See below for details on upcoming exhibits, other calls for artists, and studio space. You can click the banner above to view past opportunities posts. Good luck!
Chalk art proposals
Deadline: June 21, 2013. Golden Triangle BID is looking for an artist to create a temporary chalk illustration on a designated sidewalk to infuse creativity and create a memorable visual statement within the district. The selected artist will receive a $600 stipend. For more information, click here (PDF).
SOHO—Space of Her Own mentor orientations will be held on Tuesday, June 18 and Tuesday, June 25, 5:30–7:30 pm at The Art League’s Madison Annex, located at 808 N. Fairfax Street. The sessions will provide details about SOHO, the mentor commitment and the application process. Click here to select the date you would like to attend and to register.
About the program: SOHO is a creative mentorship program that serves pre-teen girls by providing yearlong mentoring through engagement in life skills instruction, creative art activities and meaningful community service projects. Each volunteer mentor makes a one-year commitment to the program, which fosters long-term relationships and culminates in the renovation of each girl’s bedroom, HGTV-style. SOHO utilizes evidence-based life skills curricula and the National Mentoring Partnership’s model program guidelines. SOHO operates from September to June. To learn more about SOHO, please visit www.spaceofherown.org. E-mail questions to [email protected]. Mentor One Child. Change Two Lives.
Click here for a 2-minute overview of SOHO and to view our mentoring commercial.
Last Thursday, May 30, the graduates of the 2012–13 Space of Her Own program in Old Town gathered with their mentors and family to celebrate a year of fun and hard work.
Space of Her Own is an arts-based mentorship program that pairs fifth-grade girls with adult mentors for lessons on art and life skills, special outings, and concludes with a bedroom renovation for each SOHO girl. The program started in 2003 as a partnership between the City of Alexandria’s Court Service Unit and The Art League, and became a nonprofit in 2011. It depends on the help of dozens of coordinators, volunteers, and donors.
At Thursday’s graduation ceremony in the Torpedo Factory, the Old Town girls each gave a speech about their experience with the program, and then, together with their mentors, watched a video of the room makeover reveals. Click here to learn more about how you can support SOHO, and see below for photos from the graduation! Continue reading Congrats to the 2013 SOHO Graduates!
With a title like “(CON)text,” one might expect an eclectic group exhibit at The Art League this month, and that’s what we’ve got: mosaics, comic books, and narrative collages, among the other works of art by our members. Each artist brought his or her own context to the exhibit, and juror John James Anderson, a DC-based artist and art teacher, selected what’s on the walls.
The theme called for text-based work or work that sends a message, and artists responded with original and repurposed text, language and the written word in the abstract, social and political commentary, visual conflict, comments on art, and stories of all kinds: Continue reading Art Leaguers’ Work in “(CON)text”
Motion, Light, And Sound: Dynamic Sculptures And Installations
August 6 & 7, 2013
Registration page
This summer, The Art League is offering an exciting new workshop in creating interactive art — a first for us! Technology teacher John Kauffman is teaching this new-media workshop, which will show students what they can do with a simple “microcontroller” to control lights, sound, and movement.
John’s first workshop is coming up on August 6 & 7 (the registration page is here), with more in the works for the future. We asked him to tell us more about what students can expect:
What will students do in this workshop?
John Kauffman: Students will work with a microcontroller — a very small, cheap, self-contained computer. The students will also have some standard electronics components like those seen on any electronics circuit. Then there are some little devices that sense the environment (light, switches) and more that control the environment (motors, lights, speakers). These pieces can be inserted in different combinations so there is no need to solder or use other special tools. All of the bits are re-usable for projects after the class.
Animating art consists of three parts: sensing the environment (light levels, the viewer twisting a dial), outputs (in this workshop: motor, lights, and sound), and in between, the microcontroller itself — listening to the inputs, deciding what to do, and controlling the outputs.
You can think of this as another tool in the artist’s kit. A potter uses a kiln, a painter the different types of paint, and a photographer a camera. Mastery of each kind of equipment enables the artist to go from the idea to the finished product. The microcontroller is another tool to implement the artists’ concept into a finished piece of art.
Who is this for? Do students need any experience?
Several types of people can enjoy this course — people who have a piece in mind and need the knowledge to implement it, people who want to learn what’s possible, and life-long learners without a specific purpose at the present, who enjoy the challenge of new ideas. This is a completely fresh arena for most artists.
This course is very carefully designed to start at zero and only spend time on technical details as needed for the goals. For example, everything you need to know about electricity is summed up in three sentences. Only a few dozen technical terms are used and these are carefully explained. If you understand half the functions of a digital camera, then you will have no problems with this course. It is very useful to be capable of assembling small pieces using screwdrivers, pliers, etc. I have always admired the deftness of a painter or drawer to produce dozens of effects from the same brush or chalk — these kinds of people will have no problem. A magnifying glass or jeweler’s loupe is useful if you have trouble focusing close; I use one all the time.
What’s your background?
I’m a techie, not an artist. But I love observing and learning about art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art had Tuesday evening docent tours and I barely missed one in the 18 months I lived in Manhattan.
I’ve been working with the microcontroller tool for ten years and teaching technology in general an additional ten. I view myself like an expert in digital cameras or lithographic presses. I can teach the techniques, trouble shoot problems and explain the capabilities and limits. But it may be very hard for the technician to produce a great print.
What will students take home after 2 days?
Students will go home with knowledge and experience. They will have completed about a dozen projects, although each one is deconstructed to re-use the parts in the next. These projects will be demonstrations of techniques, not actual artistic pieces. I think just as important is that participants will understand what can and cannot be done with this tool. Artists will not end with a finished piece in this short course, but keep your eyes open for follow-up courses where we develop a given technique into a finished piece.
See below for details on upcoming exhibits. You can click the banner above to view past opportunities posts. Good luck!
First Annual Clifton Plein Air Festival
June 22–23, 2013. Register by June 10 for a $10 discount. Artists paint as many canvases as they want to, and submit two for judging on the second day. For more information and to register, click here.
“Tabletop”: A National Ceramics Exhibit
June 6–July 1, 2013
Opening Reception & Juror Talk: Saturday, June 22, 2:00–4:00 pm
47 ceramics artists from 20 states and Canada are represented in “Tabletop,” this year’s edition of The Art League’s annual national juried ceramics exhibit. This year, juror Linda Christianson, a Minnesota potter, selected functional art such as teapots, pitchers, and cups for the show.
“Tabletop” opens next week, Thursday, June 6, with an opening reception and juror talk to follow on Saturday, June 22 at 2:00 pm. See below for more preview images, and be sure to see these works of art in person next week! Continue reading Preview: “Tabletop” Ceramics Exhibit
Bob Tetro: “Yellowstone Abstracted”
June 6–July 1, 2013
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 13, 6:30–8:00 pm
You may have been to Yellowstone, but you haven’t seen it like this.
Opening next week on Thursday, June 6, photographer Bob Tetro’s “Yellowstone Abstracted” finds beauty in the textures and abstract shapes of the national park’s natural wonders.
Tetro’s stunning photographs are printed at 45 by 30 inches and mounted directly to clear PVC board, resulting in an experience unlike any other landscape or photography exhibit. More preview images are below, and you can see the exhibit in person next week! Continue reading Preview: “Yellowstone Abstracted” in Photographs
For our third and final interview with the award-winning artists in May’s juried group exhibit, we turn to Susan O’Neill, whose oil painting Thomas’s Gift was awarded second place. (The juror, contemporary art curator Lauren Dickens, awarded best-in-show and third place to two other still life paintings — those interviews are here (with Leigh Culver) and here (with Paul Zapatka.)
Susan O’Neill was also recognized last spring for a collage in our “Earth” exhibit (you can read our earlier interview here), and last fall, her proposal for an exhibit of work on the human figure was selected by a panel of jurors for a 2014 solo show at The Art League.
Susan told us more about that exhibit, her influences, and the gift that spawned the still life — it’s all in our Q&A, below.
How did Thomas’s Gift start?
Susan O’Neill: This particular still life was inspired by my seven-year-old son, who brought me some daffodils that he picked in our garden. I was so touched that I told him that I would paint them. I could not let him down and wanted to keep my promise, so I had to quickly capture them in paint before they lost their vitality and sparkle. He put them into a vase and I wanted to paint them just as he arranged them, without any alteration.
What’s your goal with a still life, and with this one in particular? Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Susan O’Neill
See below for information on exhibits and residencies with upcoming deadlines. You can click the banner above to view past opportunities posts. Good luck!
Foundry Gallery
Deadline: June 1, 2013. Foundry Gallery in D.C. is calling for artists to enter its August juried show, open to artists 18 and older residing in the greater Washington area. Works submitted may be paintings, drawings or mixed media of originality and power, traditional or experimental. For more information and to enter, click here.
If you’re still wondering what art class to take this summer, how about sculpture? We stopped by the Madison Annex on Saturday morning to ask the sculpture students what they’re making — watch the results above!
This class, Wood and Stone Sculpture with George Tkabladze, is only one of our sculpture classes. Beginning/Intermediate Sculpture, Metal Sculpture, Figure Sculpture, and more are starting later this month and continuing throughout the summer — here’s the full list in our catalog.
See below for more examples of sculpture students’ work from February’s Student/Faculty Show: Continue reading Take a Look Inside a Sculpture Class
“One Man’s Trash,” Noah Williams’ exhibit of sculptures made from trash and found objects, was featured Sunday in The Washington Post’s KidsPost section. In the interview by Moira E. McLaughlin, Williams talks about being inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Diego Rivera, and being encouraged by his mother.
KidsPost also put together an activity for kids to make their own trash art.
Be sure to see this amazing exhibit before it closes June 3! For more images from “One Man’s Trash,” follow The Art League on Instagram. Continue reading “One Man’s Trash” in KidsPost!
See below for calls to artists and fellowships with upcoming deadlines. You can click the banner above to view past opportunities posts. Good luck!
Street painting festival
Deadline: May 25, 2013. Announcing Battle of the Artists, a street painting festival being held on Battle Street in historic Old Town Manassas, VA. Artists are being sought to create art on the pavement using chalk pastels. There is no entry fee, and all art supplies are provided. $200 will be awarded to the “People’s Favorite” painting. Participating artists are also invited to exhibit and sell artwork during the festival. For details and to apply, click here.
The second of three still lifes recognized with awards in the May All-Media Exhibit, the tall, colorful Cherry Blossoms by Paul Zapatka (below) is the third place award winner. The artist, Paul Zapatka, told us about his influences, his approach to still life, and using a tall canvas to “stop time.” Read about it in our Q&A, below.
What’s your goal with a still life, and with this one in particular?
Paul Zapatka: My goal with a still life is to allow the viewer to take the time and appreciate things (whether fruit, vases, glass objects, or in this case nature/flowers) in a special way. With Cherry Blossoms, as well as other flower still lifes in the past compositionally, I chose a tall or sometimes thin canvas to stop time (as the title of a short story book I read in college is titled) and to stand for the “joie de vivre” I find when painting nature. I would hope the viewer could feel this as well as the beauty of its warm light colors contrasting with the darker background color. Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Paul Zapatka
“If I can’t get to the lavender fields of Provence, in France, Willow Pond Farm in Fairfield, Pa., will do just fine.” — New York Times
There are just a few spaces remaining in our travel workshop to paint Pennsylvania’s lavender fields at their peak bloom, June 8–9! Join this weekend workshop for two days of plein air painting at Willow Pond Farm and nearby Hauser Estate Winery with instructor Bobbi Pratte. Continue reading Paint Pennsylvania’s Lavender Fields This June
This month’s unofficial theme in the Gallery seems to be the treasure of the everyday, including Noah Williams’ “One Man’s Trash” exhibit and the watercolor below, Picnic Treasure. The painting was selected for the Amelia T. Clemente Family Award for Best in Show in the May 2013 All-Media Exhibit, with juror Lauren Dickens praising its “amazing” color.
The artist, Leigh Culver — “a color person” and a watercolorist — told us about the accidents of watercolor, skipping the planning stage, and her teachers and inspiration. Read our Q&A below!
How did Picnic Treasure come to be?
Leigh Culver: It originated from one of Deborah Ellis’ fabulous still life set-ups in her Tuesday Art League class. I had been looking at Sargent’s watercolors of friends lounging in the Alps — the tilting picture planes, bright light, and tumbling fabrics against brilliant green grounds. I thought maybe this could be an incidental napkin of picnic treasures that could have been of or in that world. Continue reading Q&A with Award Winner Leigh Culver
Don’t miss two talks for artists next Thursday, May 23 in The Art League Gallery: one is a guide to creating exhibition-quality inkjet prints at home, and the other is an introduction to Photoshop for artists. Photographers and digital artists should be sure to sit in on the exhibition prints lecture for tips on accurately reproducing colors and what equipment to use.
Photographer John Burgess will be leading these free lectures — read more about them here, and RSVP to [email protected] to save your spot!
The Art League is looking for summer interns! The internships at Art Camp, our Development Office, and the Gallery are great ways to get experience with teaching, working with children, fundraising, working with databases, and gallery operations. See below for details on the requirements and perks of each position and how to apply! Continue reading Interns Needed: Art Camp, Development, & Gallery
See below for details on upcoming exhibits. You can click the banner above to view past opportunities posts. Good luck!
July 4th show
Deadline: May 30, 2013. On Friday July 5, Capitol Arts Network will open “Born on the 4th of July.” Photography, painting, and mixed media will be considered for this gallery show at Capitol Arts Network. Show us your favorite iconic images, splashy red, white and blue watercolors, oils and acrylics, and the work that calls to mind the stars and stripes for this juried show. For details and to enter, click here.
Noah Williams’ “One Man’s Trash” — creatures, masks, and more made from found metal and knickknacks — has been eliciting gasps since it opened Thursday morning. Get a sneak peek and hear the artist talk about his work in the video above. (Or watch it on YouTube here.)
The large-scale sculptures, including an elephant, a fish, a helicopter, and a bike, are made of everything from soda cans to seashells to hair. To hear more from Noah, watch an awesome video made by his cousin, here.
Also now open: the May All-Media Exhibit, featuring artwork by Art League members and juried by Lauren Dickens, assistant curator of contemporary art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. She selected 115 works of all kinds, both contemporary and traditional, and three paintings for awards — look here for interviews with the award-winning artists in the weeks to come.
Both exhibits are open through June 3! Photos of the all-media exhibit are below, and more are on our Flickr page. Continue reading Now Open: A Treasure of An Exhibit
In our Artful Links feature, we share articles on the arts we think you’ll find interesting or useful. This time around, the reading includes information on 3-D printing for artists, art materials that last, and the road in Norway immortalized in The Scream. Click away!
SOHO (Space of Her Own) is looking for mentors for the Old Town program, which meets Tuesday evenings. Read more for details on attending an orientation session: Continue reading Be a SOHO Mentor
See below for calls for artists and other announcements. You can view past opportunities posts by clicking the banner above. Good luck!
Free lectures: Photoshop and Exhibition Prints
May 23, 2013. Photographer John Burgess will give two free lectures at The Art League on Photoshop for Artists and Exhibition Prints with Inkjet Printers. Please RSVP if you’ll be attending. Click here for full details.
Aerosol murals
Deadline: May 10, 2013. The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) in collaboration with the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) seeks graffiti artists and artist teams to design, create and install aerosol murals that inspire the various communities in which they will be placed. For details and to apply, click here.
Registration is now open for all of The Art League’s summer classes and workshops in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, fiber arts, and more! (It’s not too late to register your kids for Summer Art Camp, either.)
Summer is the perfect time to try something new. Last week, we stopped by Marsha Staiger’s abstract painting class to videotape the students loosening up and trying new painting tools: Continue reading Try a New Art Class This Summer!
