Old art school drawings

Just for fun.., a few drawings, collages, paintings, etchings, linocuts, stone lithos, etc., executed as assignments during my schooling at the University of Washington School of Art in Seattle (1977-1981).

Most of these were sold by me at the Pike Place Market, also in Seattle, where I used to sell all my school assignments as soon as they were graded... usual going price was between $5 and $25 bucks, plus a traded a lot of work to the fishermen who worked the market... usually not for fish, but for geoducks or clams or mussels.

Pi Day and Stephen Hawking

I'm sure that someone else (probably thousands of people by now) has noted this, but I've just realized that Stephen Hawking died on Pi Day! 

WTF? The number one rule of Cryptology is: There are no coincidences! I'm sure that by now SH has gone through a black hole and popped up somewhere else in the Universe where I wish him nothing but fair winds and following seas!

He was also born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death.

Einstein was born on Pi day.

David FeBland: Stories Red and Blue

Road Trip, Oil on canvas, 54 x 34 

David FeBland’s work considers issues of privacy, conflict and isolation in contemporary urban life, employing a colorist’s eye and a strong sense of formal compositional structure. He describes the interaction between man and our physical universe through a series of invented truths, a sleight of the facts as it were, inspired by observations. His paintings, drawing upon experiences over a wide range of geographical locations, are driven by a conviction that certain behavioral responses to ones environment are universal.

Critic Brett McCabe described his paintings as such: “These images are disarmingly involving. His ability to instill strongly emotive elements into his work also hints at the more graphic work of Ben Shahn and Diego Rivera. It suggests an evolution of socially conscious realism that both Ashcan artists and Shahn flirted with, a very modern response to the Soviet socialist movement that embraces its more expressive elements…. {this is} a quality that gives the movies of Spike Lee their poignancy, and it’s a spirit that FeBland’s works achieve better than his contemporaries.”

In FeBland’s words, “I’m not particularly interested in making references to popular culture in my work because so much of what we commonly associate with that culture is itself distilled through some medium, originally television but now so many other forms of social media, rather than from direct observation. By creating paintings that derive from my own experience, I become the medium rather than a response to it.”.

This is David FeBland's first show at Susan Calloway Fine Arts. 

Where:
Susan Calloway Fine Arts
1643 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC, 20007

When:
On view: March 23 - April 21, 2018
Reception: March 23: 6 – 8pm

Artist Talk: March 24: 3 – 4pm

Lida Moser at Dickinson College

Read this cool article about the talented Lida Moser (may she rest in peace) and the very cool show at Dickinson College... Read it here.

Wanna teach?

The Brentwood Arts Exchange is expanding its class offerings with the addition of a computer lab as well as a new event space that can be used for classes. Our goals are to meet community interest in hands-on arts activities, to provide in-depth learning opportunities for teens using technology in the arts, and to provide affordable access to technology for artists.

If you are interested in teaching classes at the Brentwood Arts Exchange, please send your resume and a proposal describing classes that you would like to teach. Proposals should include class titles, the age ranges for the students, the ideal number of class sessions and class durations, and descriptions of the classes that are not more than two paragraphs. Of special interest are proposals for classes for teens and adults in the computer lab, which will have 8 workstations, a large format printer, and 3D printer. Please understand that regulations require that most instructors become employees of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Email proposals to Phil Davis, Countywide Arts Coordinator phil.davis@pgparks.com

Opportunity for muralists

Submission Deadline: Friday, April 13, 2018 at 4:00 PM EDT

Request for Qualifications
FY18 MuralsDC Graffiti and Aerosol Mural Artists
For individual artists and artist teams

FY18 MuralsDC Artist Request for Qualifications (RFQ) - The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH), in partnership with the DC Department of Public Works (DPW), seeks graffiti and aerosol mural artists and artist teams to design, create and install aerosol murals as part of the MuralsDC program. The MuralsDC program was established to replace illegal graffiti with artistic works, revitalize sites within communities in the District of Columbia, and to teach young people the art of aerosol painting.  

Interested artists and artist teams (of no more than two artists) are invited to submit to this RFQ for consideration to be included on the FY18 MuralsDC artist roster. 

Complete submission guidelines are available in the above-linked RFQ. For additional information or assistance, please contact Keona Pearson, public art coordinator, at: keona.pearson@dc.gov or 202-724-5613. 

Radhairc agus Glórtha na hÉireann Faoi Láthair

Sights and Sounds of Ireland Today

Exhibition March 16-31, 2018

Opening Reception: 7pm Friday, March 16

Solas Nua, in collaboration with Dupont Underground is proud and excited to present Sights and Sounds of Ireland Today or in Ireland’s native Gaelic language Radhairc agus Glórtha na hÉireann Faoi Láthair. It is an exhibition that explores the field of contemporary video art production in Ireland today. It is the first significant survey of Irish visual art to be presented in the Washington DC area. 

The vision for this exhibition was to discover what Irish visual artists considered video art to be today and what they wanted to communicate through their work. One of the big questions when curating this exhibition was to determine what video art is and how it differs from film. Traditionally, video art in visual art was defined as differing from film in its disregard for the mechanisms of traditional movie-making (i.e. it has a storyline with actors and dialogue) – while the video artist is concerned with exploring the medium itself, or to use it to challenge the viewer's ideas of space, time and form. Today however, that definition is no longer applicable as visual artists will adopt a range of styles and tools and frequently crossover to traditional filmmaking. Decisions on what works to include here were based on artistry, skill and subject matter. What do these works convey to us about Ireland, its artists and its people? You to viewer are invited to decide.

Opening night will feature curator, Jackie Hoysted in conversation with Andy Johnson of the Corcoran College of Art and artist, Jonah King. 

Featured Artists: David Bickley, Myrid Carten, Conall Cary, Brian Crotty, Lisa Freeman, Ruth le Gear, Michael Hanna, Anita Groener, Jonah King, Pawel Kleszczewski & Kasia Zimnoch, Hugh McCabe & Suzanne Walsh, Noel Molloy, Jenny Newman, Leonard Sheil, Fifi Smith, Mieke Vanmechelen, Mary-Ruth Walsh, Adrian Wojtas and Sean Wrenn.

Location: Dupont Underground, 19 Dupont Circle NW, Washington, DC 20036

Stolen Norman Rockwell!

Norman Rockwell, A study for Willie Gillis in College, 1946, oil on board, 29 x 27 cm.

Art Recovery International is searching for Norman Rockwell's A study for Willie Gillis in College, 1946. If you have seen, been offered, or have any information as to its whereabouts, please contact:

Christopher A. Marinello 
chris@artrecovery.com
Italy mobile: +39 329 693 2606
UK mobile:  + 44 (0) 7702 206 913

All communication will be kept strictly confidential.

Details: This is the original study done by Norman Rockwell for the final painting which appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on 5 October, 1946. The final version is slightly different (painted on canvas) and was owned by the Washington Mutual Bank of Seattle. This version, painted on board, was reported stolen between 1-2 April 2003 in Atherton, California during a chaotic family move.

Judith Peck at Penn College!

Hope and History
The Gallery at Penn College
One College Avenue
Williamsport, PA 17701-5799

Reception: March 15th 2018 4:30-6:30
March 13 - April 18, 2018
For further information please email Judith at judithepeck@gmail.com or visit http://judithepeck.blogspot.com/  or 
https://www.pct.edu/gallery/schedule#jpeck

Our next art fair

Campellos at auctions

These three vintage drawings and lithos of mine just showed up at an auction house in Charlottesville! They are all starting at really low bids! See them here!

Eve, Running Away from Eden

Mermaid (The Deep)

Mermaid (The Deep)

Opportunity for artists and curators

The Brentwood Arts Exchange is seeking proposals from artists and curators to present exhibitions for available dates November 2018 - December 2020. 

Solo and group exhibitions are welcome. 

We support art in all media and forms. Proposals may be for the Main Gallery, the soon-to-open Lab Gallery, or both. Proposals will also be considered inclusion in exhibitions curated in-house. The Deadline is April 14, 2018. Full information and the application is online at https://m-ncppc.submittable.com

Frida with Cuba

Out of nowhere I get an email from a collector in Spain who happens to be the son of a man who bought the below piece from me back in the 1980s. He wanted confirmation that this was indeed my work, as it is being offered for auction in the near future.

"Frida with Cuba" was done by me in 1978 as part of a freshman or sophomore painting class at the University of Washington School of Art, which I attended courtesy of a scholarship from 1977-1981. It was part of my infatuation with the Kahlomeister, who back in the late 70s was essentially still known as Diego Rivera's wife.

I suspect that at the time, most of my UDub art professors (Jacob Lawrence, Alden Mason, Norm Lundin, Frances Calentano, and others) had no idea who Kahlo was, much less why I painted her (sort of comic book style) holding the island of Cuba.

I sold this painting at the Pike Place Market, where from 1978-1981 I sold almost every single art school assignment ever finished by me... once it was graded - it was up for sale... This piece probably went for around $25 at the time.

Kahlo (unfortunately) like most of the intelligentsia of her times, was a naive Communist, sort of a champagne Communist if you will, and even though she died several years before the Castro brothers began to brutalize Cuba under the yoke of Communism, I suspect that had she lived to an older age, she would have been a fan of the Castro's oppressive regime, and thus my painting.

"Frida Kahlo and Cuba"
20x16 inches. Oil on Paper, c. 1978 by F. Lennox Campello

#fridakahlo #universityofwashington

A wind day?

Everything is closed in the DMV because of wind... I almost started to make fun of that and then I opened my front door!

And then I went to the backyard and the trees were doing this!

Lida Moser: A Lens Without Limits

A LENS WITHOUT LIMITS

The Photography of Lida Moser

Opening Reception: Friday, March 2, 5:00pm–7:00pm

Those of you who know me well, or who read my words here and there, know what a great follower of the great Lida Moser I was, am will forever be... tomorrow a fantastic exhibition by Lida opens at Dickinson College:

This exhibition considers the work of New York City commercial photographer and photojournalist Lida Moser (1920–2014). She is best known for her pioneering work documenting the City from its post-war era up through the gritty 1970s. Moser first worked as an assistant in Berenice Abbott's studio and later moved on to a solo career, gaining assignments from a number of leading publishers, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Esquire magazines. She was a member of the Photo League and the New York school of photography and produced portraits of many of the leading cultural figures of the second half of the century.  

The Trout Gallery maintains a large collection of the works by Lida Moser and is the first to survey her extensive photographic work. This project is produced through the generous cooperation of the artist's estate. 

This exhibition is curated by senior art history majors Jacqueline Hochheiser, Kate Marra, and Monica Skelly, under the direction of Elizabeth Lee.

Details here. 

See lots of Lida's images from her estate here.

Touchstone Foundation Fellowship

Open Call for Local Artists.

NO FEE TO APPLY.

Deadline: March 19, 2018 11:59pm ET

WHAT is it?

The Fellowship provides a 2 year artist membership in Touchstone Gallery in downtown DC. This guarantees a solo exhibition at the end of 2 year, participation in monthly gallery group shows, and a presence on the gallery website. The monetary value of the fellowship exceeds $4200.

WHO is Touchstone Foundation for the Arts (TFA)?

Touchstone Foundation for the Arts (TFA) a non-profit organization, created in 2012, committed to community outreach and involvement. Its Fellowship program has been ongoing since 2014. The Fellowship is awarded based on artistic merit and the ability of the fellow to benefit by association with the Touchstone Gallery. Artists eligible to apply if they have not been exclusively represented by a commercial gallery in the previous 10 years. Founded in 1976, Touchstone Gallery is an artist-owned commercial gallery located in the heart of downtown DC at 901 New York Avenue NW and was named Best of D.C. by The Washington Post in 2016/ 2017.

WHO can apply?

We encourage all interested artists to apply. Artists are eligible to apply if they have not been exclusively represented by a commercial gallery in the previous 10 years, can commit to a 2 year fellowship term and can fulfill the responsibilities above.

Application Process:

Detailed instructions and application are available at www.tfawdc.org

Selection Process:

Applications will be reviewed by the Touchstone Foundation for the Arts Board of Directors in March-April, 2018. A small group of finalists will be asked to bring physical artwork for review in person and invited to interview with TFA Board in May 2018. The final review and decision will be done by Touchstone Gallery Member artists. One or more applicants will be awarded a Touchstone Foundation Fellowship for 2018-2020, to begin in June 2018.

Alcalde on Tuckman

Living in Egypt as a child during WWII, Diane Tuckman recalls, “they were shooting Jewish girls in the street…My family and I escaped [in 1949] and went to France.”Though less harrowing, even in France “it was a very difficult time after the war, with ration tickets and very little housing.”

But eventually, Paris became home and much more to Tuckman. For it was there that she learned the art of painting on silk — a traditionally Asian way of painting dye on silk fabric.

Read  Rebekah Alcalde's fascinating piece about DMV artist Diane Tuckman here and visit Diane's website here.

Treasures of the Heart

There's an interesting upcoming exhibition at the Arts Club of Washington. I am about Everitt Clark's work from Treasures of the Heart: anonymous photographs of the prized possessions of people who have hoarding tendencies. He notes that his "goal is to reveal the variety of human experience, the depth of feeling, and the startling beauty that hide behind that ugly word, 'hoarder'."

You are invited to the opening reception, in the historic Monroe-Adams-Abbe House, on Friday, March 2 from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM. The show will be up through March 30th.

The Arts Club of Washington

2017 I ("Eye") St. NW

Washington, DC 20006

General Hours:

Tuesday - Friday 10 AM - 5 PM

Saturday 10 AM - 2 PM

DC's new "Cultural Plan"

DC has published a new "Cultural Plan" and is accepting comments on the plan until this coming Wednesday February 28th.  The city needs to hear our voices!!

URGENT! Please sign the Change.org petition today.

Given the outflow of artistic talent from DC over the past decade, we, the undersigned, demand a DC Cultural Plan that values the presence and contributions of professional artists in our city. The current draft of the Cultural Plan does not.

To that end, we need a revised plan that:

• Makes the retention of visual artists among the city's primary goals.
• Is led by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, the city agency with arts expertise and the closest ties to the arts community.
• Is guided by a task force comprised of local artists, designers, and creative professionals.
• Allocates dollars to the goals and investment recommendations.

DC needs its artists now more than ever. 

To read the Cultural plan please click here

Art Scam Alert!!!

Beware of this asswipe trying to rip off artists!

From: Stephen Egan stephenegan828@gmail.com

Date: February 24, 2018 at 7:43:58 AM EST

Subject: Artwork Needed!!!

Greetings!

My name is Stephen Egan from TX I actually observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of work, I'm also impressed and amazed to have seen your various works too.You are doing a great job. I would like to receive further information about your piece of work and what inspires you. I am very much interested in the purchase of your pieces to surprise my wife. Kindly confirm the availability of beautiful pieces for immediate sales.

Thanks and best regards

Campello at auction!

This cool vintage 1997 male nude study just showed up at auction in the United Kingdom! Bid for it here.

Carol Brown Goldberg at AU

New group show at Gallery B

Gallery B’s March exhibit will feature a group show by Teresa Jarzynski, Vatsala Menon, Robert O’Brien and Barbara Pliskin. The exhibit will be on display from March 7-31, 2018.

Located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, Bethesda, MD, Gallery B will be open Wednesday – Saturday, 12-6pm. The gallery will also be open for the exhibit’s opening reception on Friday, March  9, 6-8pm.  

Teresa Jarzynski’s portfolio of work includes a variety of subjects, as she takes turns painting landscapes, portraits, still life’s and an occasional abstract. Jarzynski received her associate’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Lorenzo de’ Medici School, Florence, Italy. She supplemented her studies at the New York Studio School under the direction of Joseph Santore. In 2012, following her schooling, Jarzynski re-located to her hometown of Bethesda, MD to dedicate her time to studio practice. She draws her ideas from observation, memory and imagination and prefers to work through challenges and decisions directly on the canvas, finding great pleasure in the experimentation and surprise of each vision as it evolves.

Vatsala Menon, originally from India, moved to the United States in the 1990’s, upon which her passion for painting also bloomed. Largely self-taught in the practice, Menon committed to painting fulltime in 2012 and continues to hone her craft, her love of art propelling her forward. She is an abstract artist because, as she explains, abstraction gives her freedom, a creative space and the spontaneity of composition. She finds great joy, energy and satisfaction in creating works on canvas, a happiness that permeates all areas of her life.

Robert O’Brien is an artist and mathematician specializing in the human form. He received his Certificate in Painting from Washington Studio School in 2002 and has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions. He considers himself a painter who bridges abstraction and realism and follows the tradition of Titian, Velázquez, de Kooning and Pollock. O’Brien exhibited at the Kramer Gallery in Silver Spring, MD and Black Rock Center for the Arts in Germantown, MD as well as had a solo show at the National Symphony Orchestra Concert Hartke Theater in Washington, D.C.

Barbara Pliskin was an art teacher for 30 years with Dade County Public Schools in Florida before moving to Maryland. She has worked in many different mediums, including both painting and metals. The move north 12 years ago didn’t change her focus, and Barbara continues her practice of painting and metalsmithing, often incorporating her knowledge of human anatomy in her work. As she creates her pieces she lets the medium dictate the design and guide her process. Most recently Barbara was a member artist with Waverly Street Gallery.


For a closer look, please visit www.bethesda.org.

Studio Space Available

If you are a glass artist and have always wanted a studio space to work on your glass, but didn't have room where you live, or didn't have a huge amount to invest in a giant glass studio.....then you might like the thought of becoming one of the studio artists at the Washington Glass School. Your table/studio space runs $300 per month, and not only do you finally have a dedicated space for you to work in, but you also join a vibrant and successful community of glass artists and opportunities.  

THE WASHINGTON GLASS SCHOOL 

3700 Otis Street

Mount Rainier, MD 20712

(This is approx. 4 miles northeast of Logan Circle off Rhode Island Ave. - two blocks from the DC border. Please call 202-744-8222 for more detailed directions.)

Wanna add a line to your resume?

Deadline: February 28, 2018

FAX FOR PEACE, FAX FOR TOLERANCE

An international art exhibition - all submitted work accepted

Fax for peace, fax for tolerance is an international competition open to students of all grades and types of schools and to professional artists from all over the world. 

They are required to submit one or more works developing the themes of peace, tolerance, fight against any form of racism, and of defense of human rights. 

No Entry Fee. 

PRIZES

The following six prizes, will be awarded according to categories:

- best work - Kindergarten and Primary Schools: € 300,00;

- best work - Low Secondary Schools: € 300,00;

- best work - Secondary High Schools: € 300,00;

- best work - Video or cartoon: € 300,00;

- best work - Artists: € 300,00;

SPECIAL PRIZES

- best work awarded to a satirical or humorous drawing inviting consideration

upon human and civil themes dealing with the initiative: € 300,00;

Details: here

White Rabbit

Play this over and over and do artwork (and thank Grace Slick):

One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small

And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all

Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall

Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call

And call Alice, when she was just small

When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go

And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low

Go ask Alice, I think she'll know

When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead

And the white knight is talking backwards

And the red queen's off with her head

Remember what the dormouse said

Feed your head, feed your head

Opportunity for Artists: University of North Florida Skinner-Jones Hall Project

University of North Florida Skinner-Jones Hall Project

VIEW MORE INFO
APPLY TO THIS CALL

Call Type: Public Art
Eligibility: National
City: Jacksonville
State: Florida
Fee: $0.00
Entry Deadline: 4/6/18

Budget: $44,000

Through the State of Florida's Art in State Buildings program, the University of North Florida is seeking submissions for artwork to be installed in its newly renovated Skinner-Jones Hall. 

The College of Computing, Engineering and Construction will be the primary occupant of the new building.

Site for Artwork:  Main Entry Interior Lobby Staircase—please refer to Architectural drawings and renderings on their web site here.

Open to all US artists.

Artist Opportunities at Montgomery College

The Visual Arts Department at Montgomery College, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, has multiple opportunities for emerging and established artists. Their exhibitions spaces and Artist in Residence studio are all located in the beautiful Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, located just outside of DC at 930 King Street, Silver Spring MD. 

Due: March 19, 2018
Artist is Residence Program
A semester-long program including personal studio space, opportunity to interact and collaborate with students, and honorarium. Applicants can specify Fall or Spring semester. Access to department art facilities can be arranged. 
https://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/residencies/

Due: April 6th, 2018
Applications for Open Gallery Themed Exhibition Series, Soapbox
Soapbox: Historically, a soapbox doubled as an impromptu stage upon which someone could stand to deliver a speech, usually of a political or social nature. This proposal invites artists to use the highly visible Open Gallery as their Soapbox. Preference may be given to voices, artists, and issues that are under represented in the current national socio-political climate. 
https://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/opportunities.html

Deadline Ongoing
Exhibition Proposals for our King Street Gallery space. 
A general call for proposals for one and two person shows, as well as curated group shows. 
https://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/opportunities.html

Erwin Timmers Commission

Check out these cool pieces that Erwin Timmers is just finishing for a private commission derived from the last Context Art Miami fair last December! They will be eventually assembled in grids of nine and hang in West Palm Beach.

Artists & Makers Studios' anniversary

Artists & Makers Studios on Parklawn Drive and Wilkins Avenue in Rockville are proud to mark the organization’s third anniversary at two locations with  “at 3(three)” featuring the artwork of more than 150 resident artists in the galleries and studios of both studio centers. A five gallery exhibit will open for First Friday festivities between 6pm and 9pm on March 2nd, and will showcase artists open studios for browsing as well.

“at 3(three)”
A Grand Third Anniversary Celebration
Opening Reception
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Friday, March 2nd, 2018
Artists & Makers Studios 1
11810 Parklawn Dr., Suite 210
Rockville, MD 20852

and

Artists & Makers Studios 2
12276/12280 Wilkins Avenue
Rockville, MD 20852

From their news release:

Enjoy celebratory food and drink at A&M1 and tour the 3 main galleries and open studios on Parklawn Drive in Rockville, along with Words Out Loud in the Compass Atelier from 7-8pm with Philip Wexler, Ellen Cole, and Martin Shapiro followed by open mic. Additionally A&M2 is proud to present wine and light refreshments along with more resident artists’ work in the galleries and studios, exhibits in Gallery 209,  the Montgomery County Camera Club with “Abstract Minimalism” by Ron Ames, the band Paradise Bill and theremin music by Arthur Harrison, all just 9/10’s of a mile from the flagship location on Parklawn. 

These exhibits at both locations open Friday, March 2nd, and continue through Wednesday, March 28th, 2018.  Viewing hours are 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Tuesday-Saturday, and Sundays/Mondays by chance or appointment.

 

Artists & Makers Studios on Parklawn Drive in Rockville, established in October 2014 by artist and arts community builder Judith HeartSong, is a 13,000 sq. ft. facility is now home to 66 resident artists. Artists & Makers Studios 2 on Wilkins Avenue in Rockville is a 23,000 sq. ft. facility with 88 resident artists and more to come. A&M Studios is dedicated to providing a supportive and vibrant environment for artists to realize their creative goals - through studio practice, collaboration, education, opportunities, networking and connecting with the community beyond our doors. 

From the collection of Stuart Marshall Bloch and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch

Congressional Bank is featuring the inspirational works of five distinguished African-American artists to celebrate Black History Month. The Bank is pleased to present an exhibition of powerful pieces from the collection of Stuart Marshall Bloch and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch that will set the stage to publicly honor the culture of these artists.

"The Freedom Place Collection: Works by artists, Romare Bearden, Benny Andrews, Alma Thomas, Robert Freeman, and Richard Yarde" will be on display at the Congressional Bank branch located at 2101 K. St. NW, Washington, D.C. from February 8 - March 30, 2018 during the business hours of 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 

The Freedom Place Collection was amassed, and is owned, by Washington residents Stuart Marshall Bloch, Founding Chairman of Congressional Bank, and Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch, president of the US-China Education Trust and United States Ambassador to Nepal, 1989-1993. The Blochs have been collecting works of African-American artists for over 45 years, and this exhibit highlights the culmination of their efforts. The name of the collection refers to the Freedom Place stop along the Underground Railroad, once located near the Bloch's former home where they lived forever 30 years.

 

Mr. Bloch plays a prominent role in supporting the Washington area community and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Black Student Fund since 1976.  He was a founding editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.  Mr. and Ambassador Bloch endowed the FY Chang (HLS-1917) scholars program at The Harvard Law School. They also created and endowed the Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series at the University of Miami.  Stuart Bloch was the original patron (and landlord) of Zenith Square and Zenith Gallery back in 1978.

We are all very fortunate that the Bloch's want to share their wonderful collection with the Washington community and more.

Where: 2101 K Street NW, Washington DC 20037  

Show Dates: February 8 - March 30, 2018

Information: Margery Goldberg, 202-783-2963 art@zenithgallery.com 

Congressional Bank Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 am - 5 pm

Call for artists

Deadline: March 30th, 2018. 

VisArts invites artists working in all media to apply for 2019 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery and Common Ground Gallery. 

The Gibbs Street Gallery offers exhibitions that explore the breadth of contemporary art featuring emerging to mid-career artists. Exhibits reflect a wide range of media and experimental approaches that offer the viewer unexpected interactions with art. The gallery is approximately 1,100 square feet with 16 ft. ceilings. It is on the street level with floor to ceiling windows along one wall. International, national and local artists are welcome to apply. The Common Ground Gallery features exhibitions that reflect the creative pursuits of artists from our community. The gallery is located on the second floor and is approximately 300 square feet. 

Artists must live in the Mid-Atlantic region to apply for a solo exhibition in this gallery. Applicants who have participated in a solo exhibition at VisArts within the past two years are not eligible to apply. 

Website: https://visarts.submittable.com/submit/98811/call-for-solo-exhibition-2019

An art fair coming to the DMV this fall

From the press release:

After Wowing Art Lovers in New York and Miami, Superfine! Brings its Unique, Inclusive Take on Art Fairs to DC This Fall 

More a haven for emerging contemporary art than a typical art fair, Superfine! is a sophisticated yet approachable means for real people to discover real, meaningful art, and to connect directly with artists and their representatives. Superfine! founders Alex Mitow and James Miille have devised a tried and tested non-traditional formula to build a better and more inclusive art market. Each fair is a unique cultural experience designed to inspire and inform while also providing a fun atmosphere where everyone's inner collector can shine. Following editions in Miami and New York that have succeeded in building new collectors while connecting established ones to the cream of the crop in emerging art, Superfine! DC will launch this fall at Union Market’s Dock 5 event venue in the historic Union Market neighborhood. 

 CLICK HERE FOR DC TEASER VIDEO

Superfine! DC will take place from October 31st to November 4th at the 13,000+ square foot Dock 5 venue at Union Market, a center of art and sophistication in DC’s urban core. The fair will host 85 exhibitors exhibiting under four exhibition platforms (Emerge, Elevate, Explore, and Establish).

One of the few leading contemporary art fairs open to both solo artists and galleries, Superfine! DC also recognizes the advent of non-traditional exhibition platforms such as mobile curatorial programs, artist-led galleries, and artist collectives. The fair’s Explore platform was designed to create space for 20 exhibitors that fit these criteria to exhibit within 16-linear-foot “mini-booths”, each creating unique multi-artist narrative presentations. 24 traditional brick-and-mortar galleries hailing from the DC metro area and around the globe will exhibit under the fair’s Establish platform. Solo artists new to Superfine! may choose 6’ wall spaces as part of the Emerge platform, where young collectors can have a field day discovering emerging artists with all work priced below a cap of $5,000. Artists may also apply to the Elevate platform, which will span 24 solo positions including past Superfine! exhibiting artists and first timers. Approachability is the name of the game at Superfine! with more than 70% of the artwork in the fair priced under $5,000 and each exhibitor also required to present multiple works in the under $1,000 price range. The overarching goal is to create a brisk art market open to all, where even the newest collector can find and take home work that speaks to them. 

Fair director Alex Mitow notes that “It is incredibly important to us that Superfine! DC embodies the capital’s unique position as a global city with rapidly swelling local pride in its arts and culture. With this fall’s fair, Superfine! will present a new, exciting, and approachable option for DC’s broad
range of art enthusiasts wherein they can discover and collect not only the best of the DC metro area, but also the best in global contemporary art.” The fair's release also notes that:

The typical exhibitor breakdown of a Superfine! fair is around 50% local, with the remainder hailing from as many as 20 different countries as well as the entire United States and Canada. Also unique among art fairs is the exceptionally high number of female artists and curators represented in the fair, who make up more than 60% of each fair’s exhibitor list.

As you dear constant readers know, I've been doing art fairs for over a decade now, and have seen multiple organizers try to decipher the DMV's art scene to run a successful art fair along the Miami and New York models - they have all failed so far or just given up (Art DC from the Art Miami family of fairs, and (e)merge). 

The folks who run Pulse and the worldwide set of Affordable Art Fairs also explored the capital region, but probably came to the conclusion that although the area has the second highest concentration of disposable income in the US, it is just not an "art conscious" or "art buying" public (my words, not Ramsay Art Fairs, LLC).

Don't misinterpret my words - the DMV has an amazing art scene, and our artists are amongst the best and most innovative on the planet, regardless of the narrative that some push about this being a backwater of the art world - it is simply not true and misinformed.

But this is a political town.

The main stream press could care less that (as an example), the group of once glass artists who "broke away" (no pun intendedd) from the vessel and the craft of glass as craft, and forced it to become just another substrate, are nearly all DMV artists. Or that the heart of the worldwide Glass Secessionism movement ticks in the DMV, or that the much maligned Artomatic is the world's largest open art show.

Politics is it... not art.

My best to these brave art warriors trying to break the mold again - I hope that you do well and that the fair is a success; good luck getting the Washington Post to notice you.