Florida'ng

Still baking down here; good sun and great Cuban food (later I will tell you one of the best and cheapest Cuban food joints in all of the Greater Miami area, with terrific food, amazing prices and huge portions: the way Cuban food is supposed to be).

Also a mini review (maybe) of the art galleries and stores passing as art galleries along Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

Webminar: How to build your art resume

For about a decade, while I was the co-owner of the Fraser Galleries in DC and Maryland from 1996-2006, I co-developed a highly successful one day seminar titled "Success as an Artist," which over the years, the many thousands who took part in it, eventually dubbed "Bootcamp for Artists."

I am now taking the basic modules and principles of that one day seminar, modernizing the tactics and re-inventing the approach into a series of webminars in partnership with CFX Network Webminars.

The first in a series of webminars for artists will take place on
Sunday, February 01, 2009 at 11:00 AM (ET). It is focused on how to build your visual arts resume.

An artists' resume is one of the key factors not only in potentially help to sell artwork, but also in getting grants, residencies and awards, as well as attracting gallery and collector attention. In this seminar I will cover a variety of proven tactics for building your resume quickly and easily. The tactics are applicable to new Art school graduates, emerging and mid career artists as well as those starting a new career in the visual arts after retiring from another career.

All the details are here.

My Space on 7th

Two years ago Touchstone Gallery in DC created My Space on 7th. It is a unique, non-juried opportunity for local area artists to exhibit at Touchstone Gallery. The exhibition goes from January 7 - February 7, 2009.

Opening Reception and Wine Tasting (courtesy of Washington Wine Academy) on Friday, January 9, 6 - 8:30 pm. This time, My Space on 7th features 88 local artists.

The upcoming January exhibition, like the two before it, drew an immediate response. All available spaces (88 artists's selected 125 spaces for 300 or more artworks) were chosen within hours after registration opened.

Artists participating: Roberta Alberding, Cynthia Angeles, Mia Baila, Amber Baum, Jennifer Beinhacker, Daniel Bell, Patricia S. Bennett, Gary P. Bergel, Olga Berman, Sophie Bethune, Harmon Biddle, Jorge Caceres, Mark Caicedo, Jeff Chyatte, Carol L. Clatterbuck, James Coates, Ceci Cole McInturff, Patricia Correa, Stephen Cromer, Matthew Dailey, Charles Dale, Karen Egbert, Alexander Feshenko, Jill Finsen, Eric Franklin, Oliver Freeman, Eric M. Ginsburg, Idamarie Giusti, Steve Goldenberg, Alexandra Goldschmidt, Joshua F. Gomez, Phil Gross, Catherine Guarne, Regine M. Guillemin, Dede Haas, Justin D. Hoffmann, Josh Holland, Anne Hornsby, Sandra D. Humphfrey, Neal Hutchko, Angela Iovino, Shahrzad Heyat Jalinous, Jessica Jastrzebski, Dorothy Johnson, Rebecca Kallem, Peter Karp, Jenufa Kent, Angela Kleis, Rebecca J. Kuper, Harvey Kupferburg, Paula B. Lantz, Kay Layne, Gwendolyn L. Lewis, Emery J. Lewis, Andrew Logan, Teresa Roberts Logan, Rusty Lynn, Mary Mallia, Melinda Merinsky, Gerda V. Merwald, Elba A. Molina, Rachel Mooney, Del Moran, Lyonel Moreau, Tisha Myers, Kannan Naik Cangro, Martin Piccariello, Aline Pilar, Wendy Plotkin-Mates, Haydeh Rastin, Marina Reiter, Yelena Rodina, Lisa Rosenstein, Kaitlyn Scott, Paul W. Sharratt, Carole Lyles Shaw, Raju Singh, Brendan Smith, Matthew Smith, Luba Sterlikova, Rachel Sultanik, Sally ShangMing Tsou, Laurie Tylec, Caroline Urbania, Susan Van Pool, Daniel Venne, Paul Vickers, Cory Way, Anthem Wingate, Gwenn Zaberer.

Prices Plummet at End of 2008

Sotheby’s and Christie’s lost at least $50 million and $40 million each from failed guarantees in their final-quarter sales. Auction houses are cutting staff, abandoning guarantees of a price to sellers, and reducing estimates on individual works.

Read the report by Scott Reyburn and Katya Kazakina here.

Crisis or Transformation?

Renee Phillips' terrific article in Art Calendar is a must read for emerging artists. Read it here.

At La Florida

I'm in Florida for a bit of sun and sand and fermented drinks, thus why postings have been sporadic.

Reading Tom Gjelten's acclaimed Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause.

More later...

Happy New Year's

May 2009 bring all of you loads of good things and good health... salud!

Goodbye 2008

Nothing like a good beer to say adios to the 8th year of the 21st century.

Airborne



Heading to Miami for the New Year's... more later. Already pissed off that US Air charges $15 for your one piece of checked-in luggage.

Some posts have been already scheduled for the next few days.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 16, 2009

The Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site in Philadelphia is seeking proposals for its 2010 tour season and beyond. There are two funding categories: Exhibition, approval providing a budget of up to $7,500 and approval to exhibit at the historic site; and Exhibition Development, providing up to $2,500 with no guarantee of exhibition. Full details are available at this website.

The Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site "was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cell blocks and empty guard towers. Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world's first true penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells once held many of America s most notorious criminals, including bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone." Tours today include the cell blocks, solitary punishment cells, Al Capone's Cell, and Death Row. A critically-acclaimed series of artists installations is free with admission.

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site
2027 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Job in the Arts (Photography)

Deadline: February 1, 2009

The Photography and Media Program in the Art School at CalArts is seeking applications for a full-time, regular faculty position beginning August 2009. Responsibilities include teaching two courses per semester, supervision of independent study projects, participation in student reviews, and advising at undergraduate and graduate levels. Applicants must have significant exhibition record and/or related professional activities, as well as experience teaching at both the undergraduate and the graduate levels. Applicants must have at least three years of college-level teaching experience. MFA or equivalent education required. Applicants’ artistic practice should be centered in photography and/or related media, such as video and network practices. Applicants should be very well versed in contemporary art, photography, and media theory and practice. The ideal candidate will have experience teaching courses that cover a range of topics in photography, video, and related media, anchored in an integrated theory of contemporary art practice, and specifically in areas of image and information theories and practices, video history, photography history, and issues in contemporary media and network culture.

Please mail a letter of application, CV, and documentation of work [e.g., slides, DVDs, videos (NTSC only), CDs, publications, and URLS], three letters of recommendation, and a SASE if you wish to have your materials returned to:

Natalie Bookchin
Photography and Media Program
School of Art
CalArts
24700 McBean Parkway
Valencia, CA 91355

No Bailout for the Arts?

While government bailouts are being offered or considered for financial institutions, the auto industry, homeowners, and so many other needy and worthy sectors, one group is quickly and rather quietly falling apart: our nation's arts organizations. In the past few months, dozens of opera companies, theater companies, dance organizations, museums and symphonies have either closed or suffered major cash crises.

OpEd in yesterday's WaPo; read it here.

Opportunity for Fairfax County (Virginia) Artists

Deadline: January 19, 2009

The Arts Council of Fairfax County awards Strauss Fellowships to support and encourage Fairfax County’s finest creative artists in all disciplines. Strauss Fellowships recognize professional working artists’ achievements and their demonstrated history of accomplishments; they promote artists’ continued pursuit of their creative work. Strauss Fellowships are an investment in the sustained growth and development of the arts in Fairfax County as well as a way to honor artists’ commitment to an artistic discipline, their professional activity in Fairfax County, and their contributions to the quality of life in Fairfax County.

This is a competitive grant program where the recipients are determined by their work’s merit. No specific project needs to be carried out with the funds granted – Strauss Fellowships award outstanding achievement in work that has already been completed.

Download the prospectus here.

Bar (Art) Coasters



I'll let Mike Licht tell you all about these bar coasters. Read it here.

Webminars: Bootcamp for Artists

For about a decade, while I was the co-owner of the Fraser Galleries in DC and Maryland from 1996-2006, I co-developed a highly successful one day seminar titled "Success as an Artist," which over the years, the many thousands who took part in it, eventually dubbed "Bootcamp for Artists."

I am now taking the basic modules and principles of that one day seminar, modernizing the tactics and re-inventing the approach into a series of webminars in partnership with CFX Network Webminars.

The first in a series of webminars for artists will take place on
Sunday, February 01, 2009 at 11:00 AM (ET).

All the details are here.

More later, but you can start registering now.

New Orleans AIDS Monument



The New Orleans AIDS Memorial's design was achieved through an international design competition, which was won by my good friend and DC-based uberartist Tim Tate.

It has taken many years for the financing and all the committee meetings to actually build the monument, which is now one of the world's largest outdoor public art glass sculptures, but it is now officially open, as it opened on November 29, 2009, timed to do so in coordination with the World's AIDS Day.

It is called the "Guardian Wall," and it consists of metal rings in the shape of a ship's portal. Inside each ring is a cast glass face, consisting of faces of people who have been affected by HIV. Each glass disc is 18 inches in diameter.



According to Tate, "it represents the faces of those who have passed on due to HIV, looking down from heaven and guarding over and keeping safe those who are currently living with HIV. It stands not only as a memorial to those lost, but an empowering statement to those living with HIV."

Set in NO's historic Washington Square Park, per the news release:

The New Orleans AIDS Memorial will provide a healing sanctuary for family and friends and will promote understanding of the human tragedy of the AIDS epidemic. It (was the) goal for the monument to create a public landscape where anyone who has been touched by AIDS can find comfort and consolation within a dignified and creative community setting.

The memorial, made of concentric bronze circles framing inspirational multicultural cast glass faces, will provide a powerful yet comforting reminder of the meaning behind the memorial. Leading up to the memorial, a pathway of granite stones, inscribed with names of loved ones, will allow visitors to reflect on the way this disease has forever transformed our world.

Congrats to Tate on this latest accomplishment!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: February 6, 2008 by 5PM

Artists are being sought to participate in the Howard County Arts Council Annual Silent Art Auction Benefit Exhibit as part of the Arts Council’s annual fundraising gala, Celebration of the Arts in Howard County.

The final bid for each artwork sold will be divided equally between the artist and the Arts Council.

All 2-D, 3-D, and fine craft artists, 18 years or older, residing, working or studying in Howard County, HCAC members, and artists that have exhibited in Howard County in the last year are invited to submit. Deadline for submissions is February 6, 2008 by 5PM.

Visual artists working in all styles and media are invited to apply, including painters, sculptors, ceramicists, fiber artists, jewelers, and photographers. Artists will be selected by a jury panel who may also invite artists who are eligible to participate. This showcase of artists in Howard County has proven to be a great benefit to both established and emerging talent in the community and is also a successful fundraiser to support art programs, exhibitions, and organizations in Howard County.

The exhibition will be held during the Celebration of the Arts on April 26, 2008 from 6-10 PM at the Wilde Lake High School Mini Theater, Columbia, Maryland. The final bid for each artwork sold will be divided equally between the artist and the Arts Council. Last year’s Silent Auction sales exceeded $11,500 and 75% of the work sold.

A prospectus with additional information is available on the Celebration page of the Arts Council’s website www.hocoarts.org or call 410-313-ARTS (2787) for more information.

Bailey, Bailey, Bailey...

The DC Examiner picks up on the Right Reverend's on the dot commentary on the Maryland water main pipe break.

"I know 85-year old black women from New Orleans who were confined to wheelchairs that managed to escape the floodwaters of Katrina without having to be evacuated by helicopter."

Read it here.

C'ville galleries to close

"At least two more Charlottesville-area art galleries will close in the coming weeks as art sales continue to lag in the faltering economy.

Two art galleries -- Sage Moon Gallery and Migration: A Gallery -- had already announced their departures from the Downtown Mall.

Now, two additional galleries -- Les Yeux du Monde Art Gallery on West Main Street and the Spruce Creek Gallery near Wintergreen -- have confirmed that they are also closing because of the economic downturn."

Read the Richmond Times-Dispatch story here. I know that at least one of the dealers, Laura and Rob Jones' Migrations, will continue as private dealers and do the various art fairs.

Public Service Jobs for Artists?

The appeal of public-service employment for artists isn’t hard to understand. In our market economy, many more people would like their creativity and livelihood to be conjoined than there are paying jobs for artists; when the public sector steps in, that can change. The forms of public service at which artists excel are almost universally appreciated; it’s just that in a market-driven (and now deeply troubled) economy, finding the money to pay for them is nearly impossible.

Read the story by Arlene Goldbard in Community Arts Network here.