Another art scammer

Beware of this rip off artist:

Jack Dunham (jackhaminc@outlook.com)

To Whom It My Concern.

I am Jack Dunham, Owner of Jackham Inc. Am interested in some of your products, do you ship to Hungary and accept US issued credit card as payment?, concerning the shipping, i have a shipper that handle all of my shipment, you will contact regarding shipping they will pick up the items at your location and deliver directly to my store doorstep without hassle.

Let me know if i can e-mail you what am interested in ordering.

Jack

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this mutant! It's a rip off scheme:

fayette Humel (fayette.humel@outlook.com)

Hello,
I am emailing to inquire about availability of artwork for sale in your gallery/inventory, if you can ship international and also if you are able to process Visa and Master Card for payment.
Let me know so that i can communicate with you on the artworks that interest me then you can also indicate to me which of the arts are sold and which are available on your website furthermore you can respond with your recently updated website.
I will be looking forward to reading from you soon.
Sincerely
Mrs Humel

"Art Heist" from a Taco Bell

This is what happens when you get the munchies...

On the curious case of Montgomery College and Greenfest

As I noted late last night and updated this morning, the potential censorship situation at Montgomery College has been avoided because of the college's administration refusal to censor the show (this art program goes back to 1974).

A Bravo Zulu to Montgomery College for taking the difficult, but correct road. However, I remain very concerned about what this says about the organization that requested and then demanded the censorship and the County Executive's Office willingness to give in to that kind of ignorance.

I will be formally requesting that my Councilmember, Roger Berliner, investigate this issue and ensure that there are no future reprisals against Montgomery College.

Update: The Gazette's article on this issue here.

The copy that wasn't

A new Peter Paul Rubens painting has been discovered, and it's a castoff from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ben van Beneden, director of Antwerp's Rubenshuis, has now declared Portrait of a Young Girl, possibly Clara Serena Rubens to be authentic...

Details here.

MAP's Out of Order

Out Of Order 2015 | April 24, 2015

Maryland Art Place's Annual Spring Benefit, Silent Auction & Party!

Out Of Order (OOO), one of Maryland Art Place's most popular annual events, is just one month away!!! MAP is pleased to present this iconic, annual fundraising event at 218 West Saratoga Street in its newly renovated gallery. OOO is a one-night-only event that provides a space for hundreds of artists to hang their work wherever they please, covering the walls from floor to ceiling! As many as 500 guests filter in and out of Out of Order to view and bid on a wide range of artworks. OOO plays host to a variety of artists from students and emerging artists just getting their start in Baltimore’s creative sector, to established professionals.

 

Tickets are available for purchase through MissionTix | $45 pre-sale or $50 at the door. Ticket purchase includes an evening of music, body art by Abby Fitzgibbon, plentiful desserts, beer by Union Craft Brewing and admission to the After Party @ Current Space from 10 - midnight with DJ John Eaton.

Want to be an OOO Sponsor, call 410.962.8565 or send an inquiry to: assistant@mdartplace.org

We Need Your Art! Artist Install Day
Tuesday, April 21 | 7AM - midnight
 

MAP needs artwork to fill the walls! Out Of Order is open to any all artists willing to install their own pieces. Installation day is April 21, 2015 from 7am - midnight. Installation is on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Only one piece per artist permitted. (**Works larger than 40" x 40" will not be permitted) No reservation required, just show up, register, pay your $10 entry fee & find your wall space!

Please read the FAQs for more details

Did Ike Leggett just attempt to censor an art exhibit at MontgomeryCollege?

I am told that allegedly the Chief Executive of Montgomery County has (so far successfully) pressured Montgomery College to censor an art exhibit in the school's Open Gallery. The exhibit is entitled Cindi Hron: Back Pain, and "explores the lingering psychological affects of pain through watercolors and embroidery of abstracted bodies." The Open Gallery is located in the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, and is run by the department of Visual and Performing Arts.

Parts of the exhibit may/will be censored tomorrow, March 28 during the Montgomery County GreenFest event being held at the college. GreenFest runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the West Campus of Montgomery College's Takoma Park and Silver Spring Campus.

I am also told that on Wednesday evening, March 25, the GreenFest " administration" requested that the exhibit in the Open Gallery be removed for their event. Vice president and Provost Brad Stewart correctly responded on Thursday that the artwork would not be removed because Montgomery College does not condone censorship, and the Open Gallery is a professional exhibit space hosting an external artist (good for him!). As the GreenFest occurs during gallery open hours, Dr. Stewart apparently saw no way to remove the exhibition without damaging the gallery's and the college's reputation.

However, apparently the administration of the GreenFest then contacted Montgomery County Chief Executive Ike Leggett with their complaint. Allegedly Leggett in turn then contacted administrators above Dr. Stewart and allegedly told them to censor the Back Pain exhibit. Faced by this request from the Chief Executive during a budgetary review cycle, the college administration seems to be considering backing down (according to my source) "for fear of budgetary reprisal." Upper level administration then allegedly directed Dr. Stewart to ensure that Cindi Hron: Back pain is censored during tomorrow's GreenFest event. As of this blog post, a final decision by Dr. Stewart has not yet been released. However, short of a gutsy push-back on the college's part, the exhibition may/will be censored

This is all the information that I have currently and as such, I am also contacting Vice President and Provost Brad Stewart (brad.stewart@montgomerycollege.edu, 240-567-1312) and also Siobhan Quinn (siobhan.quinn@montgomerycollege.edu, 240-567-5794), whom as the Director of the Cultural Arts Center would have the most information on this topic. For the gallery's perspective, I have contacted Maureen Kohl (maureen.kohl@montgomerycollege.edu, 240-567-1393), Art Center and Gallery Coordinator, and Wilfred Brunner (wilfred.brunner@montgomerycollege.edu, 240-567-1461), Professor and Chair of the Exhibition Committee.

If this is all true, and however it ends, this is not only reprehensible and unacceptable, but once again reveals why the American people are so disillusioned with most of our elected officials. If "Democrat" Leggett, Chief Commissar of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Montgomery County did indeed pressure Montgomery College to censor the exhibition, his alleged art censorship is now on a direction that puts it on a dangerous path to potentially join a notorious set of political art troglodytes that include such monsters as Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, the fig-leaf painters of a few centuries ago, and many such other "leaders."  And if the GreenFest leadership did initiate the pressure, it also says something about that organization... doesn't it?

If any of the people that I have/will be contacting can add any further info to this issue, I will publish it here.

Update: (Saturday AM): I now have final word on what's happening. Apparently the college administrators stood their ground against censorship, so the Greenfest decided to pull out of the Cafritz Arts Center entirely rather than having exhibitors near the Back Pain exhibit. Greenfest is now being held in the Cultural Arts Center and Jessup Blair Park only, not in the Cafritz Arts Center.