Hispanic Heritage Month at the National Portrait Gallery

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes Hispanic Heritage Month with programs and events highlighting the Hispanic artists and subjects who are represented in the museum’s collection. With the goal of opening a dialogue about these individuals’ remarkable contributions to American history, this bilingual celebration will offer insight into the ways in which Latino cultures, traditions and stories have helped shape this country’s history.

The month-long series of events includes a special Family Day hosted at the museum Sept. 30. Featuring live music, curator talks and art activities, Family Day welcomes visitors of all ages. Participants will have the opportunity to join Taína Caragol for a special Spanish-language tour of “The Face of Battle: Americans at War, 9/11 to Now.” Caragol, a co-curator of the special exhibition, is the museum’s Curator of Painting and Sculpture and Latino Art and History.

As part of the museum’s initiative to become fully bilingual (English and Spanish) by 2018, the Portrait Gallery currently has five dual-language exhibitions. When the museum’s “must see” exhibition, “America’s Presidents,” reopens to the public Sept. 22 after extensive renovations, the new exhibition will be entirely bilingual and accessible. A highlight of the Portrait Gallery since the museum’s public opening in 1968, this historic display on the museum’s second floor is the only place outside the White House where visitors can view a complete collection of presidential portraits. “America’s Presidents” includes extraordinary works of art, most notably Gilbert Stuart’s “Lansdowne” portrait of President George Washington, which will be back on view after 18 months of careful conservation and analysis.

In addition to the special events in the Portrait Gallery, from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, the museum will have on view 26 portraits by Latino artists or of Latino sitters, including Rudolfo Anaya, Teresa Carreño, Marisol Escobar, Frida Kahlo, Pedro Martínez, Antonia Pantoja, Chita Rivera, Geraldo Rivera, Clemente Soto Vélez, Antonio Martorell and Piri Thomas.

Snowy Day stamps

The US Postal Service is going to issue The Snowy Day Forever stamps that are based on an award-winning children’s book by artist, illustrator and writer Ezra Jack Keats.

 

 

 

The Snowy Day, published in 1962, was one of the first mainstream publications to feature an African American child. It received the Caldecott Medal in 1963.

 

The stamps can be pre-ordered now at usps.com/shop at this link for delivery shortly after the Oct. 4 nationwide issuance. 

#SnowyDayStamps.

Help for some Texas galleries?

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will award up to $1 million in emergency grants to preserve humanities collections and help restore operations at libraries, museums, colleges, universities, and other cultural and historical institutions in the areas of Texas and Louisiana affected by Hurricane Harvey, Acting Chairman Jon Parrish Peede announced...

Some Texas non-profit galleries may be able to take advantage of this...  Try the Small Business Administration. If it is a nonprofit gallery, NEH is making $1M available for emergency grants (www.neh.gov) and NEA will be directing funds (arts.gov).

Here's the link to the Small Business Administration part - click here.

Pass it on!

Huge FB Art Scam Alert

Huge scam going around. They've been hitting DMV area artists on FB. 

They send a friend request from a fellow artist you know. Then they tell you that they just received a huge check from the Art & Humanities or Arts Endowment and that hey saw your name on thesame  list so you had better contact them.

Report them to FB immediately.

Tatooine

Alida on Tatooine, c. 2017 by F. Lennox Campello

Save this date

OCTOBER 12 

5:30–7 PM at AU's Katzen Arts Center

Free Parking featuring the Jefferson Place Gallery 

Free Parking is American University's salon-style conversation series in the Alper Initiative - and this date features my good bud curator (and artist and critic) John Anderson (no relation) in conversation with artists and friends of the Jefferson Place Gallery—Washington’s premiere contemporary art space opened by artists in 1957—including newly minted facts and revived fictions. 

Details here.

Opportunity for artists

Deadline: September 16, 2017. 

The Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, D.C. announces a call to artists for a juried art exhibition, November 19, 2017 - January 6, 2018 at The Mansion at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD. 

Approximately $7,000 in awards. Juror: Thomas Hipschen. 

Original works in any traditional media, prints from original plates, sculptures. Crafts and art works produced by photographic, giclee, laser or digital techniques NOT accepted. 

Overall area of image must not exceed 25 sq. inches (156 sq cm). Outside dimension of frame must not exceed 56 sq. inches (360 sq. cm). Sculpture may not exceed 6 inches (15 cm) in any direction including the base. 

Entry fees vary (See prospectus). More info (PDF), go to: https://www.mpsgs.org/MPSGS-2017_Prospectus.pdf Contact: nancy@miniartsupply.biz or LRychlec@gmail.com or call 301-977-2190 or 301-987-6779. https://www.mpsgs.org/

Art critiques

I am happy to announce that Strathmore will be offering artist critiques this fall as part of their visual arts programming! 

For artists who miss being enrolled in a formal art degree program, this is an invaluable opportunity to present your art for constructive evaluation. Find out what viewers with a trained artist's eye see in your work.

Upcoming sessions:

Fri, Sept 15, with Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center

Fri, Oct 20, with Lulu Delacre, award-winning children’s picture book illustrator and fine artist

Each session is $40.

What's missing from this program (so far) and nearly always missing from the academic versions of these critiques? The trained eye of a well-traveled gallerist who can add the commodity angle to art critiques - I've already contacted Strathmore and suggested that in the future they add a DMV area commercial gallerist who had plenty of experience doing art fairs all over the planet.

 

Strathmore

5301 Tuckerman Lane

North Bethesda, MD 20852-3385

(301) 581-5100 ticket office/customer service phone

(301) 581-5108 tea reservations

(301) 581-5200 administration phone

www.strathmore.org

Volunteers needed!!!

About

A multifaceted festival embracing arts and culture. This event is located on 4 th St. and M Sts. SW near the Waterfront metro. There will be live music performances, DC’s biggest dance party, headliner concert, interactive artwork, food trucks, farmer’s market, non-profit and embassy row and much more...We need volunteers who can assist staff with the interactive art, children’s events, setup/breakdown, distributing event brochures, giving directions to all of the activities and welcoming guests to one of the best events DC has to offer. We need volunteers as early as 7:30am til 10:30pm in 4 hour shifts. For more information or to reserve your schedule, please call Alison Henderson at 301-706-6719 or email 202artmusicfestvols@gmail.com

Little Junes is 8!

Hard to believe... right?

Cynthia Back at WPG

August 31 - September 24, 2017

Reception Saturday, September 2, 2-5 pm

Artist's Talk: 3 pm

Washington Printmakers Gallery

In Naturally, Cynthia Back presents new reduction woodcuts inspired by both travel and her immediate environment. She is immersed in nature: from a window, walking in it, standing and listening to its sounds, watching shadows and colors dance across water and foliage. Her sense of the natural world is life-affirming, healing, immersive, and contemplative. Design and abstract qualities enthuse. Inspiration is found in the excitement of seeing a familiar place take on a new aura, the changes of season and weather, and the scale of subject, from the immediate found at one's feet to sweeping panoramas. The inescapable intrusion of human-made landscapes and the impact of climate change also becomes part of the motivatiion for her work.

In the autumn of 2016 Cynthia was privileged to be a resident at the Nordic Artists' Centre in Dale, Norway. Streams, ponds, fjords, and the sounds of rushing water were ever present. The pure air and colors, play of light across woods and streams, and freshness of the environment resulted in a series of reduction prints using two to four woodblocks. Many are included in this exhibition.

Cynthia Back is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including grants from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Pollock-Krasner Foundation; residencies to Women's Studio Workshop, Blue Mountain Center, Acadia National Park; and fellowships to The Nordic Artists' Centre Dale, Norway; The Ballinglen Arts Foundation Ltd., Co. Mayo, Ireland, Fundacion Valparaiso, Spain, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, The Cill Rialaig Project, Co. Kerry, Ireland, and The MacDowell Colony. Her work is included in numerous private and public collections, including The Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Newark Public Library, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and The New-York Historical Society.

Good news from East City Art

From Phil Hutinet, Founding Publisher, East City Art

This fall, as we enter our fifth year of publishing in print, and our ninth online, we look forward to the coming year as we plan to continue expanding our operations and more importantly, our coverage of the region’s visual art scene.

True to our roots in eastern DC, specifically Capitol Hill, we will continue to publish as East City Art, in homage to the ambit of our initial focus.

You may have noticed a slow progression of coverage in each of the cardinal directions of our region.  While we have now included the entire “DMV” in our online listings, in our fall 2017 print edition, which begins distribution Labor Day weekend, we have only included DC and Prince’s George’s County. We are still in the process of negotiating partnerships with other regional organizations to provide our readership with more comprehensive listings beginning spring 2018.
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We are also very excited to announce the development of a pilot critical writing seminar to train a new cohort of critical art writers. Funded by the East City Art Foundation for Critical Writing and Research, the pilot cohort will study under the direction of Claudia Rousseau, Ph.D., an internationally renowned art historian, who will also take over as the Arts Review Editor for the publication this fall.   
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In response to the community’s request for more critical arts coverage, writers from this new cohort will produce at least one piece of critical writing a week beginning mid-October, 2017. These pieces will be published online at www.eastcityart.com/reviews .
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Finally, I would like to thank all of you—our readers—for your continued support. We are always at your service and welcome feedback on how we can improve our publication. Please let me know if you have an opinion piece you would like us to consider publishing or if you would like to offer suggestions for coverage.
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Warmest Regards,

Phil Hutinet
Founding Publisher, East City Art

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this asswipe trying to rip off artists:

From: Polo de Inovação Vitória - Ifes <polodeinovacao@ifes.edu.br>

Subject: Confidential Transaction

Date: August 24, 2017 at 10:20:40 PM EDT

To: Undisclosed recipients: ;

Hello

I am Frank W Schneiter(SA) special adviser an investment co-ordinator to late Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed Al-Thani, World's Biggest Art Collector, the former minister of culture and heritage in Qatar, a billionaire Business Mogul.

Before his death he asked me to prepare and transfer the sum of US$114,000,000:00 (one hundred and fourteen million US Dollars) into one of his foreign partners company account as a sub-contractor fund. This is also stated in his last WILL. I seek your consent as my foreign business partner in this transaction to present you as the foreign partner that we are paying this funds to. The fund is with Deutsch bank and the bank has been waiting for me to present the company to enable them process and wire out these funds. 

Note that this transaction is 100%  risk free as it is honest clean and transparent, the funds will be share 50/50. As soon as I hear from you I will give you more details on how we shall go about it. I have not contacted any one on this hence am sending it to you multiple times.

Kindly reply to my private email: peschbienz@hotmail.com

Best Regard

Frank W Schneiter

Connect

www.latinas4latinas.org



Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: September 15th, 2017

The Lawrence Arts Center invites artists to submit works on paper that are 12 inches by 12 inches. This juried exhibition celebrates contemporary art by both established and emerging artists. Works on paper can include, but are not limited to: drawing, painting on paper, hand-pulled prints, photography, digital pieces displayed as prints, photographic prints.  Selected works will be hung with magnets. Juror: Hong Chun Zhang. Cash awards. Submission Deadline: September 15, 2017.

The exhibition will run Oct. 27 - Dec. 22, 2017.

Details at  https://lawrenceartscenter.org/2017/07/12x12-national-juried-exhibition-call-for-submissions/

 

Opportunity for DMV artists

Deadline: September 15, 2017


The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund invites grant applications from visual artists who are aged 40 years and over and who live within 150 miles of Washington, DC. Artists working in performance, video, and film are not eligible for Bader Fund grants. To download an application form, visit the Bader Fund website.


In 2016, the Bader Fund awarded seven grants totaling $105,000.


No Entry Fee. 


Details: 202-288-4608 OR http://www.baderfund.org OR grants@baderfund.org

Six Alternative Representation Strategies for Artists

While today’s working artists still rely on galleries to forge their path to success, artists are increasingly seeking alternative representation models in an effort to exhibit their work. 

Once upon a time, the road to art fame was narrow but straightforward: artists would secure gallery representation, and this beneficial relationship, in turn, catapulted the artist toward universal recognition. Galleries guaranteed artists an exhibition on a regular basis, produced publications on the artist’s work, and expanded their collector base at a steady, gradual pace. 

Fast forward to the post-internet era, a world where artist career development has irrevocably shifted along new pathways.

Read the whole article by Audra Lambert here. 

Wanna be a docent at the NGA?

The National Gallery of Art is recruiting docents to conduct thought-provoking and engaging tours, in English and other languages, for thousands of adult visitors from around the world, providing rich and memorable experiences with works of art in the Gallery’s collection.

 

New docents are expected to make a five-year commitment to the program, which includes two years of initial training, beginning in September 2018. The training program focuses on museum education and art history related to the permanent collection and incorporates workshops, in-gallery sessions, lectures, readings, and more. Docents become part of a community of learners and continue their education beyond the initial two-year training period, both formally and informally.

 

Those interested in applying to the program must attend an information meeting, which run from October into December. Dates, times, and registration for these meetings can be found on the Gallery’s Docents page starting on August 15. Applications are due by December 31. For more information, visit the Frequently Asked Questions page or email newdocents@nga.gov.

 

Applicants from all backgrounds and life experiences are welcome and encouraged to apply.

 

For a full press release and images, visit: https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/press/2017/docents.html

Going back to Texas

2018 Post-Graduate Residency Studio at Torpedo Factory Art Center is now open

Call for Artists:

2018 Post-Graduate Residency Studio at Torpedo Factory Art Center is now open

Deadline: Sunday, September 10, 2017
Application: torpedofactory.org/artopps

Now in its fourth year, the Post-Graduate Residency Studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center is seeking applicants for the 2018 program via torpedofactory.org/artopps. The deadline is Sunday, September 10, 2017.

This competitive program provides meaningful support for recent promising graduates who have, or will soon complete a bachelor’s or master’s art degree with an accredited program.

This year’s jurors are Christine Neptune, founder of Neptune Fine Art, Amy Cavanaugh Royce, executive director at Maryland Art Place, and Ginevra Shay, artistic director of The Contemporary Museum and curator of Rose Arcade.

This visual-arts residency is unique in the region for addressing the critical post-graduate juncture in emerging artists’ careers. It offers an opportunity for professional development and networking, as well as a chance to define their practices outside of the academic context. Submissions are open to recent graduates who attended schools from across the U.S. Applicants need to submit proof of their residence in the area and/or can demonstrate a commitment to contributing to the ongoing future of the arts in the greater Washington, D.C./Virginia/Maryland region. There continues to be no entry fee.

“This program brings the next generation of artists into the Torpedo Factory community,” said Brett John Johnson, director of the Torpedo Factory Art Center. “The program is a great example of working toward our mission of igniting the creative spirit by fostering connections among artists and the public. My hope is that we have a dynamic exchange of perspectives, techniques, and ideas throughout 2018.”

The Post-Graduate Residency Studio in located on the first floor, in Studio 12, at the Torpedo Factory. Artists can create, display, and sell work, interact with the public, and network with other artists. Residents receive a stipend during their term and have an opportunity to give an artist talk with the moderator of their choice. The program will culminate in a group exhibition in the Torpedo Factory’s contemporary exhibition space, Target Gallery, in the fall of 2018.

The resident artists are active, equal participants in the Torpedo Factory’s unique creative community. They benefit from engaging with thousands of local, national, and international visitors, collectors, and artists who pass through each year.

Questions about the residency or applications can be directed to torpedofactory@alexandriava.gov or 703.746-4570.

About the Jurors

Christine Neptune founded Neptune Fine Art in 2000 after twenty years of experience in auction houses, museums, fine art publishing, and galleries to exhibit Modern and contemporary works as well as publish new editions. She regularly meets with private clients at Gallery Neptune and Brown in Washington, D.C., and by appointment in New York City.

Amy Cavanaugh Royce has been Executive Director at Maryland Art Place (MAP) since January 2012. Prior to her work at MAP, Amy was the Vice President and COO of ARCH Development Corporation in Washington, DC where she was most notably known for co-founding Honfleur Gallery.

Ginevra Shay is an artist and curator living and working in Baltimore, Maryland. She is the Artistic Director of The Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, and curator of Rose Arcade.

About the Torpedo Factory Art Center

Founded in 1974 in an old munitions plant, the Torpedo Factory Art Center is home to the nation’s largest number of publicly accessible working artist studios under one roof. In an effort to sustain the arts in Alexandria, the Torpedo Factory is temporarily part of the City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts. Just south of Washington, D.C., the Torpedo Factory Art Center overlooks the Potomac River in the Old Town section of Alexandria, Va. Each year, more than a half million national and international visitors meet and interact with more than 160 resident artists in 82 studios and seven galleries. The Torpedo Factory Art Center is also home to The Art League Gallery and School, the Alexandria Archaeology Museum, and the Alexandria EatsPlace Café and Market. For more information, visit torpedofactory.org or follow the Torpedo Factory on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest via @torpedofactory.