Dulce Pinzon's "Rubber Duckies"

Dulce Pinzon is without a doubt one of the leading contemporary photographers in the world. This immensely talented lady, whom Forbes Magazine called "one of the top 100 most influential Mexicans in the world," has access to an abandoned natural history museum in her native Mexico.

This is my favorite image from that developing series of works - it's a brilliant example of what an intelligent and talented photographer can do with such a cool resource such as an empty and abandoned museum!

"Rubber Duckies" by Dulce Pinzon

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: August 31, 2016


The Gallery at Penn College in Williamsport, PA is accepting proposals for solo or small group exhibitions for the 2017-18 exhibition season. The 3,000 square foot gallery on the campus of Pennsylvania College of Technology is dedicated to promoting art appreciation through exhibitions of contemporary art. All media will be considered.


The gallery offers a shipping stipend, and an honorarium is offered to artists who deliver a gallery talk at the opening reception.


Artists must have enough work to fill the full gallery space, and are encouraged to view the gallery floor plan before submitting. Artists may apply either through a secure online entry system or via mail. There is no entry fee. For full entry information, visit https://gallery.pct.edu/inquiries.htm


Questions can be directed to Penny Lutz, Gallery Director at 570-320-2445

Cheryl Numark Art Advisory New Website

I am pleased to announce the launch of the new Cheryl Numark Art Advisory website. If you haven't visited numarkartadvisory.com in a while, check it out! The new site features: a responsive design supported on all types of devices an overview of CNAA's past projects including slideshows of installation photography a sampling of works CNAA has placed over the years a detailed history of our curatorial experience a list of relevant articles about CNAA in leading art publications  a newsletter signup so you can stay up to date on what is happening at CNAA CNAA works closely with clients to help inform and develop knowledge, perspective, and sensibility in the appreciation and acquisition of fine art. They work with both new and seasoned collectors. This new website shows their extensive history and experience working in the art world. Please feel free to visit the new site.
	Cheryl Numark Art Advisory 4726 Linnean Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008 www.numarkartadvisory.com TEL 202.460.9843 For general inquiries: info@numarkartadvisory.com

AC Moore's coupons

One of the things that I teach in my Bootcamp for Artists seminar is guerrilla tactics for reducing framing costs up to 80-90% from custom framing costs.


One valuable asset here are A.C. Moore stores, with their significant set of ready made frames at generally affordable prices, often coupled with weekly sales.


Moore's is also a prodigious coupon-generating factory, and quite often you get a coupon that proudly announces "55% off any regular priced item."

To me, being a pedantic Virgo, "any" means that all items in the store which are not on sale are discounted 55%.


Not to A.C. Moore.


The small print on the coupon notes several exceptions to "any."

Limit one coupon per customer, per transaction, per day. Must be surrendered at time of purchase. No reproductions. Not valid with any other coupons, discounts, previous purchases, sale, clearance, or blue, red or green labeled items. Coupon has no cash value. Not valid on purchase of Gift Cards, Cricut®, Home Essentials Frames, Elf on the Shelf, Custom Framing, Custom Floral Arranging, Classroom Fees, Magazines, or www.acmoore.com purchases. Not valid at our Outlet or Liquidation Store locations

Prior to the "any" coupon, I had received an email blast from A.C. Moore's proudly announcing "Today Only: 20% Off Everything‏." And so I rush to the store, thinking that "everything" means.... ahh... everything!


"Everything" is understood by the most casual observer to mean everything in the store... and thus I was surprised when I went and made a large purchase that there were many things at the store where it didn't apply -- that is dishonest advertising to say "everything" and then you get to the store and Essential Frames, clearance items, etc. are NOT part of "Everything."

This, of course, bugged me and thus I contacted A.C. Moore to explain to them that by using the word "everything", the implication was that any item on the store was eligible for the discount.


Below is their response:

Thank you for contacting A. C. Moore Customer Care. We apologize for the misunderstanding about the 20% off coupon from our email subject line. The details of this coupon are printed on the actual coupon, where it explains that the 20% off is on your regular and sale price items, and lists excluded items.  Your detailed feedback is greatly appreciated as it allows us the opportunity to address this type of situation for future visits. 

        I have added 500 points to your rewards account (the equivalent of making a $50.00 purchase) for the inconvenience. 

        We understand your position and we appreciate your feedback about this. We will forward your feedback to our marketing team to take this into consideration for future email coupons. 

         Thank you.

Sincerely,
Caitlin Scarbrough
Customer Care Coordinator | A. C. Moore
130 A.C. Moore Drive  | Berlin, NJ  08009

And I am grateful, and it is an inconvenience to load a cart with 30 Home Essential frames on two separate occasions, only to find out that they are not eligible under the "any" descriptor in the 55% "any" coupon, or under the "everything" descriptor in the 20% coupon.


What's the solution? Can Moore's get out of this borderline deceptive coupon by simply using an asterisk after the word "any" and "everything"? At least an asterisk raises an alarm that there are limitations.


Or am I being too pedantic?

Bethesda Painting Awards finalists

BETHESDA PAINTING AWARDS June 1-25 Wednesday - Saturday, 12-6pm Reception: June 10, 6-9pm

The Bethesda Painting Awards is downtown Bethesda's annual juried art competition that exclusively honors painters from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. $14,000 in prize monies are awarded to the top four painters annually. Finalists: John Aquilino, Rockville, MD Katie Baines, North Chesterfield, VA Amy Chan, Henrico, VA Andy Karnes, Baltimore, MD Richard Levine, Falls Church, VA Erin Raedeke, Montgomery Village, MD Amy Sherald, Baltimore, MD Tanja Softic, Richmond, VA Five gets you ten that the winner is Amy Sherald (also the most recent winner of the 2016 Smithsonian Outwin Boochever Portrait competition). In fact, the very talented Ms. Sherald is having a great year! Amy Sherald earned a Bachelor of Arts from Clark- Atlanta University where she became an apprentice to Dr. Arturo Lindsay. Sherald received her Master of Fine Arts in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art. After graduating, she secured a prestigious private study residency with well-known Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum . In 2008, she attained an artist residency assistantship at the Tong Xion Art Center in Beijing, China. Her work has been exhibited extensively including solo exhibitions at Richard Demato Gallery in New York, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, MD. Sherald’s work is also featured in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, the US Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, and the D.C. Commission of Fine Arts. Sherald is also the winner of the 2016 Smithsonian Outwin Boochever Portrait competition. She is currently living and working as an artist in resident at the Creative Alliance.

Panel Discussion on the Life and Work of Kevin MacDonald

May 21

6-9 pm

Join AU's Katzen Museum for this two-part event beginning with a panel discussion on one of Washington's most important and critically acclaimed artists, Kevin MacDonald, with panelists Lee Fleming, Ben Forgey, and Jack Rasmussen from 6-7 pm, followed by a jam session featuring special guest artists from the art rock bands Twisted Teenage Plot, Urban Verbs, The Slickee Boys and Danger Painters from 7:30-9 pm!

Read the Washington Post review on Kevin MacDonald: The Tension of a Suspended Moment and Twisted Teenage Plot.

The American University Museum is located at 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC Museum Hours: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Mondays.

Admission is free.

Parking available under the Katzen Arts Center and is free after 5 p.m. and on weekends

Call for muralists

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, in partnership with Arts Brookfield, is excited to announce the second installment of “Paint the Town,” an initiative to promote more public art murals in downtown Bethesda. In an effort to beautify the area surrounding the Bethesda Metro, the mural project will focus on the plaza area and bus bay at 3 Bethesda Metro Center. The project area includes the overhang above the escalator, six substantial columns and a bench at the base of the escalator that stretches along the bus terminal sidewalk.

 

“We are excited to continue our endeavor to bring more public art murals to downtown Bethesda,” said Cathy Bernard, President of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, “We are thrilled to partner with Arts Brookfield on this project and look forward to making the Bethesda Metro Bus Bay a more colorful and welcoming area for commuters, visitors and residents.”

 

Artists are invited to submit an application, which includes a project rendering, for the chance to be selected to paint the mural. The dimensions of the site are as follows:

·         Overhang - 158' L x 7.5' H

·         Columns - 12' H x 6.5' C

·         Bench - 90' L x 2' W x 1.5' H

$30,000 will be provided to the artist to pay for supplies and the artist’s time. The deadline to apply is Monday, July 18, 2016.

Interested artists should visit www.bethesda.org for more information and for the application.

The project must be completed by October 15, 2016.

 

The selected artist is required to use a paint specific to outdoor and concrete use such as Keim, SherKryl, NovaColor by Artex or Golden Artist Colors, etc. Artists must be 18 years of age or older and residents of Washington, D.C., Maryland or Virginia.

“We are pleased to be a part of this project, and through it, introduce Bethesda and the D.C. region to our Arts Brookfield team,” said Richard Fernicola, Vice President of Development for Brookfield’s U.S. Division. “This mural is just a sample of the world-class art and entertainment Arts Brookfield will bring to Bethesda Metro Center.”