Airborne

Airborne today and heading to the Left Coast, where I will be part of a an anonymous international panel selecting visual artists for a well-known fine arts award.

6AM flight from BWI: That sucks!

Wanna go to a super cool opening tomorrow?

Where: 1429 Iris St., NW Washington, DC 20012-1409
When: March 7-April 26, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 8, 2:00-6:30 PM, 2014 and Sunday March 9, 2:00-4:00pm
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday 12-6 pm any other times by appointment

36 years, where has the time gone, hundreds of art shows, 1000’s of clients, vast new technologies in the art world. The artists’ still knock my socks off and creativity is thriving. How Washington and the world have changed. The artists keep on creating and astounding us at every turn. Art is more important than ever in this media over exposed world. That the artists can come up with an original thought and execute it in an original way fascinates me and keeps me enthusiastic and dedicated to the artists, my clients, Washington and the art world. Come celebrate with us and experience art, art and more art. The entire Zenith Family thanks you all for keeping us in business for all of these years.

                                               Gallery Owner, director and artist, Margery E. Goldberg

Lists of Artists: Kim Abraham, Lenny Campello Renee DuRocher, Eric Ehlenberger, Estella
Fransbergen, Robert Freeman, Julie & Ken Girardini, Margery E. Goldberg, Stephen Hansen,
Christine Hayman, Philip Hazard, David Hubbard, Robert Jackson, Katie Dell Kaufman, Peter
Kephart, Susan Klebanoff, Joan Konkel, Chris Malone, Joey Manlapaz, Michela Mansuino, Donna
McCullough, Davis Morton, Carol Newmyer, Tom Noll, Fernando Roman, Sica, Ellen Sinel, Paula Stern, Bradley Stevens, Cassie Taggart, Tim Tate, Marci Wolf-Hubbard, Paul Martin Wolff, Joyce Zipperer and more.

Zenith Gallery est. 1978

Celebrating 36 Years in the Nation’s Capital

1429 Iris St., NW, Washington DC 20012-1409

202-783-2963 www.zenithgallery.com art@zenithgallery.com

Dr. Jane Chu nominated to be NEA head honcho

Last month President B.H. Obama nominated a new candidate to be confirmed as the Chair for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): Dr. Jane Chu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Kauffman Center of Kansas City, MO.
 
President Obama said, “Jane’s lifelong passion for the arts and her background in philanthropy have made her a powerful advocate for artists and arts education in Kansas City.  She knows firsthand how art can open minds, transform lives and revitalize communities, and believes deeply in the importance of the arts to our national culture.  I’m proud to nominate her as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.”
 
When confirmed, Dr. Chu will fill an NEA post that has been vacant since the 2012 resignation of Rocco Landesman.

Important tax news for Maryland artists

As a social liberal and a fiscal conservative who tries not to be seduced by either left wing nuts or the vast right wing conspiracy, it is ironic to me how in the one-party, tax-crazy Soviet Socialist Republic of Maryland, the Maryland Arts & Entertainment Districts (A&E), offers tax-related incentives that "attract and support artists, arts organizations and other creative enterprises within 22 creative places in 15 counties across the state."

So they "offer tax-related incentives" - that's Orwellian speak for tax cuts/breaks, but you can't say that, because that means something Republicanish, cough, cough. Don't get me wrong - this is a great idea and it generally works...

At a March 13 Senate Hearing, A&E District advocates will testify in support of HB-1516 (Economic Development – Arts and Entertainment Districts – Qualifying Residing Artists), a bill that would exempt qualifying artists from paying taxes on proceeds from the sale of artwork not only within the A&E District in which the artist resides and created the work, but within any of Maryland’s 22 Designated A&E Districts.

By expanding on the established definition of a “Qualified Residing Artist,” it is expected that the passage of the bill would stimulate investment, encourage revitalization of underutilized properties, increase economic impact and promote local tourism.

UMBC selects public art finalists

The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) joined the MSAC in announcing the names of three finalists selected to create a public art installation outside of the new Performing Arts and Humanities Building (PAHB). A national call was issued for the $397,000 commission.

The three finalists — Barbara Grygutis, Thomas Sayre and the collaborative Mags Harries and Lajos Héder — have previously created works of large-scale public art and were selected based on the merit of past work and the proposed vision for UMBC.

“The artists have had a month to create a site-specific design concept that supports a year-round destination where people can gather, sit, reflect and engage with each other in an outdoor setting,” says Lucas Cowan, public art program director at the MSAC.

UMBC partnered with the MSAC for guidance on commissioning the public art project. The Maryland Public Art Initiative (MPAI), signed into law last year, requires state-funded construction or major renovation projects to include a public art component. 

The University invited the MSAC to add its expertise to this highly visible public art project, and expects the project to be completed by August 2014.

Under the Influence

Opening on March 21, 2014, Under the Influence, curated by Kaitlin Filley and Ashley Wilson promises to be a very cool "back to the future" show.

Spread out between two locations, within the Catholic University community (Salve Regina Gallery, 620 Michigan Ave, NE, W, DC 20064, Victor L Selman Community Gallery, 3305 8th St, NE, W, DC 20017) , the show will serve as a catalyst for discussion and engagement with the legacy of the Washington Color School, and the effect on current artists in Washington, D.C. The show will feature the works of Jeffry Cudlin, Bill Hill, Ryan Carr Johnson, Barbara Januszkiewicz, Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, Meg Mitchell, Robin Rose, and Samuel Scharf. 

Running through April 12, the show wil also feature a curator tour on closing day at 2:00 pm.

WHAT:  Under the Influence

RECEPTION: Friday, March 21, 2014 6:00 – 8:00 pm

SHOW DATES: March 21 – April 12, 2014

CURATOR’S TALK: April 12, 2014 2:00 pm

WHERE: Salve Regina Gallery, 620 Michigan Ave, NE, W, DC 20064
Victor L Selman Community Gallery, 3305 8th St, NE, W, DC 20017

I've seen this movie before...

One of my really deep personal interests is history... man I love history!

It's one of those things that I've always done good well in school and as a result I have incorporated that interest many, many, many times in my own artwork.

It is a nerdish thing I realize... to some anyway....  I read history as if they were novels, and of course...

You know where I'm going next: "He who does not learn from history is bound to repeat it" or something like that, goes the saying...

And is it me? ... or does the Russian invasion of the Ukraine seem a little familiar, from a historical perspective? Nikolai Kondratiev's famous "wave theory" (which is unfortunately usually just applied to economics, when it can actually be applied to almost anything such as art trends, history's cycles, etc.)... easily predicts what will happen next here... But first a little things that seems to have repeated itself rather recently...

• We have a former European evil superpower that a handful of years ago was taken apart and embarrassed by the West. They've since re-invented themselves on a fervent nationalistic fever.
• The Socialist dictator of that nation uses that embarrassment as a potent drive to not only stay in power (15 years so far), but also to convince the West that all is fine, while driving the flames of nationalism and craftily rearming and building its war machine.
• He then "tests" the will of the West by annexing large chunks of its neighbor, as Russia did to Georgia in 2008. Lots of verbal threats from the West lead to nothing.
• He then begins persecuting a segment of his nation's population... In Russia's case its gay citizens... And anyone who disagrees with Putin, and I would not be surprised if Jews are blamed next for something (or everything)... most probably the failure of the Russian economy, which will happen when the West imposes sanctions.
• He then hosts an Olympic game... As a showcase of national pride.
• He then invades yet another neighboring country under the pretext of protecting ethnic Russian citizens within its borders. 

Now... I expect that the West will react by trying to appease Putin, and someone will have to play the part of Neville Chamberlain in order for this unbelievable performance to reach its inevitable conclusion.

We've seen this movie and some of us know how it ends... Kondratiev must be laughing somewhere and Poland is getting a little nervous while France is probably already drafting a surrender treaty... cough, cough.. I was only serious.

Get ready to batten down the hatches!