WCP vs WP

The Washington City Paper has taken a swing at the Washington Post Sunday Source.

Ben Watson writes: The Washington Post’s Sunday Source section offers light and bubbly how-to’s on burnless dinner parties, easy outings, and mistake-proof craft projects. As the typical young, urban reader whom the section caters to, I thought it would be good to put the Source—and my skills—to the test. I decided to take on Laura J. Vogel’s craft column, “15Min.” Could I find all those craft supplies without a car? Could I assemble them into something cute and useful? Could I do it all in 15 minutes?

It's quite funny! read the whole thing here.

What I don't understand is why this guy was naked...

Art Jobs

The Textile Museum, 2320 S Street, NW, Washington, DC is currently looking for a Director, an Accounting Manager, and a Assistant Curator for Eastern Hemisphere Collections.

The Textile Museum is an international center for exhibition, study, collection and preservation of textiles with a mission of furthering understanding and appreciation of mankind's creative achievements in the textile arts.

Full position announcement and qualifications here.

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The Creative Arts Center at Community College of Baltimore County is seeking Artist-instructors and they are needed in dance, art history, vocal and instrumental music, visual art, design, photography, theatre, writing, and culinary arts. For more information, please contact the Creative Arts Center at CCBC at 410-780-6533

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Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation seeks a Development Officer who will be responsible for the initiation, oversight, planning, implementation, and management of a development program that secures significant financial resources from government, foundations, corporations, and individuals to support the Foundation's mission.

Qualifications include: a bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications or a field related to the arts; two to three years of progressive experience and responsibility in development in an arts or cultural agency; strong research, planning, writing, grantwriting and budgeting skills; and proficiency in computer technology including the ability to use various software applications for project and data management (especially Access and Excel).

The starting salary for this position is in the low $40's. A full benefits package accompanies the position. Send letter of application, resume, writing samples, and names and addresses of three references to:

Development Officer
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
201 N. Charles St.
Suite 401
Baltimore, MD 21201

Magazine looking for freelancers

Starting January, 2005, Urbanite magazine will be published in color on a monthly basis. They're looking for illustrators and photographers to do paid freelance work.

Urbanite wants images that are "edgy, artsy, and challenging."

Interested artists should send samples to:

Ann Wiker
Art Manager
Urbanite
1431 Patapsco Street
Baltimore, MD 21230

Or email Ann at aeartdealer@aol.com or call her at 410/404.3587

As everyone knows, the Elizabeth Roberts Gallery has closed since Elizabeth married and will move soon to the Left Coast.

The gallery space is for rent and it would be great if someone started a new gallery (or two!). Here are the details:

Two floor gallery space located in Dupont Circle’s historic gallery row: 2108 R Street, NW

There are two floors (approximately 1200 square feet each) of space, and they could be potentially divided into two gallery spaces.

Available in 2005.

Anyone who wants to find out more information or is interested in renting should contact Elizabeth at: elizabeth@elizabethroberts.net

Tonight is the first Friday of November and thus the extended hours for the Dupont Circle area galleries.

Openings from 6-8 PM generally...

See ya there!

New Gallery in Town

Washington Chapter of the Women's Caucus For Arts is holding a Holiday Art Show at the newly created gallery at the Chevy Chase Community Center.

The opening reception for the artists will be held on Saturday November 6, from 2-4 pm.

The new gallery is in the Chevy Chase Community Center at 5101 Connecticut Avenue (across from the Avalon Theater) in Chevy Chase.

Chan Chao's new work opens at Numark

Numark Gallery presents "Echo", Chan Chao's newest body of work. The show opens today and runs until December 18, 2004, with an opening reception on Friday, November 12, from6:30 - 8pm.

Cheryl tells me that Chan is again photographing his subjects at close range, front and center, and returning to a subject that he dealt with earlier in his career - the female nude.

I am for one, very glad of this return to the nude, as I was not a big fan of Chao's previous body of work, which (of course) received wide critical acclaim (I am talking about the Burma: Something Went Wrong photographs), and allowed Chao national exposure as they were prominently featured in the 2002 Whitney Biennial.

The Art League is one of the nation's largest arts group with several thousand members from our area. They are sponsoring a couple of interesting panels and shows in the coming days:

In November, The Teacher as Artist show will showcase the artwork of both present and former Art League faculty members including well-known Washington artists such as Gene Davis, Paul Reid, Lou Stovall, and Jay Hall Carpenter.

This All-Media Membership Show is dedicated to all the outstanding artists who have been, and still are, the League's teachers.

The opening reception is this Sunday, November 7, from 3:00-5:00 pm and the show runs until Monday, December 6, 2004.

Then on Thursday, November 11, 2004 from 7:00-9:00 pm, Carol Dupre (who was savaged in the Washington Post a couple of years ago) will lead a panel of past and present Art League teachers in a discussion: Refuting the Taboo on Artistic Intelligence. Among other issues, she will explore the taboos that lurk, often quietly, in every classroom.

For event information, call 703-683-1780.

Washington Print Club's Panel Discussion of Print Collecting and Contemporary Printmaking.

On Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004 from 10:30 to Noon, and in celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Washington Print Club, the WPC and Georgetown University Art Collection are sponsoring a panel discussion of print collecting and contemporary printmaking.

The panel will be moderated by WPC Advisor Dr. Alan Fern, former director of the National Portrait Gallery, and curator of prints at the Library of Congress. The panel will include WPC founding members Mary Hewes and Herbert Franklin; Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art at the National Gallery of Art; Scip Barnhart, printmaking instructor at the Corcoran College of Art and Design; Jane Haslem, Jane Haslem Gallery; Clifford Chieffo, emeritus professor of art at Georgetown University; Donald Saff, senior curator of prints and drawings at the Solomon R.Guggenheim Foundation; and Mrs. Martin Atlas, collector.

The panel discussion will be held in McNeir Auditorium, on the main campus of Georgetown University.

More details here. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

Want to Ask Jeff Koons a Question?

For the January-February 2004 issue, Flash Art is giving you the opportunity to interview Jeff Koons. As they've done twice this year (first with Vanessa Beecroft, then Maurizio Cattelan), the magazine is soliciting questions from people. They will present the best of these questions to Jeff Koons, and he will respond to them in an interview published in the Jan-Feb 2004 issue.

Please e-mail all questions to francesca@flashartonline.com Thursday, November 11, 2004.

James W. Bailey has of course already sent in a question: "Mr. Koons, at exactly what point in your "art" career would you admit to selling out your soul to the devil for the almighty American dollar, as well as any other international currencies that you have benefited from by selling your "art" work?"

Later today I will be in MHz TV discussing the recent Christie's and Sotheby's art auction sales as well as a couple of area art exhibitions.

New Painting Prize Announced

In June 2005, the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, a non-profit organization, will award $14,000 in prizes to painters from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

The Bethesda Painting Competition will be one of the largest cash awards in the United States given to a painter, with a $10,000 award for Best in Show. This competition will be an annual event that will bring much-needed media and critical attention to artists from this region.

In 2002, the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District created The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a juried art competition awarding $14,000 in prize monies to contemporary artists in the Greater Washington, D.C. area.

The founder, Carol Trawick, is committed to annually honoring contemporary visual artists with this award. Ms. Trawick has generously made the same commitment to area painters. With the creation of the Bethesda Painting Competition (also funded by Ms. Trawick), they now have the opportunity to specifically recognize and honor area painters as well as build on Bethesda’s reputation as a well-respected arts community.

The search for jurors who are qualified to jury painting is now on, but this is great news for our area artists!

Van Gogh's great grandson murdered in Amsterdam

Greg Allen reports that Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who is the great grandson of Vincent Van Gogh was murdered on an Amsterdam street yesterday, apparently by Muslim extremists because of a short film by Theo titled "Submission" which had been broadcast on Dutch TV.

Per Allen, "Van Gogh and the film's writer, an "ex-Muslim" member of parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, had received numerous death threats and accusations of blasphemy."

James W. Bailey has the following words on this brutal murder:

Another Saint in the art world has given his life in the pure pursuit of his art.

Yesterday's savage and brutal murder in Amsterdam of filmmaker Theo van Gogh represents another direct assault by extremists on the universal concept of freedom of artistic expression.

The first line of protection that an artist, photographer, curator, musician, singer, dancer, choreographer or any other person involved in the arts enjoys in support of their art, is acceptance within the art world of the basic principles of freedom of artistic expression.

It is absolutely critical that every person in the arts, and more importantly, that every arts organization on the planet, subscribe to and advocate for a consistent definition of freedom of artistic expression that applies equally to every single artist.

Every voice in the art world needs to speak out condemning the slaughter of Theo van Gogh.

Every voice in the art world also needs to speak with clarity, firmness and resolve in support of a universally accepted definition of freedom of artist expression for every artist in this world.

Sincerely,

James W. Bailey
Experimental Photographer

Congratulations to President Bush on his victory. Now let's move on.

We'll get back to the world of our area's art scene later today. Come back.

Please go vote today.

And please, whoever wins tonite, or next week, or whenever the damned lawyers allow anyone to win, let us unite as much as possible and start bridging our divisions.

I'm going to vote today, and I hope that my candidate wins, because I fear that the other guy will be a disaster for our nation and the world. If the other guy wins, then I hope that I am wrong.

But whoever wins; let's stop the hate for the person and let us agree to disagree and move on to the future.

I, for one, plan to give our President (new or re-elected) a chance and clean slate to lead our nation.

Thanks to AJ

This is how the upper crust of the art world sticks a knife in your ribs when they can't figure out how an artist makes it big without their stamp of approval.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: Wednesday, December 15, 2004

The Art Renewal Center seeks applicants for its 2nd Annual International Salon Competition. Over $44,000 in cash awards; $10,000 Best in Show, and featured online gallery.

Send #10 SASE for prospectus to:
Karen McCormack
Art Renewal Center
Box 837
Glenham NY 12527

For more info:
The Art Renewal Center
Email: arcprogram@aol.com or visit www.artrenewal.org

Painting is dead... right guys? I mean... "ancient medium" and all that.

US Museum curators got together and decided to pick the US artist to represent the nation at the next Venice Biennale.

They picked a painter!

Not only that, but this is a second time returnee! The US choice for 2005 was also the US choice for 1970, when he contructed "Chocolate Room," a visual and sensory art experience where the Venice visitor saw 360 pieces of paper impregnated with chocolate and hung like roof shingles so that they smelled like chocolate; sort of like "scratch and sniff art."

But now he's just an "ancient medium" devotee.

Most local curators and Blake: read it and weep.

October (Art) Surprise: Tonight!

Curators Andrea Pollan and Nora Halpern have an October Art Surprise. Sponsored by Furioso Development Corporation, Metropolis Development Company, and G Fine Art, and in cooperation with Glen Construction (am I done with the credits?) they present: Jenny Holzer: Xenon for D.C.

Internationally acclaimed artist Jenny Holzer comes to Washington, DC to launch her first public art project here. The project consists of one of her first Xenon projections in the U.S.

Jenny Holzer's Xenon projections have captivated audiences around the globe from Buenos Aires to Paris to Berlin. She now presents them for the first time in the United States.

Tonight you can see the projections against the facade of the new 1515 14th Street Arts Building (near the corner of 14th & Church Streets NW between P & Q Streets).

On Monday, November 1, 2004, at the Gelman Library on the campus of George Washington University, Holzer will project poems, as well as declassified documents made available through the Freedom of Information Act and the work of the National Security Archive.