Enhorabuena!

Congratulations to La Furia (Spain), who yesterday won the world's most coveted sports trophy by beating Holland and winning the Jules Rimet World Cup for soccer/football/futbol for the first time in the history of the Kingdom of Spain.

The Spaniards came in as the favorites (they're the current European champions), and after a shocking start (they lost to Switzerland in their opener), moved forward and ended up as the champs.

Next cup is in 2014 in Brazil. Five gets you ten that either Brazil or Argentina will win that one.

FotoWeek DC call for entries

The 2010 FotoWeek DC International Awards Competition has just launched and is looking for your best work!

Entries may be made in 12 different photography categories, for both Single Image and Series, with 1st, 2nd and 3rd cash prizes being awarded. In addition, there is a special category called Spirit of Washington, with a cash prize of $5,000, which recognizes images that capture the essence of Washington in all its forms.

As there was last year, the competition also includes a category for the best Multimedia work incorporating stills, video, sound and text, and this year a new category has been added, which is the Mobile Phone category. Send them your amazing iPhone shots and you could win $500, $250 or $100!

Entry fees start as low as $4.95 for Mobile Phone entries and there are volume discounts for multiple submissions. If you enter before July 31, 2010, there is an additional 20% off Early Bird discount and, if you really act fast, you could be among the first 100 entrants to receive a free FotoPage online portfolio site, valued at $49. More to come on that in the coming weeks.

To enter, click HERE to submit your images today.

Bonus: If you are a Facebook member and can get your friends involved, you could also walk away with the People's Choice award, which is given to the highest vote-getter.

The final deadline is on September 20, 2010 and the work will then be viewed by our incredible panel of judges, including Jean-Francois Leroy, Founder of the Visa Pour L'Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France, David Scull of the New York Times, Nick Nichols of National Geographic and Jose Azel of Aurora Images, just to name a few.

Winners will be honored at an invitation-only awards ceremony on November 5, 2010 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Corcoran College of Art + Design, where the work will be on display throughout the FotoWeek DC festival, which runs from November 6-13, 2010.

The 100 DC Artists in the book

Here are the 100 DC area artists whose work will be highlighted, discussed and illustrated in the forthcoming book (tentative title) 100 Washington Artists. Putting this list together was a joint effort between me, several key DC area collectors, a few gallerists and a couple of museum curators. There are three key names missing from the list, all of whom are most deserving of being highlighted anytime that anyone discusses artists from the capital region. Two did not want to be in the book; the other one I wasn't able to contact through email, phone messages and even snail mail (in fact I'm a little worried about her).

In the end, it was a slightly joint effort by about a dozen people, and we all had agendas, and we are were nepotistas and we all had our favorites. In the end, I think that it is a pretty good list that includes the best artists working and living around the capital region (minus the three discussed above) plus a pretty good set of emerging young stars plus a good number of artists who deserve a lot more attention.

More later on the brutal lessons learned in dealing with 100 creative minds and an iron clad deadline. Congratulations to all the 100 folks below, and my apologies to the 1,000 others who deserve to be in this volume. I say "this volume" because the good news is that I have been retained to deliver a second, and possibly a third volume.

Ken Ashton
Joseph Barbaccia
m. gert barkovic
Holly Bass
John Blee
Margaret Boozer
Adam Bradley
Scott G. Brooks
Lisa Montag Brotman
iona rozeal brown
Wayne Edson Bryan
Renee Butler
Judy Byron
Colby Caldwell
Rafael J. Cañizares-Yunez
Chan Chao
Zoe Charlton
William Christenberry
Manon Cleary
Mary Coble
Danny Conant
Kathryn Cornelius
Rosemary Feit Covey
Jeffry Cudlin
Richard Dana
Adam de Boer
Rosetta DeBerardinis
David D’Orio
John Dreyfuss
William Dunlap
Mary Early
Victor Ekpuk
Dana Ellyn
Fred Folsom
Helen Frederick
Rik Freeman
Chawky Frenn
Victoria F. Gaitán
Carol Brown Goldberg
Janis Goodman
Pat Goslee
Muriel Hasbun
Linda Hesh
Jason Horowitz
James Huckenpahler
Melissa Ichiuji
Martha Jackson Jarvis
Michael Janis
Judy Jashinsky
Mark Jenkins
Margarida Kendall Hull
Craig Kraft
Sidney Lawrence
Amy Lin
Barbara Liotta
Malik Lloyd
Laurel Lukaszewski
Maxwell MacKenzie
Akemi Maegawa
James W. Mahoney
Isabel Manalo
Percy Martin
Carolina Mayorga
J.J. McCracken
Donna McCullough
Patrick McDonough
Alexa Meade
Linn Meyers
Maggie Michael
A.B. Miner
Brandon Morse
Lida Moser
Cory Oberndorfer
Byron Peck
Jefferson Pinder
Michael B. Platt
Susana Raab
W.C. Richardson
Marie Ringwald
Nate Rogers
Robin Rose
Erik Sandberg
Matt Sesow
Foom V. Sham
Joe Shannon
Jeff Spaulding
Molly Springfield
Dan Steinhilber
Lou Stovall
Tim Tate
Lisa Marie Thalhammer
Erwin Timmers
Ben Tolman
Kelly Towles
Novie Trump
Frank Warren
Joe White
John Winslow
Colin Winterbottom
Andrew Wodzianski

Jessica Picks Adam

Who is this guy who was born Adam Griffiths but goes by Adam Dwight? He doesn't cotton to artistic branding, so his nom d'art isn't much of a concern. He'll likely adopt a new alias soon, so don't get attached to this one.

Jessica Dawson scores another goal in picking Adam Griffiths for the Real Art D.C. series she's doing for the WaPo and it's a brilliant pick. Check out the article here.

100 Washington Artists or DC artists?

Tomorrow I will release the list of the 100 DMV artists whom I have selected and handpicked for the art book "100 Washington Artists" that I am about to finish in a day or two. It will be released next Spring by Schiffer Books.

Question for the masses: Should the title be "100 Washington Artists" or "100 Washington, DC Artists" or "100 Washington, DC Area Artists"?

I vote for "100 Washington Artists." Screw the "other" Washington [state].

Comments?

Tau Delta Phi-Delta Gamma Theta Nix Flag

An artwork involving an American flag was abruptly rejected this week from a benefit show at Gallery House, a collective exhibition space in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The work, by the artist known as Clark Clark, was a flag printed with the word "Evolve" in large block letters. Titled "Evolve America," it was intended for the gallery's forthcoming show, "Reclaiming Space," in which pieces will be raffled off to benefit the environmental volunteer organization Green Edge Collaborative.

On July 2, Mr. Clark said, he installed the piece with the help of fellow artist Jonathan Levy, who serves as the director of Gallery House. Said Mr. Clark: "He saw it when I brought it. He complimented it."

But on July 4, Mr. Levy called Mr. Clark to inform him that "Evolve America" had to be removed and replaced. Mr. Clark says Mr. Levy bowed to legal pressure from the owner of the building, but Mr. Levy says the decision was his—though it was informed by a collaborative discussion. According to property records, the building owner is the Tau Delta Phi-Delta Gamma Theta Alumni Association, an organization for alumni of a Pratt Institute fraternity. Neither the national chapter of Tau Delta Phi nor the Pratt Alumni office could be reached for comment.

Read the WSJ story by Pia Catton here.

Arts on N Street

An exciting new outdoor arts market brought to you by the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

They are looking for DC artists to help activate the Shaw neighborhood for two weekends in August (7th & 8th and 14th & 15th). They are thus looking for artists and crafters based in DC to sell their works and wares. Looking for 22 vendors for each day (it is not required to do all four days. They are happy to let people chose their level of participation). Space is FREE.

In addition to the craft fair, there will be an affordable art fair called Paper Pushers where they are looking for artists to sell original works on paper (size restrictions do apply- no bigger than 20" in any one dimension and nothing priced above $200) where people can buy the artwork right there and go. Artists will receive full sale price of artwork less any processing fees that may occur.

They are also looking for people who would be interested in leading workshops with kids- live painting, decorating your own skate deck, bike repair, juggling, dj-ing… this would also be a paid position.

Other ideas are forming and their ears are open! If you have something you're itching to try out, don't hold back- let Beth Baldwin know! If you have an idea or would like to apply, please contact Beth Baldwin at gobethgo@gmail.com to participate.