January 10, 2012 – The Art League

Vacancies on Alexandria’s Public Art Committee

January 10, 2012

Alexandria artists, arts professionals and arts appreciators: the Public Art Committee has some openings and is looking for volunteers to fill the empty seats! Details are below.

The Alexandria Commission for the Arts is seeking volunteers to serve on the Public Art Committee. Applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, February 10, 2012. The Commission will review the applications and appoint the new members at the February 21, 2012 Arts Commission meeting. There are three openings for individuals who will represent the West End area of Alexandria. Two openings are for artists or arts professionals who will serve an unexpired term through November 1, 2013. One opening is for an individual who has an interest in art and will serve an unexpired term through November 1, 2012. Each member may reapply for a three-year term after serving the unexpired terms listed. Two of the three positions available must be filled by individuals who reside within the City of Alexandria. One position may be filled by an individual who resides or works within the City.

Announcement continued after the jump: Continue reading Vacancies on Alexandria’s Public Art Committee

Q&A with Award Winner Sandy LeBrun-Evans

January 10, 2012

The January All-Media exhibit in The Art League Gallery includes a wide variety of great works of art by Art League members in all media — you can see for yourself on our flickr page or by dropping by the gallery, open seven days a week.

Juror Allen Beland, a photographer, chose this month’s award-winners, giving the Second Place Award to a photograph by Sandy LeBrun-Evans depicting a broken-down, beautifully weathered truck in a remote setting. We asked Sandy about her work in photography and mixed media, the transition to digital, and the award winner, Truck.

Is there a story behind Truck? Where was the photograph taken?
Sandy: Truck was shot in Cisco, Utah. I was traveling through Utah searching out “abandoned” and “forgotten” places and things. The Truck had about 25 spent shells around it where locals had leaned on the hood target shooting (I hope). Of course, I picked up a few of those shells for possible use in some mixed media work.

What camera do you use? How do you process the image?
A Nikon D700. I shot and processed five images of the Truck through Photomatix HDR software and then fine-tuned in Photoshop CS5.

Is Truck part of a series?
Truck is part of a series entitled Forgotten. My family and I ski in Park City, Utah every year, so I planned to stay an extra week photographing in southeastern Utah. I did some Internet searching, located abandoned areas and started driving. Some of the areas designated as abandoned towns were gifts, and some were just a spot of land that was truly abandoned — nothing there!

After the jump, Sandy talks about shooting with an iPhone and adding mixed media into her work: Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Sandy LeBrun-Evans

Free Workshop For Artists: Art*iculation

January 10, 2012

The Art League often hosts free lectures for artists, which are posted on our lecture series and enrichment page. One of January’s three workshops is a guide to writing about your artwork, led by writing coach David Hazard, which promises to be useful and fun.

Art * iculation

A 3-hour free workshop on finding your writing voice… for visual artists

Exhibitions, shows, and galleries — as well as personal websites — require both a clear artist’s statement and a compelling description of your work. As a painter, sculptor, potter, or woodcarver, it’s important to know how to say in words what comes to you by feel and intuition.

David Hazard has coached creative people for 34 years, and will help you to capture the words that so often escape visual artists when asked to articulate why they do what they do. You will learn how to:

identify the strong elements of their personal voice… as it emerges in their work
understand and connect with their audience
create simple and compelling personal statements for promotional and marketing copy

Saturday, January 28, 1 – 4 pm. Please RSVP The Art League at (703) 683-1780. Walk-ins are also welcome.