DC's first Minister of Culture

Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) has announced SHELDON FOR DC, a public art performance directed by the artist Sheldon Scott. The citywide performance revolves around the campaign of a candidate -- referred to simply as "Sheldon" and played by a half-dozen actors -- who is running to become DC's first Minister of Culture. It will unfold over the next two months in the form of rallies, door-to-door campaigning, meet-the-candidate social events, and an 8-Ward whistle-stop tour.

 

"This is a campaign with a real agenda, which is, simply put, about putting artists first in the policies that impact our city's culture," says Peter Nesbett, WPA's executive director and Sheldon's Campaign Manager. "That is why it is so well aligned with WPA's interests. It doesn't much matter that the office of Minister of Culture doesn't yet exist."

 

SHELDON FOR DC promises a brighter, more creative future for DC. The campaign seeks to unite and rally hundreds of actors, artists, dancers, designers, musicians, and writers into a potent, vocal, political force. If it achieves this, SHELDON FOR DC could become a movement, with a life that extends well beyond this election cycle. If it doesn't, it will be understood, retrospectively, as an episodic piece of performance art.

 

The campaign kicks off with a rally at The Big Chair in Anacostia on Saturday, September 17, from12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Additional events can be found on the campaign website at www.sheldon4dc.org.

 

Situating a project like SHELDON FOR DC within the history of art is not a particularly easy task. Few visual artists have held political office in the U.S. since the painter George Caleb Bingham was elected to the Missouri legislature in 1848. Ad Reinhardt famously ran and lost in the race for New York City mayor in the 1930s, as did Patrick Brill (aka Bob & Roberta Smith), who ran for Parliament in London in 2014. But this project, with its fictitious basis, obviously isn't about winning or losing an election. Instead, it is about mobilizing a constituency. It is about listening and giving voice to DC's artist community, imagining a city where artists have a seat at the table in local government and cultural planning, and forging a vision for DC culture in the future.

For that reason, WPA is complementing the campaign-performance with events that reflect on the relationship of art and politics:

Kate McGraw on How to Run for Political Office Thursday, September 22, 6:30 p.m.   Artist and former DC resident Kate McGraw is running as an Independent for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Come learn what Kate has picked up along the way, how being an artist has informed her political thinking, and how you too might start your own campaign.   Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Kate McGraw earned a BFA from Penn State University and a MFA from CUNY Brooklyn College. She has exhibited at Curator's Office, Washington, DC; Katzen Art Center, Washington, DC; Zentral Bibliothek of Zurich, Switzerland; among other venues; and has received grants from DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. McGraw currently works to give voice to sustainable agricultural issues and animal welfare awareness in the arts Ellen Lupton on Campaign Identities, with Christian Dutilh of Composite Co. Wednesday, October 26, 6:30 p.m. Curator of contemporary design at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City, and director of the Graphic Design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Ellen Lupton is one of the pre-eminent design curators and editors in the U.S. Join us for an evening on the history of campaign identity design. She will be joined by Christian Dutilh, co-designer of the SHELDON FOR DC platform. Ellen Lupton is 2007 recipient of the AIGA Gold Medal, one of the highest honors given to a graphic designer or design educator in the U.S. Her publications include Thinking with Type (2004), Design Your Life: The Pleasures and Perils of Everyday Things (2009), and Graphic Design Thinking (2011). Christian Dutilh is Principal of Composite Co., a branding and design studi o. For more information on these events and SHELDON FOR DC, please visit www.wpadc.org.

Two new curators at SAAM

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has enhanced its curatorial staff with two new appointments--Sarah Newman and Melissa Ho--who will bring fresh perspectives to the museum's collection, and future exhibitions and acquisitions.

Newman is the museum's James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art. Ho is the curator of 20th-century art. Each will be responsible for research, exhibitions and acquisitions related to the museum's collection. These two join nine curators currently on staff or film and media arts, photography, sculpture, contemporary craft, folk and self-taught art, Latino art, 19th-century painting, a chief curator who specializes in 20th-century art and a curator of contemporary interpretation.

Ho began work Aug. 22. Newman began at the museum Sept. 6.

"These new curatorial voices will add terrific energy to the museum's initiatives and will engage contemporary audiences who are interested in how America became the country it is today," said Betsy Broun, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

"I am delighted to welcome Sarah and Melissa to the museum's curatorial team, and look forward to their building the collection to reflect the experience of Americans today with an emphasis on global connections," said Virginia Mecklenburg, chief curator.

Newman was curator of contemporary art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from 2008 to 2014. While at the Corcoran, she developed "NOW at the Corcoran," a series of commissioned exhibitions and performances by emerging and midcareer artists including Mia Feuer, Spencer Finch, Ellen Harvey, Chris Martin and Enoc Perez. In 2011, she organized "30 Americans," a survey of contemporary African American art, and she curated "Washington Color and Light: Works from the Washington Color School" (2010). Most recently, she has been a guest curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, where she is organizing "Theaster Gates: The Minor Arts," scheduled to open in 2017, and at the Katzen Arts Center at American University, where she curated a midcareer retrospective of Washington, D.C.-based painter Maggie Michael in 2016. Newman earned a bachelor's degree from Williams College, and a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005.

Ho comes to the museum from the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, where she was a curator from 2011 to 2016. Recent exhibitions include "Shirin Neshat: Facing History" (2015), which she co-curated with Melissa Chiu, "Salvatore Scarpitta: Traveler" (2014) and "Barbara Kruger: Belief+Doubt" (2012). Her current project, "ONE THING: VIETNAM, Art and Engagement, 1965-1975," explores the interaction between the American war in Vietnam and art; it will open at SAAM in 2019. She earned a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 and completed coursework for her doctorate. Her thesis examined Hong Kong-born American photographer Tseng Kwong Chi.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: September 17, 2016.


The Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, DC announces a call to artists for a juried art exhibition at the Mansion at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, November 20 - December 31, 2016. Juror: Judy Lalingo, Professional Artist. $7,000 in awards. Miniature artwork only. $25-$45 entry fee. Deadline: September 17, 2016.


More information visit, http://mpsgs.org Contact: email nancy@miniartsupply.biz or call 301-977-2190.

31st Annual Mayor's Arts Awards

You're Invited!   

31st Annual Mayor's Arts Awards

Thursday | September 22, 2016 | 7:00 pm 

Historic Lincoln Theatre

1215 U Street NW

Washington, DC 20009

Doors Open 6:00 PM

Reception following Awards

Creative formalwear suggested 

The Mayor's Arts Awards are the most prestigious honors conferred by the city on individual artists, teachers, nonprofit organizations and patrons of the arts.

Special Honorees

Lou Stovall

Lifetime Achievement

Julianne Brienza

Visionary Leadership

E. Ethelbert Miller

Distinguished Honor

Individuals and Organizations will be recognized in six categories: Excellence in the Arts, Excellence in the Humanities,
Excellence in Creative Industries, Outstanding Student Award, Excellence in Arts Teaching, and Outstanding New Artist

2016 Mayor's Arts Award finalists:
Story District, Michael Janis, DC Jazz Festival, Washington Improv Theatre, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capitol, Washington Performing Arts, DC Shorts, Pan American Symphony Orchestra, Post Classical Ensemble, Cory L. Stowers, Falun Dafa Association of Washington, Carolyn Malachi, One Common Unity, Sandy Bellamy, Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts, Dance Metro DC, Stone Soup Films, Leron Boyd, DC SCORES, Project Create, Amanda Swift, LifePieces to Masterpieces, Washington Performing Arts, Dawn Johnson, Inner City-Inner Child, Young Playwrights' Theater, Split This Rock, Max Tyler Gibbons, Tara Campbell,
Maverick Lemons

Admission is free, RSVP here

www.dcarts.dc.gov | 202-724-5613

New book by Sharon Louden

Artist Sharon Louden has a new book out!

I am also excited to announce that my new book, The Artist as Culture Producer, is now available to pre-order at a discount until October 1st (use code PRARTIST).  

To support the release of the book, we are now raising money for an extensive conversation tour across America and abroad that will connect contributors of the book with other regional artists and community stakeholders.  

Please support our community building efforts by donating here:
http://www.livesustain.org/donate

Lisa Yuskavage censored

The cover of Australian art magazine Vault, which features a painting of a naked pregnant woman, has been censored for newsagencies, raising questions about perceptions of the female body. 

The painting, titled Brood (2005-2006), is by well-known New York artist Lisa Yuskavage, whose sought-after work sparks million-dollar prices.

Read the story here. 

The Dying Gray Lady

The New York Times this week quietly ended its coverage of restaurants, art galleries, theaters and other commercial and nonprofit businesses in the tri-state region, laying off dozens of longtime contributors and prompting protests from many of the institutions that will be affected. They foresee an impact not only on patronage but, in the case of the nonprofits, on their ability to raise funds to survive.

The NYT is doing exactly what the Washington Post started doing over a decade ago, when the disastrous Style section period under Eugene Robinson all but destroyed the local visual arts coverage by the WaPo.

Another nail on the coffin of the dead tree media. 

Read the story here.

Texas Contemporary

We'll be at the Texas Contemporary Art Fair September 29 - October 2, 2016 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. Showcasing Jodi Walsh, Georgia Nassikas, Dulce Pinzon and The Lennythron!

How to give artists life after they die

An artist’s estate is successful when it is able to keep the work alive: when subsequent generations of artists draw inspiration from it and when curators, researchers and collectors continuously find new ways to approach it. This goal is achieved when the estate initiates dialogue and exhibitions, contextualises the work, and makes it accessible to contemporary artists. Reaching it, however, requires a quantity of high-quality works as well as financial resources. Furthermore, a vast array of knowledge and skills, ranging from an art-historical understanding of the work to managerial and business know-how, are crucial to the success of this endeavour. Thus, heirs often devote a significant portion of their lives to this work.

Read this fascinating advisory article here.

Trawick Prizewinners announced!

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a juried art competition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, announced the top three prize winners last night during the exhibition’s opening. Lauren Adams from Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; Sarah Irvin from Springfield, VA was named second place and given $2,000; and Ben Marcin from Baltimore, MD was bestowed third place and received $1,000.

Lauren Adams, who earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina and her Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University, mines the histories of power, labor and material culture to make surprising connections that resonate with current sociopolitical issues. Her work has been featured at ConnerSmith in Washington, D.C., The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD, Contemporary Applied Arts in London, UK, Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis, MO and the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, PA, among others. She attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and held residencies at the Cite in Paris, France and the Jentel Foundation in Wyoming. She received the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Award in 2007, was a finalist for the Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize in 2014, and was recently named a 2016 Pollock Krasner Foundation grant recipient.

2016 Trawick Prize Finalists

Lauren Adams, Baltimore, MD

Cindy Cheng, Baltimore, MD

Leah Cooper, Baltimore, MD

Sarah Irvin, Springfield, VA

Dean Kessmann, Washington, D.C.

Ben Marcin, Baltimore, MD

Tony Shore, Baltimore, MD

William Wylie, Charlottesville, VA

The work of the finalists will be on exhibit at Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, until September 24. The public opening reception will be held Friday, September 9 from 6-8pm. Gallery hours for the duration of the exhibit are Wednesday through Saturday, 12 – 6pm.

Entries were juried by Stéphane Aquin, Chief Curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Hasan Elahi, Associate Professor, Department of Art at University of Maryland and Rebecca Schoenthal, Curator of Exhibitions and Co-Interim Director at The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia.

The Trawick Prize was established in 2003 by Carol Trawick, a longtime community activist in downtown Bethesda. She is the past Chair of both the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and Bethesda Urban Partnership, and also the Founder of the Bethesda Painting Awards. In 2007, Ms. Trawick founded the Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation to assist health and human services and arts non-profits in Montgomery County.

The Trawick Prize is one of the first regional competitions and largest prizes to annually honor visual artists. To date, The Trawick Prize has awarded $205,000 in prize monies and has exhibited the work of more than 130 regional artists. Previous Best in Show recipients include Richard Cleaver, 2003; David Page, 2004; Jiha Moon, 2005; James Rieck, 2006; Jo Smail, 2007; Maggie Michael, 2008; Rene Trevino, 2009; Sara Pomerance, 2010; Mia Feuer, 2011; Lillian Bayley Hoover, 2012; Gary Kachadourian, 2013; Neil Feather, 2014 and Jonathan Monaghan, 2015.