Maura Judkis on Artists' Lofts

Check out this very cool article by the WaPo's Maura Judkis...

WPA changes

From the Washington Projects for the Arts

I'm thrilled to share with you today that Washington Project for the Arts has revealed a dynamic new visual identity, including a complete redesign of our website and an enhanced ArtFile Online.

Several months ago, we engaged ripe, a DC-based design studio, to help us develop a bold new "look and feel" for WPA. Informed and inspired by our vision for the future, the modern and forward-thinking design strengthens our position as the largest visual arts based membership organization in the DC area.

The clean aesthetic and black and white palette allows our artists' work to be the focus - across all platforms. The website offers an opportunity for increased interactivity between our artists and audience by making ArtFile Online - our signature service for member artists - the centerpiece of the site, giving greater accessibility to artists' work for viewing and purchase.

The rebrand is part of our larger organizational strategic plan, timed to our upcoming move to a vibrant space in the U Street corridor cultural district and our 40-year anniversary milestone in 2015.

It is an exciting time to be a part of WPA! I hope you'll take a few minutes to check out the website and connect with us at one of our many upcoming events. Stay tuned for future updates by following us on Facebook and Twitter @wpadc.

Thanks for your support!

Lisa Gold

Executive Director, WPA

The Senate and the First Amendment

I heard on the radio today that the Senate is advancing a Democratic bill to amend the Constitution so that Congress would have the authority to regulate political speech... I thought this must be wrong... until I Googled it... WTF? 

Are they smoking dope in the Senate? Why is anyone wasting time trying to change this:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship program

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship program offers $8,000 in awards to professional artists, $6,000 in awards to graduate students, and $4,000 in awards to undergraduate students. Applicants may apply in the disciplines of Crafts, Drawing, Film/Video, Mixed Media, New/Emerging Media, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Art History (graduate students only). 

All applicants must be legal residents of Virginia and student applicants must be enrolled full-time in degree-seeking programs. 

The deadline for Fellowship applications is November 7, 2014. Full eligibility criteria, an application, and a printable PDF flyer can be found on this website.

Petty Officer Third Class, Naples, Italy

 That's an oil portrait of me done by an Italian artist in Naples, Italy during a port visit by USS Saratoga in the summer of 1975. The US Navy used to allow beards back then...

Simon Monk at (e)merge

"Mind the Store"
Oil and Alkyds on Wood by Simon Monk

British painter Simon Monk will be featured at the (e)merge art fair next week in the Capitol Skyline Hotel.

We will be in rooms 205 and 206.

In addition to Monk's amazing work, we will also feature the work of DMV artists Audrey Wilson, Judith Peck, Tim Vermeulen and Elissa Farrow-Savos (who sold over a dozen sculptures at (e)merge last year!).

We will also show the work of former DMV painter (and now a California girl) Jeannette Lilith Herrera.

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline, On-Line Gallery:  February 1, 2015

 

BRASH, Washington, DC area poet of Artomatic fame, has written a poem titled "The Journey" that addresses recovery.  BRASH and the team at www.addictionandart.org now challenge visual artists to follow suit.

 

Submission guidelines for the challenge and the on-line gallery are at www.addictionandart.org - a site inspired by the book Addiction and Art (Santora, Dowell and Henningfield - Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).  

 

This site, which in turn has inspired addiction related art exhibitions nationwide, receives significant traffic and the site's images are used (non-commercially) worldwide for the good of mankind by schools, treatment centers, community programs, and the general public.