Congrats!

To DC's own Michael Janis, whose solo show opened in St. Louis' Duane Reed Gallery last Friday.

And the DC Commission on the Arts has awarded Janis a 2009 Artist Fellowship. They are awarded to individual artists who make significant contributions to the arts and who promote the arts in the District of Columbia through artistic excellence. The Fellowship is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Oldest figurative art

"The 40,000-year-old carved figure of a voluptuous woman was excavated in Germany. It 'radically changes our views of the context and meaning of the earliest Paleolithic art,' its discoverer says."

Read the LA Times story here.

There's soooo much artwork in the DMV area being created by amazing women artists - I have this idea of (in the future) organizing and curating a show to survey the amazing women artists of the DMV.

For your weekend art needs

It is time for the 18th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival this weekend on the streets of the Reston Town Center in Reston, Virginia, right off 267 (exit 12).

The Festival is produced by the Greater Reston Arts Center, and it is a top-rated annual juried outdoor street fine arts and fine crafts festival held in the heart of the elegant and bustling Reston Town Center. This two-day event attracts over 50,000 patrons and provides an interactive experience to view, purchase, and experience art directly from the unique and talented artists who have created it.

The 2009 festival is today and tomorrow and will feature more than 220 artists from around the nation as well as outstanding music and entertainment, activities for families, (all free) and delicious food.

See ya there! Swing by booth 835!

Rocco for NEA

President Obama has nominated Rocco Landesman, an "entrepreneur and commercial theater producer," to be the next head of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Rocco Landesman is the President of Jujamcyn Theaters, as well as the owner of five Broadway houses, and in that Broadway capacity was the key for such Broadway mega hits as "Angels in America," "The Producers," "Jelly's Last Jam" and "Big River."

Heard in New York

A major art fair is about to declare bankruptcy and besides that, they are being sued by a group of art dealers.

Bethesda Painting Awards

I would have told you earlier, but for some reason I no longer get any news releases from Bethesda.org, but the Bethesda Painting Awards finalists were announced last Friday.

There are some interesting surprises in the list, as well as a couple of artists channeling old art movements or other artists, but at this early stage my picks for the award are Lillian Bayley Hoover, from Baltimore, MD (she has twice been a Sondheim Award finalist and a 2008 Bethesda Painting Award finalist), or Reston's Heidi Fowler, which was also a finalist two years ago.

Darkhorses are newcomers Katherine Mann and Greg Minah. Five of the eight finalists are from Baltimore/Annapolis area, which is interesting, since none of the jurors are from that area.

The selected nine finalists will display their work from June 3 - July 4, 2009 in downtown Bethesda at the Fraser Gallery located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. The Fraser Gallery is located two blocks from the Bethesda Metro station.

Wrong Time

I understand that the landlord of several key DC galleries is in the process of doubling their rent.

Wrong thing to do in this, ah... austere fiscal and real estate environment.