Nestor Hernández (1960-2006)

I am shocked to learn today that my good friend Nestor Hernández passed away after a short bout with cancer.

Hernández was a DC-based photographer of Afro-Cuban descent (Afro-Cuban father and African-American mother).

Raised in DC, he didn't speak Spanish, but that didn't stop him from understanding it from his heart, and from visiting his father's enslaved homeland and re-discovering his Cuban roots via his photography, which he exhibited in many art venues, both in the DC area, nationally, and in Cuba, throughout the years.

Nestor was introduced to photography in High School through the Urban Journalism Workshop of the D.C. Public Schools, and then he was on the staff of the Capital Children’s Museum as photographer-in-residence for many years.

Hernandez then became the chief photographer for the D.C. Public School system, even as he continued to visit Cuba, and then to start photography projects dealing with children in Ghana, and most recently Mali.

We exhibited Hernandez photographs as part of our gallery's grounbreaking De Aqui y de Alla (From Here and From There) survey of contemporary Cuban art from Cuba and from the Cuban diasphora and in several group shows after that.

His photographs have been included in many shows Washington, D.C. and various American cities, as well as in Havana, Cuba and Accra, Ghana, and his photographs are included in the permanent collections of the Casa de Africa museum and Galería de Arte René Portocarrero in Cuba, Asafo Gallery in Ghana, the Cuban Art Space in New York and the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum in Washington, D.C.

He was a member and past president of FotoCraft Camera Club, and was the 2001 recipient of the "Photographer of the Year" award, given by the Exposure Group, African American Photographers Association. In 2002 he received the "Outstanding Emerging Artist" award, and in 2003 an Artist Fellowship Grant, both from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

With Port of Harlem, he developed the "Our Children, Our World" photography exhibit featuring the works of children from Ghana, Cuba, Washington, D.C., and Gary, Indiana. After a successful run in Washington, D.C., the exhibit opens in Gary later this summer, as an official event celebrating Gary's 100th anniversary.

And this Wednesday Tuesday, Nestor's photographs will be included in the Arlington Art Center's Love, Loss and Longing: The Impact of U.S. Travel Policy on Cuban-American Families, which opens May 16 and runs through June 3, 2006. The exhibit features photos by Nestor Hernández, Jr. and Juan-Sí González and text by Drs. Jeanne Lemkau and David Strug. The opening reception is May 16, 6:30- 9pm. This exhibit will then tour nationally through the end of 2007.

As with most artists, Hernández died with little money. Burial contributions are being accepted by his father:

Nestor L. Hernández
4007 53rd Street
Bladensburg, MD 20710

We will all miss you hermano!

Weekend Report

Two things to report on: Bethesda Fine Arts Festival and Kirkland's solo opening at GRACE.

It ended with a huge downpour, but for the most part the weather stayed good and around (my guess) 30-40,000 people attended the 3rd annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival on the streets of Bethesda last weekend. I did quite well, selling about a dozen drawings and maybe 20 prints or so. The mixed media artist from Georgia who was across from me sold over $15,000 on Sunday in a twenty minute span, and the photographer next to me was in a constant sell-mode on both days (and this was his first show). On my other side, Norfolk artist Sheila Giolitti also did gangbusters, including one major sale to Carol Trawick. See the prizewinners here in a few days as soon as the website is updated.

JT Kirkland's solo show at GRACE went well, with a couple of sales including JT's largest sale so far and a new high for the Kirklands. Congrats to JT!

Online Discussions on Criticism

Arts Journal is hosting an online debate about the changing nature of culture and cultural journalism. They've invited 15 critics, bloggers and editors to take part.

You can read it here.

What to do tomorrow

First of all, drop by the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival and check out the artwork of 130 contemporary artists from around the nation.

Then later that evening trek out to Reston and visit JT Kirkland's solo exhibition "Framed," at the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) in Reston, VA. There will be a reception for the Kirkmeister on Saturday, May 13, 2006 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. And just in time (like the NSA story in USA Today), DCist has a great studio visit by Adrian Parsons to JT's place. Read it here.

If you don't get it...

From the transcripts of the Weekend staff online session this AM (italics are mine):

Potomac, Md.: Can we get more art reviews?

"On Exhibit" usually has one large or two joined reviews, but there are usually multiple movie and multiple theatre reviews ...

So can we have more art reviews in Weekend?

Style section now only does about 24 "Galleries" column a year ... so we're really starving for something to read about our local galleries!

Please ...

Joyce Jones: Michael O'Sullivan (who will most likely join me on this answer) does an exceptional job of covering a very large art scene. Since he began covering art for the section, Weekend has done more features on galleries than ever before. But speaking as the person who has to try to come up with a representative mix of all the entertainment options out there, I have to say that we try to divvy our space based on the popularity (and thus reader interest) in different topics. I listen to reader feedback, like what you're giving me now. And I also look at research into how people in this area spend their leisure time. Movies are a big draw and our coverage reflects that. We try to give both theater/dance and art exhibits a relatively equal shake though we structure the coverage differently. The mini art reviews idea is a good one, but our space constraints make it difficult to add a lengthy feature like that. Though week to week our section varies a little in size, over the course of a year it averages to a set amount of non-ad space each week. That's all we have to work with; we can't just go as big as we want. If that were the case, we would be twice as big each week.

Michael O'Sullivan: I know it can be frustrating. I have a list on my computer of somewhere between 100 and 200 art spaces (commercial galleries, nonprofits, alternative exhibition spaces, universities, embassies). That's not even counting the museums. And don't get me started on Baltimore, which has a very lively art scene, and whose boundaries with the DC art community are very porous. We try to distribute our coverage fairly, but given a limited amount of space--and the fact that I am, despite rumors, merely human--it's going to be impossible to make everyone happy.

So Ms. Jones (the very nice Weekend section editor) clearly states that she tries to divvy our space based on the popularity (and thus reader interest) in different topics.

Translation: We believe that our readers are more interested in movies, theatre, dance, and music than in art.

She also stated that: We try to give both theater/dance and art exhibits a relatively equal shake.

Are we reading the same Weekend section?

Homework assignment for one of the DC ART NEWS readers: Go to your local library, select the last 10 Weekend sections and count the number of:

(a) Theatre reviews and mini-reviews

(b) Dance reviews and mini-reviews

(c) Visual Arts reviews

While it is true that gallery reviews have significantly improved since O'Sullivan took over the "On Exhibit" column, I think that Ms. Jones may be surprised as to how much more of (a) and (b) Weekend does than of (c).

Let the data speak! Email me your homework assignment and I will post them here.

WaPo's Weekend Staff Online

The WaPo's Weekend staffers are online at 11AM today answering questions about Weekend and its coverage.

You can email your question to them here.

Target grants

Deadline: May 31, 2006

Target Stores provide local grants ranging in value between $1,000 and $3,000. To apply, complete the application form available on their website and deliver it to the Target store in your community.

Contact information is available through the Target website.