The Soviet Socialist Republic of Montgomery County, which is apparently already one of the highest per capita taxed counties in the entire United States, and also has the highest income tax allowed under the law, and without a doubt one is of the richest counties in the country, still cannot find enough money to fund everything that is on the slate, and not enough money to fund the Arts and Humanities, of course.

Leave it for private enterprise to come to the rescue of the Arts and Humanities in one of the nation's richest counties. The county's Commissar and his Politburo has proposed an Arts and Humanities Partnership Fund, which would require the already heavily-taxed private sector to match county dollars.

Well, they have: Mr. John Hendricks, Founder and Chairman of Discovery Communications, Ms. Cheryl Kagan, Executive Director of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation and Bill Rickman, Jr. have pledged their support for the $2.5 million proposed Arts and Humanities Partnership Fund. Mr. Hendrick's and his wife Maureen pledged $1,000,000 and the Carl M. Freeman Foundation pledge their support of $100,000 toward this effort.

I applaud them, but still question why one of the richest and highest taxed counties in the entire country (and they've already maxed out what they can legally tax residents' incomes), still operates at a deficit when it comes to the arts. I also want to know: where's your contribution Lockheed Martin? Where's yours Comcast? Where's yours Chevy Chase Bank? And so on with many of the County's giant (and rich) corporations.

And although the county has a well-run Arts and Humanities Council, political shananingans common to these Soviet-style county/states still happen - even when it comes to the Arts.

Both the County and its wealthy residents, and its many wealthy corporations should be ashamed that in one of the nation's richest counties there's not a single major visual arts center (although theatres seem to be popping up all over the place).

This is especially shameful in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase-Potomac trangle - one of the highest concentrations of income-earners in the world, and yet not a single true Visual Arts Center anywhere in that area, and yet Rockville has one and so does Germantown.

The Blackrock Center for the Arts in Germantown is an interesting example of perhaps how to worm your way into county funding. It was initially established as a non-profit, private organization and built with a loan from Sandy Spring Bank.

It apparently almost immediately ran into funding problems (which at least to me means that they irresponsibly decided to build it before they had the funding to actually run it) and immediately went to the Montgomery County Politburo (I mean Council) for help.

So essentially, a private non-profit organization decided that Gaithersburg needed this Arts Center, applied and received a loan, built the Center, and then faced fund-raising difficulties that threatened to shut down the newly opened center right from the start.... follow me so far?

So then the staff of the Center cries for help from the Montgomery County Council, who then votes to purchase the Center and although BlackRock will remain a private organization, the county will own the building and assume maintenance costs, similar to an arrangement with Strathmore Hall in North Bethesda (and no, this beautiful house is not what I mean as an "visual arts center").

If I am wrong about any of the story so far, I welcome a clarification from either the Politburo or BlackRock executive director Nancy Petrisko.

So, Potomac-Chevy Chase-Bethesda: Do you get the model to follow?

Georgetown University is hosting a "Festival of Fine Art." Below are some interesting panels and performances - unless otherwise noted, they are all at:

New South Building, Riverside Lounge
Georgetown University
37th & O St.
Georgetown, Washington DC

Monday, April 19th - 6:30-9pm

Panel Discussion
6:30-7:30pm
“Georgetown University and its Relationship with the Washington DC Art Scene”

Panel
Dr. John Brough, Professor, Philosophy
Calvin Custen, Professor, Studio Art
Kathryn Cornelius, Graduate Student, Artist
Jessica Eagan, Graduating Senior, Fine Art
Martin Irvine, Assistant Professor, Gallery Owner
Stoff Smulson, Alumnus, Artist

Performance 8-9pm
“Mythology Machine / Chain Value” Kathryn Cornelius and collaborators

Art Exhibit
Monday April 19th – Friday April 23rd, 2004 12-6pm
Work by Students, Faculty and Alumni

"Theory Will Eat Itself: Notes on Postmodernity from A - Z." A performance by Kathryn Cornelius.

Thursday, April 29, 2004
7:30-9pm
Georgetown University
Reiss 103 Lecture Hall

Some comments: In the decade that I have been writing about the DC art community, owning two galleries, being a member of the Art Dealers Association of Greater Washington, been a local artist, a member of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Advisory Panels and generally deeply involved in our arts community, I cannot recall ever hearing, dealing, being involved, or reading anything dealing with Georgetown University and art.

In fact, if it hadn't been for the initiative of Kathryn Cornelius, who emailed me - I wouldn't have heard about this "Festival of Art." In fact there's nothing in the University's website about it (at least that I can find).

I applaud the panel “Georgetown University and its Relationship with the Washington DC Art Scene” - but .... who in that panel is not from Georgetown? Shouldn't there be someone in the panel from... "the Washington DC Art Scene?" Seems to me that by having an all-Georgetown panel discuss the university's relationship with the art scene around it, and not really having a couple of outsiders to discuss it from an outsider perspective, and hopefully provide some constructive criticism, that the panel is a bit tunnel-visioned.

In fact (and I could be wrong since I do not know anyone else on the panel), the only people in that panel that (I am aware) are in some sense "involved" in the DC arts scene are Kathryn Cornelius, who currently serves as a Contemporaries Steering Committee Member for the Phillips Collection and also works at G Fine Art Gallery in Georgetown (the neighborhood - not the University), and Martin Irvine, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore and on the Board of the Friends of the Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC and recently opened a nice gallery in the larger front room of Troyer, and Stoff Smulson, who was one of the key founders of Decatur Blue, which unfortunately folded from its location in the Shaw neighborhood, although they remain a vibrant presence in DC (In fact, another one of the founding members (Jose Ruiz) was the winner of our "Young Artist" award which is part of the Trawick Prize).

But they are all "Georgetowners."

Anyway - I am glad that Georgetown is doing this - and, from an outsider's perspective: This university needs to kick-start its "relationship with the Washington, DC art scene." It doesn't really exist now. If it does, then I am not aware of it, and that by itself - especially since I've co-owned a gallery in the University's neighborhood since 1996, is an alarming issue.

This is not just a slam against Georgetown - in fact one can practically fill in any of our area's universities art programs and the discussion on what they all do for our area's art scene could probably be generalized as marginal, although some are better than others. A while back I suggested a way in which our area's universities could become a driving force in our art scene.

Nobody asked me, just my opinion....

P.S. - For all in Georgetown.... tonite is the Georgetown Canal Square Gallery openings... come by and I'll buy you all one a glass of our world-famous Sangria.

Tomorrow is the third Friday of the month and thus the Canal Square Galleries (31st Street NW and M Street in Georgetown) will have their monthly openings. We will have an exhibition of new found object sculptures by area sculptor Adam Bradley.

This is Bradley's third solo show with us; we started showing him while he was a student at GMU, later while he was an MFA candidate at MICA and now that he's an Adjunt Professor at GMU and NVCC.

The openings go from 6-9 PM and are catered by the Sea Catch Restaurant. They are free and open to the public.

See ya there!

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has elected James F. Dicke II of New Bremen, Ohio as Chair and Samuel G. Rose of Bethesda, Maryland as vice chair of the museum's Board of Commissioners.

Dicke is also a respected artist and photographer who exhibits locally with the Ralls Collection in Georgetown. It's always good to have an artist in charge of groups such as this very important board.

Kara Walker has won this year's Lucelia Artist Award, worth $25,000. The award is a Smithsonian's prize, funded by the Lucelia Foundation, a New York-based institution devoted to supporting the visual arts.

You mean you've never heard of this art prize managed by one of our local museums?

"Walker is the fourth artist to receive the Smithsonian's prize, funded by the Lucelia Foundation, a New York-based institution devoted to supporting the visual arts. Her selection is in line with previous winners, all of whom have been on the challenging end of contemporary art. Jorge Pardo, the 2001 Lucelia winner, makes slick design objects he presents as art; Liz Larner, the winner in 2002, has shown photographs of petri dishes full of molds; Rirkrit Tiravanija, who won last year, is a performance artist whose work often involves cooking and serving food."

I'd love to know who the "jury of experts" in the committee to select the award winners are. Congratulations to Ms. Walker.

This $25,000 Lucelia Art Award is a national level prize - locally, DC, MD and VA artists can compete for the $14,000 Trawick Prize.

Vanity galleries

A vanity gallery is an art gallery that "rents" its space to artists in order for the artist to have a show. Thus, the main driver in having a show at a vanity gallery is not necessarily the quality of the artwork, but the artist's ability to pay the gallery to host his/her artwork.

New York is crawling with vanity galleries, and the vast majority of European galleries are vanity galleries. In the US however, vanity galleries are often looked down upon by everyone, since they are essentially a "rental" gallery. A knowledgeable art critic or curator knows which galleries in his/her town are vanity galleries, and often ignore them, much like book critics ignore most self-published writers, who use "vanity publishers."

An interesting fact, at least here in Washington, is the fact that I have seen "reputable" galleries which sometimes cross the line and become "charge the artist" galleries or vanity galleries once in a while, as the mighty dollar (or lack thereof) calls.

Sometimes, at Fraser Gallery, we'd get a phone call from an embassy, or from the agent of a Hollywood actor who's also a "painter" or "photographer," or from an individual "artist," and they'll ask us how much would we charge to host a show by their "artist."

When we'd inform them that we do not rent the gallery for artists to have shows, they'd thank us and hang up. Then a few months later I'd see that "Hollywood artist" or "embassy artist" exhibiting in one of the area's "reputable" art galleries, and immediately recognize that - at least for that month - that gallery is making ends meet by renting the space to someone.

While I understand that most galleries are labors of love, and often run by the skin of one's teeth, I still find it somewhat distasteful, and dishonest - to appear (on the surface) to be a gallery that shows work based on merit, while at the same time showing work based on an artist, or a corporation's ability to pay.

And it's not just commercial art spaces. Several years ago, the WCP profiled a then a local non-profit, which inadvertently admitted charging a multinational corporation a hefty fee to put up an art show at the "reputable" non-profit art spaces.

One can even make the case that even some museums sometimes cross the line and become "vanity museums."

A few years ago I was astounded when a Culture Minister from one of the embassies in DC told me that they had finished a deal with a local museum to host the first ever retrospective of one of that country's artists for a fee of four million dollars! To him, it was "business as usual," while to me it was distasteful and dishonest and left a bad taste in my mouth about that museum for the longest time.

Do you want to know what Magdalenian Art is?

Charles Downey, at Ionarts, has the best review that I've read so far on The Passion of The Christ.

A strategy for saving money on framing costs...

According to some stats I read a few years ago in a framing trade magazine, the average cost of framing in the Greater DC region was $67 an hour. It’s probably more than that now.

Other than time, framing two-dimensional work is often the most expensive step in organizing an exhibition (to the artist), and it’s astounding how little most art schools prepare students (and faculty) for avoiding the trap of spending a lot of money on framing.

There are some steps that artists can take to significantly reduce the cost of framing. Here I will try to list the most common mistakes, how to avoid them, and more importantly, how to get your artwork framed for a lot less than taking it to a framing shop to get it framed.

First and foremost: Prepare! Do not leave your framing to the very last minute. Having said that, I know that most of you will leave the framing to the last minute and then panic – go to your neighborhood framing shop, and drop way too much money to get custom frames made for your artwork. If you can afford it, and the price history of you artwork can sustain it – then skip this posting. But if you want to save a lot of money on framing, then prepare!

Do not, under any circumstances let the gallery or a second party take care of your framing unless you have the full costs ahead of time and in writing. Otherwise you will get stuck at the end of your exhibition with a framing bill rather than a commission check.

First of all: If (and only if) you can, work in standard sizes. Most photographers and painters already do. But unless your compositional demands call for it (like mine do), avoid working in one of a kind sizes. American and European standard sizes are different, but US sizes cover a huge range of sizes, such as 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 12x16, 20x24, etc. If you can work within one of those sizes – i.e. do your watercolor on a sheet in one of those sizes, or print your photo on paper that size, etc. then half the battle is won, as then you should be able to buy ready-made frames that will automatically accommodate your matted work. This is important, as a good frame from any craft store, or from any art catalog, is usually a lot less than having one built from scratch! For example, a 16x20 metal molding frame, back metal brace/clips, wire, glass, pH-balanced acid free mat, hanging wire and acid free foam core backing is anywhere from $20 - $30 in any art catalog or locally from Apex in Alexandria. Having the exact same frame hand-made in a frame shop is around $100.

If your work, because of composition or whatever, doesn’t fit into a standard size mat or frame, then another tactic is to go and shop for a ready-made frame that is larger than your artwork – at least three inches all around the diameter of the artwork. Then take that frame and your artwork to a frame shop and have them cut the mat for you. Now you are only paying for the labor and materials to cut a mat – not to build everything from scratch.

If you can’t find a frame in a shop that fits your unique sizes, then shop through art supply catalogs and have them make you one. The savings over storefront framers is still significant. I personally buy a lot of frames from this place. Once you sign up, you get their catalogs as well, and then I hit them when they have a sale going on! From any supplier you can order moldings in one inch increments, so if your work is 18x30 inches, then you'd order a set of 18 inch molding, a set of 30 inch molding and it will be delivered with the hardware needed to assemble it - all you'll need is a screwdriver. Then visit your local glass shop for a piece of glass.

Because most solo shows involve a larger number of works, you should start thinking way ahead of time as to the number of frames that you will need. If you can decide that you will need twenty frames for your show, and you know what size they will all be, then go shopping for ready-made frames in any of our local area arts and crafts stores, or other stores that stock frames, such as IKEA or Bed, Bath and Beyond. Once you find a frame that you like, turn it over and see who makes them. Write the manufacturer’s information down, and when you get home, call the manufacturer of the frame and place an order for the number of frames that you will need. You are now buying the frames wholesale and saving yourself the entire store mark-up!

Don’t let the process of establishing an account with the frame manufacturer scare you. They may require an Employee Identification Number (EIN) – you can give them your social security number-- and they will have a minimum purchase (usually $250) – but by the time that you purchase 20-25 frames, that will be easy to meet. All you are doing is ordering the frame directly from the manufacturer rather than buying them through a store – it’s perfectly legal and saves you a considerable amount of money.

If you work on canvas, you may not even need to frame them. Ask the gallery owner – a lot of galleries will be happy to hang canvasses that are “gallery dressed.” That means that the edge of the canvas wraps to the back and that’s where it is stapled – rather than the side. We actually prefer to show canvas paintings that way.

Do not cheapen your artwork by choosing cheap materials. At all costs avoid using acidic mats (use only pH-balanced, acid free mats) and do not use cardboard to back the work – use acid free foam core. Using cheap materials not only damages the work eventually (as the acid migrates to the artwork) but also tells a potential collector that you are not serious as an artist to properly display your work. I am shocked at the number of badly hand-cut mats in acidic mats that I see in galleries all over the country – a lot of time is just plain ignorance of the business side of the fine arts – and the importance of presentation of artwork in a professional environment – such as a reputable fine arts gallery should be.

If you are an artist that moves a lot of work a year, then you should seriously consider learning how to cut your own mats. A sheet of museum quality archival 32x40 inches mat board is around $6-8 and you can get four 16x20 inches mats from it. To have one 16x20 archival mat cut in a frame shop will be around $20. You can buy a decent mat cutter for around $150, and it comes with a video to teach you how to cut mats.

The bottom line is that minimizing framing costs not only reduces the amount of money that an artist has to invest in offering a show, but also reduces the price point of the artwork – a very important issue, especially for young, emerging artists without a sales history track.

OK, OK no more emails about my posting on how artists can save money on framing their artwork.

Rather than answer each one individually, I will post the suggestions here later. By the way, I teach that as part of the Success as an Artist seminars. There's one coming soon (date will be announced soon) - they book up almost immediately and there's already a waiting list.

Check later and I'll post a series of steps that will reduce your framing costs by 80%.

I've received a deluge of emails (in addition to the usual ones trying to sell me Viagra, Cialis and dates with bored housewives) from people who want me to post more on Bad Things Galleries/Artists do to each other.

OK.... here's some more:

Bad Things Galleries Do to Artists: A young emerging artist approaches a "gallery" that is also a framing business. The "gallery" agrees to give the artist a show and has the artist deliver the work to the place. The gallery tells the artist that they will do the framing. At the end of the show, the artist expects a check from the gallery for his 50% commission on all sales, but instead gets a bill for the framing. This is because the "gallery" has framed all of the artist's works - but maybe only 2-3 pieces have sold - and yet the artist is stuck with the framing bill for all of the work. This is another reason why artists must have a written contract prior to exhibiting work, specifying who and to what standards the work must be framed to. And, whenever possible avoid galleries that "offer" to frame your work as part of the exhibition. The average cost of framing artwork in the DC area is $67 an hour just for labor! If are an artist that has a show coming, you can plan your framing ahead of time and save about 80% of what a framing shop or store would charge you by following a simple set of steps... if you want to know what those steps are, email me.

Bad Things Artists Do To Galleries: A gallery offers an artist a show, and trusting the artist, operates on a handshake, rather than a written agreement. As most galleries plan their shows months in advance, the gallery plans the year several shows in advance and expects the artist to deliver the artworks for the show at the specified date. The gallery keeps in touch with the artist, who assures the gallery that everything is on track. A few months before the show, the gallery requests some images for publicity purposes, which the artist dutifully provides. However, a week before the show, the panicked artist calls and says that "he doesn't have enough work for the show" and, by the way, that he has also already sold some of the works that he had provided images to the gallery earlier (and which the gallery has used to advertise the show). On the night before the show opening, the artist shows up with a lot less work than expected, and the gallery discovers that the work is presented in less-than-professional standards: badly-cut acidic mats backed by brown cardboard, scratched framed and scratched plexiglass, and canvasses with nailed on pine boards. An hour before the opening, the artist is still finishing up painting touches on some of his oil paintings. As a result, some of his pieces are still wet at the opening, and someone accidentally brushes up against one of the wet paintings and smears it. The scandalized artist makes a scene, and later sues the gallery for "failing to protect his painting." It all goes to court, to great expense to the gallery and the artist, until the judge throws the case out as ridiculous. The artist is blacklisted by art dealers and never shows in town again.

By the way.... the above is a true story and happened to one of our Canal Square neighbors.

Gallery jurying for artists...

Touchstone Gallery will be jurying for new members on April 28th.The gallery is located at 406 7th Street, NW, 2nd floor, Washington, DC 20004. (202) 347-2787 - fax 202-347-3339. Please call the gallery for details or send an e-mail to info@touchstonegallery.com

Open Studios...

The artists of NoMA (for North of Massachusetts Ave.) open their studios to the public only twice a year. During this Open Studios Weekend on Saturday and Sunday May 1-2 from noon-5pm, artists meet with the public, discuss their work and offer art for sale directly to their visitors. The Open Studios, which include live music and refreshments, take place in four buildings - 57 N Street NW, 443 I Street NW, 52 O Street NW and 411 New York Avenue NE.

Senior Exhibit at the Corcoran...

The Corcoran School of Art All Senior Show features work by Rahshia Linendoll, Djkarta, and Katie Donegan. Reception for the artists on May 6, 6-8 pm at the Corcoran. The work is on exhibit May 5 - 17, 2004.

Georgetown Third Friday Openings...
The four Canal Square Galleries (MOCA, Fraser, Alla Rogers and Parish) will be having their joint openings/extended hours this coming Friday, April 16 from 6-9 PM. The openings are catered by the Sea Catch Restaurant and are free and open to the public. The Canal Square is at 1054 31st Street, corner of M Street, NW in Georgetown.

Alastair Bolton at St. Elmo's

British ex-pat Alastair Bolton has an exhibition of his work currently in the back gallery of St. Elmo's Fire Gallery in Bethesda.

Emergency Grants to Visual Artists...

Change, Inc. provides one-time $1,000 emergency grants to visual artists of any discipline who are facing possible eviction, unpaid bills, fire damage or any other emergency the Change board deems worthy. Applicants must be professional artists who can demonstrate need. Send a letter of need, proof of inability to pay bills or rent, a resume, any reviews or press releases of past exhibitions, photos or slides of work and two reference letters from others in the field. Grant applications should be sent to Change, Inc, PO Box 54, Captiva, FL 33924 (212) 473-3742.

Trawick Prize for Area Artists...

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards. Deadline for slide submission is Friday, May 21, 2004. The 2nd annual juried art competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to four selected artists. Up to fifteen artists will be invited to display their work from September 7, 2004 - October 2, 2004 in downtown Bethesda at Creative Partners Gallery. The 2004 competition will be juried by Jeffrey W. Allison, The Paul Mellon Collection Educator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Peter Dubeau, Associate Dean of Continuing Studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art and Kristen Hileman, Assistant Curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The first place winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A "young" artist whose birth date is after May 21, 1974 will also be awarded $1,000 (donated by Fraser Gallery). Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. Original painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media and video (VHS tapes only) are accepted. For more information, please contact Stephanie Coppula at scoppula@bethesda.org or call 301.215.6660 ext. 20. Website: www.bethesda.org.

Need to make slides from your digital files? Visit Slides.com

I'm rushing around today - trying to tie some loose knots in closing a house for me. Check later...

I've been asked to serve as a juror for the 2004 Ida F. Haimovicz Visual Arts Award. It is always an honor in being asked to jury artists, and jurying artwork is one of the best ways to learn not only about the diversity of art, but also about the interesting manner in which art selection committees work.

Museum Exhibition Opportunity for Artists...

Deadline May 1, 2004

The Contemporary Crafts Museum and Gallery in Oregon is accepting applications for its 2005 exhibition schedule. In order to be considered for a solo exhibition, please submit: Cover letter stating your interest in a solo exhibition; Current Resume; Artist Statement; 10-20 slides; SASE for return of slides.

The Exhibition Planning Committee meets twice a year to review portfolios and schedules are usually completed one to two years in advance. Please forward applications to:

Lisa Conte
Exhibition Coordinator
Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery
3934 SW Corbett Avenue
Portland, OR 97239

Just when you think there's nothing new in art...

I received an email from British artist Martin Allen. In the email, Mr. Allen points me to an Ebay page, and once you go to that page, the page itself is the art!

In other words, the Ebay page is a work in progress, and by visiting the page, all visitors help to change and create the work of art by changing the Andale counter at the bottom of the page.

Allen writes:

"You are bidding to purchase this page - my latest one-off REALITY ART piece, (which as I have already said, you are actually helping to create just by reading this!) The starting price is 1 penny - with no reserve - and the postage and packing is free, anywhere - worldwide.".

I think this is smart and new, and not only pushes the definition of art - just when we thought it couldn't be pushed any further - but also employs the "anything is art" postmodernist mandate to his own interpretation.

Well done to Martin Allen!

Opportunity for artists...

Deadline May 13
Creative Partners Gallery has openings for exhibitions for 2005. The next jurying of work will be May 13. If interested please request a prospectus by calling 301/718 8520 or 301/493 8830.

For Women Photographers...

Deadline: July 1, 2004

Women In Photography International (WIPI) announces an international call for entries for virtual * visual : people - places - things, an international juried online photographic exhibition of works by female photographers.

Deadline for entries is 1st July 2004 midnight PST. Exhibition will run from August 1- October 1, 2004 at this website.

Prizes will be awarded for Best of Show, People’s Choice, and Best Professional (USA and Foreign) and Amateur (USA and Foreign). Open to all female photographers using any photographic process.

Entries must be submitted as digital files via the online form available here.

For complete entry guidelines visit this site.

Robert Hughes, perhaps the world's most influential art and eloquent art critic, recently wrote that Lucian Freud's new exhibition proves he is Britain's greatest living artist.

Statements like that are (of course) very subjective and attract immediate responses pro and con. I think that, as brilliant as Lucian Freud is, he wouldn't be my choice for the UK's greatest living artist - maybe number two. My top choice would be David Hockney.

But that's not the point of this posting. It got me to thinking... who would be our area's greatest living artist?

It seems a silly thought at first, and falls dangerously close to provincializing artists to a region or city or whatever. But it is an interesting and subjective question - loaded with close calls and ways of answering it.

There are a few of artists whose names float around as soon as this unanswerable question is asked... Manon Cleary, Joe Shannon, Anne Truitt...

But the answer, in my opinion is Sam Gilliam.

And yet, incredibly enough, this artist has never had a museum retrospective in his long, illustrious career, although there's currently one in the works and as soon as I have confirmation and dates, I will pass it along.

Bad things galleries do to artists: Unethical galleries will take in a piece of artwork by an artist, and when the price is discussed, the gallery says: "What's the price?" and the artist says: "$1000" The gallery nods OK and the artist leaves, knowing that if sold, he'll get $500 (most galleries in the DC area charge 50% commission (in NYC some are as high as 70%). The gallery then sells the piece, but for $2,000, sends the artist a check for $500 and pockets the extra $1,000. That is why artists should insist on having a contract with a gallery, and the contract must specifically address that the artist will get 50% of the actual sale price.

Bad things artists to do galleries: A reputable gallery gives an artist a show, and goes through all the various expenses associated with doing so (rent, electricity, staff salaries, publicity, ads, post cards, opening reception catering, etc.) So far the gallery has put forth a considerable investment in presenting the artist's works. An interested novice collector meets the artist at the opening and expresses interest (to the artist) in buying some of his artwork. The artist, wishing to stiff the gallery for their commission says: "See me after the show and I'll sell it to you directly and save myself the gallery commission." This is not only unethical, but it's also guaranteed to ruin the artist's reputation in the city, as these things always come out in the wash, and soon no gallery will exhibit any work by this artist.

People who know me well, know that I am an absolute and devoted fan of Camille Paglia. In my prejudiced opion she's one of my contenders for the title of "Most Brilliant Human Being Alive On the Planet."

Passion aside, she has a brilliant essay that should be a must read for anyone interested in the arts and/or education, and especially for anyone who curates, organizes, teaches, or writes about the arts. The article is an expanded version of a lecture delivered at a conference, "Living Literacies: What Does it Mean to Read and Write Now?," at York University, Toronto, Canada.

It is titled The Magic of Images: Word and Picture in a Media Age and here's an insightful paragraph:

"Post-structuralism and postmodernism do not understand magic or mystique, which are intrinsic to art and imagination. It is no coincidence that since postmodernist terminology seeped into the art world in the 1980s, the fine arts have receded as a major cultural force."

Go read it now.