Mark Jenkins in the WaPo

The WaPo's Mark Jenkins with two excellent reviews in the WaPo - check them out here.

Maryland honors artists...

The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), an agency of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, has recognized 87 Maryland artists for creating work of exceptional quality within a range of disciplines. This class of outstanding writers, artists and performers was selected from nearly 600 applicants (including yours truly) and awarded grants ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 to advance their artistic careers. This year’s Individual Artist Awards went to artists working within the disciplines of Fiction; Painting; Media/Digital/Electronic Arts; Solo Theatrical Performance; and Works on Paper. Although I was rejected for the billionth time, I congratulate all the artists who received an award - yay!

Portrait of Fair Young Fia as Licensed Royalty by Katherine Miller

Selected submissions by award recipients are available to view at www.msac.org/iaa2013, where information on the artists' home county, artistic discipline and grant amount is also provided.

“Artists and art making in Maryland help fuel our creative economy and expand opportunities for cultural engagement across the state,” said Theresa Colvin, Executive Director of MSAC. “The diverse works of exceptional individual artists is essential to the arts industry, which generates a billion dollars a year in Maryland.”

The MSAC’s competitive Individual Artists Award (IAA) is a program administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation that recognizes the value of artists and their work to the cultural vitality of Maryland. In determining the awards, an out-of-state jury reviews unidentified IAA submissions and recommends grant awards solely on the basis of artistic ability.

Many artists report applying IAA grant funds toward the cost of materials needed to complete their projects. Sculptor David Knopp, a 2012 Individual Artist Award recipient wrote, “Since receiving the award, I have completed two more functional sculptures, and the monetary award supplied the materials to complete them. I will be experimenting with incorporating other hardwoods into my sculptures and hardwoods come at a hefty price. The award will aid in purchasing the lumber.” Knopp, a lifelong Baltimore resident who works a night shift, and spends the days producing art, was later named one of only three 2012 Baker Artists—a prestigious distinction accompanied by a $25,000 grant.

The IAA Program reviews a total of 18 artistic disciplines, which are separated into three competition groups that are awarded once every three years. The 2014 Individual Artist Award will open to applications around June 1, with a deadline of July 26, 2013.  Eligible categories include: Choreography; Classical Music Composition; Classical Music Solo Performance; Poetry; Sculpture; Solo Dance Performance; World Music Composition; and World Music Solo Performance.

A celebration in honor of Maryland’s 2013 Individual Artist Awardees will be held in May.

Frank Hyder at Projects Philly

Projects Gallery Philadelphia (which represents my work in Miami and in Philly) has a great exhibition coming that deserves a mention in DC's best art blog (since I lived in the Philly suburbs from 2006-1009... cough, cough).

They will showcase The Frontier, a solo exhibition by Frank Hyder. Works being featured include mixed media paintings on Mylar and illuminated sculptures. This show is held in conjunction with Hyder’s installation “Sea Dream“ on display in Terminal C of the Philadelphia Airport.

Hyder has reached into his past and leans into the future with this dynamic series of works. For more than thirty years, innovative use of woodcuts such as “Sea Watcher” in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and shaman prints, again part of the PMA and the Library of Congress collections, have been signature works for this native Philadelphian and now Miami resident. In recent years, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas and the Museum of Catholic Art and History in New York City have provided venues for his large-scale installations, combining sculpture, prints and painting to create narratives about the forest and traditions of the Americas.

The Frontier series began as a site-specific installation painting for the Miami Beach host site of the Select Art Fair during Art Basel Miami 2012. The main element of this installation was a 7 x 20 ft. mixed media work on Mylar that filled the stairway glass walls connecting two floors of the fair. Moving up or down these stairs immersed the viewer into the painting and environment of the forest. The work is peppered with digital prints on tracing paper, supplying sporadic bursts of color throughout. The forest is dominated by black and white contrast, a contrast that continues throughout the works of the show. 

Developing on the concept, Hyder has made paintings that focus on these prints and how they are fitted into the invented landscapes that surround them. He continues using this black-and-white-versus-color concept in a series of 3-dimensional LED illuminated prints on shaped Plexiglas, which create a small, lighted installation in one room of the gallery. The artist also steps off the wall here with freestanding sculptures from his “Chrysalis Series.”  These sinuous standing forms are abstractly animated by collaged black and white woodcuts and eerie luminous colored light.

This truly international artist has had over 100 solo exhibitions, including nine in New York City and throughout all of the Americas, Europe and Asia.  In the past year he has shown in Atlanta, Hong Kong, London, Miami, Singapore and Toronto.  He is one of the few North Americans to have had solo exhibitions in major museums in Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.  Other solo museum exhibitions include the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art’s Museum of American Art, the La Salle Museum of Art, the Susquehanna Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum in California.  For the past several years, he has participated in “Giants in the City,” whose heroic inflatables exhibit during Art Basel Miami. 

His works are in the collections of art museums in Philadelphia, Grand Rapids, Ontario, Caracas and Maracaibo, Venezuela, as well as the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Library of Congress and in numerable corporate and private collections.  Major awards include a Senior Fulbright Research Grant to Venezuela, U.S. Embassy Cultural Grants, MidAtlantic NEA, two Pennsylvania State Council Grants and an International Art Programming Network Partners Grant.  Public commissions include the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program “Hanging Garden of I-95”, “Honey’s” and “Bell’s Pond” wall murals; Terminal Freezer, Oxnard, CA, ceramic wall mural; and the Museo Jacobo Borges “Bridge of Life” ceramic walkway in Caracas, Venezuela.  

The Frontier will run April 5 – June 15, 2013 with an artist reception on First Friday, May 3rd from 6-9. The reception is free and open to the public.  Projects Gallery is located at 629 N. 2nd St. in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties section. A preview of works may be viewed on the gallery’s website at www.projectsgallery.com. For more information and images, please contact Projects Gallery at 267-303-9652 or info@projectsgallery.com

Hotmail blues...

Hotmail has been down all day... since I get about 300+ emails a day there, if you've sent me something, then I'm not ignoring you - and you should all be using lenny at lennycampello dot com anyway...

Talk: Cracking the critics' code

Tomorrow, Saturday, from noon-2PM I will be giving a talk at the Art Gallery of Potomac about getting attention from art critics and writers in general and getting some press out of your art exhibits.

Free and open to the public 
www.theartgalleryofpotomac.com - 9945 Falls Road, Potomac, MD
(Potomac Village Shopping Center, next to the bike store)

Hope to see ya there!

Wanna go to a party tomorrow night?

On Friday March 22, 2013 from 5:30 on for Swag Funk sponsored by Twins Jazz at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in DC.

Originally formed in the winter of 2008, SWAGFUNK has since hit numerous milestones. In addition to performing shows all over the DC; MD; VA; and the Baltimore area; SWAGFUNK has also performed regularly in the northeast over the years. SWAGFUNK has developed a very loyal following globally. They have been adopted by the locals and have paved the way to a great music scene.

The Closing Party will continue from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Come join them for wine and beer with the Closing of the International Glass and Clay Exhibition at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery, 702 8th street NW. 

Sen. Dick Durbin: The Taxman

 "If you take a walk...
I'll tax your feet...
   - Lennon & McCartney

For many years, large national corporate retailers, big business and many hungry state tax collectors have hoped for new Internet sales tax collection policy. They want Congress to pass a federal law that would allow tax agents from one state to enforce their sales tax laws on retailers based in other states, even when a business is based thousands of miles away. Nearly everyone that I know opposes this misguided idea that goes against everything that the Internet stands for, and I (like millions of others worldwide) believe that small businesses selling via the Internet should only be subject to the tax laws of the states in which they operate.

The news from Capitol Hill is clear and just like the economy... it's grim.

Internet sales tax supporters are convinced that 2013 is their year, and they are determined to pass a new Internet sales tax bill when our out of control "tax everything" Congress (that refuses to face real financial austerity) tackles "corporate tax reform" in spite of the fact that "corporate" and the millions of small American businesses that operate on the Internet seldom share the same anything.

In December, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the misguided idiot who smells more and more sources to suck money out of the economy and is the sponsor of Internet sales tax legislation, publicly announced that he had a commitment from the Senate Finance Committee to "take it up early next year and move it to the floor."  Why Durbin wants to lead an effort to bleed more and more taxes is something between himself and his big money donors...

Your opinion matters. If you oppose giving state tax collectors new powers to impose and enforce out-of-state sales tax burdens on small businesses that sell via the Internet, now is the time to make your voice heard.

This is not a Republican or Democrat issue - but an issue that deals with the freedom of the worldwide web and the never-ending appetite for some Democrats in Congress to try to tax any and everything that moves.

Take the time to email, call or write to your two Senators and your Congress person... feel free to use, edit and adapt the letter below, but DO SOMETHING!

 

Dear Member of Congress,

As your constituent and one of the millions of Americans concerned with this issue, I'm asking you not to impose any new sales tax laws on small businesses operating on the Internet.

In the 1992 Quill Decision, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to allow state tax enforcement authorities to impose their sales tax laws on small businesses located in other states.  However, an effort backed by giant retailers and a group of state legislators is trying to push Congress to overturn the Quill Decision and establish an unfair tax regime that would force small online businesses to be subject to sales tax laws all across the country, regardless of where the small business is actually located.

Millions of American small business retailers, would be directly impacted by any new Internet sales tax system. It would increase the cost of doing business and shopping on-line, which would hurt sellers and buyers alike. I believe that small businesses selling via the Internet should only be subject to the tax laws of the states in which they operate. Instead of imposing new tax burdens on small businesses, I would encourage Congress to do EXACTLY the opposite and look at new policies that encourage small business growth and development on the Internet, which in turn will spur job growth and increase consumer choice.

As your constituent, I would ask that you please oppose any efforts to impose new tax burdens on small businesses operating on the Internet.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME

This is what a real hero looks like

Cuban Dissident Blogger Yoani Sanchez Visits Washington D.C.

Everytime that this hero blogs, she puts her life on the line in the Castro Brothers' Workers Paradise... she's a real hero in a place where heroes usually end up dead. 

And she's in DC today meeting with members of Congress!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: April 12, 2013

Southern Regional Technical/Recreation Complex, Public Art Project #3 - Inter-active Technology Artwork
Project budget: $50,000

Eligibility: Individual artists or artist teams from Maryland, Washington, DC or Virginia are eligible to apply. All must be 18 years or older. An onsite pre-application briefing will be held March 25, 2013 from 10am to 11am at Southern Regional Tech/Rec Complex 7007 Bock Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744

Contact Person:
Alec Simpson, Arts and Cultural Heritage Division
Alec.Simpson@pgparks.com; 301/446-3232 (VOICE)

Affordable Dental Care for Artists!

Maryland Art Place is partnering with students of the dental hygiene program at The Community College of Baltimore County – Dundalk Campus. Patients pay $20 for a professional checkup and cleaning (no insurance required). X-rays available at an additional cost. Please ask about discounts for current students and senior citizens.

Take advantage of this special opportunity if you are an artist in need of:

•      dental checkup
•      teeth cleaning
•      x-rays

For more information visit mdartplace.org or contact Julie Smith, 443.717.1617,
jsmith791@hotmail.com

Self Portrait as Spiderman

Self Portrait as Spider-Man
2013 Andrew Wodzianski
26 x 24 inches. Oil on canvas
Will be exhibited at The Affordable Art Fair New York 2013 next month

(e)merge art fair now accepting applications

(e)merge art fair NOW ACCEPTING GALLERY, ARTIST APPLICATIONS ONLINE

The third edition of the (e)merge art fair will take place October 3 – 6, 2013, in Washington, DC, at the Rubell Family’s Capitol Skyline Hotel.

Last year, 80 exhibitors presented rising talent from the Americas and Europe at (e)merge. More than 5,500 art supporters engaged with painting, sculpture, digital media, performance and installation works by 152 artists from 24 countries in both our gallery and our artist platforms.

The DC region is home to one of the nation’s wealthiest, youngest, most highly educated populations. (e)merge provides inside access to a rapidly expanding cultural market with immense economic power.

EXHIBITOR PROSPECTUS (CLICK HERE)

ONLINE APPLICATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED

GALLERY PLATFORM APPLICATION (CLICK HERE)
The Gallery Platform application deadline is May 31 and notifications will be sent out in June.

• Exhibitors may present 1-3 artists in each room
• Art being presented may include works in all media: installation, painting, photography, new media, performance, sculpture, works on paper, and video
• Artists presented should not have had a solo exhibition in a major museum or Kunsthalle.

ARTIST PLATFORM APPLICATION (CLICK HERE)
The Artist Platform application deadline is May 18 and notification will be sent out in June.

(e)merge is the only art fair that gives free exhibition space to artists without gallery representation. If you are an artist who is currently unrepresented by a gallery and has not yet had a solo exhibition in a major museum or Kunsthalle, (e)merge is your forum for discovery.

Artists whose proposals are accepted by the selection committee will be provided with exhibition space at the Fair free of charge.

To be eligible for artist exhibition space artist applicants must:
• Be currently without gallery representation
• May have had solo gallery shows, but may not have had a solo exhibition in a major museum or Kunsthalle.
• Whereas work in all media will be carefully considered, projects involving experimental works in non-traditional formats are especially encouraged. Such work may include installation, conceptual art, performance, new media, or the inventive use of materials to express challenging concepts.

Additional information on the EXHIBITOR SERVICES page: CLICK HERE

For additional questions/information: info@emergeartfair.com

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: May 1, 2013

The Artraker Fund celebrates and awards artwork which makes a direct positive change in countries that have experienced social upheaval and violent conflict. The Fund was created in 2012 by International Conflict and Security (INCAS) Consulting Ltd.

An international panel of judges from both the art and peace-building disciplines assesses submissions for the Artraker Award. They look for experimentation and engagement, audacity, change and capacity to inspire.

The final prize of GBP2,500 is awarded to the winning submission in London each year on 21 September (International Peace Day).

A further ten short listed projects / artists will be invited to join the Artrakers network. These projects / artists are promoted to peace-builders, curators and other art world professionals. They are featured on the Artrakers section of the Fund's website and in other Fund outreach publications.

The Artraker Fund Advisory Committee is a mix of members from both the art and conflict world: Susanne Bosch, Dr. Bernadette Buckley, Beatrice Catanzaro, Sandrine Crisostomo, Htein Lin, Olufemi Terry and Jason Waite.

The Fund welcomes submissions from artists of all nationalities and at any stage of their careers. See artraker.org for more information and application guidelines.

Capital Art Fair next month

The 2013 Capital Art Fair will take place in Arlington, VA, at the Holiday Inn-Rosslyn Westpark Hotel during the first weekend of April. 

A successor to the Washington International Print Fair and the Washington Print Fair, the Capital Art Fair is now in its fourth year of bringing collectible and desirable art to the Washington, DC, area. This year, the fair boasts over 20 distinguished art dealers from across the United States and Canada.

Visitors to the fair will find thousands of works on paper from great master prints to cutting edge, contemporary pieces. The original prints, paintings, drawings, and photographs span over 500 years of creative expression, offering an impressive and expansive selection to DC art collectors.

The Capital Art Fair presents an invaluable opportunity, both in access and convenience, to the seasoned art collector, as well as those looking to break into the market. It is the only art fair in the Washington, DC, area where an extraordinary range of fine art will be available for collectors, museums, and the curious to purchase. It also gives a chance for the vibrant DC art community to interact and talk with exhibitors and dealers who are highly respected in the field, many of whom are well known to the curators of DC museums and established members of the International Fine Print Dealers Association.

Tickets to the 2013 Capital Art Fair can be bought at the fair for $10. The fair hours are as listed below:
Saturday, April 6, 2013: 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday, April 7, 2013: 11 am – 5 pm

The Holiday Inn-Rosslyn Westpark Hotel is located at 1900 North Fort Meyer Drive, Alexandria, VA 22209. It is just over the Key Bridge from Georgetown and only one block away from the Rosslyn Metro stop on the Orange and Blue lines.

More information, including directions and a list of participating dealers, can be found at the Capital Art Fair website: http://www.capitalartprintfair.com/.

The place to be on Saturday!

I can tell that this is gonna be big!

Art Underground will celebrate its launch on Saturday, March 16 with an open house and free mega paint-off hosted by ArtJamz from 6pm – 10pm at 2100 Crystal Drive. This event will be an energetic opportunity for the public to get a taste of the newest arts and cultural destination in the area with tours of brand new artist studios (Studios Underground) the Gallery Underground curated by the Arlington Artists Alliance, music, beverages, and snacks. Stop by and you can also catch Synetic’s latest installment of its famous silent Shakespeare series, The Tempest, at 8 PM (visit www.synetictheater.org for tickets).

The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID), in partnership with Vornado/Charles E. Smith and the Arlington Artists Alliance (AAA), is transforming five blocks of Crystal City’s interior retail space into a vibrant arts and cultural destination with galleries, studios, interactive exhibits and activities, performance and classroom spaces, and a host of special events. This effort will create a powerful new incubator for the arts that will further activate and support Crystal City businesses and retail by attracting additional exposure, visitation, business and opportunities.

Art Underground is a collection of arts programming that will initially include:

• Studios Underground: an outlet for local artists to create, practice and showcase their talents while providing an engaging cultural experience for area residents, employees, visitors and guests.
• Gallery Underground (formerly the Northern Virginia Art Center): a showcase of original artwork by regional artists with monthly rotating exhibits to excite the imagination, stimulate creativity, and encourage repeat visitation.
• FotoWalk Underground: in partnership with FotoDC, FotoWalk is a yearlong, 1000-foot, 150-image gallery that changes every six months.
• Synetic Theater: the premier American physical theater, fusing dynamic art forms – such as text, drama, movement, acrobatics, dance and music.
• Special Events: Art Underground will host and present ongoing activities and events, including monthly ArtJamz sessions.

Details here.

The first American Pope!

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum; habemus Papam:
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Georgium Marium
Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Bergoglio
qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscum.

American in the true meaning of the word (which means "from The Americas") as Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio becomes the first Pope from the New World!

This is a win-win situation for the Church... an Italian from Argentina, which is essentially the New World's version of Italy anyway... brilliant! An Italian Pope from the New World!

The son of an Italian immigrant to Argentina, the new Pope seems like a really good guy for both of those who endorse the Church's dogma as well as those who appreciate a socially active Pope.

An a Jesuit! WOW! That even harder to believe than a Pope who wasn't born in Europe! If my memory serves me right, the only other Jesuit ever offered the Papacy declined it.

And the last Spanish speaking Pope was the Borgia Pope... cough, cough...

And by the way... his name is Pope Francis (and not Ignatius as a good Jesuit would have chosen... which is of itself an interesting sign) and NOT Francis The First as nincompoop talking heads on TV keep saying... he's the first Pope named Francis - not the first King named Francis.... otherwise the announcement would have been:  qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscum Primum.

This is what happens when Latin gets dropped from being taught in schools.

My best to the 266th Pope!

Vaya Pana!

Bring your ideas

Artomatic Happy Hour - Focus on Music

On Thursday March 28, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM join new Board Member Jerry Hergenreder to discuss strategies for the presentation of music within the next Artomatic. 

Bring your ideas and suggestions. 

Old Dominion Brewhouse
1219 9th Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20001

International artists residencies in the US and abroad.

On Wednesday March 13, 2013, from 5:00-7.30 PM, join members of the Washington Glass School, Flux Studios and invited guests for a roundtable discussion at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery about international artists residencies in the US and abroad. 

 

Register now!

702 8th St NW
Washington, DC, DC 20068

(202) 872-3396

35 Years of Zenith

Zenith Gallery is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year - in gallery years that's like 350 years! Join them at the celebration of their anniversary!

Join Us for a Celebration of Our 35th Anniversary 

Zenith Gallery at the

Sculpture Space at Eleven Eleven Pennsylvania Avenue 

"The Best of All Worlds ... Modern and Traditional Art" 

 

The Sculpture of Paul Martin Wolff and Oil Paintings by Bradley Stevens  

 

MEET THE ARTISTS RECEPTION: Wednesday, March 13, 5:30 - 8:00 PM 

 

SHOW DATES: Now through April 27, 2013  

Country & Western Ahmadinejad

Ahmadinejad!
A snowy wet Washington, DC area drive finds a Country & Western marriage between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Jerry Jeff Walker.