Connecticut Avenue as canvas

It’s not every day that a busy sidewalk on Connecticut Avenue becomes an artist’s concrete canvas, but the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) is doing just that with its “Explore Our Neighborhood in Chalk” project, Monday, Aug. 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (If it rains, the project will be moved back each day Aug. 6-8 until the weather permits.)

 

The chalk mural will be drawn by Whitney Waller who will transform the Connecticut Avenue Overlook into sidewalk scenery for commuters, office workers and tourists to enjoy. The Connecticut Avenue Overlook is located at the top of the Golden Triangle in the semi-circle above the underpass, near Dupont South Metro Station.  

 

Whitney Waller, of Virginia Beach, is currently a Bachelor of Fine Arts student at the Corcoran College of Art + Design.  She teaches for the Corcoran’s Aspiring Artists and Camp Creativity programs. She is also one of the Corcoran’s Summer Saturdays chalk artists, as she recreates gallery pieces on the front steps. She has previously studied at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts.

 

Waller will use chalk to recreate iconic destinations that are located within the 43 blocks of the Golden Triangle neighborhood, including the National Geographic Museum, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, the Heurich House Museum and the Tiny Jewel Box, located in a historic building on Connecticut Avenue.

 

While the chalk art project is temporary, the Golden Triangle BID has other permanent public art displays that have made the central business district one of the city’s most vibrant commercial areas. Last year, the BID unveiled the second phase of the Connecticut Avenue median, complete with colorful plants and a display of lights, pattern and movement programs that change the avenue into a magical scene at night.

 

“This chalk art project is part of the Golden Triangle’s ongoing effort to create interest and add texture and excitement to Connecticut Avenue,” said Leona Agouridis, executive director of the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District. “We’re using this chalk art project to showcase our treasured buildings, special events and numerous services. Our public art program is another way we’re promoting vitality in this neighborhood.”

Go to this opening tonight!

The Washington Project for the Arts announces The Art of the Super Hero – Revisited, a group exhibition organized by Lenny Campello exploring our cultural fascination with masked men and caped crusaders. 

The artists included in the exhibition approach their topic with a mix of levity and seriousness, using the figure of the superhero to explore issues of identity, immigration, and the struggles of daily life.  

The Art of the Super Hero - Revisited features photography, painting, and mixed media work by F. Lennox Campello, Carla Goldberg, Jeannette Herrera, Simon Monk, Dulce Pinzon, and Andrew Wodzianski. 

The exhibition opens with a reception in the Capitol Skyline Lounge on Friday, August 2, 2013 from 6-8pm and runs from Friday, August 2 through Sunday, August 25, 2013. 

Friday, August 2 – Sunday, August 25, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday, August 2, 6-8pm
   at the Capitol Skyline Hotel , 10 I (eye) St. SW, Washington, DC

Participating Artists: F. Lennox Campello, Carla Goldberg, Jeannette Herrera, Simon Monk, Dulce Pinzón, and Andrew Wodzianski

ABOUT HOTHOUSE
Hothouse is a new series of exhibitions, installations, and events organized by Washington Project for the Arts and taking place in the Capitol Skyline Hotel Lounge. Created as a way to provide new opportunities for WPA member artists and forge new connections within DC’s creative communities, Hothouse will present member-initiated programming on a regular basis.

ABOUT WPA

Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) is an independent, nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization whose mission is to serve as a catalyst for contemporary art.  WPA supports artists at all stages of their careers and promotes contemporary art by presenting exhibitions, issues, and ideas that stimulate public dialogue on art and culture.www.wpadc.org.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: May 1, 2014

The Battle Creek Education Society, in support of the Calvert County Division of Natural Resources, is pleased to issue a Call to Artists to submit artworks inspired by the natural world of Southern Maryland. 

The exhibition, “Nature’s ARTcade,” will be held June 7 – June 29, 2014, at Flag Ponds Nature Education Center on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Artist entry forms and show information may be found at www.calvertparks.org/ARTcade. Prize monies for this exhibition will total $2,000. 


The curator for this exhibition will be Dr. Margaret Dowell, artist and adjunct professor of art at the College of Southern Maryland. Prize jurors include Jayme McLellan, artist, educator, curator and founder/director of Washington DC’s Civilian Art Projects, and Tom Horton, former environmental editor for the Baltimore Sun and author of several books about the Chesapeake Bay. 


Deadline for submissions is May 1, 2014. Questions may be directed to Anne Sundermann, Executive Director, Battle Creek Nature Education Society: anne@calvertparks.org, 301-204-4730.

Donate to Bike to the Beach

I donated to Bike to the Beach to support Autism awareness and research.  Did you know that:

• Autism affects 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys
• Autism costs a family $60,000 a year on average
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
• Boys are nearly 5 times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism.

A friend of mine is participating in this event -- to support his ride and help in bringing awareness to the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S. click here.

Wanna be part of a museum show?

Extreme Exhibit Makeover at the Sandy Springs Museum

The Extreme Exhibit Makeover is a process of creating new exhibits in the museum through the collaboration of professionals from different fields – history, art, exhibit design, and so on – and a member of the local community.

The process involves identifying experts in various fields who will be placed on one of two teams.  Each team will consist of a historian, an artist – either a visual artist or an exhibit designer – a curator, and a member of the public.  Working collaboratively, each team will come up with an idea for an exhibit that focuses on an aspect of local culture and its historic roots.  The teams will have three months to conduct the background research, select artifacts and photos, create graphics, and design the exhibit.  At the end of three months, the teams will be brought together to install their exhibits on the same day.  The exhibit installation will be open to the public who will vote on the “people’s choice” winner.

The purpose of this project is to reinvigorate the museum with new exhibits; to get new people involved in the museum; to get new perspectives on local history; to make the exhibit process more contemporary by incorporating pop culture (“extreme” reality shows and team competitions) and social media (by posting frequent behind-the-scenes updates); and to incorporate a performance art aspect by allowing the public to watch the installation.

The museum will launch this program in September and plan to have the exhibits ready for installation by January.  A $200 stipend will be paid to each participant. Help fund the Extreme Exhibit Makeover - Click here!

If you are interested in participating, please send the information below by August 25, 2013 to Allison Weiss at aweiss@sandyspringmuseum.org

• A letter explaining why you want to be part of this program and what skills you bring
• An example of something creative that you have done
• Your resume

This week: The Art of The Superhero Opens

The Washington Project for the Arts announces The Art of the Super Hero – Revisited, a group exhibition organized by Lenny Campello exploring our cultural fascination with masked men and caped crusaders. 

The artists included in the exhibition approach their topic with a mix of levity and seriousness, using the figure of the superhero to explore issues of identity, immigration, and the struggles of daily life.  

The Art of the Super Hero - Revisited features photography, painting, and mixed media work by F. Lennox Campello, Carla Goldberg, Jeannette Herrera, Simon Monk, Dulce Pinzon, and Andrew Wodzianski. 

The exhibition opens with a reception in the Capitol Skyline Lounge on Friday, August 2, 2013 from 6-8pm and runs from Friday, August 2 through Sunday, August 25, 2013. 

Friday, August 2 – Sunday, August 25, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday, August 2, 6-8pm
   at the Capitol Skyline Hotel , 10 I (eye) St. SW, Washington, DC

Participating Artists: F. Lennox Campello, Carla Goldberg, Jeannette Herrera, Simon Monk, Dulce Pinzón, and Andrew Wodzianski

ABOUT HOTHOUSE
Hothouse is a new series of exhibitions, installations, and events organized by Washington Project for the Arts and taking place in the Capitol Skyline Hotel Lounge. Created as a way to provide new opportunities for WPA member artists and forge new connections within DC’s creative communities, Hothouse will present member-initiated programming on a regular basis.

ABOUT WPA

Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) is an independent, nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization whose mission is to serve as a catalyst for contemporary art.  WPA supports artists at all stages of their careers and promotes contemporary art by presenting exhibitions, issues, and ideas that stimulate public dialogue on art and culture.www.wpadc.org.

New Acquisitions at the NGA

The National Gallery of Art has acquired dozens of new paintings, sculptures and drawings, including its first paintings by 17th-century Dutch Golden Age painter Cornelis Bega and 19th-century French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme. The works were approved by the National Gallery of Art’s board of trustees in May and acquired with private money and donations. Among the other acquisitions were two sculptures by Robert Smithson, ambrotype self-portraits by the photographer Sally Mann, and a Florentine wax relief attributed to 18th-century sculptor Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi.

Details here.