Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Last chance to see Artomatic!

This Saturday is your last chance to visit Artomatic 2015!
 
This Saturday, December 12th, is the final night for Artomatic 2015!. This is your last chance to meet the talented people who make Artomatic shine. Come out to view artworks by hundreds of artists, watch a film, see a performance, take a workshop and find the perfect gift while supporting your local artists! 
 
Don't miss it - there is something for everyone!
 
Weekend finale highlights:
 
In celebration of the holiday season there is a bad Santa and Ugly sweater competition on Friday at 10PM, winners get an Artomatic swag bag with goodies including a special surprise!

Latino Heritage Night - Join them in celebrating Latino Heritage and Meet the Artist Reception at 7pm; Dance to the beat of DC Cuban All Stars Band from 8pm onwards!

Join the final night festivities on Saturday - anything can happen the last day of Artomatic! Fire, Dance, Food, Art, Photo Booth and More!

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Palette 22: New Opportunity!

Alexandria Restaurant Partners (ARP) David Clapp and Dave Nicholas recently appointed Cara Leepson as the arts director for Palette 22, which is opening this January within the heart of The Village at Shirlington at 4053 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA, 22206.  
 
A native of Middleburg, Virginia, Leepson graduated in 2009 with a BA in Studio Art with an emphasis in photography, and minor in museum studies from Lynchburg College.  She earned her MA in Art History & Museum Studies with a focus on public programming and contemporary art from Georgetown in 2011.  Her art education and career path has taken her to Charleston, SC, Washington, DC, Florence, Italy and New York City to study and to work in museums, galleries and in non-profit art centers.  Leepson has garnered experience working with esteemed art institutions, Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Hillyer Art Space.  She also worked at the art management firm, ArtSee as Washington’s creative program director, and at Potomac, Maryland’s Glenstone as a collections assistant and docent, before accepting the new director position at Palette 22
 
One of Leepson’s first initiatives is to spearhead both art programs that will play an integral role in launching Palette 22, which is opening in January 2016. 
 
All the programs will offer unique opportunities for local artists to showcase their work in a public setting.  Artists within a 90-mile radius of the restaurant, which is located in the heart of The Village at Shirlington at 4053 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA, 22206, are eligible to submit their artwork to be considered for one of two programs: Artist in Residence Program and Merchandising Program.  
 
Artists are asked to submit a sample portfolio of their work and specific the category, to Palette 22’s Arts Director, Cara Leepson, via email at: cara@palette22.com.  
 
Additional information about Palette 22 can be found here.

Monday, December 07, 2015

Artists' Studios Open House

Noon- 5pm  on Saturday, Dec 12
The artist studios around the Washington Glass School are also open -  Artbar, ReCreative Spaces, Otis Street Arts, Project, White Point Studio, Orange Door Studios, Tanglewood Works, Blue Door Studios, and more. Nearby Brentwood Arts Exchange has their craft store and will have specialty beer tastings.

Don't miss Alma Selimovic's new work at next door's Otis Studio, and of course, see the work by Mordini and Hennessey there as well!

See ya there!

Sunday, December 06, 2015

ABMB Report: Final Day

I'm up around 6AM.

Why?
 

Because if you get down to Wynwood early on Sunday, you can get a great parking spot a few feet off the loading docks and it makes a world of difference when 6PM arrives and the fair ends and the dance of trucks and vans start to reload for the trips back home.

Today it was packed.

Humanity crowded the aisles, but this was a "strolling" crowd... not really interested in art; while the aisles where crowded, the gallery booths were empty! The people chatted, interacted with each other, push their strollers and had a nice stroll with little peripheral interest in art.


No matter: We've had a monster art fair - the two previous days set new records and at the end - the bottom line is that lots of new works of art by several artists (most of them from the DMV) have found new homes all over the planet.

At six  the fair ends... two minor sales all day. And at the end, a quick cursory look at the sales book indicates that this has been the best art fair that we've done in almost 10 years of doing art fairs! And the work is going all over the place, not just Miami/Florida area, but Germany, UK, Puerto Rico, Chicago, LA, NYC, Argentina, and one even coming back to DC!

By 7:30PM we're packed and the gallery van is ready to go: new record from scrambling out of there!

Tomorrow, wake up call is around 4:30AM in order to catch the flight back to Reagan National while Audrey drives the gallery van back to the DMV.

Another ABMB week down the hatch.