Faith Flanagan organizes MUSE, which is a monthly art salon at DCAC. Each session is an opportunity to talk about contemporary art at a monthly get-together. Each salon features a discussion with a member(s) of the local arts community, followed by a chance for audience members to show slides or samples of their work.

The next MUSE is Sunday, February 1, 7:30pm when the guests are Robert Lehrman, gallery owner George Hemphill, and Washington Post art critic Blake Gopnik. They will be joining MUSE this month to discuss collecting art, museum trusteeship and stewardship. For more info email Faith at salon@dcartscenter.org.

Massachusetts Co-op looking for new members.
Deadline Feb 14, 2004. Massachusetts Gallery seeks new members. 108 Gallery in Somerville is seeking submissions for inclusion in its new artists' co-op. The co-op will include 12 artists who are actively producing mature work. Submissions will be juried by a panel of artists and curators. Contact: Kate Ledogar, 108 Gallery, 108 Beacon St, Somerville MA 02143 or call 617- 441-3833 or email her at kateledogar@yahoo.com.

Deadline: March 31, 2004. The 7th L'Oreal Art and Science of Color Prize. The theme is "the meeting of science and art in color." The Gold Prize is presented to one person and carries with it an award of Euro 30,000. The Silver Prize is presented to one person and carries with it an award of Euro 20,000. The Bronze Prize is presented to one person and carries with it an award of Euro 10,000. Winners will be invited to the awarding ceremony to be held in autumn of 2004 in Tokyo. Send materials designated in their website to the Foundation in Japan via post mail or delivery services. No commission. For additional information contact: www.art-and-science.com or email lasf@gol.com.

2003 saw a lot of Cuban art shows in the Greater Washington area and I think 2004 will see an avalanche. As the travel restrictions to Cuba are tightened, I suspect that the interest in Cuban artists will rise, and then when Olga Viso's retrospective of Ana Mendieta opens at the Hirshhorn Museum from October 14, 2004 - January 2, 2005, it will be the shot that will really start a nationwide avalanche.

Next month we have our own Cuban exhibition at the Georgetown gallery, by three spectacular Cuban photographers: Marta Maria Perez Bravo, Cirenaica Moreira and Elsa Mora. The show opens (and there will be a reception for the artists) on Friday, February 8 from 6-9 pm.

Although the works of these photographers have been the subject of numerous museum exhibitions worldwide -- including shows at the Los Angeles County Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, Bronx Museum in New York, Museo del Barrio in New York, St. Louis Art Museum, Fridericianum Museum in Germany, Telhai Museum in Israel, Museum of the Americas in Denver, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Pori Art Museum in Finland, Cuevas Museum in Mexico City, Alejandro Otero Museum in Venezuela, Fries Museum in Holland, Photography Museum in Colombia, Camilo Gil Museum in Mexico, Daros Museum in Switzerland, Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art in New York, Mucsamock Museum in Budapest, Lima Art Museum in Peru and the Monterrey Metropolitan Museum in Mexico -- this exhibition, (with the exception of Elsa Mora) will be their first ever exhibition in Washington, DC.

Marta Maria Perez Bravo was born in Havana, Cuba in 1959 and studied at the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts from which she graduated in 1979. She then studied and received her postgraduate education at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) also in Havana, from which she graduated in 1984. Her work has been exhibited worldwide, including in several international biennials and she has had more than one hundred solo and group shows in museums and galleries around the world. She is considered by many to be the leading Cuban photographer of her generation. Her photographs, which nearly always employ her body as the model, focus on the secret rituals, dualities, images and stories of the secret “Santeria” religion of Cuba’s former slaves. She currently lives in Monterrey, Mexico, where she is on a teaching exchange program.

Cirenaica Moreira was born in Havana in 1969 and graduated from ISA in 1992. Formally trained as an actress, Moreira’s work begins with a complex and intelligent tableau that she builds around the center character of her own image. Coupled with Cuban proverbs and sayings, they deliver sharp, intelligent criticism that touches many taboo subjects of Cuban society, such as sex, racism, emigration and freedom as they freeze a moment where the actress becomes the subject of the photograph. She currently lives in Havana, Cuba.

Elsa Mora was born in Holguin, Cuba in 1972, where she attended the Vocational School of Art and graduated in 1986. She then attended the Professional School of Visual Arts in Camagüey, Cuba, from where she graduated in 1990. Mora has exhibited her work worldwide and has been a visiting artist and visiting faculty to many American Universities and Schools, including The Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Institute of Boston. Her work often uses her own image to deliver cutting commentary on issues such as loss of freedoms and racism. For this exhibition Mora will show her most recent work, which was part of the collateral exhibition at the recent VIII Havana Biennial. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

I am really excited about hosting this exhibition and hope that you can all come and see it.

Thanks to Artsjournal.com for this bit of interesting news:

The oldest figurative art in the world has been unearthed in Germany. It consists of three small ivory carvings, possibly more than 30,000 years old, already showing a high level of artistic skill.

Artsjournal.com has a second visual arts BLOG. It is by none other than Washington's first art BLOGger, Tyler Green.

Visit Tyler's Modern Art Notes at www.artsjournal.com/man.

Want your artwork to be in the permanent collection of WV Wesleyan College?

Deadline: January 31, 2004. Juried Mail Art Show. The theme is \"WALLS\". Taking original submissions through February 15th, 2004 by US mail and International mail only. All work submitted will become part of the permanent collection of Sleeth Gallery and will not be returned, but all artists submitting will be reciprocated with new mail art if a return address is included with your submission. No size restrictions. No entry fee. Any artist, any age, anywhere with a postal system is eligible. International
submissions highly encouraged. Deadline for entry is February 15,
2004. Opening February 24th, 2004 at 4:30 PM. For more information
check out their website. Send work to:
Sleeth Gallery
West Virginia Wesleyan College
59 College Ave
Buckhannon WV 26201

For Maryland Duck Artists:
Deadline March 18, 2004 – Artists must be residents of the State of Maryland. All entered designs must be the artist’s original work. May submit up to three entries, accompanied by $15 for one entry/ $20 for two/ $30 for 3. Species depicted on stamps may not be American Widgeon, Black Scoter, or Lesser Scaup. All media, black/white or color, are accepted. Designs must have a horizontal orientation and be 7” in height by 10” in width; each entry must arrive matted; mats should be white. Judging will take place on Saturday, March 27, 12 noon at Patuxent National Wildlife Visitor Center. For more information, call 1-877-620 8DNR ext. 8022. Or send an e-mail to: L. Wiley or visit website here.

And an art teaching job in Louisiana...
Deadline February 12 - Assistant Professor of Art- Art history/ Visual resource curator – LA. Generalist; teach 3 art history survey courses each term. Oversee Visual Resource Ctr & interns; committee work; preferred candidate to have familiarity with digital technologies, database management, image scanning, and web course design. Candidate should have experience and interest in grant writing, development of distance learning & travel course. Duties include teaching 3 lecture courses per term in art history/art appreciation. M.A., Art History, Ph.D. preferred. Salary: $30,000 - $40,000. Employment Type: Full. How to Apply: Applications should include letter of application with teaching philosophy, curriculum vitae, name, address, phone and e-mail of three current references the search committee may contact, SASE. Send to: Lewis Temple, Chair, Search Committee-Art History, Dept. of Visual Arts, Box 92295 MSU, Lake Charles, LA 70609. fax: 337-475-5927. email here and website here.