It's Boise, Idaho's turn to be embarrassed

In 2002 the District of Columbia went on a crackdown to try to stop the District's art galleries from serving wine (any alcohol) at art openings. Threatening letters from Maurice Evans, the chief investigator for the District's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, were sent to nearly all of DC's galleries.

As I recall, the letters also stated that galleries must stop serving wine at openings, or obtain a [very expensive and hard-to-get] liquor license, or apply for a temporary license for each opening (at around $100 a day), that would then allow licensed caterers (who would also need to be hired by the gallery for each opening) to pour the wine for the over-21 crowd.

Upon receipt of this letter I called the WaPo and talked to its arts editor, John Pancake, reporting this fact, and a few days later the Style section published this article by Natalie Hopkinson on the subject.

The WaPo's story was picked up by the AP or UPI and then itself picked up worldwide by newspapers as far away as Australia, and the BBC even did a small story on it. It embarrassed Washington, DC on a planetary scale, characterizing the nation's capital as a repressed small town where the time honored tradition of cheap white wine and cheese at gallery openings was in danger of being nixed by an over zealous alcohol enforcement official.

Because of this embarrassment, the City's alcohol board held a quick hearing and several of us gallerists testified to the board about the art of the art opening. It all eventually went away, but not before the nation's capital was embarrassed around the world.

Now it is Boise, Idaho's turn to get its share of planetary shame and I hope to get that ball rolling. Since at least August of 2006, according to Margaret Littman in Art & Antiques:

Though the law has been on the books since the 1930s, Boise City Police, at the direction of the Idaho Beverage Control, are cracking down on the free glasses of wine some galleries offer during monthly First Thursday art openings.

For the Idaho Beverage Control zealot(s) who wasted time orchestrating this: You are an embarrassment to this nation and your zeal had led you down the wrong path in alcohol enforcement and you have made your state and this nation the laughing stock of a planet that seldom agrees on many things, but as history taught us before, seems to think that serving a glass of wine at a gallery opening doesn't deserve a police raid.

Shame on you Idaho.

Update: Read the Boise Weekly article on this subject here.

Wanna go to a DC art opening tonight?

Several of DC leading edge dorktechnical scientartists will be opening an exhibition of their latest work (an interactive media project) at the Warehouse Gallery on 7th Street. Work by Philip Kohn, Thomas Edwards, Brian Judy, and Claudia Vess. The opening is Thursday, March 22 from 6-8PM.

Wanna go to nude body painting party in DC this Sunday?

On Friday Sunday, March 25, 2007, MOCA DC in Canal Square in Georgetown is hosting another nude body painting gala as part of their Erotica 2007 show.

You can come and have your body painted or just come, see the Erotic art show and watch as artists paint other people. Call them for details and times at 202.342.6230 or 202.361.3810.

The event is free and open to the public. Erotica 2007 runs through March 31, 2007.

Congrats

To our very own contributor, Rosetta DeBerardinis, who relocated to Baltimore last week to accept an Artist Studio Residency with School 33 Art Center located on Federal Hill. She will continue to exhibit in the Washington metro area and extend her coverage for Mid-Atlantic Art News to include an even more expanded coverage of Baltimore.

Rosetta also has been selected by Sam Gilliam and Marie Lewis to exhibit her work in Contemporary Color - Contemporary Artists in the Color School Legacy at Montpelier Arts Center, opening April 17th-May 5th. A Conversation with Sam Gilliam, will be held on April 22 at 2 p.m. followed by a reception on May 5th from 3-5 pm.

Twist and Shout, her two-person show with sculptor, Guy Barnard, at Visual Art Studio in Richmond, VA, opens April 6th through May 25th.

She is also contributing to the Lotta Art, School 33’s annual benefit held on Saturday, April 21st with cocktail buffets, open studios, and a lottery-style drawing for art donated by 100 artists.

And Rosetta’s work is currently on exhibit at Design Within Reach in Bethesda, MD, (301) 215-7200 and at the Millennium Arts Salon in DC, 202-319-2077.

Wanna go to a DC opening tomorrow tonight?

The Gallery at Flashpoint has Janis Goodman: Shifting Waters, with an opening reception for one of the District's most visible and talented artists tomorrow night, Thursday, March 22, 6-8pm (and show runs through April 21, 2007). There's also an artist’s talk on Saturday, March 31, 4pm.

Opportunity for WPA/C Members to Exhibit at artDC

Someone at the WPA/C is using their coconut and has come up with a novel way for their members to exhibit at the coming artDC fair in Washington, DC.

All WPA\C members are invited to contribute a small work to INDEX, a miniature “members only” exhibition in the WPA\C booth at ArtDC intended to give the public a glimpse of the artists that make up their membership base. Your submission can express anything you wish. It can reflect your current work, be a self-portrait, or communicate any kind of statement - the ONLY restriction is size.

Create a 4-by-6-inch “index card size” piece out of any mailable material. The image can be horizontal or vertical. Put your image on one side of the “index card size” surface and mail the work (either in an envelope or as a postcard) to:

WPA\C - INDEX
500 Seventeenth Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006

Deadline for Delivery to WPA\C: Monday, April 16,, 2007

On the back of the piece, please include your name and indicate which side is up. (No titles please). You may submit more than one piece.

Note that works will not be sold. Works will only be returned if a self-addressed stamped envelope is provided by the artist.

If you're not a WPA/C member, this is a good reason alone to join.

Dixon responds to ARTifice

Last week, David Waddell over at ARTifice reported on the "Role of Criticism Today," panel discussion that took place at the Provisions Library in Dupont Circle in DC.

The WCP's Mark Athitakis also made a note of Waddell's report here and now Glenn Dixon, one of the participants in the panel, disputes some of Waddell's version of events in a comment here.

In a separate comment at ARTifice, Dixon takes Waddell to task over "all the incomprehension and bad reporting in Waddell's original post."

This should be easy to solve; apparently this panel was videotaped, so hopefully Provisions or Transformer will post the video on their website and the issue will be resolved.