Withdrawn
As posted here, on June 28, Sen. Tom Coburn withdrew from consideration his floor amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill which would have cut FY 2006 funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) by $5 million each.
It became clear to Sen. Coburn that his amendment had little support for passage, in large part because of the outcry from thousands of art advocates. Assuming the Senate passes its version of the bill, as is expected, both houses will then convene a conference committee the week of July 11 to craft a final bill, reconciling any differences between their separate versions.
DC Art News favors the House version, because it contains a higher funding level for the NEA, and also because it would fully fund the NEA's Challenge America program, which primarily supports arts programs in underserved areas. Therefore, we encourage you to contact your Senators and Representatives and urge them to support the House-approved level of $131.3 million, including full funding for Challenge America, during the House-Senate conference.
Contact your elected representatives here.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Breedloves... and Seven opening photos
Those of you who attended the huge opening of Seven last Thursday at the Warehouse, know that one of the highlights of the opening was the magnificent voice of Hisham Breedlove, who delighted the crowd with not only his painted body, but also with his magnificent voice.
Hisham walked around the seven galleries that make up the show, singing a variety of opera solos; and he was spectacular!
Adrienne Mills recorded the Breedlove's transformation in this series of photographs from the opening of Seven. See them here.
More photos from the opening below (all courtesy Adrienne Mills):
Friday, July 01, 2005
Blogger in the news
Canadian art blogger Chris Zeke makes news in his hometown with an interesting (and funny) profile in the Montreal Mirror.
Openings tonight
Being the first Friday of the month, the Dupont Circle Galleries will have their joint openings and extended hours tonight from 6-8PM.
Of special interest is Conner Contemporary's John Kirchner: Certain Distance and Leo Villareal: new work.
JET Artworks will host Matthew Arnold, Knut Hybinette, Emily Noelle Lambert and Jason Robert Bell. Their nearby neighbor, Studio Gallery presents "Points of Tangency," which includes new glass sculptures by Michael Janis and Erwin Timmers, both of whose's work is included also in Seven (in fact Janis' piece in Seven was the first piece sold last night).
'Tis Over 'Tis Finished 'Tis Done
In spite of the humid weather, the opening for Seven went great, and I'd guess around 1,000 people floated in and out of the seven gallery spaces, several sales took place, the press showed up and took notes, and I am sure that more (sales and reviews) will happen during the next few weeks.
The drawing class, organized by Scip Barnhardt and some brave Corcoran art students, went well, and truly underscored the sense that I wanted to give to the room focused on the human figure.
Today I am truly exhausted, and (of course) have two openings to organize for our galleries in the next two weeks - it never ends!
The exhibition runs until September 9. Go see it!
