Independence Day

 

Happy Independence Day - with a special shout out to all the US Navy men and women at sea: We got your back!

17th Annual MPAartfest Set for October 1

 17^th Annual MPAartfest Set for October 1, 2023 in McLean Central Park

The McLean Project for the Arts will host its annual MPAartfest on Sunday, October 1 from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm at McLean Central Park. Now in its 17^th year, MPAartfest transforms Central Park into a lively landscape of mini art galleries showcasing and offering for sale the work of juried artists from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. MPAartfest 2023 is made possible with the help of the McLean Community Center, and through partnerships with Fairfax County Park Authority and community and corporate sponsors.

WHAT: MPAartfest 2023 will consist of a one-day juried fine art and craft show/sale featuring the work of local and regional visual artists. This FREE event features contemporary art, live music throughout the day from some of the DC-area’s best musical talents, a Children’s Art Walk, food vendors, and much more. 

WHO: Families, friends and art enthusiasts of all ages are encouraged to attend this celebration of community and the arts

WHEN: Sunday, October 1, 2023 from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm

WHERE: McLean Central Park; 1468 Dolley Madison Blvd; McLean, VA

HOW: Admission is FREE. For more information visit www.mpaart.org/ or call 703-790-1953.

Call for Artists – Glen Echo Call for Proposals

The Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture requests exhibition proposals from artists for the Popcorn Gallery, Stone Tower Gallery, and Park View Gallery at Glen Echo Park for the calendar year 2024. 

The mission of the Glen Echo Park Partnership Galleries is to showcase the work of diverse artists, including resident artists at Glen Echo Park and artists from the greater Washington, D.C. area. 

They aim to exhibit quality art by artists who represent a broad spectrum of our region, with diverse backgrounds, and working in a wide range of artistic media. Their exhibitions attract visitors from across the region and bring new audiences to Glen Echo Park.

For more information click here

Hues at Van Landingham Gallery

The Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association’s (TFAA) Van Landingham Gallery presents Hues, a juried membership show featuring artworks that showcase artworks that emphasize bold and vibrant colors.  The following artists are participating:  Diana Papazian, Samantha Shelton, Guido Zanni, Abol Bahadori, Jon Kandel, Lynn Chadwick, Rebecca McNeely, Gregory Logan Dunn, Eileen O’Brien, and Andrea Cybyk. 

Artworks include original hand pulled prints, original paintings, multimedia works, photography, mosaics, and embellished digital works. Additionally, the gallery offers small gifts, art cards, block-printed totes and tee shirts, and jewelry and unframed works by Tara Barr, Ileen Shefferman, and Lisa Schumaier. 

Hues runs from July 1– 30, 2023 

Van Landingham Gallery

Hours: 10 am to 6 pm daily 

Torpedo Factory Art Center, Gallery 311

105 North Union Street

Alexandria, VA 22314 

Introducing Andrea Brown

From the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities:

Introducing Andrea Brown

I’m the Arts Learning Coordinator for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. I’m new to the Agency, having started in my role this past April. I’ve always known I wanted to be an Artist. My earliest memories as a child were of my father drawing things he saw around the house, in the newspaper, and in nature. Even now, there are stacks of his illustrations in sketch books around my childhood home that I can vividly remember him leisurely drawing with such skill and grace. My aunt (his sister) would sew clothing and make beautiful dolls, varying in scale, and material. I was always in awe seeing her create things out of what started out as ordinary piles of fabric. 

By middle school I decided that I wanted to receive formal training in the visual arts and auditioned for a special admission Visual and Performing Arts high school. There, I majored in darkroom photography and commercial illustration which I’d say was the beginning of my ever-evolving journey of artmaking.  

I attended Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland where I majored in Fibers. I would go on to sew themed fashion collections each spring with a cohort of my peers that would culminate into MICA’s annual Spring Fashion show, contributions from ticket sales supported need-based scholarships for incoming minority students.   

Shortly after undergraduate school, I relocated from the DMV to Philadelphia where I worked as a Teaching Artist through a collaborative program via University of the Arts and the School District of Philadelphia called, Philadelphia Arts Education Partnerships (PAEP). Working in the K-8 setting, through the means of arts education was my way of “giving back” and paying the gift of arts education forward. I particularly enjoyed teaching art through the lens of common core standards which I found quickly grasp students’ attention. When the arts are coupled with imaginative creativity, anywhere you are, if done right, becomes a safe space.  

Before re-locating back to the DMV, I served as the Director of Children and Youth services for a Non-profit organization geared toward STEAM education in Greater Philadelphia for youth in grades K-12. It was an amazing experience that I’ll not soon forget. I’m so excited to be back in DC where my passion for art, artistic expression, and arts education began.  

Frank Frazetta rocks the art world!

A Frank Frazetta Painting of a Brawny Warrior

 Sold for $6 Million, Making It the World’s

 Highest-Priced Work of Comic Book or Fantasy

 Art Ever

Frank Frazetta, Dark Kingdom 1976

All my life I have been an uninhibited and joyous Frank Frazetta fan! The man was and remains a legend to anyone who's ever read a comic book, bought a Conan The Barbarian book, or slobbered over his drawings of the human anatomy.

This painting is titled Dark Kingdom and was first used in 1976 as the cover of Karl Edward Wagner's novel Dark Crusade, from Wagner's series about the immortal ancient Conananesque warrior Kane - I bought, read, and owned all of them back in the 1970s.

Christina Rees says it best:

Time is the great equalizer, but with Frazetta’s work, time didn’t have to stretch far to convince us of his greatness. We loved him once upon a time and find it all too easy to love him all over again.

Long live the master through his amazing art!

36th Annual Northern National Art Competition

 

As most of you know, recently it was my honor to jury the 36th Annual Northern National  Art Competition, which was staged in the beautiful campus of Nicolet College in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

As all great juried shows are, this was an immensely difficult show to judge, which is a good thing! I have juried and judged and curated a lot of art shows over the last few decades, and when I say that this one was by far one of the top shows with some of the best entries that I have ever had the honor to jury, I mean among the very top!

I was also superbly impressed by the diversity of the subject matter submitted - it covered practically the entire spectrum of the tapestry of the visual arts, and many of the selected entries pushed the envelope of contemporary art. 

Like any art competition, some works stood out almost immediately, but what singularly marked this show as a great competition was the significant number of entries that stood out. There are quite a few entries in this show which allowed some very talented artists to flex some powerful artistic muscles that deliver a powerful message to the solar plexus of the inquisitive mind – be prepared to be stopped in your tracks as you wander through the show. 

Finally, as always, I am honored to be able to judge and comment on the work of my fellow artists. I am humbled, kindled and educated by the talent present in this exhibition.  You can see the exhibition via a virtual tour here.

The Award winners:

Awards of Excellence

$1000

Joshua Newth / Caitlyn, Crown - Oil

James Swanson / Splash Landing - Oil

Emma LaPine / The Kindness of Transformation - Oil

Robert Jinkins / Scarecrow in the Garden - Mixed media

Special Merit Awards

$500

Kyle Surges / Cocktail Party - Oil

Berthold Boone / House Paint - Acrylic

Andrea Kidd / The Mad Hatter and The Doormouse - Charcoal, white pastel

Benefactor Awards

$300

Rebecca Korth / Rufous Martini Splash - Oil

Nate Wilson / Life Drawing - Charcoal on toned paper

Roberta Condon / Blanketed by the Barn Owls - Soft pastel on sanded paper

Sandra Cashman / The Gathering Storm - Oil

Mark Weller / Storm over Mendota - Timestacking photography

Donor Awards

$200

Michael Nichols / Breath - Buon fresco

Sheila Stilin / Tom's Barn - Watercolor

Elizabeth Yarosz-Ash / Bon Vivant - Acrylic

Patron Awards

$125 - $150

Cassandra Smith / Embellished Deer - Taxidermy whitetail deer, embellishments, acrylic

Taylor Mazer / Water Towers - Pen and ink

Craig Blacklock / Light Waves Squared AAP970 - Photography

Audience Choice Award

$250

Cassandra Smith / Embellished Deer - Taxidermy whitetail deer, embellishments, acrylic

Purchase Award

Nicolet College Permanent Collection Purchase

Rachel Catlett / Feeding the Flock, Sunburst - Oil

Review: Burning Man: Art on Fire

For decades now I have been discussing, ranting, and raving about how fine art fairs have become the epicenter of the art world, as well as how outdoor art festivals are also a key component to the tapestry of the visual arts.

Let me add to that what is perhaps the greatest single week-long art happening in the history of the planet: Burning Man.

The description of the event goes like this:

For one week every August, a remote Nevada desert becomes Black Rock City, the home of Burning Man where 80,000 participants build a temporary city devoted to creativity and community. There is no money, no running water—and there are no constraints. Artists bring enormous sculptures for participants to climb. Outrageous Mutant Vehicles glide through an opulent mirage. This is a dreamscape of permission. For seven days and nights, the artistic movement of our time materializes—and then disappears without a trace.

Burning Man: Art on Fire (Epic Ink | July 4, 2023 | $45.00 USD), is a gorgeous new and completely revised, expanded edition book illustrated with over 250 spectacular color photos. 

The book is a labor of love by Jennifer Raiser; "a writer, nonprofit leader, and Burner." 

It is also two talented photographers' insight into the raw, unlimited power of human creativity when allowed to unleash itself once a year. The photographers are Washington, DC born Scott London, who has been documenting the art and culture of Burning Man for nearly two decades, and Brazilian-born photog Sidney Erthal.

This authorized collection also includes: 

• Over 150 new photographs and descriptions of individual pieces of Burning Man art from over two decades, including art from the 2022 Burning Man event
• Over 32 new pages featuring incredible sculptures and Mutant Vehicles
• A fully updated text, which considers Burning Man’s evolving significance in the art world, and how Burning Man is the art movement of our time
• A foreword from Burning Man CEO and Co-Founder Marian Goodell
• A new epilogue about the growing importance of Burning Man art beyond Black Rock City and throughout the art world, including museum exhibits, public art, and over 100 regional Burning Man events worldwide
• A tribute to Burning Man Founder Larry Harvey, with highlights of his philosophical approach to art

The art created and often destroyed for Burning Man is an important and unique addition to the fine arts world.

In fact, I believe that it is the most significant “art happening” on the planet, and as this book and the associated documentary proves, it is art on a scale of objects nowhere else achieved, and perhaps barely imagined by such minds as Christo’s, as well as a vibrant and imaginative riot of people who often become art objects and subjects themselves.

Burning Man: Art on Fire, Revised and Updated Edition publishes July 4, 2023. 

You can order it here.