Job in the Arts

Position Opening: Gallery Director

International Arts & Artists, a visual-art non-profit in Washington, DC seeks a Gallery Director to coordinate Hillyer Art Space and its programs. Hillyer Art Space (HAS) is a contemporary exhibition site which presents quality exhibitions and programming to the public, and is an integral part in IA&A’s local, national and international initiatives. IA&A fosters intercultural and international understanding through the arts.

HAS presents a dual series of exhibitions in its two-room space showing work from artists living and working in the mid-Atlantic region, particularly the DC area, alongside work of their international peers. Exhibitions feature artists of both emerging and established stature and are solo, group or thematic. The exhibitions are selected by a panel of renowned artists and other professionals and in consultation with other IA&A program staff.

In addition to their exhibitions, they also present the Hillyer Open Mic Events (HOME), the Hillyer Art Space Film Series (HASFS) and life drawing sessions on a regular basis. Other events can include artist group meetings, private receptions, and other relevant events. HAS partners with artists, curators, arts organizations and cultural institutions to foster a collaborative spirit within the local and global art scene. In this way, HAS serves as an open forum for a variety of artistic visions and disciplines.

International Arts & Artists is looking for candidates who are passionate about artists and supporting their work. This position is “artist focused” as opposed curatorial in nature. We have a selection committee for our shows and the Director will need to liaison and coordinate the selection process for our advisory committee.

This individual will be required to work outside of normal work hours to manage programming at Hillyer Art Space. The successful candidate will need write and communicate clearly; present him/herself to foundations and funders well; be very organized; supervise others; handle press; budget; and all matters related to operating Hillyer Art Space. Fund raising and grant writing / reporting are central to this position. The Gallery Director needs to have proven experience in organizing, working cooperatively with others, and getting tangible results.

To be considered candidates applications must include:

- cover letter with specific minimum salary requirements
- chronologically arranged and comprehensive resume
- professional references (including past supervisors for last 5 years)

Send to info@artsandartists.org

Airborne


Heading South to Cary, North Carolina to jury the Fine Arts League of Cary 15th Annual Juried Art Exhibition.

From what I've already seen in the digital entries, it promises to be a terrific show! That's Susanna Pantas' "Slumber with Friend" to the right. These are the artists selected to exhibit.

More later!

DC gallery to close

I've been holding this closure very ahhh.. close to my chest, waiting for the owner to announce it, but already several of you have emailed me asking about it... so expect a major DC area gallery to announce its closure soon.

Update: Bethesda's Heineman-Myers is the gallery which is closing its physical doors, but I understand that Zoe will continue to work as a private dealer.

Portraits of Lives Lived in the Shadows

By Robin Tierney

During a visit to Knoxville, I filled my journal with the stories of a dozen or so folks revitalizing the city’s core as a walkable arts district that retains its downhome roots. Just as interesting were the rootless Knoxvillians encountered through the photographs of David Habercom.

In the process of moving his studio from the Emporium Center for Arts & Culture downtown to his new home, Habercom now shows his work on the web. Three series capture the individual character and spirit of those pushed into society’s margins – those, he says, are commonly regarded as “gypsies, unattractives, these humiliations in the street.”

For “5th Avenue Motel,” he documented residents, some dwelling there for 20 years, soon before they were evicted a couple of years ago.

Habercom points to one photo: “The dog in 5th Ave 1 [below to right] is hard to see, since he was a huge, black Labrador-type guy. His name was Bear. The python was called Jake the Snake. This couple had lived in the 5th Avenue for eight years.”

After eviction, 5th Avenue residents moved into low-end apartments, public housing, or the streets, said Habercom. “Knoxville has a very good record of helping the homeless, so [they] had a number of reliable resources to get them reestablished.”

The sun bounced hot off the pavement as I tramped to the urban ruins at Fifth and Broadway. Built in 1913, by mid-century the Minvilla townhomes housed squatters as the neighborhood declined. While dismissed as derelicts, the dwellers included decent unfortunates who lacked family or government safety nets. It’s a reminder how fine a line exists between the have-nots and the haves who have gamed public programs, lax loan guidelines and tax/regulatory rules to spawn new breeds of burdens to society.

I imagine the souls pictured by Habercom in the hollow quarters decorated only by unartful tags. In 2007, following the eviction, the furnishings, interiors, windows and facades were stripped. A smiley face nests in the “O” of a jauntily drawn F*ck you inside one doorway.

A sign by the chain-link fence sagging around the property announces “Future Home of the Minvilla Manor.” A little digging reveals that VMC Volunteer Ministry Center across the street is helping some of the displaced, and the City of Knoxville is finalizing a Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program. Plans include restoring Minvilla as "supportive housing” model with onsite social workers, health services and drug/alcohol treatment to help the homeless grip those bootstraps.

In his “Viaduct” series, Habercom turned his lens to resourceful loners who made homes under Knoxville’s Gay Street bridge.

For his newest project, he collaborated with public radio news editor Matt Shafer Powell and musician/artist Bob Deck. "Adrift on American Streets" pairs formal studio portraits of 27 homeless people with a soundtrack of their stories, self-told. ”We published the project as a DVD because couldn't afford a gallery show. Which is too bad, since that format would blow everybody away.”

Check a 5-minute preview clip at this website.

There’s plenty to see by walking the streets of Knoxville. Walk north from the cluster of downtown galleries on South Gay to the industrial+art district dubbed Downtown North. At Ironwood Studios, look for John McGilvray’s clever woodworkings and Preston Farabow’s “Aespyre” metal creations from racetrack debris art to delicate finials.

If your feet get tired, hop on the free trolley.

Linda Evans of Dogwood Arts tells me about the city’s coalescing arts scene: new public art around town (Krutch Park, World’s Fair Park, the Convention Center), new galleries and juried competitions. Time a visit to catch the monthly First Fridays.

Want free tickets to the art fair?

The Affordable Art Fair NYC is next week in New York. Drop me an email if you want me to set you up with a couple of free tickets (they are $20 each).

Congrats!

To DC area artist and my good friend Tim Tate, who has just been announced as the winner of the Virginia Groot Foundation $35,000 award for sculpture.

Buy Tim Tate now.

Aqui Estamos opens today in Philly

Later today the Cuban contemporary art show that I curated last year and which has been exhibited in Norfolk, VA and DC opens in Philadelphia's Projects Gallery. It is titled "Aqui Estamos" (Here We Are) and in the show we find narratives and imagery that represent many of these artists’ historical dissidence to the stark issues of contemporary Cuban life. The works are images that offer a historical and visual sentence in the history of an island nation behind bars with a powerful world presence in the arts and events of world history.

"Consume Preferably Before 30 Years of Age" by Cirenaica Moreira
The opening, free and open to the public is on May 1st, 2009 from 6-9PM. Projects Gallery is located at 629 N 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123, tel: 267.303.9652 and on the web at projectsgallery.com. The exhibition is open through May 29, 2009.