Ira Tattelman's Gaming opens Tonight!

Gaming is an interactive installation by Ira Tattelman that takes place in the Capitol Skyline Hotel Lounge, 10 I Street, SW.

 

The installation directly invites visitors to participate in the work by playing games on boards created by the artist on the wall in the space, referencing the games commonly played in bars. Instructions for eight games and the necessary pieces to play them will be provided. Participants are also encouraged to invent their own games using the boards and other game supplies made available as part of the installation.

Opening:  Friday Night, September 6 from 6-8pm

Location:  Capitol Skyline Hotel, 10 I Street, SW
Exhibit:   August 31 through September 29 - part of Washington Project for the Arts Hothouse series

Opening next week

40 for 40: Celebrating Four Decades of GRACE
September 12 – November 2, 2013
Opening Reception September 12, 6-9pm, free and open to the public 

The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) is pleased to present 40 for 40: Celebrating Four Decades of GRACE, from September 12 through November 2, 2013. A retrospective exhibition marking GRACE’s 40th anniversary, 40 for 40 celebrates the organization’s continuous engagement with contemporary art in the metro D.C. area since its founding in 1974. The show will feature a selection of forty artists who have exhibited at GRACE, or have been closely involved with the organization, over the course of the past four decades. 

Launching the 2013-14 exhibition season and the Greater Reston Arts Center’s 40th year of operations, 40 for 40 will feature works in a broad range of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, glass, and ceramics, the exhibition will celebrate the variety and quality of work that has been exhibited at GRACE since its inception. 

Speaking about the exhibition, Curator of Exhibitions Holly Koons McCullough said, “This show highlights the impact the Greater Reston Arts Center has had within the regional artistic community. Some of the artists on view in 40 for 40 literally founded the institution. Others had exhibitions here that would become important milestones in their careers. Still others exhibited works that have come to define GRACE’s unreserved embrace of contemporary art in this region, in all its diversity and vigor.” 

40 for 40 will present works by some of the pioneers of the institution, including Brenda Belfield, Judith Forst, Joan Kelly, and Connie Slack. These artists held positions on GRACE’s staff and board, and helped to develop the organization’s overarching mission of engaging and educating the community in contemporary visual art. 

Other works on view reflect GRACE’s more recent exhibition history, such as a luminous Mylar sculpture by Rebecca Kamen, a site-specific ceramic installation by Elizabeth Kendall, and cerebral wood-based sculptures by Foon Sham and Evan Reed. Together with works by the other noted contemporary artists featured in 40 for 40, these pieces reflect the broad-minded, progressive nature of GRACE’s exhibitions, particularly since the institution relocated to its current site in Reston Town Center in 2006.

“We are thrilled to be able to highlight the rich and vibrant history of the Greater Reston Arts Center,” notes Executive Director Damian Sinclair. “For over forty years the work of this organization has been central to the cultural growth in our region and we look forward to being a leader of the artistic community in the next forty years.” 

Most of the works in the exhibition are available for sale, and many of the artists are donating 50% of sale proceeds back to GRACE in recognition of the organization’s anniversary and in support of its future. 

Artists Represented in 40 for 40: Celebrating Four Decades of GRACE 

John Adams, Ann Barbieri, Joanne Bauer, Brenda Belfield, Ed Bisese, F. Lennox Campello, Michael Cantwell, Dickson Carroll, Travis Childers, Ellen Cornett, Laura Edwards, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Judith Forst, Heidi Fowler, Suzi Fox, Rik Freeman, Rebecca Kamen, Joan Kelly, Elizabeth Kendall, J.T. Kirkland, Craig Kraft, Robert Lobe, Dalya Luttwak, Carolina Mayorga, David Meyer, Marco Rando, Matt Ravenstahl, Evan Reed, Pam Rogers, Dana Ann Scheurer, Eveleen Severn-Sass, Foon Sham, Connie Slack, Robert Straight, Tim Tate, Novie Trump, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto, Mary LaRue Wells, Millicent Young, and Andrew Zimmerman.

Public Programs:
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 12, 6-9pm. Free and open to the public.
40th Anniversary Family Day
40 for 40 public celebration and family day
Sunday, September 5, 2-5pm. Free and open to public.

Facebook's new terms of service and your pics...

Effective today (September 5th, 2013) Facebook has put into effect new Terms of Service and privacy policies that radically and significantly increase Facebook’s power to use your content and identity.

“The new Facebook Terms of Use have been modified to allow the company to sell virtually anything that is uploaded to the service, including all your photos, your identity and your data. Facebook has explicitly removed the privacy protection from the commercialization rights.”

Details here and good Q's and A's here.

New director for Clarice Smith

Effective October 1, Martin Wollesen will be the new executive director of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park. An arts administrator at the University of California, San Diego, "he is known for developing innovative arts programs to involve students and the community. Wollesen plans to bring the same inventiveness to his new job as executive director of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center that he did to his previous job in California."

Susie Farr, who is retiring after 14 years as executive director at Clarice Smith, was appointed to the Maryland State Arts Council in July of this year.  

Wollesen will be working with the UMD School of Music and also the School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies. He will also be overseeing the visiting artists’ program, raising funds and finding new ways to connect students and the public to the arts at the University of Maryland. 

Welcome to the DMV!

Wanna go to an opening Saturday?

28th annual Mayor's Arts Awards

Mayor Vincent C. Gray today joined the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) in announcing the 30 finalists of the 28th annual Mayor's Arts Awards. The Awards are the highest honors conferred by the District of Columbia in recognition of artistic excellence and service. This year's finalists demonstrate the wide range of talent the District of Columbia arts community has to offer. Finalists were chosen by the Mayor's Arts Awards Advisory Jury comprised of prominent members of the District's arts community with expertise in dance, music, theatre, literary arts, visual arts, arts service and arts education.

The nominees in our areas of interest are:

Outstanding Emerging Artist
Caitlin Teal Price
Brian Grundstrom
Tommy Taylor, Jr.
Luis Peralta


Outstanding Service to the Arts
Carla Perlo
Washington Project for the Arts
DC Arts and Humanities Ed. Coll.
DC Shorts
Sixth and I Historic Synagogue
BloomBars

La Llorona

"La Llorona"
Charcoal, conte and embedded electronics
Framed to 25 x 31 inches