Superfine! fair is back later this month!

More details later - meanwhile, read my review from last year's inaugural fair here.

Fair details here.

Later this month!

Sunday, October 13, 2pm.

Lecture: Art with a Twist

Montpelier Art Center

9652 Muirkirk Rd

Laurel, MD 20708

Join me as I take a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where I will discuss the work of some DC area artists and our regional art scene, and answer questions.

Lecture is free and open to the public.

Wanna go to an opening this Saturday?

Akemi Maegawa, “Strong in the Rain, Strong in the Wind.”
October 5-November 1, 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 5, 5-8pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, October 19, 1-2pm

MK Gallery
1952 Gallows Rd Ste 202
Vienna, Virginia 22182
(703) 734-7777

Arlington Arts Center Short Term Studio - Call for Artists

Arlington Arts Center is now accepting applications for short-term studio space! The 600 square feet studio will be available from November 2019 through May of 2020 with 24-hour access, 365 days a year. Contemporary visual artists working in all media are welcome to apply. Selection criteria will include artistic merit, potential for community engagement, and diversity of media and artistic representation. Information regarding application materials can be found at the link below. 

For additional questions please email exhibitions@arlingtonartscenter.org and submit an application via https://arlingtonartscenter.org/residents/apply

New Interim Director for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

The search for a permanent Executive Director is active and underway...

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) Board of Commissioners announces the appointment of Heran Sereke-Brhan as Interim Director for CAH. The agency's previous Executive Director, Terrie Rouse-Rosario, officially ended her incumbency on September 30, 2019. "I am appreciative of the work that Terrie has done in preparing the agency as it transitions to new independent status," said DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Chair Kay Kendall. "The Board of Commissioners and I support and look forward to working with Heran to keep the agency moving forward until a permanent Executive Director is identified." Interim Director Sereke-Brhan has been Senior Grants Officer for CAH since July 2017. Prior to joining CAH, she served as Deputy Director for the Mayor's Office on African Affairs. Over the past two decades, Interim Director Sereke-Brhan has worked at a number of cultural and educational institutions, including the Harn Museum at the University of Florida, Addis Ababa University, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art. She holds a PhD in History with a minor in African Art History from Michigan State University. The CAH Board of Commissioners will nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Council of the District of Columbia, appoint the new Executive Director for the agency. CAH has engaged DC-based recruiting firm POLIHIRE to manage the search process for the position

Wanna help me out?

Lecture: Art with a Twist
Sunday, October 13, 2019, 2 pm
Montpelier Arts Center
9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708

Join me as I take a fun walk through art history that culminates in contemporary art where I will discuss the work of some DC area artists. Lecture is free and open to the public. Please call Montpelier Arts Center at 301-377-7800 to register.

Challenge to my reader peeps: Nominate an artist for me to discuss at the lecture - some of the ones already on my list: Sam Gilliam, Tim Tate, Rik Freeman, Mark Jenkins, Shanthi Chandra-Sekar, Tim Vermeulen, Joey Manlapaz, Percy Martin, Sharon Moody, Judith Peck, and others...

Send me a note or leave a comment if you wanna bring an artist up to my attention for me to discuss at the lecture.

What is going on at the DC Arts and Humanities Commission?

From the DC Cultural Forum:

Over the past few months, the Commission has been unfairly used as a political pawn by District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser. Here are the highlights (as listed from WAMU's most recent article):

• Last fall, Mayor Bowser illegally appointed a director of the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities who slipped in an amendment to the grant agreement that recipients had to sign to receive funds. It would have banned “lewd, lascivious, vulgar, [or] overtly political” works, but it was scrapped within a week due to a backlash from the arts community.
• In April, the city introduced its long-awaited Cultural Plan, an inter-agency effort that laid out ways the city would support DC’s cultural economy. Some artists and cultural leaders said the document lacked a clear rollout plan and overemphasized loans over grants.
• Before yet another illegally appointed director resigned, she hired a number of senior positions with six-figure salaries, as the Washington City Paper reported.
• Late last month, Bowser introduced a new Creative Affairs Office to serve as an intermediary between the executive office and the Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
• At the same time, Bowser announced the return of the Mayor’s Arts Awards, which had previously been cancelled this year. In the past, the Arts Commission oversaw the awards and a panel would select the winners, but the program will now be under the purview of the Creative Affairs Office.
• In early September, the City Paper reported that Bowser’s office locked Arts Commission staff out of the agency’s vault of public art.

It's time for our community to speak up.

Here are things you can do right now to take direct action, with just one click: HERE