And yet another new magazine

In addition to the new glossy Capitol File, soon to appear on DC newsstands, DCist reveals that yet another new magazine DC Style, will be publishing soon in our area.

Welcome to DC!

Opportunities for Artists

Raise the Roof
Deadline: March 1, 2005

Raise the Roof: Recreating Home in Prince George's County, Maryland. This is a national public art competition that seeks innovative and creative house designs. Selected designs will be developed into sculptural, 3-dimensional models for public art exhibition in 2005. Up to $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded for outstanding houses in these specific categories: Artistic, Green, Historical, Fanciful and Peoples Choice. Raise the Roof will recognize personal interpretations of home and hopefully, provide public awareness of the vital importance of house design and its connection to our quality of life. The competition is open to all artists, architects, designers, engineers, homebuilders, students and homebodies of all ages are encouraged to enter. Each selected artist/designer will be awarded up to a $1,600 honorarium to construct a 3-dimensional scale model and be eligible for the cash prizes. For more info and prospectus, click on "House Call for Entries" at www.pgparks.com.

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Bethesda Painting Awards
Deadline: March 11, 2005

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the inaugural Bethesda Painting Awards. Eight finalists will be selected to display their work in an exhibition during the month of June 2005 at the Fraser Gallery in downtown Bethesda, and the top four winners will receive $14,000 in prize monies. Best in Show will be awarded $10,000; Second Place will be honored with $2,000 and Third Place will receive $1,000. Additionally, a "Young Artist" whose birthday is after March 11, 1975 will be awarded $1,000. Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. All original 2-D painting including oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, encaustic and mixed media will be accepted. The maximum dimension should not exceed 60 inches in width. No reproductions. Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition. Selected artists must deliver artwork to exhibit site in Bethesda, MD. Each artist must submit five slides, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25. Submissions must be received by March 11, 2005. For a complete application, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Bethesda Painting Awards
c/o Bethesda Urban Partnership
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

Or visit www.bethesda.org or call 301/215-6660.

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Strictly Painting V
Deadline: March, 15, 2005

The McLean Center for the Arts has the call for artists for its fifth installment of its acclaimed Strictly Painting juried show (I was in number one or two a few years back). My good friend Jonathan Binstock, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Corcoran is this year's juror. Fee is $25, entry is via slides, and there are $1500 in cash prizes. Get the entry forms and details here

Now stealing art is a "conceptual art project" by itself. I'm not kidding! Read it here.

Congratulations!

To DC area photographer Noelle Tan, whose series of black-and-white landscape photographs of desert areas in Nevada, Utah and Arizona processed using techniques that nearly obliterate the images, leaving only a hint and subtle marks of the original scenes have earned her a prestigious Creative Capital grant.

Curators Wanted

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, which I think is scheduled to re-open next year after extensive refurbishment, is looking for three new curators.

They are seeking two art curators and one photography curator. Salaries range from $41K to $50K. See the details of these three and lots of other art-related jobs here.

And as Martin points out, the Whitney Museum in New York is looking for a Biennial Coordinator.

And the Corcoran (cough, cough) is looking for an accountant.

The annual WPA/C Art Auction is online. The exhibition, which raises funds for the WPA/C, will open on February 24 through March 5 at the Corcoran. The auction actually takes place on Saturday, March 5, 2005. See the details here.

This is a curated auction and the artwork then is contributed by area artists (although this year there are some very nice pieces from some very well known non Washington artists as well, such as Spencer Tunick.

Two of my favorite pieces in the auction are Aylene Fallah's brave piece on her recurring work on the treatment of women in Islamic societies and Michael Fitts gorgeous trompe l'oeil icon.

The Patrons' Show


If you were crazy enough to be hanging around Old Town Alexandria about 4 AM on a cold morning last month you would have noticed people forming a long line in the brutal cold outside the Torpedo Factory. They were waiting for a chance to get original art for their collections – or perhaps some brave souls starting to collect art.

"A line for art?" you must be asking, "who is crazy enough to freeze lining up at Oh-dark-thirty just to buy artwork?"

Hundreds.

They were lining up for one of the great art deals of the year: the Annual Patrons' Show. It's very simple: artists donate original artwork to the Art League, who inspects it, selects it and often frames it. It is quality stuff, ranging from huge abstracts to delicate pencil drawings. The Art League represents nearly 1,200 artists in the area, so there's plenty of possible sources of art donated by generous artists.

It is one of the largest art events in the country, with around 600 original works of art finding a new home in one day.

Usually about 600 pieces are donated and hung salon style in the Art League’s gallery on the first floor of the Factory. Then raffle tickets go up for sale at 10 AM, and they usually disappear within an hour or two; and each ticket equals a guaranteed a work of art.

And on Sunday, February 20, people who have a ticket begin gathering into the main floor of the Factory and they bring chairs, tables, food and loads of booze,as it will be a long, loud, fun, cheery and boozy evening as the tickets are drawn at random, and as they are called, ticket-holders select a piece of art from the work on display on the walls.

The first ticket called gets the first choice and so on. You better pick one quickly, or the crowds begin to shout and whistle and demand a choice be made.

It is without a doubt, the most sought after art ticket in town, and often incredible acquisitions are made. While 500 tickets for the show sold out within a couple of hours after going on sale last month, the Art League keeps a waiting list (and continues to sell more tickets, as they become available when more artists donate work, through Feb. 20). In addition, "First Choice!" raffle tickets will be on sale in the gallery Feb. 10-20.

Call the Art League at 703/683-1780.