Taking inspiration from the artists, patrons got creative as well, devising systems for ranking and tracking the artwork:

… and balancing beverages with crafty wire hangers:

The fun atmosphere was balanced by lots of careful record keeping and general studiousness.

During the breaks, lucky ticket-holders had time to find their pieces in the gallery and check out. The last tickets chosen during each round got door prizes, including dinners, gift certificates, and sailboat rides. But every ticket was guaranteed to go home with a matching piece of art — and new memories.

Many thanks are due to the event sponsors, the artists who generously donated, the titular patrons, and all the volunteers and staff who framed, hung, set up, emceed, checked out, performed technical wizardry, cleaned up, and more. Thank you!

More information on the Patrons’ Show is here. We’ll see you at the same time next year!

More pictures below:

“Play,” the March show, calls for “works that can be touched or interacted with to encourage visitors to become involved in artwork on an entirely new level. Work can also include the subject of children at play, games and activities associated with fun and amusement.” Interactive art can be touched, moved, added to, or otherwise involves the viewer in a new way.

"The Calm Before the Wave," by John Stanmeyer. Courtesy nationalgeographic.com

Interactive artist Daniel Rozin has created several mirrors, including a mirror made of wooden pieces which shift individually to recreate the face of the viewer in front of them. Interactive art doesn’t require video cameras and computers, though. This oil painting, Seasons, is made up of nine panels which the viewer can turn to reveal a new portion of the painting. According to artist Eric Nye, there are over 19,000 possible combinations. Jesus Rafael Soto created a number of walk-through sculptures titled Penetrable, hanging hundreds of bright plastic tubes which invited a number of responses including walking through them, dancing with them, and swinging on them like ropes. This blog post covers a number of examples of interactive art with some thoughtful discussion of its future.

“Earth,” coming in April, is all about the environment and how we live in it. Artwork should use natural, found or recycled materials, or otherwise be linked thematically to the planet, the environment, or humanity’s relationship to the environment. For inspiration, look at the 2008 show “Interplay: Humanity & Nature” on flickr. Art League members Noah Williams and Guy and Marco Rando use found objects in their sculpture; their work can also be found on our flickr page. Likewise, Jeanne Garant’s 2006 solo show in the gallery featured her small works assembled from discarded objects she found on streets around the Torpedo Factory. She challenged herself to create a work daily, using whatever she found, and the result was a stunning exhibit. How will you challenge yourself?

Artists in all media have been successful in creating environmental art. Photographer Chris Jordan is one of many drawn to images of consumption, such as in his images Recycling Yard #6 and Sawdust, which depicts a mountain of sawdust. Jordan writes that he found the subject “desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful.” A National Geographic photo gallery addresses human responses to natural disaster. Other artists have recycled materials including car tires, carved into patterns by Wim Delvoye, trash, turned into a sort of self-portrait by Tim Noble and Sue Webster, and debris from Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, made into art by the Haitian artists group Atis Rezistans, “the sculptors of Grand Rue.”

This spring’s exhibits are great opportunities to try something new, and they should produce very interesting shows. Good luck!

There is!

A First Choice raffle ticket — $15 for one, $25 for two — gives you a chance at having your favorite piece with no anxious waiting involved. Just visit the gallery to get a ticket, or tickets, and designate the piece you want. The First Choice raffle winner is drawn before the official Patrons’ Show drawing starts. If your ticket is the lucky one, you get to go home with your top choice!

The $250 Geri Gordon Award, established by one of our longtime Patrons, goes to the artist whose work is selected by the First Choice raffle winner. You don’t need to have a Patrons’ Show ticket to enter, nor do you need to be present to claim your artwork.

This is a great way to get in on the Patrons’ Show fun and support The Art League if buying a Patrons’ Show ticket wasn’t in your budget. So get down to the gallery and pick your First Choice!

Favorites can get snatched up quickly.

Artists are asked to celebrate the organic diversity of ceramic form while exploring “tea” as the functional muse. Artwork may be traditional, modern, or conceptual in design. Entry is open to all wares associated with drinking, serving, and presenting tea.

For more details on the exhibit, including prizes and entry forms, click here.

3rd Ward Open Call
Deadline: February 29, 2012. Welcome to the next step in launching your creative career. You’re invited to join the 3rd Ward Winter 2012 Open Call, an international search for exciting, innovative, and compelling work in the Categories of Art, Photography, Furniture Design, and Graphic Design. Prizes include exposure on the 3rd Ward website, cash grants, and residencies. Click here to participate.

“Forged” at the Target Gallery
Deadline: March 19, 2012. This is a media specific sculptural exhibition that explores the contemporary approaches to forged metal work. The work can range in size with the stipulation that it incorporates forged metal elements. This is open to all artists nationally and internationally. Click here for details (scroll down).

Children’s art classes get rave reviews from the students, who often take them over again — and from the parents, too.

“Although we’ve taken classes at other art centers, the Art League consistently offers teaching that is both high-quality and friendly … just perfect for children,” writes Caitlin Garvey, whose son Lucas started in Karen Day’s Art Fun-damentals class when he was five.

An example of Lucas's work in charcoal.

Since his first class, Lucas, now seven, has taken two more years in Art Fun-damentals and attended two summers’ worth of art camps.

Caitlin says he’s excited about the work he brings home — for example, asking for charcoals to continue pieces at home — and even enjoys teaching his younger brother sometimes. The classes have boosted his confidence, as well.

“We’ve seen Lucas become increasingly confident that he is an artist and has something of value to share with others. Watching those characteristics develop in Lucas has been wonderful,” Caitlin writes. An interest in photography led Lucas to enter a photo contest at Huntley Meadows Park, where he won second place in the youth category.

A Lucas watercolor.

Art Fun-damentals, for the youngest artists (ages 5–8) is a starting point for many students, who learn basic art skills and begin to explore their creative side in a variety of media. With several different teachers who mix up the lesson plans for repeat students, there’s always something new to learn.

And compared to art classes at school, where teachers are often limited in what they can do, Art League School classes are less restricted in time and resources. Classes are taught by fine artists, the materials are top-notch, and students have a full two hours (or more) to create. “They get to complete an amazing project,” says instructor Karen Day.

It was a good fit for Deb Kiefer’s son and his passion for art. “He’s always got a crayon or a pencil or something in his hand,” she says. “He’s definitely into art.”

He’s currently enrolled in Painting and Drawing for 9–12 year olds with Karen Day, but he’s also taken a number of other classes and goes to the summer art camps. When one class finishes, he always asks for another, Deb says.

Summer art campers try on masks of their own design.

Children’s classes at The Art League School include basic instruction in painting and drawing, and also courses in cartooning and mixed media. (Similar classes are available for teens.) There are summer art camps in ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, and fiber as well — not to mention workshops in clay animation where students finish their own movie.

After the jump, parents get in on the fun:

Karen Day teaches some of those classes, including Art Fun-damentals. The popular class has many different teachers, each with their own style. Karen covers a wide variety of media — mostly 2-D with clay and paper sculpture — and changes the class each term so students don’t get bored, because many students take the class more than once.

Karen says she teaches a structured class with lots of demonstrations, teaching young artists to put down what they see. Students learn the basics of color, dimension, perspective, and basic art language, and Karen introduces them to classical and modern artists.

Classes were so popular with the kids that recently, Karen has started teaching a course specifically for their parents, called My Turn! Art Night Out. “A lot of the parents were saying, ‘it’s too bad I can’t do this,’ ” Karen says. “It was a big hit.”

The class is based on a lot of the same projects the children are doing in their class, but geared toward adults. Parents leave the kids at home while they get to try non-threatening projects and have fun doing it. “Parents find that they have a lot of talent themselves,” Karen says.

An Art League camper finding her inner artist.

Karen has been teaching at the summer art camps since the beginning. Students there get to try a new subject each day, so they are exposed to a variety of media and teachers.

Deb says her son likes trying new things at art camps, and her nieces get to go when they visit, too. At an age when many children are still learning language and writing, “It’s just a great way for kids to express themselves,” she says.

“Creativity is so important, and it’s not something that a lot of time is spent on during the school day,” Caitlin says. “Lucas is very proud of what he’s learned in the art classes.”

Next up for Lucas: ceramics, as soon as he turns 10.

To browse course listings and to register, visit The Art League School website.

"Cherry Blossoms and the Tide" by Catherine Messina is in the 2012 Patrons' Show.

Check out these contests and craft shows:

FotoDC Cherry Blossom Contest
Early bird deadline: March 11, 2012. FotoDC and the National Cherry Blossom Festival are holding the second annual cherry blossom photography contest, with single or series entries allowed in four categories: landscape, people, festivities, and vintage. With cash prizes and exhibition opportunities, it’s a chance to see your work blossom before an audience of thousands! Click here for details.

Rebuilding Together Alexandria T-Shirt Contest
Deadline: February 15, 2012. In honor of RTA’s 25th anniversary, participants should submit a design that shows what Rebuilding Together Alexandria means to them or a design reflective of RTA’s impact in the community. The winner will receive a prize and their artwork will be featured on 1,000 t-shirts and on our website! See the front page of the RTA website for an entry form.

Washington Craft Show
Deadline: April 1, 2012 (late submissions until April 16). The 25th annual Washington Craft Show, November 16–18, 2012, sponsored by Crafts America, will be held at the Washington Convention Center in the heart of Washington, D.C. It is a multi-media crafts exhibition and sale focusing on contemporary American craft. This prestigious show features 190 artists who are jury selected from all over the United States. This is an excellent opportunity for artists who work in the field of fine craft to present their work to a sophisticated multi-national marketplace at a national highly rated show with a strong established audience base. Click here for details.

Westchester Fine Craft Show
Deadline: April 1, 2012 (late submissions until April 16). The 19th annual Westchester Fine Craft Show, October 12–14, is a beautiful showcase of contemporary American fine craft. This juried show, featuring 110 distinguished craft artists from all over the United States, accesses one of the most sophisticated and established marketplaces in the country. It has proven to be an important venue for crafts artists to expand their customer base and sales opportunities. Click here for details.

Have you been looking for a way to combine your love of the arts with your passion for democracy? The Art League needs your help voting in two surveys!

1. The Art League has been nominated for Best Arts & Culture Non-Profit in the Washington City Paper 2012 Readers’ Poll! Click here to vote — winners are featured in the Washington City Paper and online.

2. Alexandria was voted the #3 mid-size arts destination in 2010, but last year it dropped to #8. Vote in this AmericanStyle poll to help the city get the recognition it deserves! Alexandria is nominated in the mid-size city category. In 2010, the Torpedo Factory and The Art League were featured in a write-up on the city’s art scene. Vote to let people know where the action is!

Torpedo Factory Visiting Artist Program – Summer 2012
Deadline: February 15, 2012. Emerging and experienced artists are invited to apply for one, two, or three-month residencies between June 1 and August 31, 2012.

The Visiting Artist Program is intended as a professional development opportunity for emerging and experienced visual artists, and to expose visitors to exciting artists and projects. The visiting artists will be working in studios throughout the art center from June through August and will be actively involved in art enrichment events throughout their residency in which they will demonstrate and lecture about their work.

(The Torpedo Factory is also accepting applications in March for its annual jurying process for new members. That information is here.)

The Bethany Beach Boardwalk Arts Festival

34th Annual Bethany Beach Boardwalk Arts Festival
Deadline: May 1, 2012. Application fee: $25. The Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce announces that applications for the Annual Bethany Beach Boardwalk Arts Festival are now open. Join us for the premier show at the Quiet Resorts! Join over 100 skilled artisans against the beautiful backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean and the Bethany Beach boardwalk. This one-day show attracts more than 7,500 visitors!

Photoshop World
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or budding photographer, there’s one place to get top-notch training to take your work to the next level: Photoshop World. And, for the first time ever, the must-attend conference and expo of the year will take place right here in The District to provide three non-stop days of the world’s best photography, lighting and Photoshop training.

From March 24-26, 2012 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center-right in the heart of Downtown DC – Photoshop World offers more than 100 classes taught by  40+ seasoned photographers and Photoshop experts, including Scott Kelby, Jay Maisel, Greg Heisler, Dave Black, Jeremy Cowart, Moose Peterson, Joe McNally, Vincent Versace, John Paul Caponigro, and David Ziser.

Liquitex representative Tony Zatzick answered questions from the sizable crowd — why not paint with latex house paint? — and demonstrated the differences between kinds of paint and how to read the fine print on the labels. Attendees were able to try their hand at painting and take home some samples as well.

Among Tony’s helpful tips: the less expensive student-grade paint has less pigment than the professional-grade, and paint is rated by its lightfastness — I is lightfast, II can shift, and III is “fugitive,” or loses its color. Liquitex has many more resources on its website, including videos and a virtual library.

Liquitex doesn’t sell directly to artists, but may we suggest visiting The Art League Store for all your art supply needs?