Opportunity for Curators

Deadline: March 1, 2009

The Philadelphia Museum of Art seeks applicants specializing in modern and contemporary art for a post-doctoral fellowship, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and offered beginning June 2009. Available to outstanding scholars who wish to pursue a curatorial career in art museums, this two-year fellowship, with a possible third year renewal, will provide curatorial training while also supporting scholarly research related to the renowned collections of modern and contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Details here.

Photography Collecting Tip

Most newspapers have a process via which you can buy their photographers' photographs for a very reasonable cost.

If you're in the market for a historic photographic memento of the Obama inauguration, I suggest acquiring whatever the Washington Post will make available here.

And if you got a little chutzpah in you, then you can call the photographer at the WaPo and see if you can talk them into meeting you at the lobby and have them sign the photograph.

The Art of Change


Artomatic, Inc. and Playa del Fuego, Inc. – institutions of the mid-Atlantic arts community – have joined together to create this year’s most distinctive inaugural celebration, The Art of Change (www.artists-ball.org), on Jan. 20, 2009 at 8pm.

With the generous support of corporate sponsor Scion (www.scion.com) and location sponsors The Warehouse Arts Complex (www.warehousetheater.com) and Douglas Development (www.douglasdevelopment.com), this event brings Washington, D.C., a unique opportunity to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama as President.

Tickets are available immediately for $50 at www.artists-ball.org.

Occupying three separate venues on the 1000 block of 7th Street, NW in downtown Washington D.C., The Art of Change will feature visual and performing arts, multiple dance floors, fire dancing and live music. DJs from across the mid-Atlantic region will be spinning an eclectic mix of musical styles on two dance floors, and in The Art of Change Galleries, displaying artworks created for this celebration. The Variety Stage will showcase performances all night long, including live music, comedy, belly dancing and spoken word poetry. And outside, attendees will enjoy fire-dance performances while dancing to up-and-coming DJs in the heated White Tent.

George C. Koch, chair of Artomatic, Inc.: “The Art of Change is an example of the collaborative spirit within the creative community and it speaks to the desire of artists to be a full partner in the change that is taking place in our country and our community. The Art of Change brings together the progressive and creative communities to support a new vision for our creative economy.”

For more information visit www.artists-ball.org.

Che: Early Look


It all started at 7PM and by 11:30PM it was all over, and I must report that there were some deserters, but I went to see Steve Soderbergh's "Che" last night. I have four separate publications which have asked me for reviews, so I'll be doing those first, but meanwhile a quickie for you guys:

- Movies are way too long and too many fighting skirmishes in both of them and zero plot to them.

- Benicio del Toro does a great job as Che, but supporting actor Santiago Cabrera steals part one as Camilo Cienfuegos.

- Part one and two delivers Che as a champion of the poor, the illiterate, the peasants and generally everyone who is shoeless. Even a light reading of Che's own writing and memoirs would reveal that this simplistic offering of this highly complex figure is incomplete and perhaps even dishonest. A more balanced approach should have included the Guevara who was judge, juror and executioner, and the inexperienced post-revolution Guevara who helped to destroy the Cuban middle class, the island's business infrastructure and its agricultural base.

- Part two is a huge disappointment in its lack of character development or even the slightest explanation why the storyline jumps from Cuba to Bolivia. Che's Bolivian guerrillas, which never numbered more than 51, included 17 Cubans who went along with Guevara in his effort to "export" revolution to the Americas after secret failures in Africa and Venezuela. The Cubans, who looked and talked very different from most Bolivians, held nearly all the command positions, but they were unable to speak the local Quechua or Aymara languages of the indigenous local Indians. This doomed the effort.

More later! I gotta go watch some football!

Obama and the Arts

Though Obama hasn't made any arts or humanities appointments yet, he has signaled that he regards culture seriously. During the campaign, he took the unprecedented step of forming an Arts Policy Committee, which produced a thorough list of policy objectives. (Rare are the campaigns that can boast a statement of principles drafted by a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist—in this case, Michael Chabon.)

Read Jeremy McCarter in Newsweek here.

Opportunity for Artists and Curators

Deadline: February 20, 2009

VSA arts seeks exhibition proposal(s) that include artists with disabilities for consideration to be displayed at the Kennedy Center Terrace Gallery from May-June 2009. Proposals will also be considered for programming in advance of and during the 2010 International VSA arts Festival. VSA arts encourages curators and researchers from the cultural, university, and museum communities, including those with disabilities, to incorporate the work of artists with disabilities into their exhibitions. We welcome proposals that address, challenge, and expand the discussion about disability and culture.

Exhibitions may include a wide range of media such as digital art, drawing, installation, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video.

VSA arts is committed to expanding the understanding, development, and appreciation of contemporary work by artists with disabilities.

For more information visit this website.

This weekend in DC


Irvine Contemporary is the exhibition manager of Manifest Hope:DC, a celebration of art and artists who were motivators of the national movement that helped bring Barack Obama to the presidency. Manifest Hope:DC is produced by EMG and Shepard Fairey's OBEY group, and is also sponsored by MoveOn.org and the SEIU.

Details here.

MANIFEST HOPE:DC
January 17-19
3333 M St., NW
Washington, DC