American University opening

Communicating Vessels: Ed Bisese, Elyse Harrison, Wayne Paige features recent artwork by three Washington, D.C.-area artists. Opening Reception: 6 to 9 p.m., Jan. 25. Free and open to all - at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center.

Harrison and Bisese’s work are acrylic paintings and Paige’s includes oil paintings and pen and ink drawings. While their work shows continuity with Surrealist ideas of the 1930s and 40s, it is also related to the Chicago Imagists of the 1960s and 70s and reflects the prevalence of surrealist imagery in contemporary visual art.

For Harrison, the paintings in this exhibition represent a departure from much of her previous work, both in style and content.  

While there will be three large paintings by Bisese from his ongoing series featuring the “Bunnyman” character, the exhibit will be a first exposition of a series of smaller, more abstract paintings with a bird-like creature personifying various characters. Paige continues working with his “celestial inkwell” in small drawings selected from different series that represent his signature “clothespin” figures in a strange and dangerous world.  

Closes March 15. 

Presented by the Alper Initiative for Washington Art and curated by Claudia Rousseau, Ph.D.  Free Parking: Communicating Vessels, 5:30 to 7 p.m., March 5. 

Curator Claudia Rousseau will join the three D.C.-based, Surrealist-inspired artists in conversation. 

Free and open to all; please RSVP to tinyurl.com/AlperTickets

Barbara Januszkiewicz’s newest works

On view through February 2020 at Kimpton Carlyle Hotel - The hotel is located at 1431 New Hampshire Avenue, Washington DC, 20009. From East City Art:

View Barbara Januszkiewicz’s newest stain works on unprimed canvas and paper. Described as DC’s own Washington Color School ambassador, Januszkiewicz has re-invigorated the color field technique of the early WSC artists, not only by channeling the veil paintings of Morris Louis, but in the soak/staining of her canvases much like that of Helen Frankenthaler.

In this exhibit we see Januszkiewicz produce zen-like brush strokes across large formats with thinned acrylics. Instead of the WSC traditional pouring paint, she creates and designs her own unique brushes to control her fans of color to create fields of pure color.

Read the whole review here. 

More Scottish skyscapes

I'm still looking for the friggin' 4th grade photos of Anderson... and now I found this! These are 1989-1992 watercolors that I did in Scotland when I lived there while stationed with the US Navy... I did tons of these as sky studies of the gorgeous Scottish skies...

See more of them here.

The return of the Capitol Hill Alphabet Animal Art Project

The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW), in partnership with Eastern Market Main Street (EMMS), is excited to announce the next phase of the Capitol Hill Alphabet Animal Art Project, a community-based public art project featuring installed sculptures on selected street signs in the Southeast quadrant of DC. In 2014, 10 sculptures were successfully installed through a pilot partnership with the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT). Funded by a recent grant from the DC Community of the Arts and Humanities, the Alphabet Animal Art Project will work with DDOT to install 10 additional sculptures throughout Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B to intentionally broaden the span of the Alphabet Animal “path.” The new animal sculptures will be unveiled on Thursday, April 16, 2020 during Eastern Market Main Street's Third Thursday celebration. 

“The Alphabet Animal Art Project is so special,” says Hannah Jacobson, Project Manager, “and all of the sculptures both already completed and in production tell a story: individually in conversation with their street corners, their artists, and their materials, and together as a collective pathway encouraging new ways of engaging with spaces that may feel familiar. We are thrilled to be able to add another 10 animals to our community.”

The Alphabet Animal Art Project was originally conceived by a father walking with his two children in Capitol Hill. As he walked past lettered street names, he pointed out, “K Street—K is for Kangaroo.” He brought the idea to the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop and so the Alphabet Animals were born. 

As a continuation of the previous 2014 project, the Alphabet Animals will follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. CHAW has engaged with a roster of nearly all the original artists, including Beth Baldwin, Charles Bergen, Undine Brod, Susan J. Champeny, Breon Gilleran and Mary Frank in collaboration, Carolina Mayorga, Davide Prete, Evan Reed, and Maureen Smith.

Eastern Market Main Street preserves the historic corridor, supporting small businesses, and fostering a vibrant, neighborhood serving corridor through public and private space improvements, capacity-building resources, and community events and campaigns. 

Since 1972, the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) has provided arts education to thousands of children and adults in the Washington region, especially from the greater Capitol Hill area. Through classes, performances, and exhibitions in visual and performing arts, CHAW brings together diverse segments of the population to connect through the transformative power of creativity.  CHAW offers a tuition assistance program and flexible payment plans. CHAW is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. CHAW is a featured charity in the 2014-2015 Catalogue for Philanthropy, mentioned as Best Venue to See on the Cheap in DCist’s 2014 Best Theater Venues in DC, the 2015 & 2016 winner for Best Arts Class in the Washington City Paper Readers’ Poll, 2014 & 2015 Hilly Award winner for Best Arts Organization/Venue, the winner of the 2017 Irene Pollin Community Engagement Award through the NSO and the recipient of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Innovation and Management program.

Squid drawings

While looking for Anderson’s 4th grade photo, which I can’t seem to locate, I found these 40+ year-old sketches of daily liberty life in Naples, Italy... cough... cough... 

The inseparable twins: Johnson and Johnson, USS Saratoga port visit, Taranto, Italy, c. 1976

MM3 Castro ready for liberty, USS Saratoga (CV-60)

“The Gunny conducting Squid counseling outside the Texas bar in Naples”

New Exhibition Space in the DMV: The Corner at Whitman-Walker

There's a new, non-collecting cultural institution in the DMV: The Corner at Whitman-Walker in Washington, D.C. 

German curator Ruth Noack, the new executive director of The Corner, will curate these works in their first exhibition: We First Arrived which opens on Saturday, January 25, 2020 and runs until Saturday, March 28, 2020.

The artists include Julie Mehretu, Dan Graham, Jesse Presley Jones, Kay Rosen, Amy Sillman, Paul Pfeiffer, Molly Gochman, Boris Torres, POPE.L, Lisa Tan, Xaviera Simmons and others.

Maryland State Arts Council - professional webinar series

The Maryland State Arts Council presents its first ever professional webinar series! Their Winter 2020 series will begin January 13th, and they will host multiple webinars each week until the end of February. All webinars are one hour long and free to the public. There will be a Q and A session after each webinar. If you have any questions you would like to submit before attending a webinar, please send them to msac.commerce@maryland.gov. Registration is required for each session.

January 13th: Welcome to MSAC! 

An overview of the Maryland State Council including what we do, ways to get involved and where to find information.

 Led by MSAC Executive Director, Ken Skrzesz and Deputy Director Steven Skerritt-Davis. Register here.

January 15th: Maryland Traditions: What is the Folklife Network?

MSAC will fund three new regional folklife centers in 2021: one in Baltimore City, one in mid-Maryland (Carroll, Frederick, and Howard counties), and one on the Upper Eastern Shore (Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, and Talbot counties). Organizations interested in learning how to become a regional folklife center should join this webinar to learn more about the Folklife Network, which funds activities supporting Maryland's living cultural traditions. 

Led by State Folklorist, Chad Buterbaugh. Register here.

January 16th: Public Art 101 for Organizations

For communities interested in developing public art, this webinar will guide administrators/project managers from visioning and planning, through the artist selection process, artwork design, fabrication and installation. We will also review the Public Art Across Maryland grant program and address specific application questions to ensure your organization is prepared to apply. This webinar is also informative for artists seeking to enter the public art field.

Led by MSAC Public Art Program Director, Liesel Fenner. Register here.

January 22nd: Folklife Opportunities for Independent Artists

MSAC supports folklife artists with direct grants, resources at regional folklife centers, professional development, and consultation. Independent artists working in folklife, or community-based living cultural traditions handed down by example or word of mouth, should join this webinar to learn more about opportunities through MSAC's folklife program, Maryland Traditions. 

Led by State Folklorist, Chad Buterbaugh. Register here.

January 28th: Understanding and Marketing Arts & Entertainment District Property Tax Incentives 

(for A&E District Managers)

Maryland’s A&E Districts legislation allows local jurisdictions to enact property tax credits, but implementing and marketing the credits can be tricky. Join MSAC staff and A&E District Managers Stuart Eisenberg (Gateway) and Jennifer Merritt (Crisfield) for an interactive discussion about creating, implementing, and marketing A&E District property tax credits. 

Led by MSAC Deputy Director Steven Skerritt-Davis. Register here.

February 6th: Smart Simple Tutorial

Smart Simple is MSAC's new grants platform. Learn how to navigate the platform and how to complete applications such as the Creativity Grants application and the Maryland Touring Grants application.

Led by MSAC Program Directors Emily Sollenberger and Laura Weiss. Register here.

February 10th: MSAC Grantwriting 101

Learn basic do's and don'ts in writing grant narratives for MSAC and what our panelists look for in describing yourself as an individual artist, teaching artist, and/or organization.

Led by MSAC Director of Grants and Professional Development, Dana Parsons. Register here.

February 21st: Equitable and Accessible Regranting for County Arts Agencies

Maryland’s 24 county arts agencies help extend the reach of MSAC, in part by distributing grant funds to local nonprofits and independent artists. This webinar will review strategies local arts agencies can employ to distribute grant funds equitably and to make grant processes accessible and transparent. 

Led by MSAC Director of Grants and Professional Development, Dana Parsons. Register here.

February 26th: Canva Tutorial

Learn how this free tool can help with your print & digital marketing. Walk through the basics on how to utilize this website to make flyers, social media posts, brochures, presentations and more. 

Led by MSAC Program Director, Emily Sollenberger and Marketing & Communications Manager, Amelia Rambissoon. Register here.