First Fridays Everywhere!

Philly's great First Friday openings happen tomorrow night... and so far I can testify that Philadelphia's First Friday openings pack the streets around Old City, and the average age of the gallery aficionado is about 20 years younger than in DC. Details on all the Philly area gallery openings here.

DC also has their First Friday gallery openings going on for the galleries around Dupont Circle. Also generally from 6-8PM. Details on DC openings here.

I think tonight is First Fridays in Fell's Point in Baltimore too, but their website was not updated when I checked (shame on Baltimore).

Update: Also Richmond, VA! Details here.

Wanna go to an opening in Easton, MD?

I love Easton - it is such a gorgeous little artsy Maryland town... anyway, the South Street Gallery is having an opening reception for two classical realism masters this Friday.

Ed Ahlstrom lives in Frederick County, Maryland, is a professor in the Art Department of Montgomery College where he teaches classes in landscape painting, portraiture, and watercolor. Texas-born, Louis Escobedo now lives in Baltimore County, Maryland. Louis received his BFA from Sam Houston University. His paintings have received numerous awards, including the Best of Show from the National Oil Painters of America.

Opening Reception Friday, October 3, 2008 5-9-pm.

Cubans are coming

A few months ago I curated an exhibition of Cuban artists in Norfolk which received rave reviews in the Norfolk area press, and next month I will be curating a group show exhibition of contemporary Cuban artists at H&F Fine Arts, located just outside of DC in the new Gateway Arts District of Mount Rainier, Brentwood, North Brentwood and Hyattsville, Maryland.

Titled "Aqui Estamos" or "Here we are," the exhibition brings to the DC region some of the key Cuban artists working both in Cuba (such as Sandra Ramos, Aimee Garcia Marrero, Los Carpinteros and others), as well as other Cuban artists from the Cuban Diaspora, including Magda Campos-Pons, Roberto Wong and Marta Maria Perez Bravo.

The opening reception is Saturday, November 8 from 5-8PM.

And next spring I will have these same artists in a Philadelphia gallery; more news on that later.

Come see some exceptional artwork and say hi at the H&F Fine Arts opening.

Recycled Glass Arts Workshop


Click on the image for more details...

Bailey at it

Pubic art - against, or for? Everyone has an opinion. However, what about public art that's allowed to just fall apart? Here's Bailey's story about one such piece at the Reston Town Center.

Here we go again

Remember when I told you about this truckdriving lady and her $5 Jackson Pollock find?

Now:

As executive vice president of Azusa Pacific University, David Bixby fields lots of calls. But one that came through last March was a stunner. Howard Kazanjian, a film producer and university trustee, had come across a trove of paintings by a giant of 20th century art that might be donated to the evangelical Christian university.

The good news was that the works were said to have been made by Jackson Pollock, the Abstract Expressionist known for his "drip and splash" style. The bad news: This was yet another batch of undocumented paintings attributed to the artist.

Read the Los Angeles Times story here.

Public Art Futures: A Panel Discussion

Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 2 p.m. at The American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center. Offered in conjunction with the exhibition, "Close Encounters: Facing the Future," and the arts initiative BrushFire.

Expected to be a:

"A fascinating discussion about the intervention of art into public space. With several leading participants in the field, we will hear about the potentials for new social dialogue spurred by artists who are moving away from traditional art venues in order to make an impact both on local communities and on mainstream culture at large. What are the social conditions behind this insurgence and what will support its future development? What are the perils and potentials of this new strategy?"