Monday, November 18, 2019

DC Arts Studios (DCAS) -- 40th Anniversary1

DC Arts Studios (DCAS) invites you to their 40th Anniversary Celebration & Annual Holiday Open Studios on Saturday, December 7th, 4pm - 7pm!

Take a self-guided tour through the participating artists' studios and have a "behind the scenes" peek into their creative process -- a great way to introduce kids to the arts and learn about different techniques and mediums!

Purchase original artwork and other handmade gifts directly from the artists themselves! Featured artwork and gifts will include photography, paintings, mixed media, fiber art, sculpture, stained glass, weaving, art made from computer parts, and much more.

Swing by the Willow Street Gallery on our first floor to see THEIR 40th Anniversary show, "Flashback," an exhibition of works by current and former DCAS / A. Salon members. 

There will be food and refreshments throughout the studios.

The event is free, accessible, family friendly, and open to the public.

And please help us spread the word! Share the DCAS 40th Anniversary / Holiday Open Studios Facebook event: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/2596238730411337

DCAS 40th Anniversary / Holiday Open Studios eventbrite:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dc-arts-studios-40th-anniversary-holiday-open-studios-tickets-82517204179

DC Arts Studios is located at 6925 Willow St NW, Washington, DC 20012, next to Downtown Takoma Park, MD.

Driving: There is street parking.
Metro: Take the Red Line to the Takoma DC Metro Station. Walk a few blocks on Carroll Ave towards Downtown Takoma Park, MD. Turn right onto Willow Street. We are halfway down the block on the left-hand side of the street.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Call for porposals

Deadline: Feb 1, 2020

BlackRock Center for the Arts is now accepting exhibition proposals for solo, group and themed exhibitions to be presented in our gallery spaces in 2021 and beyond. Visual artists, curators, and coordinators of artist collectives and organizations who are over the age of 18 and live or work in Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania are encouraged to submit Exhibition Proposals. 

BlackRock is a nonprofit arts center which presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art by both emerging and established artists working in all media, to include site-specific installations, video and other time-based media, performance, new technologies and experimental forms.

Details here.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Call for Artists

The Howard County Arts Council is seeking artists to participate in its annual juried Art Auction, a key component of the Celebration of the Arts in Howard County gala. The Art Auction shines a spotlight on Howard County’s diverse and talented visual arts community at this important fundraising event.

All 2-D, 3-D, and fine craft artists, 18 years or older, residing, working, or studying in Howard County; HCAC members; and artists who have exhibited in Howard County in the last year are eligible to submit. Deadline for submissions is January 20, 2020.

Visual artists working in all styles and media are invited to apply, including painters, sculptors, ceramicists, fiber artists, jewelers, and photographers. Artists will be selected by the Art Auction Committee, which may also invite artists who are eligible to participate. This showcase of Howard County artists has proven to be a great benefit to both established and emerging talent in the community and is also a successful fundraiser to support art programs, exhibitions, and organizations in the county.

This year’s Celebration will be held at the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center at Howard Community College on Saturday, March 28, 2020 from 6-10pm. The Art Auction exhibit will be presented in the Rouse Company Foundation Gallery. The proceeds from each artwork sold will be divided equally between the artist and the Arts Council. Artists may also choose to donate the entirety of any sales to the Arts Council. Last year’s Art Auction resulted in $8,440 in sales, with 53 pieces sold.

For more information or to submit an entry, visit hocoarts.org; to have a prospectus delivered via postal mail or email, please call 410-313-ARTS (2787).

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Small Treasures opens at Zenith Gallery

Small Treasures
Opening Receptions to Meet the Artists:
Friday, November 22, 5-8 pm & Saturday November 23, 2-5 pm   
Show dates: November 22, 2019 - January 11, 2020 
At ZENITH GALLERY -1429 Iris Street NW, Washington DC 20012

Featuring Artists:
Caroline Benchetrit, William Buchanan, F.Lennox Campello, Lea Craigie-Marshall, Susan Freda, Carolyn Goodridge, Ibou N'Diaye, Peter Hansen, Stephen Hansen, Hubert Jackson, Mihira Karra, Kristine Mays, Hadrian Mendoza, Nancy Nesvet, Carol Newmyer, Keith Norval, Katharine Owens, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Suzy Scarborough, Gavin Sewell, Paul Martin-Wolff, Marcie Wolf-Hubbard....and many more

Artists New to Zenith Gallery: Nina Benton, Najee Dorsey, and Lisa Meek   

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Wheaton Arts Parade Gallery Grand Re-opening!

Wheaton Arts Parade Gallery Grand Re-opening! Celebrate with local artists! Join  for refreshments on Wednesday the 20th!

5-8pm!

The Wheaton Arts Parade Gallery is on the lower level of the Westfield Wheaton shopping center at Entrance 11 across from Eterna Spa. Every two months there is a new exhibition of oil paintings, acrylics, watercolors, mixed media, photographs and sculptures. 

Ninety percent of all sales revenue goes directly to the artists. In exchange, the artists volunteer to manage the gallery. I hope that you will stop by and see the gallery's diverse collection and meet some of the talented artists in our midst. 



Currently Exhibiting
Mary Del Bianco
Sofia Hart
Judith Levine
John MacArthur
Frank Mancino
Dulce Moreno
Francisca Oviedo
Rachel Patton
Peijisan
Sandra Perez-Ramos
Carol Porter
Elizabeth Stecher

Monday, November 11, 2019

Scottish watercolor

I wrote a while back about all the watercolors of Scotland that I did while I lived there from 1989-1992... these rarely show up on the secondary art market.

Vintage Scottish watercolor by F. Lennox Campello


This one is a steal at the current starting bid! See it here.

Saturday, November 09, 2019

Connersmith is 20!


Congrats to Leigh and Jamie!
CONNERSMITH is proud to celebrate the gallery’s first two decades. Founded in 1999 by Leigh Conner and Jamie Smith, CONNERSMITH upholds a solid commitment to excellence in contemporary and post-war art. We mark this anniversary with the launch of a new WEBSITE custom-designed to deliver the most current information and facilitate research on artists, available works and gallery history.

Friday, November 08, 2019

Opening Receptions Tonight!

The Triangle Art Studios "Combat2Canvas" participants narrated their military experiences through original works of art and writing, using these modalities to bridge the gap between military and civilian communities.

Opening Reception:
Nov. 8 , 6-8pm
7711 Old Georgetown Rd.

Gallery Hours, Oct. 26 - Nov. 23
Fri. & Sat.,1-5pm

Studio B will feature the artwork of Shanthi Chandrasekar. While many of her works are influenced by her Indian heritage, her true inspiration comes from the mystery and majesty of the world around her.

Opening Reception:
Nov. 8, 6-8pm
7475 Wisconsin Ave., Lower Level

Gallery Hours:
Tues.-Fri., 1-6pm

Gallery B will feature landscape photographer Kee Woo Rhee with the exhibition "Time, Space, Matter and Beyond."

Opening Reception:
Nov. 8, 6-8pm
7700 Wisconsin Ave., Suite E

Gallery Hours, Nov. 6 - 30
Wed. - Sat. 12-6pm

Rebecca Coles and Amy Genser

Rebecca Coles and Amy Genser
Opening Reception - Friday, November 8, 6:30-8pm
Show Dates - November 8 - December 31
RSVP at the Facebook Event Page

Long View Gallery
1234 9th St NW
Washington, DC 20001


Rebecca Cole’s work currently focuses on the reinvention of entomological cataloging, display and the assemblage of shapes. Each shape is hand drawn and then intricately hand cut from carefully selected paper, focusing on recycling a medium that would otherwise be discarded and lost. She dissects small details of color, imagery and text into silhouettes that are then re-sculptured, pinned and encased. Rebecca’s aim is to transform an every day object into a piece of work that invites the viewer to see beyond its original source.

Amy Genser plays with paper and paint to explore her obsession with texture, pattern, and color. Evocative of natural forms and organic processes, her work is simultaneously irregular and ordered. She uses paper as pigment and constructs her pieces by layering, cutting, rolling, and combining paper.

Wednesday, November 06, 2019

Andrew Wodzianski is a Fanboy

Andrew Wodzianski in
Andrew Wodzianski is a Fanboy 
in Open Gallery at Montgomery College 
Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus

In my spectacularly informed opinion, Andrew Wodzianski is one of the most talented and best painters in the DMV. The man can paint, and he can also canvas-deliver his ideas, and interests better than anyone who I know.
The Open Gallery presents Andrew Wodzianski is a Fanboy, featuring the work of Andrew Wodzianski from November 13, 2019 – January 10, 2020.  Andrew Wodzianski’s work depicts self-portraits utilizing a variety of media representing identity roles. An Artist Talk will be held on November 20th from 1:30 – 2:30. A reception will be held on Thursday, December 12 from 6-8 P.M. The events and exhibition are located at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center of Montgomery College on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus. For more information, visit http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/. Free and open to the public.
Andrew Wodzianski is a Fanboy represents a ten-year retrospective of self-portraiture wherein Wodzianski has intentionally concealed his identity. Instead of introspective depictions of the human condition, Wodzianski reveals little of his true self. Whether a painting, photograph, or performance, each work is another layer of artifice. When viewed as a collection, an inkling of personality begins to materialize. Through an amalgamation of late 20th Century adolescent Americana, identity roles and contradictions and complexities can be gleaned. There is much left unexplained, but two things are certain; Wodzianski is clearly a pop culture fanatic and a self-described man-child. He is a fanboy.
About the Series:
This is the 3rd show of this year’s themed exhibition series, Self, which invites artists to explore contemporary ideas of Self Portraiture by engaging with the self through either representational or conceptual means.
About the Artist:
Andrew Wodzianski is an artist from Venango County, Pennsylvania. He holds an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and has exhibited widely as both a painter and performance artist, including the (e)merge art fair Washington, DC, Aqua Art Fair in Miami, and SCOPE NYC in New York. His interest in humor, satire, and popular culture permeates all his media. Says Andrew: “At parties, I tell trapped guests that I’m an interdisciplinary artist working in crocodile tears, puppy dog tails, and magpie chatter. I immediately assure them I’m not being literal. Collecting those materials from the animals would be cruel! Instead, I stress the supplies are silly metaphors for my constant exploration into falsehood, adolescent nostalgia, and appropriation. I shun adulthood, with most of my days spent embracing popular culture references introduced to me prior to 1989. I may create with diverse mediums, but I’m always reflecting on my fantastical youth with generous sprinkles of both reverence and satire.”
About the Open Gallery:
The Open Gallery’s exhibitions complement the academic programs of Montgomery College's Department of Visual and Performing Arts while bringing art to the community. As part of the Silver Spring arts community, exhibitions focus on current pieces by working artists. The gallery is on the ground floor of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center on the west side of the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus. The center is located off Georgia Avenue at 930 King Street. Parking is available in the West Campus Garage, located immediately behind the center.
Contact: KatherineKnight, 240-567-1461 katherine.knight@montgomerycollege.edu
Gallery Website:      https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/academics/departments/visual-performing-arts-tpss/index.html
Gallery Address:     The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center - 930 King Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Saturday, November 02, 2019

Call for proposals

Deadline: Feb 1, 2020

BlackRock Center for the Arts is now accepting exhibition proposals for solo, group and themed exhibitions to be presented in our gallery spaces in 2021 and beyond. Visual artists, curators, and coordinators of artist collectives and organizations who are over the age of 18 and live or work in Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania are encouraged to submit Exhibition Proposals. 

BlackRock is a nonprofit arts center which presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art by both emerging and established artists working in all media, to include site-specific installations, video and other time-based media, performance, new technologies and experimental forms.

Details here.

Friday, November 01, 2019

Bootcamp for artists is tomorrow!

The Artists’ Boot Camp

Saturday, November 2nd, 10am-4pm , in the John Addison Concert Hall of Harmony Hall
Harmony Hall Arts Center presents Mr. Lenny Campello’s seminar, “The Artists’s Boot Camp”, open to all Prince George’s County artists, 16 and up.  Mr. Campello is the Greater Washington D.C. area’s pre-eminent art dealer, critic, consultant and blogger as well as artist. He designed his seminar to deliver information, data and proven tactics to artists, and to allow them to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts. Some of the topics that he will cover are, creating a resume, creating a body of work, selling your art, juried shows and news releases, just to name a few. 
The seminar is free and lunch is included. Seating is limited so please call 301.446.3251 or email stuart.diekmeyer@pgparks.com to register and provide lunch preference.

As many of you know, for over a decade or so I have been teaching a course for artists and arts professional, that course, for the last few years has been known as “Boot Camp for Artists.”

That six hour seminar, which has been taken by over 2,000 artists and arts professionals from all over the Mid Atlantic is designed to deliver information, data and proven tactics to allow artists to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts.

In the past, I’ve discussed the importance of artists having their work at the various art fairs held around the world, most notably during Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) week in the Greater Miami area.

Presentation is a huge part of an artist’s professional life, and more often than it should be, presentation is a detractor and takes away from the artwork.

Why am I discussing that here? Because before you start exploring the various ways to get your artwork invited to the “big dance” during ABMB week, as an artist you should be ready to play with the big dogs when it comes to all the tools of the trade needed to set foot in a world-class art fair.

It is not unusual for me to step foot in a gallery and see artwork which (at least from a presentation point of view) is “not ready” for primetime… this is getting to be rarer and rarer as galleries struggle to survive, but still there.

In its six hour format, the seminar covers a wide range of structured issues, including the below list, but essentially artists should at least be aware and explore:

1. Materials – Buying materials and strategies for lowering your costs, where and how to get it, etc.

2. Presentation – How to properly present your artwork including Conservation issues, Archival Matting and Framing, Longevity of materials, a discussion on Limited editions, signing and numbering, Prints vs. Reproduction, discussion on Iris Prints (Pros and Cons).

3. Creating a resume – Strategy for building your art resume, including how to write one, what should be in it, presentation, etc.

4. Juried Shows – An Insider’s view and strategy to get in the competitions.

5. How to take images of your artwork

6. Selling your art – A variety of avenues to actually selling your artwork, including fine arts festivals, corporate acquisitions, galleries, public arts, etc.

7. Creating a Body of Works

8. How to write a news release

9. Publicity – How to get in newspapers, magazines, etc. Plus handouts on email and addresses of newspaper critics, writers, etc.

10. Galleries – Discussion on area galleries including Vanity Galleries, Co-Operatives, Commercial Galleries, Non-profit Art spaces, etc.

11. How to approach a gallery – Realities of the business, Contracts, Gallery/Artist Relationship, Agents.

12. Fine Art Fairs – Discussion and advice on how to sell outwork at fine arts festivals, which to do, which to avoid, etc.

13. Resources – Display systems and tents, best juried shows and ones to avoid.

14. Accepting Credit cards – How to set up your art business.

15. Grants – Discussion on how to get grants in DC, Regional and National, including handouts on who and where and when.

16. Alternative Marketing – Cable TV, Local media


17. Internet – How to build your website at no cost, how to establish a wide and diverse Internet presence.

Harmony Hall
10701 Livingston Road 
Fort Washington, MD 20744

Inaugural issue of the Journal of the Arts and Special Education (JASE)

JOURNAL OF THE ARTS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION (JASE)

Volume 1, Issue 1

The inaugural issue of the Journal of the Arts and Special Education (JASE) is published by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Division of the Visual and Performing Arts (DARTS) and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. JASE is a peer-reviewed open-access scholarly journal that is now available on the CEC-DARTS and the Kennedy Center websites free of charge.


JASE content includes four types of articles that span art forms (visual art, performing arts, music, and media) and include a resource review, research and practitioner papers, policy history paper, and an editorial introduction. The  premier issue contains a paper detailing the history of actions and advocacy that lead to the creation of DARTS, an evaluation of a community program offering a multi-genre arts program for middle-school students with autism, a review of resources for teacher development in music education for students with disabilities, and a description of three research-based programs to teach drama that focus on students’ social-emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and linguistic outcomes. 

The audience for JASE includes special education teachers, teaching artists, arts therapists, occupational therapists, visual art teachers, music teachers, dance teachers, and performing arts teachers. These professionals work in public schools, community programs and institutions, museums, colleges, and universities.

This first issue of JASE is dedicated to the memory of Dr. James Catterall, who embraced accessibility and creativity for all, and whose work has inspired so many researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.

DARTS is a division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), an organization dedicated to the education and advocacy of individuals with exceptionalities and their families.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Bootcamp for Artists this Saturday!

The Artists’ Boot Camp

Saturday, November 2nd, 10am-4pm , in the John Addison Concert Hall of Harmony Hall in Laurel, MD. Harmony Hall is at 10701 Livingston Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744.
Harmony Hall Arts Center presents Mr. Lenny Campello’s seminar, “The Artists’s Boot Camp”, open to all artists, 16 and up.  Mr. Campello is the Greater Washington D.C. area’s pre-eminent art dealer, critic, consultant and blogger as well as artist. He designed his seminar to deliver information, data and proven tactics to artists, and to allow them to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts. Some of the topics that he will cover are, creating a resume, creating a body of work, selling your art, juried shows and news releases, just to name a few.
The seminar is free and lunch is included. Seating is limited so please call 301.446.3251 or email stuart.diekmeyer@pgparks.com to register and provide lunch preference.

This seminar usually books very quickly, so I'd recommend that you RSVP as soon as possible! It is open to ALL artists - not just PG County residents!

Background: As many of you know, for over a decade or so I have been teaching a course for artists and arts professional, that course, for the last few years has been known as “Boot Camp for Artists.”

That six hour seminar, which has been taken by over 2,000 artists and arts professionals from all over the Mid Atlantic is designed to deliver information, data and proven tactics to allow artists to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts.

In the past, I’ve discussed the importance of artists having their work at the various art fairs held around the world, most notably during Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) week in the Greater Miami area.

Presentation is a huge part of an artist’s professional life, and more often than it should be, presentation is a detractor and takes away from the artwork.

Why am I discussing that here? Because before you start exploring the various ways to get your artwork invited to the “big dance” during ABMB week, as an artist you should be ready to play with the big dogs when it comes to all the tools of the trade needed to set foot in a world-class art fair.

It is not unusual for me to step foot in a gallery and see artwork which (at least from a presentation point of view) is “not ready” for primetime… this is getting to be rarer and rarer as galleries struggle to survive, but still there.

In its six hour format, the seminar covers a wide range of structured issues, including the below list, but essentially artists should at least be aware and explore:

1. Materials – Buying materials and strategies for lowering your costs, where and how to get it, etc.

2. Presentation – How to properly present your artwork including Conservation issues, Archival Matting and Framing, Longevity of materials, a discussion on Limited editions, signing and numbering, Prints vs. Reproduction, discussion on Iris Prints (Pros and Cons).

3. Creating a resume – Strategy for building your art resume, including how to write one, what should be in it, presentation, etc.

4. Juried Shows – An Insider’s view and strategy to get in the competitions.

5. How to take images of your artwork

6. Selling your art – A variety of avenues to actually selling your artwork, including fine arts festivals, corporate acquisitions, galleries, public arts, etc.

7. Creating a Body of Works

8. How to write a news release

9. Publicity – How to get in newspapers, magazines, etc. Plus handouts on email and addresses of newspaper critics, writers, etc.

10. Galleries – Discussion on area galleries including Vanity Galleries, Co-Operatives, Commercial Galleries, Non-profit Art spaces, etc.

11. How to approach a gallery – Realities of the business, Contracts, Gallery/Artist Relationship, Agents.

12. Fine Art Fairs – Discussion and advice on how to sell outwork at fine arts festivals, which to do, which to avoid, etc.

13. Resources – Display systems and tents, best juried shows and ones to avoid.

14. Accepting Credit cards – How to set up your art business.

15. Grants – Discussion on how to get grants in DC, Regional and National, including handouts on who and where and when.

16. Alternative Marketing – Cable TV, Local media

17. Internet – How to build your website at no cost, how to establish a wide and diverse Internet presence.


Harmony Hall

10701 Livingston Road

Fort Washington, MD 20744

Superfine DC Opens Tonight!

Superfine! DC opens tonight at Dock 5 at Union Market on Halloween night. 

All the details of the fair here

LOCATION
Union Market
1309 5th Street Northeast
Dock 5 Event Space
Washington, DC 20002    MAP

I asked Alex Mitow, Director of Superfine! a few questions about the fair, DC and the DMV art scene:

What were your "lessons learned" from the inaugural DC art fair?

To be frank, I think the biggest lesson learned was a really positive one. We always had high hopes and expectations for DC as a market for the kind of art collecting experience we provide, but we were blown away by how excited and supportive the overall DC community was. We and our exhibitors learned not to pre-judge a city's taste in art and to really challenge the local market in terms of content, since a lot of works that veered towards risqué and very, very contemporary sold extremely well at last year's fair. DC's taste in art is as diverse as the city itself.

How many returning galleries and artists do you have in the second iteration of the DC art fair?

Around 40% of 2018 galleries and artists returned for 2019 and based on early renewal rates we're expecting 60-80% renewal for 2020. We expect booths at the 2020 fair to be nearly sold out by the end of 2019's fair. There are a lot of our favorites from 2018 who couldn't participate this year due to travel or other obligations, but will be returning in 2020. 

The Greater Washington DC area (known locally as "the DMV - for District, Maryland, Virginia") has one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the world, and a vibrant local art scene complimented by a terrific museum presence, and yet commercial art galleries and artists struggle to survive. As you acquire lessons and experiences in various cities doing the art fairs, what is your take on what's the "missing" part in the DMV art scene?

Honestly, we agree 100% with you on DC as a city that has the wealth, income, and interest to support a vibrant art scene. DC is a very viable market that's been overlooked by the big fairs. As I mentioned, our educated bet on DC last year paid off and we've doubled down on our investment into the city and the fair, which is our top-producing fair in the United States, by not only adding to the number of exhibitors but also bulking up our programming for this year's fair to include Superfine! X - an installation program featuring DC artist District Dodger, along with curated experiential works by artists selected by Philadelphia's Paradigm Gallery, and an interactive WunderCube co-designed by Sean Christopher Ward, one of our most frequent exhibiting artists (he hails from Wichita.) Hearkening back to my earlier point, I really think a key is not underestimating the diversity of potential collectors and their tastes in a city as vibrant as DC. We are also huge proponents of a transparent and inclusive art market which is something that I believe all of our exhibitors share with us, and even from what I've seen over the past year there have been a ton of amazing things going on in DC that share and promote our values -- with results that follow.

Can you highlight three exhibitors at the 2019 fair?


I'm always thrilled to work with Nina O'Neill at Monochrome Collective. She's done some amazing projects of her own in DC this year and is a fierce artist advocate (with great fashion sense to boot!) and I'm looking forward to her booth this year, which is focused on sculpture -- primarily by DMV artists including Gary Kret, Stefanie Lifshutz, Monroe Isenberg, and Michael West. 


Reach Beyond by Scott Hutchison
17.5 x 29"
Scott Hutchison is another returning DMV artist, and I'm unabashedly in love with his surreal compositions. Lastly, New York artists Chloe Cockburn and her husband Marc Scheff are presenting a duo booth in DC's fair. They're a valued part of the Superfine! family and Marc also created a unique archival print that'll be gifted to our early bird Master Pass buyers. It's really neat how Superfine! has begun to turn into a family affair - we also have a mother and daughter sharing a booth (Phoebe and Caralena Paterson) and I'm excited to see how their unique styles play off of each other.