The curious case of the Washington Post and the Galleries column

As noted a few days ago, according to the WaPo's freelance art critic Mark Jenkins, his "Galleries" column of August 25, 2024 will be the last one, as the WaPo "editors" have decided to terminate that newspaper's only remaining column dedicated to the local capital area's galleries.

While this may be surprising and disappointing to many, it now concludes the saga of the WaPo's inexorable march, which started in the 1990s, to reduce, and now eliminate its miserly attention to the capital region's galleries art scene.

In 1999 I wrote them an old fashioned letter, published here and completely ignored by the paper. Here's that post again, now that the WaPo has essentially killed its DMV gallery coverage - now ALL the coverage is gone - Wanna do something about it? Scroll to the bottom:

If you don't get it

In 1999 the Washington Post sent out a letter to all their subscribers detailing some major changes in the paper which were designed to improve the newspaper itself.

The letter, signed by Donald Graham, the publisher of the Post, asked for feedback and opinions, and so I wrote them the below letter. In the letter I not only expressed what I thought were shortcomings in the WaPo's arts coverage, but also gave the WaPo several ideas for improvement.

Sadly, since then coverage has only become worse. The "Galleries" column is now published about 20 times a year instead of weekly, and "Arts Beat" is also no longer weekly, but apparently ad hoc.

All of the names mentioned in the letter have since left the Post, retired, or been replaced, but by a freelancer and by a chief art critic who does not write about Washington, DC art galleries and artists.

If you don't get it, you don't get it.

January 27, 1999

Donald E. Graham 

Publisher

The Washington Post

1150 15th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20071

Dear Mr. Graham,

Thank you for your letter dated January 24, 1999. I'm eagerly looking forward to the new "improved" Washington Post.

Since you asked me for my opinion on how the new, improved Post can serve its readers better, I'm hereby sending you a few comments and some facts which may be of interest to you, and which may in fact help you in the future as you continue to improve the Washington Post.

One area of the newspaper, which continues to receive local attention and acute criticism, is the Post's lack of coverage of the metropolitan visual fine arts scene. While the Style section and the Weekend magazine combine to deliver a complete, in-depth coverage of many of the genres which make up a city's cultural life, (such as music, movies, theatre, opera, architecture and our museums) the Post continues to ignore largely the visual arts as defined by the art exhibited and the artists of the Greater Washington, DC area.

The immediate gut reaction of the Style editor might be "but Ferdinand Protzman covers the galleries on Thursday?" Yes, that is true and that answer may reflect the lack of understanding to the key to the problem. Not Protzman, but the fact that his weekly column is the only mention which local galleries and artists routinely get in the Post.

The "Arts Beat" column, which also appears on Thursdays, does on occasion cover a visual arts event, but that is the exception, rather than the rule. If we switch over to the Weekend magazine, it does not take a lot of research to discover that in the last few years (yes years) the "On Exhibit" section, although having a masthead which proclaims it to be about "Galleries, Museums and Art Spaces" has not covered a single fine art gallery in this city in years. It is devoted exclusively to museum shows in our city and other cities.

This lack of "participation" in the development of our city's visual art scene is shameful in a city which boasts over 200 art galleries and which once had one of the most vibrant local visual art scenes in the nation. What makes it even more astounding is the brilliant coverage that the other cultural genres receive from the Post.

Museums (or "dead artists" as living counterparts often refer to them) get brilliant coverage in the Post and I applaud this! With one of the best museum scenes in the world this is commendable. Thus, three of your art critics (Jo Ann Lewis, Burchard and Paul Richards) all write about museum shows and on very, very rare occasions write something which is "local" in nature. This is the exception, rather than the rule; it may happen once or twice a year. They even cover museum shows in other cities. These writers do not write about local art galleries -- only Protzman, and we must wait for his words to be decanted once a week, to read and breathe local visual arts.

Movies are reviewed or discussed nearly every day in Style and it is not unusual for the same movie to be written about (by different authors) in Style and in the Weekend section on Fridays. The same goes for theatre; even though there are more art galleries than theatres in this city, and the public is more exposed to them than to the theatre, every play in every recognized theatre gets exposure and reviews. The same goes for music, be it live, stage or recorded. This is all good, but it again highlights the huge differences in the coverage as compared to the local art galleries and visual artists.

Why is this phenomenon unusual? Because other major newspapers, especially papers as powerful as the Post do not act in the same manner. The Post is the only major newspaper that I know of which does not have a galleries art critic in its staff (as you know Mr. Protzman is a freelancer). I have been told that the New York Times has eleven gallery critics writing for them, The Seattle Times four, the S.F. Examiner three and the L.A. Times four.

Washington artists and art galleries deserve better. In fact, they deserve equal print space. Art criticism and art reviews are not easy to write; yet a variety of skilled critics do exist in our city, so the writing talent is here; this is not an excuse.

Your reading public deserves better. Mr. Protzman's weekly piece is just not enough and it's only one point of view. This is not healthy for our artists and for our art scene.

Several weeks ago, at the Art Symposium sponsored by the Washington Art Dealers Association, one of the representatives from the Post made the statement that the "reason that art galleries do not get reviewed in the Post is because they don't advertise." I refuse to believe, even in today's austere economic environment, that this could be the reason.

What is the reason for this lack of coverage -- especially when compared to the brilliant job which the paper does for the "other" local arts in general? In my opinion the reason is that the editors of both Style and Weekend do not feel that your reading public is interested in art galleries and local artists. They want to publish "only" what they feel their public wants to read. Even if this were correct, which I doubt it is, I think that this is not the attitude and goal for one of the world's greatest newspapers.

Why does this concern me? Three months ago I was contacted and commissioned by an ad hoc group of local artists who commissioned me to do a one year study on the coverage of the Washington Post to local art galleries and then quantify that coverage in terms of proportion to other arts coverage. The initial results, some of which I have mentioned in this letter, have been particularly astounding.

Secondly, I am deeply involved in the city's art scene. I am a member of the D.C. City Arts Projects Program Advisory Panel, an artist, a gallery owner and a regularly published regional art critic.

As such, I encourage you to perhaps think about refocusing more attention to our Washington artists and galleries. There is a variety of ways in which this can be done and my suggestions are:

(a) Assign one week out of the month to local gallery coverage in Weekend's "On Exhibit" section (or take 'Galleries' off the masthead).

(b) Keep Mr. Protzman's weekly "Galleries" column on Thursdays.

(c) Nicole Lewis' "Arts Beat" should not echo what has already been covered by music critics or theatre critics, etc. Devote at least 50% of that column, which runs concurrently with "Galleries," to visual arts. Keep Thursdays focused on Art Galleries (which it's supposed to be its focus anyway).

(d) Pick up a "pool" of local art critics and assign a different one each week (also on Thursdays) to write mini-art reviews to augment Mr. Protzman's more elaborate, in-depth art criticism.

(e) Six times a year assign one of your museum art critics to do a piece on a local gallery show, or local art movement, or local gallery groups, etc. Something flavored by the local arts.

(f) Have local art critics and even Mr. Protzman write more reviews and just "publish" them in your excellent web pages.

There were over 30 pieces written about the van Gogh exhibit by the Post, ranging from front-page coverage to the business section. This shows that someone at the Post recognizes the interest in your reading public about the works of art which hung so vociferously at the National Gallery; I submit to you that this same interest can be kindled for the van Goghs of the future.

Thank you for your attention,

F. Lennox Campello

Don't like it? Send a letter to the editor

The WaPo accepts letters by email and surface mail; however, because timeliness is a critical factor in the selection of letters that they publish, they strongly encourage submissions by email. Submit via their online form. Letters to the Editor may also be sent to letters@washpost.com or to: Letters to the Editor, The Washington Post, 1301 K Street NW, Washington DC 20071.

Below is my letter to the Post:

As the Washington Post has been decimating its DMV art galleries coverage for over two decades now (remember when there was an “Arts Beat” column on Thursdays in addition to the “Galleries” column, and also a gallery review in the “Weekend” section?), it comes to no surprise to the DMV fine arts community that the August 25 “Galleries” column will be the last.

That Mark Jenkins’ column is thus ended is a severe blow to this capital region’s visual arts presence, and catapults the Washington Post into the long list of newspapers which tend to preach one thing, while they do the opposite.

This blow to our capital area’s visual art scene is shameful in a city which boasts many world-class visual art spaces and independent fine art galleries, and an area which has one of the most vibrant visual art scenes in the nation. What makes it even more quizzical is the wide coverage that the other cultural genres in the area, and even nationally, receive from the Post.

The Post’s critics even cover visual art shows in other cities! These critics do not write about local art galleries -- only Jenkins did, and we appreciated for his words to be decanted once a week, to read, and breathe, and document our area’s visual arts.

Movies are reviewed or discussed nearly every day in Style and it is not unusual for the same movie to be written about (by different authors) in both Style and in the Sunday sections. The same goes for theatre; even though there are more art galleries and visual art spaces than theatres in this region!

As such, I encourage you to perhaps think about refocusing more attention to our Washington area visual artists and galleries. There is a variety of ways in which this can be done and my suggestions are:

(a) Keep Mr. Jenkins' weekly "Galleries" column on Thursdays.

(b) Pick up a "pool" of local art critics and assign a different one each week (also on Thursdays) to write mini-art reviews to augment Mr. Jenkins' more elaborate, in-depth art criticism.

(c) Six times a year assign one of your other museum art critics to do a column on a local gallery show.

(d) Is the issue newsprint space? Have local art critics and even Mr. Jenkins write more reviews and just "publish" them in your excellent web pages.

The Trawick Prize Exhibition Opens Sept. 5th

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards honors visual artists in all mediums from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. The finalists will have their work shown in a group exhibition, which opens next month at Gallery B. 

The exhibit will run from September 5th - September 29th. Gallery hours are: Thursday - Sunday, 12-5pm. An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 13th from 6pm-8pm. Gallery B is located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. To learn more about this year's selected artists and view samples of their work, please click here.

The 2024 finalists are:

Rosemary Feit Covey, Alexandria, VA

Rosemary Feit Covey's artwork is housed in over 40 museum and library collections worldwide, including Yale University Art Gallery, New York Public Library Print Collection, National Museum of American History, Harvard University, and the Papyrus Institute in Cairo, Egypt. In 2012, 500 of her prints were acquired for the permanent collection of Georgetown University Library, Special Collections. She is the recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (Bellagio Italy), an Alpha Delta Kappa Foundation National Fine Art Award, and a fellowship to Georgetown University Medical Center as the 2007-2008 Artist-in-Residence. Her solo museum exhibitions include the Butler Museum of American Art, Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, Morton Fine Art and International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago. Currently, she is working with two botanists and an entomologist who have greatly aided in inspiring and informing her most recent series of work.

                 

David Enrique Guarnizo, Richmond, VA

David Enrique Guarnizo earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and is working towards his Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. His artistic practice is based on his physical relationship with the territory and the elements/concepts of line, limit and border. He has participated in group exhibitions such as “Nuevos Nombres - Banco de la República” (Colombia, 2018), “The Nature of Things: Humboldt, Comings and Goings” (Humboldt Forum, Berlin, 2019) and the Artecámara pavilion of the International Art Fair of Bogota ARTBO. He held his first solo exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, MAMBO in 2014. David has been the winner of nearly 25 individual and collective grants and distinctions. He has been head of ecuation at the Museums of Art and Numismatics of the Banco de la República and MAMBO.

Pedro Ledesma III, Alexandria, VA

Pedro Ledesma III was born in South Dakota and raised in a small town in Texas, and has always appreciated wide, open spaces and small communities. His mixed Korean Mexican heritage and extensive time abroad have broadened his perspective on cultures and the importance of family. Pedro’s photography journey has evolved from documenting beauty in everyday moments to using his camera as a tool for social change, echoing the justice-focused themes he probed in economics. He explores the complexities of social and economic inequities, alongside his own identity in America. Through his creative work, Pedro aims to spark positive change towards greater equality by exploring how these national issues unfold on the stage of small-town America. Pedro received his Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University, and earned his Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Master of Arts from Columbia University.

Rebecca Oh, Richmond, VA

Rebecca Oh is a Korean-American artist and educator. She graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) with a Bachelors in General Fine Arts and a concentration in Painting. She went on to study and receive her Masters of Art in Teaching at MICA in 2018. Her art revolves around her experiences as an introverted woman who must constantly navigate through intersecting spheres of family, religion, sexual and cultural identity, and mental illness. She uses art as a means to filter and analyze the world around her, and communicate these findings to others in an attempt to connect, educate, and relate. She is currently a graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she is extending her practice into interactive installation and sculptural woodworking.

Scott Pennington, Baltimore, MD

Scott Pennington specializes in large-scale participatory installation and sculptural assemblage works. Drawing upon his background as a furniture and cabinetmaker, Pennington utilizes woodworking and construction techniques to create colorful, detailed works of art that engage varied audiences and invigorate public spaces. Pennington earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and was a 2022 Baker Artist Award Finalist as well as a Sondheim Prize Semifinalist in 2017 and 2018. His work has been displayed work in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Arizona. Pennington’s work suggests a tangible, yet illusory reality that examines labor, consumer culture, and the pursuit of simple pleasures, and the construction of nostalgic human connections both genuine and fictitious.

Tony Shore, Baltimore, MD

Tony Shore is recognized for his paintings on black velvet of blue-collar life. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art and his Master of Fine Arts from Yale University School of Art. He also studied at the prestigious Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His Awards include The Walter and Janet Sondheim Prize, Bethesda Painting Awards Best in Show, a Baltimore Artist Rubys Grant, several Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards, and a Franz and Virginia Bader Grant. His work has been exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Delaware Art Museum, The Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, The Noyes Museum, Kunstalle Beacon, Anna Zorina Gallery, George Adams Gallery, C. Grimadis Gallery, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, Gavlak gallery, and Karlye Packer Gallery, among many others. Tony has been a professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art for 24 years where he recently served seven years as the chair of the Painting Department.

James Stephen Terrell, Washington, D.C.

James Stephen Terrell is a native Washingtonian who was raised in Ward 7. He received his high school diploma from Gonzaga College High School, his Bachelor of Fine Art from Howard University, and his Master of Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design. He also earned his Master of Divinity Degree from the Union Theological Seminary with a concentration on Theology and the Fine Arts. While attending Union Theological Seminary, he pursued Fine Arts painting elective courses at Columbia University. Terrell has taught art for over 15 years in DC Public Schools. Terrell has exhibited his work in group exhibitions including Ohio, Vermont, New York and Wisconsin. His work has also been featured in multiple solo shows including the Visions and Voices Biggs Museum in Dover, DE.

Paloma Vianey, Washington, D.C.

Paloma Vianey is an interdisciplinary artist from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and is currently based in Washington D.C. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from University of Texas, El Paso and her Master of Fine Arts from Cornell University. She has received grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, the National Fund of the Arts in Mexico, and a fellowship from The Phillips Collection. In 2018 Vianey realized a large-scale public art installation on the Americas-Cordova International Bridge along the U.S.-Mexico border. She has been awarded residences at Fundación Antonio Gala in Spain and The Studios of Key West, Florida. Vianey has exhibited her work at El Paso Museum of Art, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum, the Antonio Gala Foundation, Jack Hanley Gallery, the Mexican Consulate at El Paso Texas, the Archeology and History Museum of El Chamizal in Ciudad Juárez, and others.

Rejected (again!)

 August 20, 2024                                     

Dear Florencio Lennox Campello,

 

The District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) appreciates your FY 2025 Art Bank Program grant application. This year, we had a record number of submissions. Unfortunately, your artwork(s) was not selected to advance to the second round of review. [M(1] We sincerely appreciate the time, talent, and energy that goes into a grant application. CAH staff and advisory panelists were impressed with the caliber and range of work submitted.

 

Please know that CAH makes every effort to gain valuable feedback from the advisory panelists and shares that information with applicants upon request. Many applicants have found these comments and insights from panelists helpful in furthering their endeavors, as well as in developing future applications to CAH. You may request a debriefing within 60 days from the date of this letter by filling out this form to express your interest. If you have further questions, please contact Curator Michelle May-Curry.

 

CAH appreciates your valuable contribution to the arts and humanities community and encourages you to apply to future grant programs. You may wish to consider participating in our grant workshops to obtain information about specific grant programs and best practices for applying to CAH’s grants. Once grants are open, a list of workshops may be found on CAH’s website at www.dcarts.dc.gov.

 

Sincerely,

 

Michelle May-Curry, Ph.D.

Curator

 

WaPo's Galleries column terminated

From Mark Jenkins, the WaPo's freelance art critic and author of that newspaper's sole and only coverage of the DC area's art galleries and visual artists:

My editors at the Washington Post have decided to end the Galleries column. The last one will run in the Aug. 25 paper. I’m very sorry to send you this news. I’ve enjoyed writing the column, and getting to know so many artists, curators, and gallery owners.

More on this later.

Is the Galleries column dead?

Just got a note from an old friend at the WaPo that the "Galleries" column may be nixed in the next few days.

I sincerely hope not, as this is the only remnant of the Washington Post's miserable coverage of area art galleries and artists.

Bethesda Row Arts Festival coming September 7-8

Over the last two decades I have written extensively about the phenomenon of gallery art fairs as the new salons of the 21st century, as art magnets where galleries congregate and collectors and curators, and celebrities, and the illuminati go to see and buy art. Furthermore, anecdotal figures from the major fairs seem to confirm that a lot of artwork is being sold by galleries at the fairs. My own experience in doing art fairs for the last 18 years confirms this fact - I have my own positive empirical evidence, albeit with the caveat that fairs still seem to be recovering from the Covidian monster..

There's another "art world" out there of fine art fairs that - because of the curious highbrow attitude of the "high art" cabal - never really gets any attention from the art media, etc.

I’m talking about outdoor art fairs that some of us know well, and many more others think they know well even though they've actually never been to any of the good ones. I am talking about the outdoor art festivals that get ranked as the top ones by Sunshine Artist magazine and others; fairs such as the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver, or the Ann Arbor Arts Festival (actually four separate art fairs that draw over half a million visitors), and of course, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival in Miami, which routinely attracts about 150,000 visitors in the Miami area.

Immediately the clueless “experts” who have never been to one of these top-of-the-line outdoor art festivals will think and imagine what they visualize as an outdoor art market: dried flowers, teddy bears and watercolors of barns. 

Don't get me wrong, there are thousands and thousands of these type "art" fairs around as well - but those are NOT the ones that I am talking about.

I am talking about the cream of the Sunshine Artist Top 100 list. These are shows where only original art, not reproductions, are allowed, and photography has very severe rules (must be done by the photographer, limited editions only, signed, archival processes only, etc.). These shows are highly competitive to get in (they're juried), and usually offer quite a lot of money in prizes for the artists. The jurors vary from museum curators, art center managers, art critics, artists (I’ve been a juror myself many times), etc.

I guess I'm saying that there's some curatorial legitimacy to them as well... for the elitists amongst you dear readers.

But the real point to which I am driving here is the mathematics of attendance: thousands.

Locally in our area, there are several of these exceptional fine art outdoor festivals: The Bethesda Row Arts Festival in Bethesda, the Tephra ICA Arts Festival in Reston, and the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival in the Woodmont Triangle area of Bethesda, also attract those numbers of people and are all highly competitive.

Consider the median income in either Bethesda ($185K) or Reston ($135K), and what you get out of it is a lot of people with a lot of disposable income. As a whole, the DMV itself has a median household income of around $100K – one that ranks among the highest among the U.S.'s 25 most populous metro areas.

Art price tags at these local fairs range from $100 to $20,000. As such, there's a somewhat comparable universe of prices to the DC area gallery market, as an example.

And I submit that a lot of the people who attend one of these outdoor fine art festivals do not have the "formation," as a Communist would say, to dare set foot in a white cube gallery... and have probably never heard of Art Base Miami Beach.

Nearly all of these huge and highly successful outdoor arts festivals (as far as I know) only allow individual artists to sell their work at the fairs, and their entry fees are about 1/100th of the entry fees of the “other” art fairs.

Wanna see one? The Bethesda Row Arts Festival, which is the DMV’s largest outdoor fine arts festival, and one of the best in the country, will take place September 7-8. The show will showcase 185 artists in 14 media categories: ceramics, drawing/pastels, fiber/decorative, fiber/wearables, glass, graphics/printmaking, jewelry, metalwork, mixed media 2D, mixed media 3D, oil/acrylic painting, photography/digital art, sculpture, watercolor, and wood. It is located essentially at the intersection of Elm Street and Woodmont Avenue, two blocks from the Bethesda Metro, and there’s a huge public parking garage within the show itself. 

Online here: https://www.bethesdarowarts.org

See ya there! I'll be in booth S104!

Janis & Porto at the next Affordable Art Fair

 

Janis & Porto at Affordable Art Fair NYC

Janis & Porto at Affordable Art Fair NYC

At the next Affordable Art Fair

 

WOVEN: Threads of Identity in Abstract Expressionism at the Popcorn Gallery

Just back from the opening at Glen Echo's Popcorn Gallery of WOVEN: Threads of Identity in Abstract Expressionism, an excellent group exhibition by the artists of The Black Art Today Foundation. 

The news release reveals that the "show showcases the dynamic and powerful works of contemporary Black women artists who utilize the language of Abstract Expressionism" and...

Abstract Expressionism, a movement known for its focus on emotion, gesture, and individuality, becomes a powerful tool for these artists to explore themes of identity, race, and resilience. Through bold colors, gestural marks, and innovative techniques, they challenge traditional narratives and forge their own visual vocabulary.

This exhibition celebrates the artistic mastery and unique perspectives of Black women in the contemporary art world, while also acknowledging the historical exclusion of these artists from the canon of Abstract Expressionism.

This is a spectacular exhibition, and in my many decades of reviewing and attending art shows, this was of the few group art shows where every single work packs an intelligent punch to the solar plexus of the mind in what the artists - and the aim of the show - deliver!

Both Alida and I were immediately drawn to the paintings of Janet Walters, which are harmonious and fluid, flexing the artistic superpower of watercolors, the most difficult of media, at the hands of a very talented artist. She notes that "color on color creates depth and an ethereal feeling, as well as, little spaces ripe to become secret little vignettes.  I strive to give the viewer three ways to see my work;  a view from some distance, a closer view that shows more detail and an even closer perspective that reveals those little spaces that let viewers feel that they have come upon a secret space discovered only by them."

Another artist in full mastery of her media is Tommi Blake, whose attractive resin paintings (some done in collaboration with fellow artist Marie Antoinette) are not only powerful abstract works, but also beautifully delivered in technical skill. I especially liked a large work titled "In the Beginning", which almost dominates the side of the gallery where it is displayed.

Anita Henley Carrington "Riptide"

One of the most powerful weapons of Abstract Expressionism is the ability to deliver nuanced psychological messages, which in the hands and brush of a gifted artist can be a memorable experience. In the painting titled "Riptide", artist Anita Henley Carrington delivers this exceptionally well, not only by offering us a beautiful painting, but also planting the image in our minds with an intelligent title, that forever moves that abstract painting into a recognizable event. 

Washingtonian Maria-Lana Queen "Black Girl #11" is another work where the title and the energetic work full of marks and forms planted and floated anchor an image delivered by a very elegant abstract work. The piece seduced me visually and mentally.

Dr. Yemonja Smalls "Dream Day"

In every thematic group show there's always a work that stretches or redefines the focus of the show. In this case it is a powerful substantial work by Dr. Yemonja Smalls titled "Dream Day." It is not Abstract Expressionism by any definition of the genre, and personally, I do not care as I was enthralled by the multimedia, three-dimensional work, which managed to showcase Smalls' painting skills in the background of the work, and enviable design talent in the construction and incorporation of the figure atop the painted surface - it has not only presence, but WOW factor!

On the other hand, Washingtonian Dr. Harriet Smith is a self-taught artist whose striking and colorful paintings, especially the one titled "Seventh Space" are the pure essence of what is Abstract Expressionism in all of its wonder! Another artist whose work delivers and does so with exuberance and clear gusto is Alma Roberts. Her superbly composed paintings - she has six in the show - are abstract gems.

Alma Roberts "Interposed"

Both Dr. Vanessa Chappell Lee and Marie Antoinette also deliver superb works well within the lanes and footprint of Abstract Expressionism, with Antoinette's frenetic paintings full of energy bursting out of the paintings' surfaces - this is painting superpower at a nuclear chain reaction pace. Chappell Lee's "Hidden Figures" teases the viewer by hiding in plain sight dozens of figures, which pop in an out of the painting as they tease the eye.

My kudos to the curators - this is a powerful show with deep resonance and presence. The show runs through September 29, 2024.

Assistance for Arts Education (AAE) program

 

Dear Visual Arts, Design, and Media Arts Community: Congress is on the brink of devastating cuts to education funding! The House Appropriations Committee's FY25 proposal slashes Title I by 25%, eliminates Title II, and proposes the complete elimination of the Assistance for Arts Education (AAE) program. Their rationale? "Funding should focus on core subjects like reading, writing, and math."   We cannot let Congress strip away critical support for arts education and essential federal programs. We need your voice NOW to protect the arts. Join the VoterVoice campaign to tell Congress why arts education matters to YOU. We encourage you to personalize your message and defend the arts in education!   Act today to ensure Congress hears our support for arts education and rejects these harmful cuts. Together, we can protect opportunities for every child! Join the Campaign

Pool Basketball Slam

Pool Basketball Slam, 2024 pen and ink by F. Lennox Campello

Happy 4th!

 Today I'm going to thank my parents who had the foresight, strength, and courage to escape the Castro brothers' brutalized island; leave everything behind; leave everything they knew, and raise me as an American.

I am grateful to them.

I am so proud of this nation, and so lucky to be Cuban by ancestry, but American by the grace of God.

Happy birthday USA!

New Bisque

These will make their debut at the Bethesda Row Arts Festival this coming September, and then whatever remains (if any) will make an appearance in New York at the Affordable Art Fair in Chelsea, also in September.

When the Empire finally arrived, she was the first one to put the video on TikTok

Her pencil skirt always made her feel like a lioness

Medusa

In an alternate Universe, Taylor Swift was a Vulcan

Bats

Bat

Nun on a bike

The Lilith consoling Eve (After the Expulsion)

The G.O.A.T (Homage to Ali)

Assassin Wasp

Biden during his Elvis period

Elvis

Andy Warhol

She decided to sting the next fucker who tried to step on her

Bat

Hipster Archie

Frida Kahlo

All Member Show at Foundry

“All Member Show”- An Exhibit by Foundry Gallery

Opening Reception: July 6, 2024 4PM-6PM

From the gallery: 

“Join Foundry Gallery for a tapestry of our gallery’s members, each artist displaying their unique style as a collective narrative that resonates with creativity and passion.  Our group exhibit celebrates the diversity of artistic expression among our members by showcasing the spectrum of styles, mediums, and perspectives in a collective exhibit. 

Our members invite you to join them to explore the realms of imagination and emotion through their various works of art. Our members will exhibit works such as painting, photography, and mixed media.  The "All Member" exhibit features artworks from Duly Noted Painters, Roderick Turner, Josef Isaiah Keyes, Deb Fury, Dilip Sheth, Tasha Overpeck, and many more!  Enjoy the watercolor works of the people and places of Washington, DC, vibrant abstract figurative works, and photographs of the world as our members see it.   

Foundry Gallery and its members are dedicated to pushing boundaries and challenging perceptions with artworks that tell stories of their journeys with color, form, and texture.  Our “All Members” group exhibit is a testament to the amazing artists who call Foundry Gallery home.  Our members take this opportunity to showcase their individual voices while harmonizing as a collective in an artistic expression similar to a chorus.”

PROGRESSION at MEG

Multiple Exposures Gallery (MEG) is pleased to announce PROGRESSION, a new fine art photography exhibition.

On display at MEG through July 28, 2024, the exhibition features a sequence of photographs, with each one chosen for its relation to the previous image. The relationships among the 45 included images may be based on composition, color, geography or other characteristics — the choice was left to each of the 15 contributing artists. Exhibition visitors are invited to observe each image as it appears in the sequence and consider what the connection to the previous image might have been. 

Exhibition Artists: Stacy Smith Evans, Soomin Ham, Tim Hyde, Eric Johnson, Irina Lawton, Sandy LeBrun-Evans, Matt Leedham, Francine B. Livaditis, Maureen Minehan, David Myers, Van Pulley, Sarah Hood Salomon, Alan Sislen, Tom Sliter and Fred Zafran

Exhibition hours: 11am-5pm daily

Location: Multiple Exposures Gallery | Torpedo Factory Art Center | #312

Pictish Nation drawing at auction!

This 2012 drawing of mine from my "Pictish Nation" series shows up at auction in Florida! Ridiculous starting bid! I sold that drawing during Art Basel week in Miami ages ago for five times that!

Bid for it here.

Vicky Surles at Watkins Nature Center

Vicky Surles Exhibition

at Watkins Nature Center

July 1- September 21, 2024

From the news release:

Vicky Surles is an award-winning local artist, member of Wheaton Arts Parade Gallery, Montgomery Art Association, Gallery 209 in Artists & Makers Studios, Rockville and a Juried Member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society. In her figurative drawings, she tries to reflect nature's beauty and order. A love for nature drives her to explore the structure and intricate details of life around her. She mainly works in watercolor and colored pencil. Her work is in many private collections as well as in the United States Department of State's Art in Embassies Program.

You are invited to meet the artist at a free, public art reception on August 11 from 1-3 pm. Light refreshments will be served.

Watkins Nature Center is located at 331 Watkins Dr., Upper Marlboro, MD 20774. Regular visiting hours are Monday- Friday 10am- 5pm and Sunday 10am- 4pm. To see works by Vicky,  click here!

This weekend: 2024 STORYBOX Comics Fair

DWIGHTMESS Cartooning & Comic Arts, a gallery and arts compound devoted to experimental and cutting-edge independent comics and illustration, is proud to announce the 2024 STORYBOX Comics Fair, now in its second year of convening of capital-area comic creators. Events will take place on  Saturday, June 22nd at Dwightmess, and on Sunday, June 23rd at Third Hill Brewing Co. from 12-4pm. Admission to Saturday’s event is free. 
Admission to the expo at the brewery on Sunday is $10.

The first day of events will be led by our Special Guests; DC-based artist Sierra Barnes, author of “Hans Vogel is Dead,” released by Dark Horse Comics; DC-based Dana Jeri Maier, New Yorker Shouts artist and author of “Skip to the Fun Parts: Cartoons and Complaint About the Creative Process” and Baltimore-based artist Ben Claassen III, former Washington City Paper cartoonist of the long-running comic, “Dirt Farm.”

Visitors can expect to encounter a selection of exhibitors showcasing their self-published comics, illustrations and swag, and participate in discussions and workshops surrounding the craft of making comics. Events include a show of Dana Jeri Maier’s illustration in our secret tiny gallery, an opening reception & BBQ for SWAMP MESS, the gallery’s annual DC-comics creator summer show, featuring artwork by Ben Claassen III, Andrew Cohen, Chris Combs, Liam Crooks, Brandon Geurts, Art Hondros, Marcie-Wolf Hubbard, John Kinhart, and Dale Rawlings, plus an opening reception for Halcyon Scene, our vintage boutique offering sleek 1980’s furniture and decor. (IG: @_halcyon_scene_)

Exhibitor List (Saturday 6/22): Mercedes Campos Lopez, JESSJESS PRESS, TC Pescatore, Anna Selheim.

The second day of the fair is a comics mini-expo taking place at Third Hill Brewing Co. in downtown Silver Spring. Featuring 19 DMV-region cartoonists,illustrators and makers, with book signings by our special guests and workshops led by DC-based autobio-cartoonist Athena Naylor, Washington Post comics editor Hannah Good, and Ray Orr, Former Design and Comics Editor of The Lily for the Washington Post Style Section.

Special Guests: Sierra Barnes, Ben Claassen III, Dana Jeri Maier
Exhibitor List (Sunday 6/23): All the Old Posions, Carolyn Belefski, Kat Brenowitz, Hannah Good, Hobbes Holluck, Art Hondros, Paul Hostetler, Erin Lissette, Alex Lupp, Athena Naylor, Ray Orr, Nami Oshiro, Karly Perez, Perilous Adventure Studios, Dale Rawlings, Christine Skelly, Shannon Spence.

Schedule of Programming : 



Saturday, June 22nd, 12-4pm 

DWIGHTMESS, 805 Silver Spring Ave, Silver Spring MD 20910 (closest to Fenton Street Village Garage)

Swampmess Exhibition Opening Reception/BBQ

1pm Workshop with Sierra Barnes
2pm: Comics Process Town Hall with Ben Claassen III

3pm: Book Discussion with Dana Jeri Maier

*All events are free and open to the public.

Sunday, June 23rd, 12-4pm

Third Hill Brewing Co, 8216 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring MD 20910 (closest to Bonifant-Dixon Garage)

1pm: Make a Collage Comic w/ Hannah Good and Rachel Orr

2pm: “Main Character Energy” Workshop with Athena Naylor

3pm Special Guests Book Signings

*$10 Admission.

Event Locations: DWIGHTMESS, 805 Silver Spring Ave, Silver Spring MD 20910, Third Hill Brewing Co, 8216 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring MD 20910

Public Transit Reminder: **Silver Spring Metro Station on the Red Line is currently closed for the summer as well as the Takoma, Wheaton and Glenmont Stations*

Options for getting to STORYBOX:

1) Free shuttle buses will run from Fort Totten and Glenmont Metro Stations (add 30 min to your travel time). 

2) Uber / Lyft / Taxi / Carpool! Paid Hourly Parking is available at the Fenton Street Village Garage (8110 Fenton St) or the Bonifant-Dixon Garage (1101 Bonifant St).
3) For Alternative Bus Routes, visit:

https://www.wmata.com/.../Red-Line-Summer-Construction...

Sponsored by: Third Hill Brewing Co., DWIGHTMESS, DC Conspiracy, and Peoples Book Takoma.