Spaulding at G Fine Art

Trawick Prize finalist Jeff Spaulding will have his second one-person show at G Fine Art, and the show is entitled Mine and will open on Saturday May 6 and continue through June 17, 2006. There will be an opening reception for the artist Saturday May 6 from 6:30-8:30pm.

On the road today...

I'm off for the day to Widener University. More when I get back later tonight.

Here's their art gallery.

“Paint” Alexandria

On Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21, 2006 The Art League will hold its annual “Paint” Alexandria, a two-day, all-media, plein air event, followed by the “Paint” Alexandria exhibition in The Art League Gallery, from June 7 – July 3, 2006.

They encourage artists of all media to participate in the event and creatively interpret Old Town Alexandria. Art League instructors will be on hand at various locations throughout historic Old Town Alexandria to guide participants in the fine art of sketchbook, painting, and photography.

During the event, artists will set up at different locations within walking distance of the Art League Gallery on the waterfront to paint, photograph, sketch, and create. Sessions with Art League instructors will be from 10:00 am – 12:00 noon and 3:00 – 5:00 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

The registration fee is $40, and participation is not limited to Art League members. Participants are encouraged to come with their favorite artist materials and work alongside our instructors, set up on their own, or just come to enjoy the walking tour and demonstrations.

For more information, please contact Erica Fortwengler, Assistant Gallery Director at The Art League Gallery, 703-683-1780, ericaf@theartleague.org.

Kirkland Catching Up

Fellow artblogmeister JT Kirkland has so many diverse things going on that I'm catching up with all of them at once.

The One Word Project is JT's first book and it's now out and available for purchase. Details here.

bARTer is JT's new take-off on the barter idea for art. Details here.

The upcoming solo exhibition of JT's art, titled "Framed," opens May 11, 2006 at the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) in Reston, VA and runs through June 16, 2006. There will be a reception for the artist on Saturday, May 13, 2006 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. You can see a preview of the exhibition here.

American Style

Two interesting articles in the current issue of American Style magazine, both good reasons to go pick up an issue.

-- This article highlights the top 25 American cities for art (according to the magazine's national readers). New York, of course, is number one. Behind the Big Apple are Chicago, (No. 2), Washington, D.C. (No. 3), San Francisco, (No. 4), and Boston, (No. 5). I realize that this rather great ranking is (I suspect) mostly based on our plethora of great museums (from the readers' perspectives), but I hope that it also raises some tiny issues with the editors at the Washington Post and the Washington Times, and their abysmal coverage of DC area art galleries and artists. And, over a year after the new Style section editor at the WaPo stated that they'd be looking to add a second freelancer to the "Galleries" column, so that the column could return to its once-a-week schedule, we're still waiting for Ms. Heard to hire a freelancer.

-- And the second reason to read this issue is (are you ready for this?)... the magazine has a huge article focusing national attention upon our own Washington Glass School and the whole "context in glass" movement that the school is a part of nationally. The article by Lee Lawrence reveals that

"It's addictive to make the perfect vessel," Tate admits. "The trick is to overcome that." Janis calls this hard-to-resist attraction "the quest for the perfect bubble," and he, too, confesses he is not immune. But, like a growing number of artists, Tate and Janis subscribe to the motto their glass school hammers home to students: "Learn your craft, then move beyond it."

Read the whole article by Lee Lawrence here. The "Compelled by Content II" show runs through June 4, 2006. Visit the Washington Glass School here.

Pinder's Ships

A few days ago I posted a bit about the CP blog story on Jefferson Pinder and his artwork at CORE.

Jennifer Motruk Loy, who is CORE's Director of Marketing (and a strong, proven supporter of our area's arts and artists) sent me a full perspective on the issue:

In response to Rachel Beckman’s City Desk Blog, Pinder’s Ships Have Sailed (4.25), I would like to clarify and address some key points not raised in Ms. Beckman’s piece that provide a full perspective on the story.

While it is unfortunate that Mr. Pinder’s work was de-installed by his curator (not "pulled off the wall") from the CORE lobby gallery prior to May 12, his work was installed on March 12, and remained on view for a full six weeks. This point was not only unreported in the article, but six weeks is an average if not slightly longer typical exhibition time in similar alternative spaces and true 'art gallery' spaces around town.

Perhaps even more unfortunate is that Mr. Pinder's work didn't receive this type of attention during its run so that more viewers could have enjoyed it. We welcomed the opportunity to share his work with our colleagues and clients, though did not commission the work or ask him to create work specifically for our space, as the article implies. In actuality, Mr. Pinder's curator was the one that approached CORE about installing Pinder's work in our space, and the ‘hundreds’ of announcement cards that were sent out included the CORE logo, not Mr. Pinder’s gallery was also responsible for sending out announcement cards, not the gallery, as reported. We wrote the press release, we included information on Mr. Pinder’s exhibition in our electronic newsletter and linked to him on our web site. Despite these efforts, CORE was never contacted by interested visitors, writers, critic or members of the media to view the show over the course of six weeks.

Though not a professional 'art gallery', the CORE lobby exhibition space has seen at least three other exhibitions by regional artists and is also used to display the firm's own art collection, and as business warrants, displays of the firm's professional architecture and design project boards. In showcasing the work of regional artists, our goal is not to draw hundreds of visitors, nor to engage in artwork commerce, but to enhance our space and engage colleagues and clients with examples of contemporary art, which we accomplished with this most recent exhibition and will do so again in the future.

Despite these non 'art gallery' characteristics of our space, Mr. Pinder saw some advantage to having his work on view at CORE, and could have made better use of the opportunity by reaching out to the press during the actual run of the exhibition which could have resulted in far better exposure and visibility for both he and his gallery. Finally, if content of the exhibition were in ANY way related to a need to remove the work prior to the anticipated closing date, it would have involved a meeting in person with Mr. Pinder to discuss the issues and a decision would have been made as to proceed or not to proceed with the exhibition. Content was not the issue, but we hope that these discussions bring Mr. Pinder the attention he deserves in anticipation of his first solo exhibition at G Fine Art in the fall.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Motruk Loy
Director of Marketing

ps thanks for the web site hits

Finalists Selected for Bethesda Painting Awards

$10,000 to be Awarded to Best in Show!

Nine painters have been selected as finalists for the Bethesda Painting Awards, a juried competition and exhibition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District. More than 200 artists from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. submitted work to the second annual competition created to exclusively honor painters. The work of the nine finalists will be on display at the Fraser Gallery from June 7 – July 12, 2006.

The top prize winners will be announced and honored on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 at 7pm at a private press event held at the Fraser Gallery, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. The Best in Show winner will be awarded $10,000, second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000.

The nine artists selected as finalists are:

Paul Ellis, Washington, D.C.
Michael Farrell, Bethesda, MD
Haley Hasler, Charlottesville, VA
Scott Hutchison, Arlington, VA
Megan Marlatt, Orange, VA
Phyllis Plattner, Bethesda, MD
James Rieck, Baltimore, MD
Tony Shore, Joppa, MD
Andrew Wodzianski, Washington, D.C.

Entries were juried by Janis Goodman, Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the Corcoran College of Art & Design and the visual arts reviewer for WETA's Around Town; Ron Johnson, Assistant Professor of Painting at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Barry Nemett, Chair of the Painting Department at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Catriona Fraser, director of the Fraser Gallery, is the non-voting Chair of the Bethesda Painting Awards.

A public opening will be held on Friday, June 9, 2006 from 6 – 9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk. The Fraser Gallery is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E in downtown Bethesda. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30am – 6pm.

The Bethesda Painting Awards were established by Carol Trawick in 2005 and she continues to be a beacon of light and a great example as a small business woman who puts her money where her mouth is.

Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda. She is Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, Past Chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. and founder of The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards. Ms. Trawick is the owner of an Information Technology company in Bethesda, Trawick & Associates.

My business partner, Catriona Fraser, an award-winning photographer, curator and juror, is the non-voting Chair of the Bethesda Painting Awards. Ms. Fraser has directed the Fraser Gallery, with locations in Bethesda, MD and Washington, D.C. since 1996. Ms. Fraser is also the Chair of The Trawick Prize and Director of the highly acclaimed Bethesda Fine Arts Festival.