Salary Parity for Anne d'Harnoncourt

Let me join in Lee Rosenbaum's call for salary parity for the Philadelphia Museum of Art's able Director and Chief Executive Officer Anne d'Harnoncourt.

CultureGrrl points out that on page 13 of the current issue of The Art Newspaper, you can read the results of their 2006 international survey of salaries for museum directors, and according to Rosenbaum, it appears that d'Harnoncourt's compensation is among the lowest in her peer group of US museum art directors.

Time for the PMA trustees to consider why and then fix it.

Who done did doe'd it?

The WaPo's Reliable Source columnists tell us about a $10,000 art kidnapping.

Read it here.

Now they've done it

In what surely must be a new level of barbarity, Hamas is now employing a Mickey Mouse rip-off to convince little children to become suicide bombers.

As artists and other folks know well, the forces of the Disneyan Empire do not take lightly to such copyright violations, and I am sure that the sickos of Hamas who thought up this disgusting idea will soon discoverer that whatever you do in life, you don't fuck with The Mouse.

Ask the Ombudsman

Deborah Howell, the Washington Post's Ombudsman will be answering questions about the WaPo tomorrow, Wednesday, May 9, 2007 starting at 11:00 AM. You can ask her questions here, either live or ahead of time.

This is a good opportunity for anyone so inclined to contact Ms. Howell and express the dismay that we all feel about the Washington Post's Style section spectacular apathy towards the DC area visual arts scene outside of our great DC area museums. Please be courteous.

Fact: When Eugene Robinson took over as editor of Style, he inherited a section that had a weekly column dedicated to art galleries (the "Galleries" column) and a second weekly column (the Arts Beat column) which was focused mostly on the visual arts and on arts news. Under Mr. Robinson, the Arts Beat column was reduced to twice a month, and refocused on all the arts (most of which already get decent coverage in Style).

Fact: Eugene Robinson also began the process to let Blake Gopnik get away with only reviewing (with one or two very rare exceptions) museums, thus having the nation's only art critic too good to review his city's artists and art galleries.

Fact: On July 6, 2006, Steve Reiss (the Style section's Asst. Editor) stated online: "As for Blake Gopnik, he is a prolific writer and I find it hard to argue that we should be giving up reviews of major museum shows so he can write more about galleries that have a much smaller audience."

Fact: When Robinson left, under Deborah Heard, the coverage got even worse, with "Galleries" being reduced to twice a month. That adds up to around 25 columns a year to review the thousand or so gallery shows that the DC area gallery art scene has to offer.

Fact: On March 15, 2005, Deborah Heard was online and someone asked her:

Washington, D.C.: When are gallery reviews going to start running every week again? Are you currently seeking a new freelance galleries critic?

Deborah E. Heard: Reassessing our coverage of art galleries is on my list of things to do. I've already heard from quite a few folks about this so I know it's a pressing issue for some. But give me some time; I've only been in the job for a few months.

Memo to Ms. Heard: It has been two years. When are you going to reassess the Style section's gallery coverage so that it is at least on a par with the Style section's coverage of theatre, music, dance, opera, etc.?

Want some free artwork?

(Via AJ)

"An original work by artists and national treasures Gilbert and George would normally set you back many thousands of pounds. But from 11.30pm tonight a piece is being made available to anyone who wants it - for free.

The work, called Planed, can be downloaded from the Guardian and BBC websites from 11.30pm, for 48 hours only. It will be the first time that artists of this stature have made work available in this way."

Planed will be available to download at this BBC website and also at this Guardian website starting at 11:30PM British time, which I think is 6:30PM EST.

Reminds me a little of what David Hockney did a long time ago when he included a free litho titled "A Bounce for Bradford" as the centerfold in a British newspaper. That freebie now sells for around $400.

What G&G are doing, of course, is the next techno-dash-logical step.

It also leads me think: how far away are we from the point where some enterprising museum and a techie curator get together to put together an exhibition where visitors can view an original work of art by blue chip artists who don't need the bucks anymore, and the visitors can also then receive a free CD of the work (or purchase it for a nominal amount), which then they can take home or to Kinko's and print it on good paper and frame it and have a museum quality reproduction on good paper hanging at home.

An earlier version of this last idea is when a while back the Hirshhorn had a stack of a Felix Gonzalez-Torres piece printed on heavy stock paper which visitors could then take home for free. You don't want to know in how many DC area homes I have seen this Felix Gonzalez-Torres work nicely framed.

Mark your calendar

On May 12, go see "Underwater", an experimental art show at 1520 14th St NW, in Washington DC. It's being offered by Project Seduce & Destroy, a collective of creative artists featured in the show.

The event promises "experience the intimate otherworld of organic electronica sound and visual art at live."

Click here to RSVP.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 15, 2007.

The Philadelphia Watercolor Society announces a call to artists for "Works on Paper", held October 11 - December 7, 2007 at the Phillips Museum (Franklin & Marshall College) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Exhibition limited to all watermedia, pastel, drawings. Original work executed independently within the past three years. Computer art or collage not accepted. Over $6000.00 in awards. Juror of Selection: George James AWS. Juror of Awards: Douglas Wiltraut, AWS. Members $10 for 2 slides, non members $40 (ouch!). Download Prospectus here.

Questions? Please contact Diane Hark at dianeharkart@aol.com or call 610-642-4243.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: May 30, 2007.

The Capitol Arts Network presents "Patriotism", an all media (2-d or 3-d) national juried exhibition, July 13 to August 5, at the National Gallery of Photography in Bethesda, Maryland. CD or slides, 4/$25. Artists are encouraged to take a broad view of the topic, and present both literal and more abstract work. More info here or send a SASE to:

Capitol Arts Network
PO Box 7541
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

Opportunity for artists

Deadline: May 21, 2007.

The Montpelier Arts Center has a biennial competition open to all Maryland artists. This year's juror is Dr. Gary Vikan, Director of the Walters Art Museum and fellow arts blogger.

Vikan will select 8-10 two-month long exhibitions to be held in the Library Gallery. This is a wonderful exhibition opportunity for both emerging and established artists. An honorarium of $300 will be presented for each exhibition to the artist or artists exhibiting (i.e., groups share the $300 honorarium). The Montpelier Arts Center staff handles all promotion and installation of work, as well as an opening reception.

The prospectus is available online for downloading here or call the Montpelier Arts Center at (301) 953-1993 to receive a copy in the mail.

But, how do you really feel about it?

"For the first time ever, an artist who has been dead for more than a decade - Felix Gonzalez-Torres - will represent the United States, presumably because he was the best the commissioners could come up with. If that isn't a failure of nerve, what is?

One of the most deadening trends in recent years has been the Great Chinese Art Swindle. For years now we've been hearing about the vibrancy of the art coming out of Beijing and Shanghai - and it's all baloney."

Read the whole article by Richard Dorment in The Telegraph here.

Bethesda Painting Awards Semi-Finalists

The 38 artists selected as semi-finalists for the 2007 Bethesda Painting Awards are:

Lilian Bayley, Baltimore, MD
Mark Boyd, Beltsville, MD
Amy Chan, Richmond, VA
Bernard Conda, Virginia Beach, VA
Sarah Demas, Washington, D.C.
Susanne Eisinger, Potomac, MD
Deborah Ellis, Alexandria, VA
Paul Ellis, Washington, D.C.
Fred Folsom, Wheaton, MD
Heidi Fowler, Reston, VA
Inga Frick, Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Geiger, Charlottesville, VA
F. Penland Gertsch, Reston, VA
Freya Grand, Washington, D.C.
Josephine Haden, Arlington, VA
Jee Hwang, Salisbury, MD
Ron Johnson, Richmond, VA
Ronni Jolles, Great Falls, VA
Matthew Klos, Baltimore, MD
David Krueger, Hyattsville, MD
Samuel Lacombe, Baltimore, MD
Joey Manlapaz, Washington, D.C.
Maggie Michael, Washington, D.C.
Michele Montalbano, Burke, VA
Cara Ober, Baltimore, MD
Pamela Philips, Glyndon, MD
Phyllis Plattner, Bethesda, MD
Selena Reames, Brookeville, MD
Fiona Ross, Richmond, VA
Nancy Scheinman, Baltimore, MD
Heidi Schneider, Williamsburg, VA
Alexis Semtner, Richmond, VA
Jacquelyn Singer, Baltimore, MD
Susan Tolbert, Norfolk, VA
Mary Walker, Owings Mills, MD
Aron Wehr, Baltimore, MD
Michael Weiss, Baltimore, MD
Bruce Wilhelm, Richmond, VA
They were chosen by a jury comprised of Dr. Brandon Brame Fortune is the Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the National Portrait Gallery, Professor W.C. Richardson, Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Maryland, and Professor Tanja Softic’ who is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Richmond.

Several of the above artists are also on the semi-finalists list for Baltimore's Sondheim Award. In 2006, Tony Shore of Baltimore, MD was awarded the Best in Show prize of $10,000.

Washington Glass School Artists' Walkthrough

This past weekend, The Washington Glass School hosted a review of affiliated artists of the Washington Glass School showing at Artomatic art fair (until May 20th in Crystal City - details at www.artomatic.org)

The artists participated in a tour, talking about their work, inspirations, and process, answering questions from an audience so large, that many could not fit into the tiny offices that make up the galleries on Level 6, and overflow spilled into the surrounding corridors. They had also invited several jurors to take a part in the walk. After the talk, the invited jurors made their selection of artists to receive a special award.

Local arts patron and collector, and founder and funder of the Trawick Prize and the Bethesda Paintings Awards, Carol Trawick, awarded Deb Conti an "Encouragement Award" for her sculptural jewelry. Carol liked the "incorporation of poetry by Deb's husband, and the creative presentation of the pieces."

Fraser Gallery's Catriona Fraser, also awarded Alison Sigethy an Encouragement Award. "The work is simple and sophisticated. I love the way that Alison has been inspired by her environment to create beautiful, organic sculpture," she said.

Habatat Gallery's Lindsey Scott selected Kirk Waldroff, as she was quite taken with his "sophisticated and professional" presentation of his cast glass prints.

The affiliated artists showing at Artomatic included: Kerri Sheehan, Jennie Lindstrom, Sean Hennessy, Rania Hassan, Kristina Bilonick, Dave Vanore, Cheryl Derricotte, Allegra Marquart, Lynette Spencer, Alison Duvall, Pete Duvall, Alison Sigethy, Deborah Conti, Elizabeth Mead, Erwin Timmers, Tim Tate, and Michael Janis.

Not that he needs it, but the Mid Atlantic Art News "encouragement award" goes to Erwin Timmers' brave exploration of green art in his work.

Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize Semi-Finalists

The semi-finalists for the $25,000 Sondheim Prize in Baltimore have been announced and they are:

Seth Adelsberger, Baltimore MD

Chul-Hyun Ahn, Baltimore MD

Lillian Bayley, Baltimore MD

Heather Boaz, Towson MD

Mark Cameron Boyd, Beltsville MD

Edward Brown, Salisbury MD

Lynn Cazabon, Baltimore MD

Richard Cleaver, Baltimore MD

Mary Coble, Washington DC

Kathryn Cornelius, Washington DC

Frank Hallam Day, Washington DC

Eric Dyer, Baltimore MD

Neil Feather, Baltimore MD

Shaun Flynn, Baltimore MD

Steven Frost, Washington DC

Dawn Gavin, Baltimore MD

Geoff Grace, Baltimore MD

Susannah Gust, Baltimore MD

Maren Hassinger, Baltimore MD

Sam Christian Holmes, Baltimore MD

Jason Horowitz, Arlington VA

Courtney Jordan, Baltimore MD

Brian Kain, Emmitsburg MD

Avish Khebrehzadeh, Washington DC

Magnolia Laurie, Baltimore MD

Joey P. Mánlapaz, Washington DC

Gabriel Martinez, Washington DC

Jeanette May, Alexandria VA

Lisa Moren, Baltimore MD

Brandon Morse, Takoma Park MD

Jeremy Rountree, Baltimore MD

Erik Sandberg, Washington DC

Tony Shore, Baltimore MD

Molly Springfield, Washington DC

Deirtra Thompson, Baltimore MD

René Treviño, Baltimore MD

Karen Yasinsky, Baltimore MD

Jason Zimmerman, Washington DC
The winner selected from the six finalists will be announced at a special ceremony and reception held at the BMA on Friday, July 13. Another exhibition of semifinalists will take place at the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Decker and Meyerhoff Galleries during Artscape on July 20 and continuing through August 2, 2007.

In 2006, MICA’s Rinehart School of Sculpture alumnae Laure Drogoul received the first-ever $25,000 honor and the above list is stacked with MICAists: MICA alumni Chul-Hyun Ahn ‘02, Lillian Bayley ‘05, Heather Boaz ‘03, Richard Cleaver ‘78, Eric Dyer ‘04, Geoff Grace ‘04, Susannah Gust ‘06 (Mount Royal School of Art), Sam Christian Holmes ‘95 (Mount Royal School of Sculpture), Courtney Jordan ‘06, Brian Kain ‘85, Magnolia Laurie ‘07 (Mount Royal School of Art), Jeremy Rountree ‘06, and Deirtra Thompson ‘05; as well as Maren Hassinger, director of the College’s Rinehart School of Sculpture; foundation faculty member Tony Shore ’93; and graduate studies office manager René Treviño ’05 (Mount Royal School of Art).

Second Thursdays and Second Fridays in Philly

This Thursday is the second Thursday of the month and thus time for gallery hopping in Philly's Second Thursdays gallery openings event.

And then on Friday is the city's ever growing Second Fridays gallery openings and extended hours.

Bethesda Art Walk

This next Friday, May 11, is the second Friday of the month and thus it's the Bethesda Art Walk with 13 participating venues and with free guided tours.

My old gallery will host the opening for two of the hottest Cuban artists on the planet: Sandra Ramos Lorenzo and Aimee Garcia Marrero, both coming off highly successful museum shows in Latin America and Europe. Details here.

"Interposed" Oil on Linen, Thread, Stones by Aimee Garcia Marrero, 2006

Both these artists had their American and DC debut shows with Fraser Gallery a couple of years ago, and both the exhibitions sold out.

New American Paintings

The CP's Mark Athitakis lists the DC area artists who have been selected by Stephen Bennett Phillips, Curator, The Phillips Collection, for the most recent edition of New American Paintings (No. 69, May 2007).

They are: Rachel Jeffers, Courtney Jordan (who will have her next solo exhibition at Irvine Contemporary this coming July), Kevin Kepple (currently on exhibit at Supple), Amy Lin (currently on my "Buy Now" list), and Renee Stout.

Wanna go to a Middleburg, VA opening this weekend?

From Friday, May 11 to Sunday May, 13, 2007 Trowbridge-Lewis Galleries in Middleburg, VA has landscapes and abstracts works by Vander Zee. Artist receptions Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00 PM.

Montpelier Arts Center Jurying for Studio Space

Deadline: Tuesday, May 15, 2007.

The annual jurying for studio space at Montpelier Arts Center is currently taking place. The Montpelier Arts Center is located on the beautiful grounds of the Montpelier Mansion in Laurel, Maryland.

Current resident artists include painters, printmakers, sculptors, ceramicists, a fiber artist and a jewelry artist. Space is rented to qualified artists at the rate of $8.00/square foot per year ($9.30 for artists residing outside of Prince George's and Montgomery Counties.)

Interested artists are encouraged to visit the Center. Resident artists who have studios at Montpelier are also eligible for solo exhibitions in the Resident Artists Gallery on a rotating basis and have access to their studios seven days a week. The deadline for delivering work to be reviewed is Tuesday, May 15, 2007. Call (301) 953-1993 for a studio application or download a PDF version at this website.

McNatt on Black Masters Show

The Baltimore Sun's Glenn McNatt delivers a really good review of the current "Black Masters" show at AU's Katzen Arts Center. The show runs though May 27, 2007.

Read the review here.

MCGOPA is looking for new members

The Montgomery County Guild of Professional Artists (MCGOPA) is an artist-run group for artists around the Philly area and they're currently accepting applications for membership. The jurying takes place the 3rd Thursday of the month, October through June. Visit this website for more info.