New DC gallery
The Fridge DC is a new art gallery, performance space, and art school that offers full scholarships for children of low-income DC area residents. Our mission is to foster creativity and community dialogue; provide exhibition space to emerging and established local artists; host programs and activities that encourage public awareness, participation, and appreciation of the arts and to serve as a catalyst for social change.Check them out here and their next show here.
Potomac Valley Watercolorists Annual Fall Art Exhibit and Sale
When: Saturday, November 7, 3:00-7:00pm, and Sunday, November 8, 12:00-4:00pm
Potomac Valley Watercolorists artists from the greater Washington metropolitan area will exhibit original paintings at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 4000 Lorcom Lane, Arlington, VA, on Saturday, November 7, 3:00-7:00 p.m., and Sunday, November 8, 12:00-4:00 p.m.
A wide variety of sizes and styles (including both framed and unframed paintings) will be available for sale (cash, check or credit card). Admittance is free, refreshments will be provided and exhibiting artists will be on site.
It will be my honor to award the prizes at this exhibit.
Potomac Valley Watercolorists (PVW) is a regional organization of water media painters who have been selected for membership through a highly competitive process. Members have exhibited extensively at the local, national and international levels.
Details here.
AWA at Easton
Easton's hard working South Street Gallery has a terrific exhibition hosting the work of the members of the American Women Artists (AWA) organization.
AWA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the inspiration, celebration and encouragement of women in the Arts and its current president is the very talented DC area master plein air painter Bethanne Kinsella Cople. The exhibition at South Street is a juried show that received 750 entries from which 64 works by non-member artists and 46 works by AWA members were accepted.
The exhibit ends November 8, 2009.
What to do next Saturday
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Ofrenda - Art for the Dead
3pm – 12am
Free Admission; Cash Bar at Masked Ball
Old Town Alexandria's Torpedo Factory hosts Art Outlet's Ofrenda 2009, a spectacular Halloween celebration in the tradition of the Mexican Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). This year's celebration offers a festive art exhibition with a masked ball and a parade. This is Art Outlet's third annual Ofrenda.
ART RECEPTION: Saturday, October 31, 3 pm – 7 pm
PARADE: Saturday, October 31, 7 pm – 7:45 pm
MASKED BALL: Saturday, October 31, 7:30 pm – 12 am
ART EXHIBITION: October 31 – November 3
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ART RECEPTION
Saturday | October 31 | 3 pm – 7 pm
Ofrenda is an art exhibition of 40 local artists' shrines, altars, and other art in the Mexican Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) tradition. Exhibiting artists:
Michael Auger, Kathlyn Avila-Reyes, Jennifer Beinhacker, Carlos Beltran, Jennifer Bishop, Ismael Carrillo, Kate Clark, Andrea Collins, Rosemary Feit Covey, Anthony Delfin, Jackie Ehle, Cavan Fleming, Ric Garcia, Jeannette Herrera, Jacqueline Inglefield, Kevin Irvin, Jessica Jastrzebski, Rebecca Marion Kallem, Lori Katz, Shauna Lee Lange, Emily Green Liddle, Carolina Mayorga, Peggy Meckling, Heather Miller, Mara Odette, Claudia & Sergio Olivos, Chris Peloso, Kevin Peshkepia, Caren Quinn, Lisa Rosenstein, Skeeter Scheid, Heather Schmaedeke, Hillary Sloate, Kenya Rene Smith, Constance Springer Zabowski, Neil Leon Stavely, Erika Stone, Henrik Sundqvist, Roy Utley, and Alexandra Zealand
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OFRENDA PARADE
Saturday | October 31 | 7 pm – 7:45 pm
Join up at the historic Market Square near City Hall at 301 King Street for the Ofrenda parade. The parade will start at 7 pm and end at the Torpedo Factory Art Center . Look for the drummers.
Come in your costumes, bring puppets, shrines, and noise makers. Free and Open to Anyone! E-mail us at ofrendaparade@artoutlet.org for more information.
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MASKED BALL
Saturday | October 31 | 7:30 pm – 12 am
No Cover; Cash Bar
Revelers are invited to come to the Ofrenda reception, parade, and masked ball dressed Day of the Dead style or decked out in Halloween finery.
Live music including rock, swing, and blues will be interspersed with belly dancing, tribal drumming, and aerial silks trapeze performances throughout the event.
Guests can participate in the Masked Ball and exhibition by bringing personal remembrances – ofrendas – to contribute to the artist-made public altar honoring those who have left us.
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COMPLETE SCHEDULE - OCTOBER 31
Altars, shrines, art, & multiple performances throughout the night. Public altar by artist Andrea Collins. Anyone can place ofrendas (offerings) throughout the event.
3 pm - 4 pm - FREE sugar skull activity with artist Heather Schmaedeke
3 pm - 3:40 pm - Mariachi Estrellas (traditional Mariachi music)
4:45 - 5:30 pm - Parliament Hill (Accoustic Folk)
5:30 - 5:45 pm - Moira (Silk Trapeze Aerialist)
5:45 pm - 6:30 pm - Wes Tucker & the Skillets (Blues/Rock)
6:30 pm - 6:45 pm - Belly Dancing
7 pm 7:45 pm - Parade with drummers from Market Square to Torpedo Factory
7:45 - 8:00 pm - Drum circle at Torpedo Factory
8 pm - 8:15 pm - Belly Dancing
8:15 pm - 9pm - Hootenanny Orchestra (Swing)
9 pm - 9:15 pm - Moira (Silk Trapeze Aerialist)
9:15 - 10 pm - American Sinners (Rock)
10:15 pm - 11 pm - Demivolt (Rock)
12 midnight - Event ends
More information here.
Does that all sounds like a great artsy thing to fill your Saturday or what?
Art Clearance Sale
MOCA DC in Georgetown is clearing their storage space and they have lots of new and used frames, framing pieces, matting of all sizes, shapes, etc, glass and even works of art in all sizes that has been there for years.
Check it out October 25 to 28; please call 202.342.6230 to come view.
Battle of Agincourt
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, where in 1415 a modern assessment estimates that 7,000 - 9,000 English archers and soldiers faced 12,000 French soldiers on St. Crispin's Day on this epic battle of the 100 Year's War. Contemporary English assessments of the times had estimated 6,000 for England and 20,000 - 30,000 for France.
History and legend credit the Welsh bowmen under Henry V's command for swinging the tide of victory to the English king.
Legend has it that this battle is where flipping the finger(s) as a sign of contempt emerged. As the English army was composed mostly of longbow men, and the archers needed his first two fingers to use the longbow, it is claimed that the French threatened to cut the fingers off the English longbow men.
In a contemptuous gesture, before the battle started, the English showed their two fingers to the French to show them that they still had their fingers. That legend would explain why in Britain the gesture of flipping the bird still uses the first two fingers of the hand reversed.
The battle is, of course, the main theme and the center piece of the play Henry V, by William Shakespeare.
SOFAlab
How and where do art and science - two seemingly disparate disciplines of intellectual inquiry - overlap? And, at that confluence, what can practitioners of both disciplines learn to expand their unique fields of knowledge and to affect consciousness?
SOFAlab on Nov. 5, 2009.
SOFAlab's keynote speaker, Tod Machover - Professor of Music and Media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, the inventor of Hyperinstruments, a trained-Juilliard musician, and, the man Los Angeles Times deemed, “America's Most Wired Composer” - will bring his boundless knowledge of creative technology to the discussion. With each of Machover's innovations, such as his Hyperinstruments, Hyperscore, Brain Opera, Toy Symphony and MMH (Music, Mind and Health), he has intentionally explored the space where science and art collide and in doing so challenged traditional perceptions of both fields.
Expanding the discussion further, SOFAlab's panelists will include Maria Barbosa, Professor of Biology and a DC-based installation artist, Ernesto Barreto, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George Mason University, and Brandon Morse, Professor of Digital Media at the University of Maryland and a DC-based video installation artist specializing in 3-D environments and animation software.
SOFAlab takes place on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 - 6pm reception, 7pm keynote address & panel at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1530 P Street, NW, Washington, DC. Free and Open to the Public.
For more information please contact the organizers: Helen Frederick, Shanti Norris, or Paul So, or view the event website at /www.hamiltonianartists.org/sofalab.
The Reconquista of Lisbon
Today is the anniversary of the fall of Lisbon in 1147 to the siege Crusade armies of Alfonso Henriques, who eight years earlier had become Alfonso the First of the new kingdom of Portugal, which up to then was a troublesome county that was part of the legendary Kingdom of Leon.
The new king not only achieved independence from Leon, but also doubled his new country's size by reconquering lands in Moorish control. Surrounded on its borders by the huge kingdoms that would eventually become Spain three centuries later, Portugal looked to the ocean for exploration and trade and Portuguese explorers sailed all over the world. At one point, the imperialistic tiny kingdom had more colonies around the planet than any other European country and today Portuguese is the sixth most widely spoken language in the world, just a few million speakers behind Arabic.
Happy anniversary to beautiful Lisbon and the nation of Portugal.
PS - Today was also "Black Thursday" in 1929.
Opportunity for Artists
Deadline: Nov. 20th, 2009
If you read this blog then you know that I've been always very impressed with the BlackRock Center for the Arts gallery's 1500 square feet of exquisite gallery space. With its high white walls and beautiful windows strategically placed, this gorgeous gallery allows in just the right amount of natural light. BlackRock Center for the Arts is located at 12901 Town Commons Drive Germantown, MD in upper Montgomery County, about 20 minutes from the Capital Beltway (495).
They currently have a call to artists and the call is open to all artists residing in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC over the age of 18.
Original artwork only. All work must be ready for sale and to be presented in a professional manner to the public at the time of delivery.
This call will cover exhibits in the gallery from September 2010 through August 2011. An exhibit may include one applicant or a combination of applicants, based on the judgment of jurors (i.e., 1 or 2 wall artists may be combined with a pedestal artist). A jury will select the artists and create eight exhibits to be included in the exhibit year. The jury panel is comprised of my good friend and gallerist Elyse Harrison, Jodi Walsh, and yours truly.
Jurying: First Week of December
Notification: Early January
Exhibit Year: Sept. 2010 – Aug. 2011
How to apply: All correspondence will be done by e-mail, so contact Kimberly Onley, the Gallery Coordinator at konley@blackrockcenter.org and ask her to email you a prospectus.
Don't wait to the last minute! Get the prospectus now!
Copyright and Contract basics
Washington Project for the Arts and Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) invite you to a No Artist Left Behind workshop on Copyright and Contract basics at the Arlington Art Center.
John D. Mason, an attorney at The Intellectual Property Group, PLLC., will share valuable information about contemporary issues in copyright law that artists need to know, followed by a question and answer session.
John D. Mason is a Washington DC/Maryland-based art and entertainment and intellectual property attorney. His practice focuses on copyright and trademark matters, litigation, contracts, and commercial matters. He works with writers, artists, and creative people and companies to protect and promote their work and is also a literary agent. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Washington Lawyers for the Arts.
No Artist Left Behind is a series of professional development workshops offered by Washington Project for the Arts providing resources to help artists succeed both inside and outside the studio.
This event is free and open to the public. Attendance is limited to 50 people. Please RSVP to agriffiths@wpadc.org
Location:
Arlington Arts Center
3550 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201
Wanna go to an opening tomorrow?
In his premiere exhibit at Addison/Ripley Fine Art in Georgetown, photographer James Osher presents an exhibition that examines subject matter which is derived from historic paintings in several museums, including, most recently the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
As the artist states, "My work explores the transitory aesthetics of contemporary art viewing." By basing the work on the paintings of Masters and Old Masters, the artist is able to examine culturally assumed "value" as it pertains to "priceless" objects. Osher's work "allows viewers to experience these masterpieces in entirely new ways, forming fresh conceptual relationships with historically relevant works of art."
The opening reception for the artist at Addison/Ripley is this Saturday, October 24 from 5-7PM. The exhibition goes through December 5, 2009.
Studio space available
Only two individual artists studios remain in a wonderful new visual arts building! Located on Rhode Island Avenue just across the DC line in the Gateway Arts District, the Gateway Art Center building has a total of 12 visual art studios and multiple galleries.
The last two available studios are right off the loading dock at the 39th street entrance. Studio 207C is 418 sf and rents for $348 per month PLUS utilities and Studio 207D is 432 sf and rents for $360 per month PLUS utilities.
This warehouse was completely rehabilitated and has really turned out beautifully. With all new walls, windows and heating/cooling system you need to see it to believe it. There are eleven (11) artists, one arts nonprofit and one government-sponsored arts program starting to move in. Come be a part of this great community!
To see a space right away call John at 301-864-3860 ext. 3.
Philadelphia artist takes the inaugural $150K Wolgin Prize
You already know how I bitched about the fact that the jurors for this very generous prize really screwed up in their lazy elitism and ignored the fact that this prize was supposed to go to an emerging artist. Instead, as announced tonight in Philly and discussed in Philly.com:
Ryan Trecartin, a young Philadelphia painter and sculptor whose psychedelic, desultory, kitschy video work has found love among critics and collectors, has been given the first $150,000 top award in the Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts - one of the richest art prizes in the world.Right... fit the mistake to the error so that from now on an "emerging artist" is someone who appears at the Whitney Biennial, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Saatchi Gallery, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, etc.
... Trecartin's works have attracted wide attention, appearing at the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Saatchi Gallery in London and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He recently was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, which carries a $60,000 cash award.
... Glahn said the competition would likely undergo refinement for its next round; it might be hard to call any of the three finalists an emerging artist, since all three have exhibited widely.
"What might change is our definition of what emerging is," he said.
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 Winner
Tonight the National Portrait Gallery announced the winner of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 at the opening reception and the winner is photographer Dave Woody from Ft. Collins, CO. The exhibition will open to the public tomorrow Friday, Oct. 23 and will remain on view through August 22, 2010.
The Killing of Dub
JRA and Washington Craft Show
Deadline to register: October 30, 2009
Join the James Renwick Alliance from Noon to 5:30pm on November 7, 2009 for an afternoon of craft and design with artist and collector-led tours of the Washington Craft Show that explore the criteria used to look at glass, ceramics, fiber, metal/jewelry, and wood as genres of collecting and for increased appreciation on the art form.
Participants will begin at a nearby gallery featuring work by an artist involved with the new textile design project that will be visited later in the afternoon. Artist and collector experts in specific craft mediums will give brief 3-point "this-is-what-to-look-at" talks about ceramics, glass, fiber, metal/ jewelry and wood before going to the Washington Craft Show. Light refreshments will be served.
Participants will then walk to the Washington Convention Center to tour the Washington Craft Show as part of a medium specific group. Each group will visit the booths of 2-3 artists working in that medium who will talk about their work. The tour part of the afternoon concludes around 2:45pm allowing the participants to enjoy the craft show and show events on their own.
From 3:30pm to 5:30 pm, participants are invited to a private reception near the Convention Center to view a private collection of studio furniture and ceramics, and to see the results of a three-week textile design experiment. Representatives of the sponsoring gallery and the artist will talk about the project concept.
Price: $30.00 for JRA members and $35.00 for non-members. Both prices include a ticket to the Washington Craft Show. $10 of registration fee supports JRA programs and is tax deductible.
Deadline to register: October 30, 2009
Group sizes are limited
To register please contact the James Renwick Alliance office.
Who will win $150K tomorrow? Not an emerging artist...
The new Jack Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts, at $150,000, is the largest juried prize in the world, and it is supposed to go to an individual emerging visual artist.
Philadelphia banker and real estate mogul Jack Wolgin is a very generous man who wants the prize to be awarded annually, and he wanted it to be "intended for an artist who has not yet received widespread recognition outside of the art world and whose work breaks new ground by crossing traditional boundaries."
Words count. When I first announced the establishment of this new art prize in this blog back in 2008, I wrote:
This is great news for visual artists all over the world and even greater good news for the Philadelphia art scene. I will immediately comment that I am hoping that their selection panel will have the cojones to look truly to nominate artists at "a critical professional juncture" and not just xerox out a bunch of names of the usual suspects.Wishful thinking on my part!
I remember fondly the days when museums like the Whitney and others would take chances on "new" artists, and as a result in the 80s they would give artists their first museum show ever (from memory I think both Fischl and Schnabel got their very first museum show, both while in their 30s, at the Whitney).
The days when museum curators want to be "first" are long gone, and seldom do we see a major museum take a chance with a "first" anymore. The same lack of cojones seems to have infected the major art prizes of the world, and I for one hope that Tyler and its selection jury get some brass into their system and make a statement with this new and generous prize.
Ryan Trecartin, Sanford Biggers, and Michael Rakowitz are all terrific and highly accomplished artists, but in my opinion are all artists who have exhibited far too widely (I think that by the time you get to exhibit in London's Whitechapel alongside Shahryar Nashat, you're waaaay past emerging) and are too well known to fit into the category envisioned by Mr. Wolgin.
