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.

Child prodigy? Feh!

Mikail Akar doesn't flinch as the cameras click around him. Born in 2012, the German artistic prodigy has spent half his life in the limelight.

With his striped jumper, goofy grin and dreams of becoming a professional footballer, Akar seems just like any other seven-year-old boy.

Yet the Cologne-born youngster is actually an expressionist whizz kid who has taken the international art scene by storm.

Dubbed the "pre-school Picasso" by German media, Akar's paintings now sell for thousands of euros (dollars) to buyers from across the world.

Read the full article in Yahoo News here. 

This cycle of "child prodigies" seems to recycle itself ever few years... anyone remember child prodigy Alexandra Nechita from a few years ago?

To me this is the standard for dubbing someone a child prodigy in art - see the master here.

Call for local artists

Spotlight Art Series@Touchstone Gallery 2020
CALL FOR LOCAL ARTISTS
JURIED SOLO EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITY
Spotlight Solo Exhibition Dates: June 3 – 28, 2020
Juror: Adah Rose Bitterbaum, Owner and Director, Adah Rose Gallery

Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2020 11:59 PM Eastern Time
Entry fee: $45

Spotlight Art Series 2020 is an opportunity to have a solo exhibition at the Touchstone Gallery. A successful applicant will enjoy a front window 90 sq. ft. wall exhibition space in our street level gallery located in downtown Washington DC. If you don’t get selected for solo exhibition, you still get to exhibit one artwork, no larger than 12” in any dimension, in 2020 as part of Local Guest Artists Group show at a date to be specified.

For a full prospectus and to apply visit www.touchstonegallery.com/spotlight

Touchstone Gallery is an artist-owned gallery located at 901 New York Ave NW, Washington DC, close to several major national galleries. Since its founding in 1976, Touchstone has maintained a reputation for exhibiting contemporary work of high quality and innovation. Touchstone’s mission is to exhibit diverse contemporary visual art and to promote artistic talent in the DC region.

Scientists Have Solved One of History's Weirdest Leonardo da Vinci Mysteries

Scientists may have solved one of the great Leonardo da Vinci painting mysteries – why the glass orb in the Salvator Mundi painting (dated to around 1500 CE) shows no signs of the refraction and reflection of light that might be expected.

The answer, according to computer models run by a team from the University of California, Irvine, is that in the painting Jesus is holding a hollow rather than a solid orb, which would have appeared the way that da Vinci depicted it.

Details here. 

Cuban actress to play Monroe

Then this...

Collider reports that Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049, Knock Knock, War Dogs) is in early talks to star in the film, which could begin shooting as early as this summer. The Cuban actress would be taking over the role last attached to Jessica Chastain, then Naomi Watts before her.