In the WaPo

Check out the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book release party great photos by the Washington Posts's Rebecca D'Angelo for The Scene column - see the photos here.

Things we confirmed at the book release party

Last Saturday, as I scanned the large crowd that had braved the extreme heat to gather at Conner Contemporary’s gorgeous gallery space to celebrate the release of the 100 Artists of Washington, DC book, I also absorbed a dozen conversations going on at once, and soaked in a potent sense of artistic community that is the perfect evidence of how wrong some of the art writers around this town are when they describe our artistic community as the visual arts’ world equivalent of the Island of Lost Toys among other negative things.

Powerful and vibrant artistic community, emanating from the space itself, a spectacular gallery setting doing what art galleries have done for many of the District’s neighborhoods: leading the way towards the urban renewal of an entire community.

Intelligent and groundbreaking artistic community, rising from the directors of that space as well; Jamie Smith and Leigh Conner, not only hardworking gallery owners and directors, but forward thinkers who are in the middle of putting Washington, DC on the international art scene via the (e)merge art fair.

Talented and sharing artistic community, spilling from all the artists who came to the event and the many who sent in their best wishes. In that event we saw not only many of the artists in the first book, but also many others who were there to help celebrate the occasion itself.

Caring and generous artistic community, showcased by the multiple offers from other art spaces to host book signings and events related to the artists in the book.

I had not intended for this event to be a book sale event, but rather a celebration of the book itself, and only brought a handful of books with me, expecting that most folks would show up with their own copies, ordered online. For whatever reason, online outlets such as Amazon had quickly run out of their pre-publication orders, and most people had not received their copies, and thus the ones that I had brought with me, which I had purchased from the publisher directly, sold out within a few minutes.

I am told that Amazon has now begun shipping orders and have been re-stocked by the publisher. You can order a copy here or though your local neighborhood bookstore.

I also plan to have a couple more book signing events in the near future; stay tuned for locations.

Thank you to all of you, and now the work for volume two is about to begin!

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: Friday, October 28, 2011

The gorgeous BlackRock Center For the Arts is accepting entries for their October 2012 - August 2013 exhibit season.

You can download the prospectus here.

Eligibility: Open to all artists 18 years and over residing in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC.

Special Consideration: Artists who are willing to conduct a lecture or workshop for a BlackRock standard fee will receive special consideration during the selection process.

About the Gallery: BlackRock Center for the Arts gallery is 1500 square feet of exquisite gallery space located in Germantown, Maryland. With its high neutral walls and beautiful windows strategically placed it allows in just the right amount of natural light. The windows are located above the walls which makes it an ideal space for fiber art. BlackRock Center for the Arts takes pride in the eclectic group of artists we have exhibited in the gallery since 2002.

Jurors: Jack Rasmussen: Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC.

Jodi Walsh: mixed medium artist, curator, national speaker, owner and Gallery Director of Gallery 555 in Washington, DC.

Carol Brown Goldberg: professional fine artist and lecturer, Carol has been exhibiting her work locally and internationally over the past 36 years.