Leadfoot Rubia

The NYT reported over the weekend that Presidential candidate Marco Rubio had received four traffic tickets since 1997... cough, cough...

His wife got 13! Cough, cough.... fast rubia!

For the probably car-less New Yorkers who wrote this, cough, cough... article, and their witless editor, this apparently amounted to a story worthy of precious newsprint in the NYT. However, for someone who travels to Miami as often as I do these days, and who drives around that gorgeous city, it is clear to the most casual Captain Obvious that Miami drivers are only second worst to DMV drivers.

But it seems like a local DMV paper may have busted the NYT's source or tipper for this non-story!

And also here.

And so, in the spirit of news tips, I've got a tip for the once mighty NYT: I heard that Rubio, or maybe it was his wife, once parked temporarily in a loading zone and didn't actually load or unload anything!!

Sam Steinberg: Brooklyn outsider artist

He was an outsider who flitted at the fringes of one of the country’s most elite universities, a Brooklyn-bred, Bronx-dwelling candy peddler who charmed and enthralled generations of Columbia University students with the greeting: “Hey boys, I got paintings here!” Or, “I got those Hoishey bars.” 

From the 1930s until 1982, when he died at 85, few students passed Sam Steinberg outside the student center or the Low Library steps without buying a candy bar at least once. Those who lingered a little longer also learned about Sam’s world through his Magic Marker illustrations: the stylized celebrities (Rudolph Valentino, Elvis, Richard Nixon), the surrealist animals (hoofed cats, mermaids, potato-headed dogs), the vivid whimsies (a pair of legs in Columbia gym shorts).

Read the NYT article here. 

Yep... that's me!

Call for proposals

The Brentwood Arts Exchange is seeking proposals from artists and curators to present exhibitions beginning summer 2016. Solo and group exhibitions are welcome, and the call is open to all artists and curators who are 18 years of age or older.

There are no restrictions on media or residency. 


The Brentwood Arts Exchange is The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s component of the public-private partnership Gateway Arts Center, serving as an anchor for Prince George’s County Gateway Arts District. In the five years since opening, the gallery has presented 33 on-site and 19 off-site exhibitions, featuring regionally prominent artists as well as emerging artists and students. It is a place for people of all ages to meet and learn about art, purchase locally made crafts, and explore new creative talents.


The full prospectus can be downloaded here: http://files.ctctcdn.com/461c09fd001/ca6af4d5-3256-4a7f-a35e-0d924b0cf1b1.pdf

Bethesda Painting Awards prize winners

The Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District announced the top three Bethesda Painting Awards prize winners on Wednesday evening during the exhibition’s opening at Gallery B.  Bill Schmidt of Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; Thomas Dahlberg of Baltimore, MD was named second place and was given $2,000 and Cavan Fleming of Blacksburg, VA received third place and was awarded $1,000.

 

Bill Schmidt has been a finalist in the Bethesda Painting Awards three times before, in 2008, 2013 and 2014. He’s exhibited his artwork extensively in the Mid-Atlantic region. He has received numerous grants and awards including two Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards. In 2004 he attended the Alfred and Trafford Klots Residency Program in Rocheforten-Terre, France. Schmidt studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, ME before moving to Baltimore in 1969. He received a Master of Fine Art from the Hoffberger School of Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art in 1971. In 2007, he was named the Director of the Post-Baccalaureate Program at the Maryland Institute College of Art after being its Resident Artist since 1996.

 

 The eight artists selected as finalists are:

 

Thomas Dahlberg - Baltimore, MD

Cavan Fleming - Blacksburg, VA

Lillian Hoover - Baltimore, MD

Hedieh Ilchi - Rockville, MD

Boram Lee - Baltimore, MD

Danielle Mysliwiec - Takoma Park, MD

Bill Schmidt - Baltimore, MD

Elise Schweitzer - Roanoke, VA

 
A public opening will be held on Friday, June 12, 2015 from 6 – 9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk. Gallery B is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E in downtown Bethesda. The work of the eight finalists will be on display from June 3-27, 2015. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 12 – 6pm.

Entries were juried by Arnold Kemp, Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University; John Morrell, Chair of the Department of Art and Art History and Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at Georgetown University; and Nora Sturges, Professor of Art and head of Painting and Drawing at Towson University.

 

The Bethesda Painting Awards was established by Carol Trawick in 2005. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda. She is past chair of the Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District, past chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. and founder of The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards.

 

For more information, please visit www.bethesda.org.

New SAAM Photography Curator

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has appointed John Jacob as its McEvoy Family Curator for Photography. Jacob will be responsible for research, exhibitions and acquisitions related to the museum's collection. He joins 11 curators currently on staff for contemporary art, craft and decorative art, Latino art, media art, sculpture, works on paper, folk and self-taught art and 19th- and 20th-century painting. Jacob begins work at the museum July 13.
 
"John Jacob brings to the Smithsonian American Art Museum a deep knowledge of the field as well as valuable experience in publishing and exhibition planning," said Virginia Mecklenburg, chief curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. "John will bring new energy to our photography program."
 
Jacob comes to the museum from the Inge Morath Foundation, where he was director and vice-president facilitating programs related to Morath and support of women photographers, and from the Magnum Foundation, where he was program director of its Legacy Program-collecting, researching and overseeing cultural projects related to the history of Magnum Photos.