Mark Jenkins on local shows

Read the reviews in the WaPo here.

Alma Selimovic

Feeling Kinky? Come and check out Alma Selimovic's work at her studio in the Otis Street Art Project. 

She's there through Sunday or by appointment. Thank you ‪#‎MetroWeekly‬ for a great exposure. 

Check out her work at www.almaselimovic.com

Book Review: Artists of Sedona

I was introduced to the spectacular beauty of Sedona, Arizona by my wife about a decade ago. Over the years we've visited that spectacular area many times, and I've often written about it, focusing on its artists and many galleries.

Artists of Sedona(1930-1999), published in 2014 by Gene K. Garrison, is a warmly crafted homage to the many artists who helped to give that Red Rocks city a reputation in the fine arts.

The book is essentially a history book of the seeding, fertilization, and growth of the Sedona artistic community.

 It starts with two brothers, a gibbon, and a baby coyote roaring into the valley on a Harley motorcycle.

 It also pays homage to Egyptian immigrant Nassan Gobran, who can be said to be the father of the Sedona fine arts footprint, as he was the leading voice for the energy which re-focused Sedona as a fine arts town.

 We learn how an apple-packing barn became the Sedona Arts Center, and eventually the magnet for all of the city's art galleries. The first exhibition in that building (April 1961) was by none other than the respected and very famous impressionist Max Ernst and his wife Dorothy Tanning.

We also learn about the formation of the Cowboy Artists of America, and through Garrison's superbly delivered talkative style of writing, we are further educated into the lives, anecdotes, stories, achievements, failures of a variety of the key artists who flowed into the Red Rocks area, attracted not by New Age vortexes, but by the spectacular beauty of the area, and by the growing magnetism of a growing artistic community.

You can feel Garrison's love for the artists, for Sedona, and for its history, in each word lovingly delivered in this book. It is a perfect example of how an art history book can be crafted so that it not only cements the art history of a city, but also honors the artists who created it.

Things not to do

If you're an artist:

• Do not hand out your own personal business cards at your opening and/or an art fair where your work is being exhibited. What you should do is work it out with the gallery, and if agreed, make your own personal business cards that list the gallery (and not you) as the contact point.
• Do not start a relationship with a gallery without a contract or written agreement.
• Do not vary your prices from dealer to dealer, or city to city, etc. What you should do is to have an established process (via contract/written agreement) where it details what discounts (if any) are offered in cases of multiple buys, museum sales, etc.
• Do not have "art sales." This hurts your established price points.
• Do not have prices in your website, instead force interested collectors into communicating with you or your gallery. Make sure that you note your gallery representation in your website.

If you are a gallerist:

• Do not operate on a handshake; always have a contract or written agreement.
• Do not hide the names/address of buyers. All that accomplishes is that it tells the artist: "I don't trust you."
• Don't work out price issues on the fly. Work out pricing issues ahead of time to ensure that you and your artists are all clear on all possible scenarios.
• Don't skip on art insurance.
• Don't take too long to pay your artists (period should be specified in your written agreement/contract (such as "Artist will be paid within ___ days from the time that the artwork payment clears").

If you are an art collector:

• Don't undercut the gallery by "skipping" them and going directly to the artist.
• Don't trust art dealers/artists who offer prodigious discounts on the artwork - nearly always that means that the prices were inflated to start with.
• Don't be afraid to ask if the artwork is done to conservation standards.
• Don't call a painting a "picture."

The Lilith Plotting

The Lilith Plotting (Detail)

F. Lennox Campello c. 2016
14 x 38.5 inches
Charcoal and Conte on 300 weight paper

The Lilith Plotting
F. Lennox Campello c. 2016
14 x 38.5 inches
Charcoal and Conte on 300 weight paper

Silent Auction Fundraiser - Tonight!

A SILENT AUCTION EVENT FUNDRAISER

TONIGHT!
JUNE 28, 2016, 5:00- 9:30 pm

        AT THE WASHINGTON ETHICAL SOCIETY  MAP

7750 16th St NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20012

Silent Art Auction - Delectable Bites - Wine - Music and MUCH MORE!         FOOD PROVIDED BY "FRESH START CATERING, DC CENTRAL KITCHEN"   Ticket price is  $45   Order two tickets   $90          And there are sponsorship opportunities...  Read More About            For Tickets and information call 202-783-8005   202-783-2963

Honorary Chairperson, Ward 4 Councilman, Brandon Todd. Councilman Todd previously worked in the Council office of The Honorable Muriel Bowser, Mayor of the District of Columbia.

Ron Nessen, former White House Press Secretary will be Master of Ceremony.
Mr. Nessen also served NBC News as a war correspondent during the Vietnam War.

ZCAF to Introduce Two New Programs!

Summer 2016 "Adult Hands' on Workshops" 

For DC young adults ages 18-24 

This educational program is being hosted by DC Arts Studios, 

A Ward 4 Art Non-Profit. 

Fall 2016 "After-School Hands' On Workshops" 

For DCPS teens ages 13-18

Through a ZCAF Partnership with District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS)/DCPS Out-of-School-Time-Programs Office (OSTP).

The HOW DCPS after-school program is a series of career-focused arts classes are being Hosted Through a ZCAF Partnership with Columbia Heights Educational Complex (CHEC).

Both HOW programs have been endorsed by the DC Office of Employment Services/Youth Programs Office, whose mission is to provide Employment Services for residents ages 14-24. 

HOW is designed to encourage teens (ages 13-18) to develop career-focused skills, with a focus on careers in the arts, and will emphasize "soft skills" such as: healthy risk-taking, appropriate self-expression, time management, teamwork, and effective communication in a 60-hour program wherein participants develop a portfolio. ZCAF is an approved. "Out of School Time Program Provider" for DCPS. ZCAF maintains a site partnership with Columbia Heights Educational Complex (CHEC). Our HOW for DCPS students has been endorsed and funded (in part) by the DC Office of Employment Services/ Youth Programs Office.  HOW curriculum is be aligned with both the National Core Visual Arts Education Standards and the DCPS Arts Curriculum Standards and Cornerstones. 

Adult HOW is designed to get young adults (ages 18-24) on the path towards becoming an established, professional artist. Adult HOW is a 90-hour program, being hosted by the DC Art Studios, through a partnership we have with this Ward 4 non-profit. Adult HOW is funded (in part) by the DC Office of Employment Services. It too features a 60-hour portfolio development component that emphasizes the same concepts as the teen program, but expands the learning and includes many 30 hours of Arts Career Counseling, devoted specifically to getting participants jobs, apprenticeships, internships, and/or acceptance into an art school.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

In a world inundated with a bewildering array of messages and meanings, an arts education also helps young people explore, understand, accept, and use ambiguity and subjectivity. In art as in life, there is often no clear or "right" answer to questions that are nonetheless worth pursuing. Such nuanced thinking is in high demand on the job site, and employers value an employee who is capable of understanding 'why' beyond simply, robotically following instructions and completing tasks mindlessly. Such workers are valued for their ability to communicate, to learn, and to problem-solve. 

ZCAF fosters alliances between artists, businesses, and government agencies such as: District of Columbia Commission for the
Arts and Humanities, the District of Columbia Public Schools/Out of School Time Programs, and the
District of Columbia Office of Youth Programs, Department of Employment Services 

Opportunity for Artists

The Nude Figure will present a survey of contemporary responses to the nude to illuminate resonances between traditions of imagining the figure and the artist’s personal experience. The theme of mirroring is a metaphor for the persistence of the nude as a theme in art and our shared visual understandings of the body. Entries are being accepted in painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, ceramics, fiber, glass and mixed media.

 

Jurors Paul DuSold, instructor at the Woodmere Art Museum and Fleisher Art Memorial, and Scott Noel, professor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, look to assemble a survey of contemporary responses to the nude to illuminate resonances between traditions of imagining the figure and the artist’s personal experience.

Details here.  Please contact Karen Louise Fay, Director of Special Projects with any additional questions: karenlouise@wayneart.org

AWARDS

$3,000+ in prizes

 

KEY DATES

Exhibition dates: October 16 - November 19, 2016

                Digital entry deadline: September 9, midnight CST ($45 fee)

                Extended digital entry deadline: September 12, midnight EST ($65 fee)

                Notification of accepted/declined work: September 19

                Artist reception: October 16, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

                Painting lecture with jurors: October 22, 1:00 - 2:30 pm

                Workshop with Paul DuSold: October 29 & 30, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm           

                Workshop with Scott Noel: November 5 & 6, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm