Rapture in a Dark Church

Tacoma Little Theatre's 'Off The Shelf' Presents a Reading of AMONG MANY WORLDS and my daughter Elise Campello is in it!

RAPTURE IN A DARK CHURCH

Book by Deanna Martinez - Music by Daniel J. F. Wolfert - Lyrics by Daniel J. R. Wolfert and Deanna Martine

Featuring: Arron Rorick Clark, Andreya Pro, Elise Campello, Richard Cubi Diaz, Chandler Thomas, Ariona Thompson & Keoni Dilay

Directed by Deanna Martinez

When Tabitha invites Amy to her youth group's overnight lock-in, skeptical Amy takes a chance on it. Instead of the clean, Christian fun she expected, Amy is met with an overzealous youth group leader and an adrenaline fueled game where she has the honor of playing the antichrist herself. Over one night and a groovy score with retro, Christian rock inspirations, Amy and the youth group will question what exactly being a good Christian kid means.

Wanna go to an opening this Thursday?

The Nomadic House Project • Cloud(s) 

An in situ installation by the Icebox Collective on view at the front garden of the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington DC through the end of November.  Please see attached for details.

Cloud(s) is the new version of The Nomadic House Project dedicated to immigrants at the US/Mexico border; it’s made out of water jugs, like the ones left by and for the immigrants on their journey. The artists responsible for this installation are Irene Clouthier, Courtney Applequist and Edgar Endress who want to invite people to be present and connected to the human aspect of this crisis and see or reflect for the human stories behind each water jug left behind, so that we can all be more empathetic and connected to each other.

Reception Thursday October 6, 6:30pm (artists present, and remarks by Ambassador Ana Luisa Fajer).

Details here.

Mexican Cultural Institute 

2829 16th Street N.W. 

Washington, DC 20009

Emergency Grant applications for Maryland artists

From the Maryland State Arts Council:

Emergency Grant applications for Independent Artists are currently being accepted for $2,000 grants! If you have experienced a loss of income due to an emergency scenario that impacts your work as an independent artist, we encourage you to apply. Reach out to Program Directors Laura Weiss at laura.weiss@maryland.gov and Emily Sollenberger at emily.sollenberger@maryland.gov for more information.

Applications accepted on a rolling basis and awarded monthly. Apply now!

Nevermore

One this day in 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was found delirious in a gutter in Baltimore ---  it was the last time he was seen in public before his death four days later.

The Fake artistry of Ebay fakery

eBay is chockablock with fake art. On one hand, if you do a search for any famous artist you’ll find sellers claiming to have pricy originals (or prints) that seem too good to be true. On the other hand, sometimes sellers are ambiguous about what you’re getting: they don’t quite say the piece is authentic, but they also don’t quite say that it is a fake or done as an homage.

Read the article by Brandon Zech here.

Multiple Exposures Gallery Photography Exhibition

In the last 30 years or so I have been honored with the task of jurying a show for Multiple Exposures Gallery three or four times, starting when it was called Factory Photoworks back in the 1990s.

See the show that I've just juried for MEG here.

These shows have always had one thing in common: they are exceptionally difficult to jury because of the exceptional quality of nearly every entry.  When essentially every entry presented to me or any other juror showcases the enviable talent roster that MEG possesses, it makes the selection process a combination that not only celebrates photographic skill, but also a wide array of other artistic vectors that influence the difference between a good photo and a great photo.

Issues such as composition, employment of light, range of tones, subject matter, and most human of all, the juror's own agenda and subjectivity, all come to play to deliver a final set of works for a show.

Over the same range of years I have juried and curated hundreds of art shows, and thus this next statement comes with the backing of all that experience and exposure to art (pun intended): This MEG exhibition is one of the best photography shows that I have ever juried!

And photographic history has come in full circle for me when it comes to jurying a show. I recall in the 90s when digital photography was still excluded from some exhibitions and only traditional darkroom or pinhole photography was allowed. How provincial must that look now when we're about to see an all digital show where powerful photographs and talented photographers flex their artistic muscles to show that it is the art of photography which delivers results, not just the means to create the photograph.

Many years ago I wrote in an essay for some magazine or newspaper about the DC area region, and in that essay I noted that MEG was one of the key artistic jewels which make up the tapestry of the Greater Washington region's visual arts footprint; this show will once again prove that, and I congratulate every single one of you selected for this show!

Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli will curate 81st Whitney Biennial

Meg Onli and Chrissie Iles
Photo: The Whitney Museum of American Art.

The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced that curators Chrissie Iles and Meg Onli will co-assemble/curate/organize the 81st Whitney Biennial, slated to open in the spring of 2024.

Onli rocking a super cool hairdo!