week, that soon others would follow, and pretty soon we may even have two or three TV stations showing some interest and more importantly: kindling interest!

And one can apply the same logic to our local radio stations.

WTOP, which has the highest ratings in the DC area (I listen to them as well), has Joe Barber as Entertainment Editor. Joe is also an “Around Town” panelist and more than superbly qualified to do visual arts reviews if allowed. But all that Joe does is clubs and theatre.

Why?

I don’t know, but I suspect that whoever or whatever company pays for Joe’s airtime minutes, wants him to focus on just those two areas. If this is wrong, and if it is WTP’s management that restricts Joe to movies and clubs and performance, then it really doesn’t make sense.

Here’s how we fix this.

WTOP (or any other radio station) will give airtime to any discussion or critic if someone is willing to sponsor it. In other words, if tomorrow Giant Foods, or Lockheed Martin, or AOL or some other local company went to WTOP and said: “We’d like to sponsor a three minute daily segment on area galleries,” it would be in the station’s schedule as soon as the contract ink dried on the ad agreement.

WTOP (or any other commercial station) would not do this out of the goodness of their heart – and they are (after all) a commercial station. But it can happen if someone is willing to sponsor it. I know because I’ve asked them, and they’ve told me so!

What I don’t understand, and doesn’t make sense, is the fact that the radio stations that already have local cultural shows, such as NPR’s “Metro Connection,” rarely – if ever – cover area galleries or area artists. “Metro Connection,” like WETA's “Around Town,” and WTOP’s Joe Barber all report on the same thing: movies, theatre, and performance – the same thing that the Post reports on so well.

WETA's 90.9 FM new "arts" program - titled "The Program" has also been somewhat a disappointment in its avoidance of doing more with our galleries and visual artists. An exception was today, when they looked at Flashpoint. I do realize that they have done segments with Ferd Protzman (former art critic from the Post), and visited a museum or two, and a few pieces on some local artists, but we need more!

Why not more more galleries? In fact, according to its own description, this weekly hour-long program "explores trends, events and issues in the Washington-area arts scene. It includes both the mainstream and the fringe, with an eye to considering the broader implications of an exhibit or arts activity."

Regular contributors are NPR film and theater critics Pat Dowell and Bob Mondello (who is also a panelist on WETA TV 26's Around Town). There are no regular art critics.

Suggestion: A review a show!

So how do we get some of this, or one of these to happen?

We need the friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend network to kick-start this idea into motion.

Someone will read this that knows someone who is a friend or a friend who knows the CEO of Lockheed Martin (or any other well-to-do local company reaping in the benefits of our once again great economy). Someone to bring up this issue eloquently to a person who, with a telephone call, can make things happen, and sponsor a minute a day on WTOP, or a minute a week on a TV station, or discuss person to person with Mr. Graham from the Post, some simple steps to highlight our great cultural gallery scene. In fact, someone set me up and I’ll do the “bringing up.”

Five minutes with any of them - that’s all I need.

Once a media source takes the lead, others will follow. Once we have some TV airtime, some radio airtime, and more people being informed that an art scene exists and thrives in DC, another ember in our kindling will catch on fire.

The Art Museum of the Americas currently has an exhibition of influential Chilean artist Roberto Matta's works titled "An Architect of Surrealism." Joanna Shaw-Eagle reviews the show here.

Tomorrow I will post number nine in my list of 10 steps to fire-up the DC artscene. You can read number ten here.

There are some really excellent shows coming to our area's galleries in the next few months. In addition to my previously mentioned exhibition of three of Cuba's leading female photographers at Fraser Georgetown, another sure-to-be excellent photography exhibit will be Darrow Montgomery's show at Kathleen Ewing Gallery. Montgomery photographs Washington for the City Paper. His show will be from April 23 - May 29, 2004, with an opening reception on Friday, April 23, from 6-8pm.

Don't Forget - Deadline January 30, 5pm - The Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District has announced the 2004 Bethesda Artist Market. Selected artists 18 years or older will be invited to participate in the Bethesda Artist Market on Sunday, May 9, Sunday, June 13 and Sunday, July 11 from 11am-6pm. All fine art and fine craft are accepted including, but not limited to: painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media, clay, wearable fiber, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, paper, ceramics and wood are accepted. All work must be executed by the accepted artist.

Studios that produce works in volume are not eligible. T-Shirts and commercial clothing are not eligible. Ceramic works must be handmade by the artist. All booth space is 10' x 10' and all artists must provide their own tent. No staking allowed and artists must bring their own weights. Members of the Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District Advisory Committee will select the artists. The Market will be held in the Bethesda Plaza located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. For a submission form, please e-mail Staphanie or send a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope to: Bethesda Artist Market, c/o Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc., 7700 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814.

Visit www.bethesda.org. Questions, call 301.215.6660 ext. 20. Stephanie Coppula.

Opportunity for a cartoonist...
Deadline February 13 - The Swann Foundation will Award a Fellowship for Caricature and Cartoon Research – DC. Administered by the Library of Congress, the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon promotes the study, interpretation, preservation and appreciation of original works of humorous and satiric art by graphic artists from around the world. The Swann Foundation Fund awards one fellowship annually with a stipend of $15,000 to assist ongoing scholarly research and writing projects in the field of caricature and cartoon. For more complete information, visit their website.

Panorama DC is an arts activist organization whose goals and mission is to ensure that:
- All residents have consistent opportunities to participate in and appreciate the arts.
-To increase awareness and visibility of art and activism in the District of Columbia.
-To bring people together through community arts.
-To preserve & celebrate our cultural diversity.

This coming Saturday January 31, 2004 they will be hosting the "Panorama Art-In" which consists of affordable workshops in visual, performing and teambuilding arts.

Location: Jelleff Boys and Girls Club, 3265 S St., NW, DC
Time: 10am-5pm
Donation: $25-55, sliding scale and no one turned away due to lack of funds. Light lunch included.

1. Visual Art Workshops include Ceramics, Collage Painting and Woodworking.
2. Performing Art Workshops in Drumming, Traditional West African Dancing, Spoken Word and Acting/Improv.
3. Teambuilding Workshops in Mural/Banner Painting

To Register email panoramadc@yahoo.com or call (202) 431-4840.

Artists' Opportunities...
Deadline: February 2, 3004.
NATIONAL CERAMIC COMPETITION - February 2, 2004. Exhibition runs April 15-June 20, 2004. Over $5,000 in cash awards. Open to artists living in the US, Canada and Mexico. Original clay work "from functional to sculptural." Completed in the last 2 years. Entry fee. 20% commission. SASE to:

Karen Zimmerly
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts
One Love St
San Angelo TX 76903
325-653-3333
www.samfa.org

For women photographers:
Secondsight will be having their bi-monthly meeting tomorrow!

Secondsight is an organization dedicated to the advancement of women photographers through support, communication and sharing of ideas and opportunities. Secondsight is committed to supporting photographers at every stage of their careers, from students to professionals. Each bi-monthly meeting includes an introductory session, a guest speaker, portfolio sharing and discussion groups. Each photographer will have the opportunity to present their work within a small group of other photographers, ask for constructive criticism, gain knowledge or simply share their artistic vision and techniques.

For info, directions and details call Catriona Fraser tomorrow from 12-6 PM at 301/718-9651.

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Some mini reviews...

This year the Art League celebrates its 50th birthday. The Art League is one of the cultural jewels in the brilliant cultural tapestry of our area and I know that their impact and presence will be around for many more years to come. Happy 50th!

Their most recent show was juried by Walter Kravitz, and for the first time in my many visits and reviews of The Art League’s many wonderful group shows, which consistently are solid, good shows, I was disappointed.

Kravitz selected a mediocre show – not just because some of the artwork is mediocre – after all, those pieces were mediocre to me – just me, but also the show suffered from the clear fact that he obviously tried to have an all-inclusive show, with a little of everything, and instead ended with a mish-mash of too many disparate pieces and genres that looked like a student show rather than a professional, powerful and tight group show – as I have grown accustomed to see at The Art League.

By the way, I’d love to jury a show there and put my money (I mean selections) where my mouth (I mean words) is/are.

Anyway, from Kravitz’s jumbled show, I particularly liked some old proven names. In the show, the superb watercolors by Chris Krupinsky stood out as usual, as did the giant drag queen painting by Ardath Hill (which I’d seen before at Hill’s Studio Gallery solo), Glenn Friedel’s spectacular photograph titled “High Contrast Nude II,” and Sara Poly’s “Clouds Ascending.”

At the League’s solo show gallery, Caroline Emmet Heald gives us a painting landscape tour in a show titled “Wetlands” which as the title describes, are landscapes depicting various wetlands. Heald is a talented painter who skillfully avoids the trap of trying to create the illusion of perfect realism and instead uses the ability of color to deliver representational ideas to bring forth her landscapes. Yes, they are paintings of wetlands, but a closer inspection reveals the tenacity of a good painter who is also interested in exploring vigorous brushwork and the interactions of colors.

Upstairs, I visited the group show at Multiple Exposures Gallery (formerly Factory Photoworks) curated by Annie Gawlak of G Fine Art. I also found this show, titled “Multiples,” a little thin, and this was also surprising, as this cooperative is without a doubt one of the powerhouses of local photographic talent. Gawlak selected 17 pieces, most of which didn’t really appeal to me, with the exception of a beautiful selenium-toned photo by James Steele titled “Ecola Forest.” If I may fall on that old art criticism crutch of comparison, it reminded me of one of those Wayne Bullock photos sans the nude. It is a gorgeous, sensual and mystical photo of a moist, wet forest that showcases Steele's superb photographic eye.

I'll be jurying Multiple Exposures Gallery's next show in February, so let's see how I do when placed in the juror's place - although I juried a show for this gallery a few years ago as well and I am quite familiar with most of the phoptographers in the gallery.

I'll be traveling today - but later tonite I'll be posting some reviews from some gallery hopping around the Torpedo Factory yesterday. Will look at shows at The Art League and Factory Photoworks.