Throwback Thursday

"Woman in Deep Thought"
(Robin Thinking About Leaving Him)
Hand-colored stone lithograph, edition of 5
c. 1981 by F. Lennox Campello
4.5x2.5 inches framed to 7x5 inches

Call for Artists

Who:  505 North Gallery

What:  CALL FOR VISUAL ARTISTS

Where:  505 N. Market St.  Frederick, MD 21701

Deadline Extended: June 12, 2015

Reception Date: Saturday, July 4th, 2015

Web CALL FOR ART:  https://www.505north.com/calls-for-artists.html

Gallery Website: www.505north.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/505NorthArtiquesGalleryStudio?fref=ts

Twitter: www.twitter.com/505NORTH

FREE Jury Review via email.  

Submit up to 6 2D &/or 3D artworks for  consideration. 

Images need to be 150 dpi, size 500-800 pixels for each piece.  

For 2D artworks, submit one high quality jpg per work, (300dpi, 7-10 inches.) 

When submitting 3D artworks, please submit 2-3 high quality jpgs per work.   (Please note that not all submitted pieces may be accepted.

SUBMIT  INFORMATION  TO:   gallery505north@gmail.com   

"Blue Moon 2015 Entry" in the subject line. 

New public artwork in the DMV

A new public artwork by DMV sculptor Alan Binstock is coming to the University Town Center Gateway in Hyattsville this October, at the pedestrian plaza of the new Safeway Retail Plaza, only a block away from the Prince George's Plaza Metro Station.

The UTC development in Hyattsville is just 10 minutes away from the County Gateway Arts & Entertainment District.

Leadfoot Rubia

The NYT reported over the weekend that Presidential candidate Marco Rubio had received four traffic tickets since 1997... cough, cough...

His wife got 13! Cough, cough.... fast rubia!

For the probably car-less New Yorkers who wrote this, cough, cough... article, and their witless editor, this apparently amounted to a story worthy of precious newsprint in the NYT. However, for someone who travels to Miami as often as I do these days, and who drives around that gorgeous city, it is clear to the most casual Captain Obvious that Miami drivers are only second worst to DMV drivers.

But it seems like a local DMV paper may have busted the NYT's source or tipper for this non-story!

And also here.

And so, in the spirit of news tips, I've got a tip for the once mighty NYT: I heard that Rubio, or maybe it was his wife, once parked temporarily in a loading zone and didn't actually load or unload anything!!

Sam Steinberg: Brooklyn outsider artist

He was an outsider who flitted at the fringes of one of the country’s most elite universities, a Brooklyn-bred, Bronx-dwelling candy peddler who charmed and enthralled generations of Columbia University students with the greeting: “Hey boys, I got paintings here!” Or, “I got those Hoishey bars.” 

From the 1930s until 1982, when he died at 85, few students passed Sam Steinberg outside the student center or the Low Library steps without buying a candy bar at least once. Those who lingered a little longer also learned about Sam’s world through his Magic Marker illustrations: the stylized celebrities (Rudolph Valentino, Elvis, Richard Nixon), the surrealist animals (hoofed cats, mermaids, potato-headed dogs), the vivid whimsies (a pair of legs in Columbia gym shorts).

Read the NYT article here. 

Yep... that's me!

Call for proposals

The Brentwood Arts Exchange is seeking proposals from artists and curators to present exhibitions beginning summer 2016. Solo and group exhibitions are welcome, and the call is open to all artists and curators who are 18 years of age or older.

There are no restrictions on media or residency. 


The Brentwood Arts Exchange is The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s component of the public-private partnership Gateway Arts Center, serving as an anchor for Prince George’s County Gateway Arts District. In the five years since opening, the gallery has presented 33 on-site and 19 off-site exhibitions, featuring regionally prominent artists as well as emerging artists and students. It is a place for people of all ages to meet and learn about art, purchase locally made crafts, and explore new creative talents.


The full prospectus can be downloaded here: http://files.ctctcdn.com/461c09fd001/ca6af4d5-3256-4a7f-a35e-0d924b0cf1b1.pdf

Bethesda Painting Awards prize winners

The Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District announced the top three Bethesda Painting Awards prize winners on Wednesday evening during the exhibition’s opening at Gallery B.  Bill Schmidt of Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; Thomas Dahlberg of Baltimore, MD was named second place and was given $2,000 and Cavan Fleming of Blacksburg, VA received third place and was awarded $1,000.

 

Bill Schmidt has been a finalist in the Bethesda Painting Awards three times before, in 2008, 2013 and 2014. He’s exhibited his artwork extensively in the Mid-Atlantic region. He has received numerous grants and awards including two Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards. In 2004 he attended the Alfred and Trafford Klots Residency Program in Rocheforten-Terre, France. Schmidt studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, ME before moving to Baltimore in 1969. He received a Master of Fine Art from the Hoffberger School of Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art in 1971. In 2007, he was named the Director of the Post-Baccalaureate Program at the Maryland Institute College of Art after being its Resident Artist since 1996.

 

 The eight artists selected as finalists are:

 

Thomas Dahlberg - Baltimore, MD

Cavan Fleming - Blacksburg, VA

Lillian Hoover - Baltimore, MD

Hedieh Ilchi - Rockville, MD

Boram Lee - Baltimore, MD

Danielle Mysliwiec - Takoma Park, MD

Bill Schmidt - Baltimore, MD

Elise Schweitzer - Roanoke, VA

 
A public opening will be held on Friday, June 12, 2015 from 6 – 9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk. Gallery B is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E in downtown Bethesda. The work of the eight finalists will be on display from June 3-27, 2015. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 12 – 6pm.

Entries were juried by Arnold Kemp, Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University; John Morrell, Chair of the Department of Art and Art History and Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at Georgetown University; and Nora Sturges, Professor of Art and head of Painting and Drawing at Towson University.

 

The Bethesda Painting Awards was established by Carol Trawick in 2005. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda. She is past chair of the Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District, past chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. and founder of The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards.

 

For more information, please visit www.bethesda.org.

New SAAM Photography Curator

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has appointed John Jacob as its McEvoy Family Curator for Photography. Jacob will be responsible for research, exhibitions and acquisitions related to the museum's collection. He joins 11 curators currently on staff for contemporary art, craft and decorative art, Latino art, media art, sculpture, works on paper, folk and self-taught art and 19th- and 20th-century painting. Jacob begins work at the museum July 13.
 
"John Jacob brings to the Smithsonian American Art Museum a deep knowledge of the field as well as valuable experience in publishing and exhibition planning," said Virginia Mecklenburg, chief curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. "John will bring new energy to our photography program."
 
Jacob comes to the museum from the Inge Morath Foundation, where he was director and vice-president facilitating programs related to Morath and support of women photographers, and from the Magnum Foundation, where he was program director of its Legacy Program-collecting, researching and overseeing cultural projects related to the history of Magnum Photos.

HuffPost Sux

But to anyone who has worked at the site for any period of time, as I have, it’s a little bizarre that people could be more demoralized now than at any point in the past, because the Huffington Post has always been an essentially miserable place, with a workplace culture so brutal and toxic that it would meet with approval from committed sociopaths across the land. If things are getting worse there, they have to be really, really bad.

The apparent hell of working at the Huffington Post - Details here.

Opening tomorrow in Fresno: Here Comes The Sun

Here Comes the Sun
Curated by Jeannette L. Herrera
with Jeannette L. Herrera
F. Lennox Campello
Yaroslav Koporulin
and Judith Peck

Arte Américas Fresno Museum1630 Van Ness Ave
Fresno, CA
 (559) 266-2623
www.arteamericas.org

June 4  2015  

Reception June 4th 6-8 pm
Artist talk June 5th 12-2pm

Connersmith has a new building

From Connersmith:

Leigh Conner and Jamie Smith are delighted to announce the purchase of 1013 O Street, NW, Washington, DC as the new home for the CONNERSMITH gallery and the (e)merge art fair offices. 
The three-story building, built circa 1900, is situated in the heart of the Shaw Historic District, within two blocks of Logan Circle, Blagden Alley, and Naylor Court; within four blocks of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and Mt. Vernon Square Metro Station; and within walking distance of many of the city’s major art museums.
 
“We are excited to create an ideal space where collectors and curators will experience our artists’ works. We have engaged the acclaimed HapstakDemetriou+ architecture/design team to realize our vision of blending technological innovation with the original character of the historic structure.” – Leigh Conner
 
“It is extremely inspiring to share in the revitalization of Shaw. The cosmopolitan energy of this great DC neighborhood is the perfect environment for contemporary art. We are thrilled to deepen our investment in the nation’s capital as our international outreach continues to expand.” – Jamie Smith
 
Founded in 1999, in Washington, DC, CONNERSMITH launches groundbreaking exhibitions of works in diverse media. The gallery maintains long-term representation of internationally influential artists who are based in DC, the US, and abroad and works with important Collector and Artist Estates.

 

Anderson and Goldbug

"Anderson with Goldbug on his shoulder"
Chalk on Driveway, c. 2015
by Anderson & F. Lennox Campello

200,000 miles

So far, almost every car that I've owned has gone past 200,000 miles and now my 2005 Chrysler Town & Country workhorse of a van joins the club!

 

Frida with Fridas

New piece in my series of works that marry traditional drawing or painting with embedded electronic components... in this case "Frida with Fridas" is a drawing of Kahlo based on an appropriated image of the iconic artist while on the wall behind her, the electronic component rotates through images of both her work as well as images of Kahlo.

Frida with Fridas
Charcoal, Conte and Embedded Electronics on Paper
24x18 inches, c. 2015

Meco's Star Wars Galactic Funk

The shoulder is returning slowly; first day back in studio in 2014!  

Finished a piece that I had started prior to the accident and now framing it and hoping that it can head out to the Texas Contemporary Art Fair.

Listening to Meco's Star Wars Galactic Funk on the turntable...

Images of new work tomorrow...

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship program

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship program is a vital source of funding for the visual arts and art history in Virginia.  VMFA is committed to supporting professional artists and art students who demonstrate exceptional creative ability in their chosen discipline and, as such has awarded more than $5 million to Virginia’s artists since the program’s creation. This year marks the 75^th anniversary of VMFA’s Fellowship Program.  A dedicated microsite and documentary to the 75-year history of the program is at http://vmfa.museum/programs/75th-anniversary/.

 

The VMFA Fellowship program was established in 1940 through a generous contribution made by the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Offered through VMFA Statewide, Fellowships are still largely funded through the Pratt endowment, and supplemented by annual gifts from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and the J. Warwick McClintic, Jr. Scholarship Fund.  The Fellowship program has a long and established history of supporting Virginia’s artistic talent and has helped to further the careers and studies of many distinguished individuals, including recent recipients Morgan Herrin of Richmond, Kelly Queener of Henrico, and Will May of Charlottesville.

 

VMFA offers $8,000 awards to professional artists, $6,000 awards to graduate students, and $4,000 awards to undergraduate students.  Applicants may apply in the disciplines of Crafts, Drawing, Film/Video, Mixed Media, New/Emerging Media, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Art History (graduate students only).  All applicants must be legal residents of Virginia and student applicants must be enrolled full-time in degree-seeking programs. Applicants’ works are reviewed anonymously by distinguished jurors and awards are made based on artistic merit.  The deadline for Fellowship applications is Friday, November 6, 2015.

 

I encourage interested students and professional artists to apply. Full eligibility criteria, can be found at www.VMFA.museum/fellowships.  Visit this page during the summer of 2015 for information on how to apply for a 2016-17 VMFA Fellowship.

Eve returns

A DMV collector saw this piece at the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts in their super-popular Alchemical Vessels Exhibition and Benefit.

But someone else bought it before her turn came to pick a piece... undeterred, she found me and asked for a commission.

And thus everyone wins: She gets an original Campello, the Joan Hisaoka Arts Gallery gets another sale to raise funds for their very worthy cause, and I gain another collector.

Eve Running Away from Eden
Charcoal on Broken Clay
2015 by F. Lennox Campello

Call for Arts Educators

The Greater Reston Arts Center has an open call for an Art Educators Exhibition and the deadline is June 1 at midnight!

Chech it out here.

Hurry!

Huff Post on Campello

Still, Tacoma Little Theatre's new production of the classic Cabaret is stunning and well worth seeing. With Mauro Bozzo holding court as the Emcee and host of both the show and the Kit Kat Klub and Elise Campello brilliantly singing and acting the other key role as Sally Bowles, this production shines throughout.

Read the review of Cabaret in the Huffington Post here.