A walk around the booth at AAFNYC

 

Fair opens to the public

Today the fair officially opened to the public and once again it was packed! Happy to report that the Bisque drawings keep selling like crazy - I've even sold several to other gallery owners and artists at the fair. This is a special honor for me.

 

Affordable Art Fair NYC - The VIP Preview

I worked my ass off hanging amazing work by Herrera and Farrow-Savos (and mine), while the superbly talented Cory Oberndorfer hung his great paintings on the back wall of our booth... by four o'clock I was done, walked over to my tiny room at the Chelsea Inn, showered and headed back for the VIP Preview.

Once the doors opened, the crowds flow in, and my drawings on Bisque are selling like... sorry... hot cakes! And to my horror I discover that I have left my credit card reader in my hotel... and that means that every sale has to be entered manually (which means that fucking Paypal charges you a little "extra"). 

A couple of times there's actually a back-up! They are selling really, really good.

Affordable Art Fair NYC - The drive

Fair Ops for 2022 - drove to NYC today and unloaded at the loading dock of the Met Pavilion on 19th Street West with the usual union guys sitting around chewing the shit - three fat Italian guys, a couple of hardworking PRs and a Dominican or two -- no one really "working" but, then... it is NYC.

I unload boxes of artwork and store them away as I can't really set up until tomorrow.

Once unloaded, I park in the parking garage on 18th Street that weirdly enough doesn't really show up on any parking map - the South American dude who's been working there for years knows me well by now.

I almost have a heart attack walking my luggage over to the Chelsea Inn... there's a lot of weight being dragged and carried... my room is the size of my bed, but at least there's a tiny fridge and a shower and toilet! That alone is worth the almost thousand bucks - and it's only a couple of blocks from the fair.

Here's the van - all packed before the long drive to NYC.

Opportunity for Artists: Trawick Prize

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is inviting local artists to submit work to the annual Trawick Prize Awards

This exceptional juried art competition awards $14,000 in prizes to four selected winners. The deadline for submissions is Monday, April 25, 2022. Up to eight finalists will be chosen to display their work at Bethesda’s Gallery B in September 2022.

The competition will be juried by Alexis Assasm, Assistant Curator of Global Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Art; Thomas James, Visual Arts Curator, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD, and Maria del Carmen Montoya, Assistant Professor of Sculpture and Spatial Practices, Director of Graduate Studies, M.F.A. in Fine Arts and Social Practice, Studio Arts Program, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.

Submission requirements:

• Artists must be 18 years of age or older
• Residents of Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, D.C.
• All original 2-D and 3-D fine art including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media, and video will be accepted
• The maximum dimension should not exceed 96 inches in any direction. No reproductions.
• Artwork must have been completed within the last two years and must be available for the duration of the exhibition.
• Selected artists must deliver their artwork to the exhibit site in Bethesda, MD.
• Each artist must submit five images, an application, and a non-refundable entry fee of $25.

The first-place winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A “young” artist whose birth date is after February 22, 1990, may also be awarded $1,000.

Artists can apply online or download an application at https://www.bethesda.org/bethesda/trawick-prize. For information on the Bethesda Painting Awards, visit www.bethesda.org or call 301-215-6660.

Innovate Grants

The deadline for Innovate Grant's Winter Cycle is Thursday March 24 2022, have you applied yet? Now is the perfect time to share your work, so why wait?

Innovate Grant awards (2) $550.00 grants each quarter, to one Visual Artist and one Photographer. In addition, (4) honorable mentions (2 in art and 2 in photo), will be featured and recognized on our website and join a growing community of vibrant and talented artists. Innovate Grant's commitment extends beyond the grant cycle by promoting the work of selected winners and honorable mentions into the future. They've simplified the grant process, so that artists and photographers can focus on making their innovative work. The work should speak for itself and our application reflects that.

How to Apply:

All media and genres are accepted. All applicants (visual artists and photographers) 18+ years and older, from all around the world, are eligible to apply. All applicants retain the right to the work they submit. Apply today at https://innovateartistgrants.org

Explore the work of Past Innovate Grant recipients and Read their Interviews at https://innovateartistgrants.org

Category: Multiple disciplines and genres accepted

Deadline: March 24, 2022

Region: US & International

Awards: $550.00 USD Grants

Apply Online Today

https://innovateartistgrants.org

Phoenix Art Museum

I am thrilled to find out that this 1980 mixed media piece from my "Cuba" series is now part of the Phoenix Art Museum permanent collection!

Isla Prision - from Cuba series
1980 mixed media by Florencio Lennox Campello