Release the hounds!!!

“The Simpsons” has apparently lost one of its most recognizable voices. Harry Shearer, who voices Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders and Principle Skinner, is leaving Fox’s animated series after 26 seasons.

Read it and weep.

Fulano de Tal

Things Cubans (and by default Americans of Cuban ancestry) say which make people who understand Spanish look puzzled: "Fulano de Tal" which was and still is, and will always be a puzzle to me, since it means something like "John Doe"... cough, cough... except that Cubans have another guy named "Mengano"... so it is "Fulano y Mengano" --- what??? It's like two made up names that cover Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane all at once...

And I am told that there's also even two more characters: "Sutano" and "Perengano."

Ephemeral at Olly Olly

Ephemeral
Olly Olly
June 6, 2015-July 18, 2015
Opening Reception
Saturday, June 6, 2015, 7pm-10pm

Olly Olly is pleased to present a new art exhibition, Ephemeral, inspired by the elusive here and now, and the role of delicate forms of reality at play in the understanding of emotion, life, and meaning making. On Saturday, June 6, 2015, from 7pm to 10pm, spend an evening with the artists:

Bita Ghavami

Jay Hendrick

Samantha Sethi

Lisa Marie Thalhammer

The artists of Ephemeral create situations of opportunity for the viewer to experience the fragile and temporary nature of art and life. Destruction becomes a powerful mode of creation through processes that utilize objects of the everyday. Wood, metal, ice, concrete, paper, paint, band-aids, memory, and the performance of bodies embrace and transform fleeting moments of existence in order to call into question systems, functions, and transitory relationships of space, place, and time. 

Special musical performance will be provided by local goth/jazz/punk/new wave/experimental rock twosome Space Waste.

We will be collecting healthy non-perishable food items for the Food Bridge Program at Our Daily Bread, which provides short-term emergency food assistance to Fairfax County area residents who are in crisis. We encourage you to bring a healthy non-perishable food item to donate. The Food Bridge Program is most in need of cooking oil, brown rice, dried beans, canned fruit in its own juices, and pasta sauce.

Olly Olly, located at 10417 Main Street, 2nd Floor, in Fairfax, VA, is open Mondays 10am-4pm, Tuesdays 6pm-9pm, Wednesdays 10am-4pm, Thursdays 6pm-9pm, Saturdays 11am-4pm, and by appointment. Ephemeral will be on view at Olly Olly from June 6, 2015 through July 18, 2015.

DC FY16 Grants Deadlines

This is a friendly reminder to all DC artist who bitch about

art opportunities in DC that

FY16 Grants Deadlines begin Wednesday, May 13

Starting with the deadline for City Arts Projects, the bulk of DC's FY16 Grant applications are due between Wednesday May 13 and Friday May 22. The one grant due after that is for the Public Art Building Communities program, which is due August 21.

See below for all the deadlines, and click on the link below for its respective guidelines.

FY16 Grants Deadlines

Artist Fellowship Program	Friday, May 15
Arts Education Program	Thursday, May 21
City Arts Projects - Individuals	Wednesday, May 13
City Arts Projects - Organizations	Wednesday, May 13
Cultural Facilities Projects	Monday, May 18
East of the River	Monday, May 18
Grants-in-Aid	Friday, May 15
Public Art Building Communities	Friday, August 21
Sister Cities International Arts Grant	Wednesday, May 20
UPSTART	Friday, May 22

FY16 Advisory Review Panelists

As you may also know, the DC Arts Commission (for which I have served for many years) is  currently seeking advisory review panelists for the FY16 grant season. Panelists are integral to the DCCAH's grants process because they review applications, provide comments, and score applications in order to recommend recipients of DCCAH grant awards.

Click here for more information and further instructions.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Commission with any questions, by calling their main line at (202) 724-5613 or emailing them at cah@dc.gov,