Thanks to painter Pat Goslee, who emailed me this jewel of a link: Overheard at Art Shows.

A few years ago, I was at an opening for Catriona Fraser's photographs, which are B&W Infrared landscapes of Scotland, when I overheard a young man tell his date: "WOW! I didn't know everything in Scotland was black and white!"

John Blee, who is a very talented area painter, and gallerist-in-charge at Spectrum Gallery in Georgetown, as well as the galleries art critic for The Georgetowner has an exhibition of recent paintings opening this coming Friday the 13th at One World, located at 14th and S Street, NW in DC. Opening reception from 7-8:30 PM.

Art.com allows artists to post up to 16 images of their work and sell them at no cost or commission. Go here for more details.

They also have a Call for Artists for a Special "The Impact of War" Online Exhibition. It is being curated by D. Dominick Lombardi, who is an Art Critic for The New York Times. There is no cost to artists and the work can be for sale. Details here.

If you haven't seen the new Olympic mascots for the Athens Games, be ready for two of the dumbest mascot designs in the already stupifying world history of mascot imagery.

Nearly 200 design entries were submitted when Athens Olympic Games' organizers put out the artists' call for prospective mascots. The winning creatures were created by a team of six. And this is what happens when you design by committee.

See them here.

Those crazy Brits...

This "guerrilla artist" covertly cemented a 20 foot-tall statute into a London square. The monument, called "Trust No-one", was said to have cost £22,000 to construct, was made of solid bronze and weighed three-and-a-half tons! The local city council wasn't too amused and had it removed a couple of days later.

Read the story here.

Thinking About Art has a really good posting about DCAC's Wall Mountables Show, which is on exhibit until August 22. I'm going to be reviewing this show as well (hopefully soon).

J.T. also has a very well-written review of Canadian artist Allyson Clay at Numark Gallery.

No matter what you hear and read elsewhere, August is not a dead month for all area galleries. This week is the second week of the month, and thus on Thursday you can do Art Night in Alexandria, with eight participating galleries and on Friday you can do the Bethesda Art Walk (which has a free mini bus to take "walkers" around) and about 15 participating galleries and art venues.

Call for Printmakers

Deadline: March 31, 2005.

Lessedra World Art Print Annual. An international print annual with the premise that no art form has broader implications in contemporary society than that of the print. The aim is to gather and exhibit contemporary art print works from all over the world and to contribute to the contacts and the exchange between artists, art lovers and collectors and to stimulate the research into paper, inks, and other materials used in printmaking. Exhibition with all the works will be organized in The National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria in June 2005. Details and entry forms here.

Sometime today DCARTNEWS will pass 25,000 page views. Thank you to all of you who visit... it reflects the interest in what's going on the visual arts in our region.

Opportunities for artists

Deadline: September 1, 2004

The 30th Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition - formerly the Bradley National will be excepting applications until September 1, 2004. Exhibition dates will be March 8 - April 7, 2005. There is a catalog published of the exhibition. The juror, Judy Collischan, Ph.D, is currently an independent art consultant, was the Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs at the Neuberger Museum of Art, SUNY-Purchase; Director of the Hillwood Art Museum and Public Art Program at Long Island University, C.W. Post campus and Administrative Director for The Printmaking Workshop, NY, NY. The entry fee is $25.00 for three entries and $5.00 for each additional entry. Please send a self addressed stamped envelope to:
Bradley International
Bradley University Department of Art
1501 West Bradley Av
Peoria IL 61625

Or to print the prospectus go: here.

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Deadline: September 1, 2004

Call for Public Art. Seeking professional artists to construct public art for up to 18 sites. Traditional sculptures preferred. Submit 6+ images of proposed work, 10 slides or prints of outdoor sculpture work, description, statement, materials list, resume, letter/interest, budget, references and timeline to:
Karen Hokansson
Newport News Public Art Foundation
Box 120648
Newport News VA 23612

Email: nnpaf@cox.net

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Deadline: September 3, 2004

The Barrett Art Center's 20th Annual National Contemporary Art Competition. Juror: Tina Kukielski, Contemporary Art Curatorial Dept, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. Cash awards/exhibition opportunities. Painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography and mixed media. Send SASE for prospectus to:
The Barrett Art Center
55 Noxon St
Poughkeepsie NY 12601 or call 845-471-2550

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Deadline: October 29, 2004

Digital Concentrate Art and Technology Exhibition. Deadline for entries is Friday, October 29, 2004. Dates of exhibition are March 7 through April 24, 2005. Open to artists over the age of 18. The exhibition conceives of a broad intersection of art and technology. Entries may include but are not limited to: web-based art, works for monitor display, digital video, digital prints, sensor-based and/or interactive work, and robotics. Work will be selected by a curatorial team comprised of a contemporary art historian and a digital artist from the Division of Art & Design at Purdue University, and the director of Galleries. Selections will be made from review of 35 mm slides, jpeg files, CD-ROM/DVD, VHS format video and URLs. Please observe resolution restrictions for jpeg images sent via e-mail (maximum dimension of eight inches in image size-maximum resolution of 300 dpi). Include an artist statement and description of necessary hardware and software for display. Submissions will be accepted by ground mail or e-mail. A non-refundable entry fee of $20 will entitle the artist to submit up to three (3) original works for consideration. Entries must be made on the official entry form or PDF file from the Purdue Galleries website: here.

For more information, contact:
Craig Martin-Director
Purdue University Galleries
Physics Building Room 205
525 Northwestern Av
West Lafayette IN 47907-2036

Or call 765-494-3061 OR email cdmartin@sla.purdue.edu.

Blake Gopnik makes a couple of good points about two new local museums while Gopnik's colleage Jessica Dawson reviews Andrew Krieger's 30-year retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and makes some really good observations.

Both are in today's Washington Post's Sunday Arts section - first time that I recall the Gopnik-Dawson combo.

Since Jessica is now sharing the "Galleries" column with Glenn Dixon, it would be nice to see an occasional review from her or anyone else continue to appear in Sunday Arts to augment Gopnik's museum-only look at our region.

I've been working on a list of the 10 most influential people in the Washington, DC area as far as the visual art scene in our region is concerned. I was hoping to have it ready today - but it is not. I will try to have it posted here in the next few days.

Today I'll be co-hosting the Success as an Artist Seminar in Bethesda.

Today is the last day to sign up for the Success as an Artist seminar that I am teaching tomorrow. There are 3-4 spaces left. Call 301/718-9651 before 6 PM to register.

I've been retained by Art.com to curate a worldwide call for artists in an homage to Frida Kahlo.

More details as the call for artists is finalized. There will be no entry fees and there will be a substantial prize. In 1997, together with the Mexican Cultural Institute, I curated this Homage to Kahlo. It was a tremendous success, with several reviews across the nation and a really plain website that has attracted over 10 million visitors since then!

An alert DCARTNEWS reader catches Artspeak at its most absolutely mind blowing sillyness:

A fountain made of blobby cast metal by Lynda Benglis has a nice grotesquely organic presence; and a field of wiggly green lines on a hot pink ground by Sue Williams is sexy and optically captivating. But these are absorbed into a generally leveling, pluralistic hodgepodge.

The above is from a NY Times review.

Thanks Jim!

Artist Slides

Last Friday I went through a few hundred slides from all over the world for Gallery International's first ever All-Media Competition and Show, which will run from September 2nd through the 24th, 2004, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 2nd, from 6-8pm.

A few years ago I wrote an article for Art Calendar Magazine in which I discussed a variety of tips and advice to artists who enter juried competitions. I will see if I can find that writing and post it here, as it is as topical as ever.

The vast majority of the work that I reviewed was excellent (and as usual), as a juror, one is often forced by space and other constraints to reject work which is good and interesting. But I think that it will be a good show. The Best of Show winner will be selected from the actual work and he/she will get a solo show at the gallery next year.

However, I am always surprised by a couple of recurring things that I see time after time in all the juried competitions (including ours) that I see every year and have seen in the last 25 years.

The first is the fact that nearly 75% of all entries arrive on the last two days of the competition - OK, OK so we all know that artists leave everything to the last minute. But, what gets me is that a lot of these entries come via FEDEX or UPS, which means that the artist is paying $25 or $30 bucks just to have the slides delivered on time. This is a waste of money; with a little planning, the slides can be sent via regular mail for under a buck or via USPS Priority for $3.95.

The second is the poor quality of slides being submitted. I would say that at least 10% of all entries consist of really dark (I've actually have seen completely black or unexposed) slides, which make seeing (and jurying) the artwork nearly impossible. Or slides that are out of focus, or artwork shot under glass with a flash, where all you see is the bright flash reflected on the glass. You get my point: bad slides!

As an artist, if we go through the trouble of entering a competition, the few seconds that it takes to actually project the slide (if you have a slide projector that is...) or at least look at it with one of those hand-held slide viewers, should be a part of the procedures we must all do before submitting that slide for jurying.

By the way, for all you digital people out there.... you can get slides made from your digital files at Slides.com.

A good source for juried competitions is Art Deadlines, or Kara Art in Europe, or nothing still beats a subscription to Art Calendar Magazine.

Henri Cartier-Bresson died Tuesday in France and the Post's Pulitzer-prizewinning art critic Henry Allen has a brilliant piece on Cartier-Bresson in today's Post.

Adams Morgan Day Festival

There are still a few booth spaces left for the annual Belmont Street art show, a key part of the annual Adams Morgan Day Festival. This year's show is one day only, Sunday, September 12th, from 10 am to 6 pm. It always draws a great crowd and features a fun group of local artists. For more information and an application, please contact Michele Banks at (202) 625-6249 or email her at miche@null.net.

Success as an Artist Seminar offered on August 8, 2004.

Almost as soon as we opened our first gallery in Georgetown in 1996, artists began pouring in seeking representation. This continues to this day, and between visits, emails, packages in the mail, etc. we generally receive around 600-800 inquiries a year.

Because we obviously cannot represent or sell the work of such a huge number of artists, a lot of good, talented artists are turned away, after we have recommended follow on steps on what to do. However, in our first few months, Catriona soon discovered that she was spending most of her of time with emerging artists discussing many of the same things over and over, which generally consisted of giving out career advice about such things as gallery representation, contracts, grants, competitions, resumes, etc.

This was not only time consuming with scheduled appointments, but many unscheduled visits caused her to spend several hours a day just meeting with artists and essentially passing out the same information, over and over.

Then her mother came out with a brilliant idea: Why not come up with a structured, formal seminar for emerging artists to pass out this information as well as other important information. Not theory, not review of artwork, but practical advice, usable handouts and a forum to answer questions all at once.

We held our first seminar in 1999 – it was supposed to run for four hours but it ran for seven. So eventually we changed it to a full day, seven hour seminar, and have now presented it to over 1,000 artists and art administrators from nearly every Mid Atlantic state – with attendees coming from as far north as New York and as far south as South Carolina.

It has been spectacularly successful in offering practical business advice to the emerging artist on many areas not covered by any art school curriculum that we know of. The information, advice and details taught at the seminar are not based on theory, but on actual practical experience and hands-on effects. That’s why it has been so successful!

The seminar lasts for seven hours and is now offered twice a year. It costs $80 and the next one is scheduled for August 8, from noon to 7 PM at our Bethesda gallery. Interested artists can read more details or print a registration form online at www.thefrasergallery.com/seminars.html or just call Catriona at 301/718-9651.

The seminar is held at the Fraser Gallery of Bethesda, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, in Bethesda. The gallery is one block from the Bethesda Metro stop on the Red Line. Ample free parking is also available.

The Corcoran in the news...

The New York Times. Writer Carol Vogel interviews David C. Levy, profiling the Corcoran's planned renovation and new Gehry wing in Inside Art: Corcoran to Expand.

The Washington Post's art critic Michael O'Sullivan reviews In Search of Self: Paintings and Drawings by Anil Revri, lauding Revri's "shimmering, meditative abstractions" as "vertiginous and thrilling."

Metro Herald. In the newspaper's center spread, writer P.J. Robinson applauds the juxtaposition of three exhibitions at the Corcoran (The Eyes of History 2004, Sally Mann: What Remains and In Search of Self: Paintings and Drawings by Anil Revri) as a "powerful trio" that ultimately "gives us hope."

On the Line: machines, maps, and memory, curated by Karey Kessler and Pat Goslee is at Maryland Art Place from August 3 through September 11, 2004.

Each artist uses the idea of memory as a map-making machine, recording places both seen and unseen, nightmarish and utopian, hallucinatory and real. Artists included in the exhibition are Andy Holtin, Andrew Krieger, Walter Ratzat, Scott Reynolds, Dylan Scholinski, Perry Steindel, Jennifer Swan, Katy Uravitch, and Sylvie van Helden.

There's a gallery talk on Thursday, September 9, from 6-7 pm and a closing reception on Thursday, September 9, from 7-9 pm.

On the Line: machines, maps and memory first appeared at the District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC) in Washington DC. The show ran from April 30-May 30, 2004. Curators Karey Kessler and Pat Goslee are both well-known Washington area artists who have formed a Visual Arts Committee with DCAC Board Member Philip Barlow to raise the quality of gallery installations, and expose new artists through exposure at DCAC. The Curators’ Incubator at MAP allowed for a broader exploration of the theme and a second venue in Baltimore.

National Cherry Blossom Festival Call for Artists.

Deadline: August 31, 2004.

Presented by the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Open to all artists painting in any 2D media (oil, water media, acrylic, casein, pastel, pencil, mixed media, collage, other) or working in digital arts. Each year the festival holds a poster contest to select a new image that expresses goodwill between the United States and Japan which incorporates the delicate flowering cherry blossoms. Artwork should associate the theme(s): the cherry blossoms, the beauty and the people of contemporary and historic Japan and Washington DC, and the amity and friendship between the two countries.

Max size: 8x10 inches, vertical orientation. The cherry blossom trees that surround the Washington, DC Tidal Basin were a gift from the people of Japan in 1912. The tradition of a Cherry Blossom Festival to mark the arrival of spring in Washington, DC began in 1935.

Prizes include $1,000, tickets to certain events, 2-night stay in a local D.C. hotel, and more. There is no entry fee.

A prospectus is available for viewing on their website. Address: National Cherry Blossom Festival, 2005 Art Contest, 1250 H Street, NW Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005 USA. Phone: 202.661.7584 Email: ncbf@downtowndc.org Website: www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

Opportunity for Photographers

Deadline: August 15, 2004

Washington Gallery of Photography Second Annual National Juried Gallery Show and Exhibition. The Washington School of Photography presents its second annual National Juried Gallery Show and Exhibition, October 8 to November 8, 2004. All photographic works from residents of any state or territory are eligible. Slides are due August 15, opening is October 8. Cash and exhibit opportunities awarded. Prospectus can be downloaded here or SASE to: WGP/WSP, 4850 Rugby Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814.

Gallery closing

I am told that the Elizabeth Roberts Gallery will be closing in the near future as Miss Roberts is getting married and moving away.

Congratulations to Elizabeth and we hope that the building (which previously housed the Anton Gallery for many years) remains in use as a gallery space.

"Great Expectations" and the need to Create Value in one's artwork.

By (and printed here with the permission of) Malik Lloyd, Publisher of the Find Art Information Bank.

Attending a recent seminar, "Starting Your Own Art Collection" at the Smithsonian's Anacostia Museum and watching the film version of Charles Dickens' classic novel "Great Expectations" served as the impetus for this editorial. They got me thinking how the latest buzzword of "creating value" actually translates to an artist.

Serious collectors are spending inconceivable amounts of money on art. In 2003, the late Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting Profit I sold for a hefty $5 million at auction, placing him in an elite cadre of contemporary artists. While it is commonplace for Impressionist paintings to command tens of millions in today's market, the irony is most people did not think that they were worth the canvas on which they were painted during their day. It begs the larger question, how is value determined? In addition, who determines it? Artists? Collectors? How do art critics and curators fit into the equation?

As artists, we must ask ourselves a series of introspective questions: How does creating value affect me? Will the value of my artwork increase over time? How can I make this a reality? Is adding value to my artwork even something worth considering or will it take care of itself? Is adding value to one's artwork and marketing one's artwork one in the same? Does having wonderful artwork ensures you of having value applied to it?

How does an everyday artist create value, which may translate to how can an artist professionally establish themselves with a view to sell their work in today's marketplace?

In true Hollywood fashion, the movie "Great Expectations" shows Ethan Hawke as, an artist named, Finn, being rescued from his life as a fisherman with the promise of an exhibit in an exclusive New York gallery. Robert DeNiro's character, Luftig, is a criminal and thus, Finn's unlikely benefactor, has arranged an exhibition; rented an apartment to serve as his studio; has provided him with a new image-improving wardrobe; and paid for the show's marketing. To top it off, Luftig then purchases all the artwork in the show. Luftig's actions have led to creating value for Finn for he has raised his artistic profile and created a demand for his work. The concluding scene reveals that Finn has built upon this early success and has become an acclaimed artist.

Since most artists are not actors in a Hollywood movie, this notion of creating value is trickier. During the seminar, the speaker emphasized that an artist creates value by developing what the seminar speaker identified as a "solid " career path. The good news is all artists can do this by doing what comes naturally, e.g. becoming formally educated; receiving awards; participating in juried and museum shows; receiving commissions and making actual sales; and ultimately, having gallery representation.

The latter is key because it aids in documenting sales and many of the aforementioned components. Of course, the more prominent or exclusive the gallery, the better. For most artists, discipline, hard work, and time, lots of time, are the ingredients of creating a solid career path and therefore, value. Unfortunately, the expenditure of time and effort does not guarantee successful results. Some artists have raised the value of the their artwork more expeditiously both through their own direct efforts and being the fortunate object of art collectors' desires.

At the seminar's end, the speaker proposed his own Hollywood scenario of how art collectors can create value for a particular artist regardless of the solidness of his/her career path. He simply stated, "If everyone present [at the seminar] purchased a particular artist's work, the value of his/her work would most likely rise."

This very scenario sheds light on the role of individuals, in particular collectors, no matter how serious, can affect an artist's commercial success. Orson Wells once said "people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." Yet, these same "people" could very well determine the value of our artwork. Far be it for me to "say," but perhaps people, price and value share a more intimate relationship than we ever imagined.

Malik M. Lloyd

Opportunity for Photographers in London...

Deadline: August 26, 2004.

Re-Focus Now in the UK is inviting entries for Originate 2004 returning for it's 2nd successive year. Last years winning entries can be viewed online here.

This competition is open to all areas of creative media to interpret the theme 'ORIGINATE' and support the promotion of talent within the fields of digital imaging, photography, painting, sculpture and mixed media. Final deadline 26th August.

The selected winning entries will be showcased in their stall at ON THE WALL at Olympia in London 29th September - 03 October 2004. They are stall A16.

For entry forms and guidelines on this competition e-mail info@refocus-now.co.uk with ORIGINATE 2004 in the subject line

In Baltimore today; will post some good stuff later in the day. Visit again.

I've been asked by Baltimore's Gallery International to jury and select their first ever All-Media Competition and Show, which will run from September 2nd through the 24th, 2004, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 2nd, from 6-8pm.

So I'll be in Baltimore tomorrow looking at around a thousand slides... more on that later.

Dr. Claudia Rousseau, who is an internationally renowed art critic, and who recently moved to our area from Latin America, writes a superb review of David Wallace at Gallery Neptune in Bethesda.

One of the great assets of the Greater DC area visual arts scene is the significant number of alternative spaces that offer up their walls to show artwork.

At any given time in our area, by the time you add up all the independently owned fine arts commercial galleries, all the independently run non-profit art galleries, all the city or county funded non profit art galleries, all the cultural art centers, all the embassy galleries, all the college galleries and all the alternative art spaces, there are well over 200 venues in our area that regularly show visual art.

Considering the size of the area that we describing, that is a large number of spaces, which on a monthly basis offer up artwork for viewing, sale and enjoyment. Mostly ignored by the media - which in our area focuses most of their cultural attention on movies, music and theatre - they nonetheless continue to add to the cultural tapestry of Washington, DC.

You read it here first: Jessica Dawson, who has been writing the Washington Post's "Galleries" column for the last few years, will now only be writing the column every other week due to other writing commitments.

Glenn Dixon, who used to be the Arts Editor at the Washington City Paper until a few years ago, and then became the City Paper's ad hoc art critic will now write the "Galleries" column the rest of the time.

Two reviews a month from Jessica and two reviews a month from Glenn... I hope that Jessica gives Dixon a map to where all the galleries in Washington are located.

P.S. - By the way, Dawson's review last week of Carrie Mae Weems at G Fine Art was excellent. In case you missed it, read it here.

The current King Arthur movie apparently has a typical Hollywoodian butchering of fact and history in the introduction of a "new" Guenevere as a Pictish princess.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I keep running into people, who knowing my interest in Pictish history, keep telling me about Hollywood's first ever depiction of Pictish people on film.

The Picts were a real people and I have been working on a book about their singularly unique art for several years now (actually since 1989). Learn more about them at Pictish Nation.

Some of my drawings migrated from their designs are here, and more recent drawings visualizing their tattoos are here.

And having recently seen the spectacular Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya at the NGA, I've decided to contact the NGA and see if I can get someone interested in bringing - for the first time ever outside of Scotland - an exhibition of Pictish art and maybe even some of their sculptured stones to the US.

Opportunity for Photographers...

Deadline: October 4, 2004.

Visual Arts Photographic Competition in Maine. A photograph and photographic book competition to honor and recognize significant achievements within the field. Over $25,000 in awards and tuition grants. For an application contact the Maine Photographic Workshops, 2 Central Street, Rockport ME 04856. 207-226-8571.

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Bethesda Magazine is accepting submissions from amateur photographers who reside in the magazine's circulation area (Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Cabin John, Glen Echo, Kensington, Potomac, Rockville and Silver Spring).

Photographs should depict "life" in the Bethesda area. If your work is selected for publication as a cover image, you will receive $250. Submit either photographs or digital images (Tiffs only on CD, 300 dpi) to Bethesda Magazine, PO Box 15226, Chevy Chase, MD 20825. Call (301) 718-7787 for more information.

New Baltimore gallery is looking for artists.

Montage Gallery, initially opened in Portland, Oregon in 1994. The owners recently relocated to Baltimore and are now looking to review work and bring new artists to their gallery.

Please send portfolios to Mitch M. Angel: Montage Gallery, 925 S. Charles, Baltimore, MD 21230, 410-752-1125.

Call for Visual Artists for Arts on Foot "Art Market"

Deadline: August 13, 2004

The DC Arts Commission is seeking 50-60 visual artists... The Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association and the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities will produce the Arts on Foot "Art Market", a fine art and fine craft event featuring local and regional artists, on Saturday, September 18, 2004, from 11:00am - 5:00pm.

The "Art Market" will be held near the MCI Center, on F Street, NW between 7th and 9th streets, as part of Arts on Foot, an annual celebration showcasing theaters, museums, art galleries, artist studios, free films, theatrical readings, children's programs, special activities, performances, and cooking demonstrations.

Selected artists will be provided a tent, table, chair, and small stipend. There is no entry fee or deposit requirement. Completed application and slides/digital images must be received by 5:30 pm, Friday, August 13th, 2004.

The application can be downloaded here. A look at the schedule of events from last year on the Arts on Foot web site, will give you the flavor of all that takes place during Arts on Foot.

For more information contact the DC Commission on the Arts at 202/724-5613.

Arts Journal has picked up my Pentagon public art post made earlier today and put it in their national page.

Thanks AJ! Now let's see if the Post or the City Paper gets interested in following up the story.

If the Pentagon was in New York City, then maybe Art News, or Art Forum or Art in America might do a follow up story.

Wanna exhibit in an art museum (and if your art does not sell - it automatically becomes part of the museum's permanent collection)?

Come again?

Yep! The Modesto Art Museum in California is trying to raise funds, and they are hosting a mail art exhibition (deadline is November 30, 2004), where artists submit artwork through the mail no larger than 9.5 x 7 x 1 inches, or 24 x 18 x 3 centimeters.

All entries become the property of the Modesto Art Museum and will be sold to raise funds for the new museum; entries not sold will become part of the museum collection.

A bit ass-backwards if you ask me, but then again, it is a paradoxical commentary on museum acquisitions (in some cases): If the public doesn't like it -hey! we'll take it!

But seriously... this is a good way to help a museum find some extra sheckels while at the same time getting a chance to exhibit a small piece in a different setting and perhaps even ending up in a museum collection.

A museum by any other name is still a museum...

Details here.

This article in the Washington Post discusses how "a multimillion-dollar treasure trove of 19th- and 20th-century art has been discovered in basements, boiler rooms, closets and hallways in Philadelphia's cash-strapped public schools."

While the chances of DC area art schools having a hidden art trove is slim to none, let me tell you where I think there's a hidden treasure of artwork - not from the 19th century, but nearly all from 20th century (especially WPA period, and 50s and 60's): The storage buildings where the military's art collection (from the various services and mostly from closed bases all over the world) is "stored."

Not the significant and important art collection on display at the Pentagon, but the stored collection of thousands of works of art that a few years ago were stored in a couple of buildings at Andrews Air Force base. As I recall, there was some sort of investigation that discovered that the Department of Defense had little or no accountability or inventory for many of these works.

Sounds bad, but it is understandable. In fact I would submit impossible to have an inventory of artwork commissioned, donated, gifted, etc. to potentially thousands of U.S. military presences all around the globe in the last two hundred years.

As bases close, often things like artwork find their way back to this area, and they are/were stored at Andrews (at least ten years ago they were... not sure if they are still there). Sometimes they find their way to DLA and the various places where the public can buy anything being disposed of by the DoD (there used to be such as site around Fort Belvoir, Virginia).

But in any event, a DoD employee is/was resposible for maintaining accountability for this art collection, and in the mid 90s she was apparently fired/quit in part because a military Inspector General's team discovered that the works were generally unaccounted for and in many cases improperly stored (leaky buildings, rain, moisture, etc.).

All of these issues I am recalling from memory (I read the story initally in one of those air line magazines), but some things stuck in my head: the number of artworks mentioned in the story as being stored at Andrews (in the 100s of thousands) and the fact that there were many WPA pieces in the storage area, as well as possibly up to six unaccounted Norman Rockwell paintings.

Sounds like a good story for an enterprising Washington City Paper or Washington Post reporter to follow up on, uh? Maybe Teresa Wiltz? or Jeffry Cudlin?

I suspect that the accountability problem still exists. In fact I submit that the various services' art curators (each service has an art curator for its own art collection and they all have offices at the Pentagon) do not even have an accurate inventory of the artwork on display at the Pentagon today!

My suspicions were kindled when this story in Art News discussed the fact that US Army curator Renee Klish discussed the fact that four important paintings had been destroyed by the 9/11 attack, but says that eleven other artworks "may have been destroyed."

I am willing to bet that if the Andrews Air Force base artwork storage building still exists, that there are works in there worth hundreds of millions of dollars and maybe still being stored away in improper conditions. I hope I am wrong about the latter.

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Update! An alert DCARTNEWS reader also recalls the story I mentioned (published in an air lines magazine in mid 90s) and she even recalled the name of the fired/dismissed/she-quit DoD Art Curator. I have it and will pass it to any enterprising reporters who want to follow up this story - in fact I even have contact info, since I recognized the name as someone still associated with the business of the arts in our area.

I have been trying to move in and settle into my newly-bought house since April... I have a fairly big back yard with several trees and a lot of wild bamboo that's growing everywhere. Does anyone out there know how to get rid of bamboo?

It's like the Frankentree of back yards... apparently one of my neighbors planted it a few years ago and now it has spread all over the place. All the houses around me have managed to get rid of it, but me -- as the new kid on the block -- my lot still has a backyard full of 60 feet plus bamboo shoots all over the place.

Nuthin' to do with art... just thought I'd ask...

Tough day today... have been all day at the Virginia Scottish Games trying to sell some artwork (Catriona's Scottish photographs and my own Pictish Nation drawings and prints) - it has been very windy and moist.

A few posts ago I commented on the fact that newspaper reviews rarely if ever cause any sales.

Well, no sooner had I posted that... a few days ago Jonathan Padget mentioned in his Arts Beat column in the Post that Andrew Devlin had won the Best of Show at the VIII Georgetown International. The column was illustrated with Devlin's winning entry.

Well, today someone walked in with the story from the paper in hand and bought Andrew's work!

And finally for this Friday.... the animated cartoon everyone is talking about.

I'm not really sure what "Latino history" is (but I wonder if it includes this guy)... but here it goes anyway...

Job announcement for a Director, Program in Latino History & Culture.

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History seeks a creative director to lead its program in Latino history and culture. The director conceptualizes, plans and implements the museum's Program in Latino History and Culture and produces a variety of programs, lectures, exhibitions, conferences, concerts and other programmatic activities reflecting Latino history and culture.

The position is full-time, permanent with a salary range from $60,638-$78,826 per annum with excellent benefits. For questions, contact Erika Mack: (202) 633-3555, e-mail: macke@si.edu .

To apply, see announcement #04BT-1216 at the following websites: www.americanhistory.si.edu or www.si.edu/ohr.

The College Art Association assists artists financially in completion of MFA and Ph.D. programs. Grants of up to $5,000 are awarded to individual artists. Deadline is ongoing. For information, contact:

The College Art Association Fellowship Program
275 7th Ave.
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 691-1051

One of my pet peeves about people who say that they write about the Washington visual art scene is the fact that some of them rarely immerse themselves in it. I believe that in order to really be qualified to write about Washington art galleries and Washington artists, then you need to spend a lot of time going to Washington art galleries and talking and meeting and kibitzing with people involved in the arts and artists.

This doesn’t mean just hanging around the three or four fave galleries, where you know the owner, and he/she knows you and greets you when you come in. This doesn’t mean focusing on just the museums and writing about the big names.

And above all, this doesn’t mean dismissing all the galleries that you never visit or perhaps then unfairly perceive as not relevant or interesting. The gall to dismiss art that you never see, or to evaluate a place that you’ve never set foot on, is not only short-sighted but downright unethical.

But it happens.

To write about Washington galleries one needs to spend a lot of time visiting galleries. Not just a handful here and there because you day job is so demanding on you, but 2-3 a week and all over the area – Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Alexandria, Bethesda, 7th Street area, Arlington, the universities, the various ethnic/embassy cultural centers and galleries, the non-profits in Rockville, Reston, etc. A lot of driving; a lot of time; a lot of viewing and digesting.

Being on the "inside" affords me some interesting views of the world of art. One of these views are of and about art critics and writers, most of whom are smart, eloquent, fair and intelligent symbiotic members of our art scene, and some of who operate under the mantle of being objective and fair and open minded, and yet carry hidden agendas, lazy gallery routes and unethical practices.

Let's discuss the latter.

They just don’t have the time, or desire, to see a lot of galleries. I don’t blame them – it’s not easy... but then don’t pretend that you then "cover the DC area."

Sigh... here it comes.

We are without a doubt one of the most reviewed galleries in the Greater Washington area – that is one thing for which we cannot complain (in fact, we have a small mention in today's Arts Beat column in the Post). All three major DC area newspapers (Post, Times and WCP) have been more than generous in reviewing our galleries over the years. Especially when one realizes how meager is the Post and Times’ printspace dedicated to the art galleries.

The one notable exception as far as printspace being the WCP, which under the guidance of its Arts Editor, Leonard Roberge, has taken the lead in reviewing and discussing the area’s visual art scene and delivers more reviews in a weekly format than the two dailies combined.

However, after dozens and dozens of reviews by the papers, national and international magazines, and even television. And after being around for over eight years, and having offered well over 100 art exhibitions… I still know of at least two widely published area art scribes who have never set foot in either of our galleries (at least as far as I know)… or in most other galleries in our area (I know because before I wrote this I talked to four gallery owners at random and asked them: "As far as you know, has fill-in-the-blank ever set foot in your gallery?"

The answer was no.

Interesting uh?

A local collector, who lives in Annandale, Virginia has more than 10,000 pieces of art in his private collection.

He does not collect, however, any contemporary American art.

"All art is a sign of its times," he said, "and from the 1950s forward, there is nothing in our society that's worth pursuing. That art has no future. It will just continue to become extinct -- as it should."

Sounds interesting? Read the Washington Post story here.

Thinking Inside the Box: The Art of Andrew Krieger opens at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on July 24 and runs until November 15, 2004.

It is great to see a Washington area artist's work in one of our museums. This show is curated by Eric Denker. The exhibition showcases more than 100 works from this Washington, DC-based printmaker, sculptor and draftsman. A well-deserved and richly-earned congratulations to Krieger.

Denker is another of the rare few local curators who has his finger on the DC art scene. He notes that "this exhibition underscores the Corcoran’s continued commitment to spotlighting local artists worthy of wider national recognition."

A suggestion to the Corcoran: How about a show for Manon Cleary?

Opportunities for artists...

Deadline August 15,2004

Portland Art Gallery Accepting Submissions for Latin American Art Exhibit (10/1-12/12). The Latin American Arts and Cultures Council of Oregon and the Belinki and DuPrey Gallery are presenting an art exhibition celebrating Oregon's Latin American cultural heritage. Featuring traditional arts (textiles, ceramics, folk art, etc.) and fine contemporary art by Latino/Hispanic/Latin American or artists of Spanish or Portuguese ancestry from Latin American countries, this exhibit will provide a visual accompaniment to other community events celebrating Latin American art and culture.
Belinki and DuPrey Gallery
1224 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97205
503.227.1242, email: erin@belinkiandduprey.com.

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Deadline August 15, 2004.

Public Art Project: The NC Zoo – North Carolina is seeking qualifications from artists or teams led by a professional artist for a large-scale sculpture that promotes renewable energy. This is an opportunity to design a participatory, kinetic work driven by the technology of renewable, "green" energy generation for an exterior setting. Up to 3 artists will each receive a $500 honorarium to visit the sites for an interview and proposal presentation. Project budget - $73,000 inclusive of artist fee, engineering, fabrication, installation and other associated costs. For more information contact Ellen Greer at ellen.greer@ncmail.net or 336.879.7450 or see this website.

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Deadline August 15,2004

15th Northwest Annual: Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) – Washington state. From Oct 9-Nov 20 CoCA presents the 2004 Northwest Annual, a juried exhibition now in it's fifteenth year, which is open to all professional artists residing in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Northwest Annual is an opportunity for artists to gain regional and national exposure and serves as a vital showcase for experimental work and emerging talent. CoCA is accepting submissions for the following media: painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, works on paper, and video. The juror for the CoCA's 2004 is visual artist Ken Lum. Prospectus and entry form can be found at this website, or email jim@cocaseattle.org.

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Deadline August 9,2004
Audubon Artists 62nd Annual National All-Juried Exhibition – NY. Sep 18-Oct 8, 2004. Salmagundi Club. Aquamedia, graphics, oil, pastel, and sculpture. Awards: over $12,000. Art lecture by Robert Gamblin on Oct 3, 12:30-1:30 pm. For prospectus, send SASE to:
Raymond Olivere
1431 Lexington Ave, #11D
New York, NY 10128

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Deadline August 21, 2004 - Pastel Society of New Mexico 13th National Juried Exhibition – NM. November 5-21. Expo New Mexico (Fairgrounds). 80% pastel. Judge: Richard McKinley. Awards: $5,000 in merchandise and cash. Entry fee: $25/3 members, $30/3 nonmembers, maximum 3 slides. For prospectus, send #10 SASE to:
PSNM-B
PO Box 3571
Albuquerque, NM 87190-3571

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Deadline: September 20, 2004

Allied Artists of America 91st Annual Open Exhibition - NJ. Nov 13-30, 2004. National Arts Club. All artists. Oil, watercolor, acrylic, casein, pastel, graphics, sculpture. Awards: $16,000 cash, medals. 20% commission. For prospectus, send SASE to:
R. Yanow
12 Korwell Circle
West Orange, NJ 07052

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Deadline August 25, 2004

2004 Delta National Small Prints Exhibition: Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University – AR. Delta National Small Prints Exhibition: Oct 21 - Nov 19, 2004. Juror: Shelley R. Langdale, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Full color catalog of all work in the exhibition. Several purchase awards, sales encouraged. For a prospectus send SASE to:
2004 Delta National Small Prints Exhibition
Bradbury Gallery
Fowler Center
PO Box 2339
State University, AR 72467
Or email: dnspe@astate.edu

Wanna have fun with Egyptian Hieroglyphics?

The New York Times has a story on an idea for a pension trust for artists that I discussed here last May.

Read the NYT story here.

Jobs in the Arts...

Executive Director: Mystic Arts Center, Connecticut.

The Mystic Arts Center, founded in 1913, is a non-profit art exhibition and educational organization, which seeks an Executive Director. Working in partnership with the Board, the Executive Director will provide leadership and direction to the Center, oversee the daily operations, facilitate the long-range strategic plan, serve as the professional spokesperson for the organization, recruit and manage membership and oversee the budget.

This full-time position directs a staff of 10 and is located on waterfront property with a 10,000 square foot facility. Qualifications: A bachelor's degree and at least five years of senior level experience, ideally in a non-profit environment. Proven budget management, fund-raising and computer experience desired.

For more information please visit their website here.

Salary: Competitive. Submit resume and cover letter to:
Search Committee
Mystic Arts Center
9 Water Street
Mystic, Connecticut 06355

or email to: mysticartssearch@aol.com