"Down With Assad, Down With Castro"

Amazing video of Syrian demonstrators with signs reading "Down with Assad, Down with Castro" and showing their solidarity with Cuba's pro-democracy movement.

Opportunities for Artists

CALL FOR ENTRIES: THE RIPPLE EFFECT: CURRENTS OF SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART Curated by Raquel de Anda Organized by Washington Project for the Arts in partnership with AMA | Art Museum of the Americas Exhibition Location: Art Museum of the Americas, 201 18th St., NW, Washington, DC Exhibition Dates: October 25, 2012 - February 24, 2013 Submission Deadline: Monday, June 25, 5pm Submit Online     Washington Project for the Arts and Art Museum of the Americas seek submissions from artists based in the DC region (DC, MD, VA) for The Ripple Effect, a multidisciplinary exhibition that will offer a sampling of social practice and collaborative works produced within the United States and Latin America. The exhibition positions artists as architects of change building creative entry points into conversations on broad social issues while providing both poetic and concrete solutions. Through various forms, The Ripple Effect will critique, explore, and create a space for conversations on new possibilities of place and society. In line with the focus of the exhibition, the call seeks projects and artworks that engage viewers as direct participants, address pressing social issues, and blur the boundary between artistic practice and social engagement. The works in this exhibition will exemplify how socially engaged art can be ambitious, innovative, humorous, and self-reflexive. The Ripple Effect thus seeks to explore new and fresh cultural landscapes through social experimentations that alter the environment, if only momentarily, as the viewer moves into the position of an engaged and active participant.      SUBMISSION PROCESS  Submissions may be for existing work or proposals for new projects to take place before or during the exhibition. Selected artists will receive a $400 honorarium. Artists should complete the online submission form. Please contact Blair Murphy, WPA Program Director, at bmurphy@wpadc.org with any questions regarding the submissions process or exhibition. Requested submission materials include: CV (no more than 2 pages, required) Statement describing the proposed project/ piece (no more than 300 words). Statement should describe the project or piece and, for projects that take place in locations outside the museum, explain how the project or work would be represented in the gallery space, note the proposed location, and discuss if a permit would be required. Up to ten images, sketches, or videos representing proposed work. OPTIONAl: Brief description of a past project or work created in the public realm. (no more than 100 words) Images should be submitted as .jpg files, 72dpi and no larger than 7" on the longest side. Video clips should be submitted as links to video on a video-sharing website (Vimeo, YouTube, Soundcloud etc.) or personal website. Videos should not exceed 3 minutes in length. Videos should not be submitted as files that must be downloaded in order to be played. CV and statement should be submitted as .doc or .pdf files.  TIMELINE    Submission Deadline: Monday, June 25, 2012, 5pm Notification of selected artists: Mid-July, 2012 Installation: October 16 - 19, 2012 Exhibition Opening: Thursday, October 25, 2012 Final Date of Exhibition: Sunday, February 24, 2013 ABOUT THE CURATOR Raquel de Anda is an independent curator and cultural producer based in New York City whose curatorial approach is influenced by both social and public practice. Formerly Associate Curator at Galería de la Raza, a contemporary Latino arts organization in San Francisco, de Anda creatively incorporates the strengths of diverse groups into the discourse of various artistic and pedagogic arenas. From exhibitions to public art interventions, online forums and panel discussions, de Anda creates collaboration-based programming that cross-pollinates ideas and connects contemporary art to local community. Originally from Laredo, TX, Raquel received her BFA from Middlebury College. Recent events and exhibitions include Roots and Re-visions, a project of the Prospect.1 Biennial Education Department, New Orleans, LA; Strategies for the Shift, a series of panel discussions and films examining the political shift in Latin America via the critical lens of alternative artist led projects, San Francisco, CA; ChicaChic, an exhibition of contemporary Chicana artists, San Francisco, CA; The Persistence of 'Home', an oral history based, public art project for Roots Fest 2011, Baltimore, MD; Question Bridge: Black Males, a collaborative, trans-media program; and ReMuseum, Floating Lab Collective's project for DCCAH's 5 x 5 public art program. Raquel has also juried several panels for organizations including The San Francisco Arts Commission and The National Performance Network. ABOUT AMA | ART MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAS AMA | Art Museum of the Americas of the Organization of American States (OAS) believes that the arts are transformative for people and their com­munities. The Museum strives to provide a forum for expression, dialogue and learning, promoting local and hemispheric cultural ex­change on issues related to development, human rights, justice and freedom of expression, all of which are core values of the OAS. This way, AMA is becoming a meeting place for living, cross-disciplinary partnerships that promote creativ­ity and the exchange of ideas. The museum's cutting edge exhibit programming showcases talented artists that skillfully balance art with social and political issues while at the same time reflecting the rich diversity and trends of artistic expression found in the Americas. For more information, http://museum.oas.org   ABOUT WASHINGTON PROJECT FOR THE ARTS    Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide the essential resources to support the creative spirit and success of regional artists. WPA presents contemporary art through imaginative and provocative programs, and connects artists with the community in both traditional and unexpected ways. Since its founding in 1975 by Alice Denney, WPA has showcased the works of thousands of artists and has reached hundreds of thousands of visitors and viewers with its programs and projects. Today WPA stands as the oldest and largest 501(c)(3) artist membership organization in the region and the premier source for excellence in contemporary art. For more information about WPA and its programming, visit www.wpadc.org.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: August 31, 2012

Howard County Arts Council/Howard County Center for the Arts is currently seeking proposals from artists for Art Maryland 2012, a biennial multi-media juried exhibit. The juror for Art Maryland 2012 is Philippa Hughes, Founder and Chief Contrarian of The Pink Line Project. A minimum of $1,000 will be awarded by the juror.

Entry is open to all artists 18 years or older, residing in Maryland or within a 100-mile radius of Ellicott City, MD. Deadline for entry is August 31. For complete details, http://hocoarts.org/exhibits.php

RSVP: Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 30, 2012

Later this year I will be honored to jury RSVP 2012 for The New Wilmington Arts Association. They support the careers of artists by providing opportunities for uncensored experimentation, professional presentation, and critical dialogue and RSVP is their annual juried exhibition open to all artists and media.

You can download the prospectus here - hurry and do not leave it to the last minute!

The Art of Prostitution

I get dozens of news releases from all over the world on a daily basis - This one is one of the most unusual ones...

From what I can gather from the below press release, some Polish female artists - who are also prostitutes - are upset that some women from the Ukraine are preparing to rain on their parade (the sex providers are expecting to make some good Euros during the coming EURO 2012 event in Poland.

EURO 2012 with prostitutions!
UEFA welcome to our gates!
Welcome to Poland for EURO 2012!

WE, POLISH WOMEN, CAN WELCOME AND TAKE CARE OF FOOTBALL FANS BY OURSELVES. WE DON’T NEED IN POLAND FEMINISTS FROM UKRAINE TO REPLACE US IN IT! FEMEN GET OUT FROM OUR BUSINESS!

Euro 2012 is unique occasion for us women to earn some extra money on sex-tourism! Many Polish women count on these profits and can't wait foreign football fans. Generally we earn less, usually we get worse job. Many of us bring up children alone, so Euro is a great opportunity for us. It is a chance to earn extra money and in many cases an opportunity to break the fall.

As female artists, whose income from the art is too low to be able to maintain itself, we look forward to this opportunity too. Therefore, we disagree with the action of Ukrainian feminists Femen who protest against prostitution during Euro - also in Poland! If they want to rebel, they can do it at home in the Ukraine! Poland is our territory!

We do not believe, moreover, that selling bodies is worse and more humiliating kind of prostitution than the one practiced every day by some artists supporting correct ideologies - in exchange for fame, and money. We prefer to be prostitutes dealing bodies then becoming artists from the first rows of the art whores system - selling their artistic freedom!

Therefore, we vote for prostitution in Reality - and against prostitution in ART! Therefore we urge all the feminists during the time of Euro 2012 to stay in the kitchen and let Polish girls earn some money!

On the occasion of EURO 2012, we also created our own Euro 2012 mascot. This is the eight-foot sculpture of an anonymous figure - "Prince X", inspired by the work of renowned sculptor Constantin Brancusi, showing substantial male genitals - the symbol of our prosperity.

Details and loads more salacious pics here. We stand in full Solidarity with our Polish sisters!

Kickstarter Plug

You constant readers know that I don't plug these very often, but I should probably start doing it so regularly for the really interesting ones (and here comes another couple of dozen emails a day!) ... BUT here's a really good one!

Click here.

Painting into Sculpture

Painting into Sculpture is an exhibition (at Marlboro Gallery at Prince George's Community College curated by John Anderson) of "painting that embraces the physical space beyond the rectangle. The featured work explores the terrain where painting becomes sculptural through various methodologies: stacking panels, activating negative space, stripping the medium from the support, using objects that function as paint, shaping the canvas, and reducing the brush stroke to an object."

Featured artists include Dennis Dake, Don Kimes, J.T. Kirkland, Donald Martiny, Eugene Markowski, Kris Scheifele, and Dan Tulk.

I'm looking forward to checking out Don Martiny's paintings, which I am told are pretty spectacular.

The exhibition runs June 4 – July 19, with a reception June 28, 6:30 – 8:30 P.M.

Gallery Hours
9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Monday – Thursday
9:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. Friday
Contact: John Anderson, guest curator,
301-322-0959, andersjj@pgcc.edu
Or Tom Berault, Gallery Curator,
301-322-0967, beraulta@pgcc.edu