January 2017 – The Art League

Artist Opportunities #356

January 31, 2017

*Back Study* by Art League instructor Thanasi Papapostolou.

On Tuesdays, we gather a variety of artist opportunities around the DC area and beyond. Find one below and enter today — good luck! Click here for recent opportunities posts, and submit your opportunity listing here.

Creative Entrepreneurship Series

Events: February 15–March 22. Every Wednesday from 7:00 – 9:00 pm, beginning February 15 and running through March 22, Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts will present its acclaimed Creative Entrepreneurship Series at VisArts at Rockville (MD). Participants can choose to attend as few or as many sessions as they like:

Each session is free for WALA members or $20 for non-members.

Performance art

Deadline: April 1. The Franklin Furnace Fund awards grants annually to emerging artists to enable them to produce major performance art works in New York.

Solo exhibits: Philadelphia

Deadline: March 10. Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA features six professional artist exhibitions per year in all media and all subject matter.

Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!

Photography grant

Deadline: January 31. The Alexia Foundation offers a professional Alexia Grant to enable professional photographers and visual journalists to produce substantial bodies of work that share the Foundation’s goals of promoting world peace and cultural understanding.

NY residency

Deadline: February 1. The Studio Grant at Women’s Studio Workshop (Rosendale, NY) is a six- to eight-week residency for artists to create new work in any of our studio disciplines: intaglio, letterpress, papermaking, screenprinting, photography, or ceramics. WSW invites applications from artists at any stage in their careers.

Exhibit proposals

Deadline: February 1. BlackRock Center for the Arts (Germantown, MD) is now accepting proposals for solo, themed and group exhibitions to be presented in our gallery spaces. Visual artists, curators, and coordinators of artist collectives and arts organizations who are over the age of 18 and live or work in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia are encouraged to submit Exhibition Proposals.

Laurel Art Guild

Deadline: February 1. Any artist over 18 years old who resides in MD, VA, DC, PA, WV, DE, or NJ is eligible to submit to the Laurel (MD) Art Guild’s 48th Annual Open Juried Exhibition.

Fiber art

Deadline: February 4. Fantastic Fibers at Yeiser Art Center (Paducah, KY) is an international competitive exhibition that seeks to showcase a wide range of outstanding works related to the fiber medium.

Ephemera

Deadline: February 5. Target Gallery (Alexandria, VA) invites national and international artists to submit work for Ephemera, an all-media exhibition that challenges the concept of timeless art by exploring ephemeral artwork. Ephemeral is defined as “fleeting, short-lived, momentary, or brief.”

March150

Panel pickup: January 8–February 12. Target Gallery is raising money for its special exhibitions and programming with the 7th annual March150 special exhibition. The exhibition is not juried and open to all artists, with the only requirement being that works be created on the gallery provided 10″x 10″ wood panels. A $15 fee guarantees entry into the exhibition, a chance to win awards chosen by special judges, and one free ticket to the Art Party on Friday, March 24.

Painting awards

Deadline: February 17. The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the 12th annual Bethesda Painting Awards. Up to nine finalists will be selected to display their work in an exhibition during the month of June at Gallery B in downtown Bethesda, MD, and the top four winners will receive $14,000 in prizes.

Art Hop Takoma

Deadline: February 21. Once again the Old Takoma Business Association is hosting community favorite Art Hop arts fest on April 29–30, 2017! Join us for this weekend of art where we match local artists with local businesses. We invite a broad range of local artists working in a variety of media at all ranges of pricing, both new and emerging, to create an exciting mix of local art.

Matador Review

Deadline: February 28. The Matador Review, an online literature and art quarterly based in Chicago, publishes poetry, fiction, flash fiction, creative non-fiction, and visual art. Art submissions for the Spring 2017 issue are now being accepted.

France residency

Deadline: February 28. The BAU Institute residency in Cassis, France supports the development of work in the Visual Arts (including photography, video and new media), Creative Writing, Dramatic Writing, Performance and Musical Composition.

3-D art

Deadline: February 28. Artful Dimensions Gallery, an all 3-D, non-profit art gallery in Fredericksburg, VA has a call for 3-D artists for its annual juried show.

Community Mural Project

Deadline: March 1. Greenhill Realty is now accepting artist submissions for the new community mural project Arts on Edsall. The project in West Alexandria, VA will transform the blank canvas of the Edsall Road side of the Greenhills Mayflower Building. Upon completion the artist(s) will receive a $10,000 award. Please email inquiries and submissions to [email protected].

DC Fellowship

Deadline: March 3. The 10th annual open call for the Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship (Washington, DC) is now open. Hamiltonian Artists encourages all interested artists who have not had prior gallery representation to apply for this competitive, two-year fellowship program.

Plein air competition

Deadline: March 8. The Bucks County (PA) Plein Air competition is open to all painters age 18 and older. All entrants will be juried, and the total number of participants will be limited to 50.

Heritage crafts

Deadline: March 10. The 73rd Annual Waterford Fair, a juried crafts exhibition with demonstrations and retail sales, will be held in the National Historic Landmark village of Waterford, Virginia, October 6–8, 2017.

Harrisonburg juried exhibit

Deadline: March 15. All artists residing in the U.S. are invited to enter artwork completed after January 1, 2015 into the 14th annual VMRC Juried Art Exhibition (Harrisonburg, VA). No commission is charged on sales.

Art Speaks on the Bay

Deadline: March 16 (early bird February 16). Art Speaks on the Bay is a juried art show at the Bay School Community Arts Center in Mathews, VA. There is a courier service offered for accepted artwork.

Target Gallery call for proposals

Deadline: March 19. This call is open to all artists from North America working in all visual media. Proposals for exhibitions by both individuals and groups will be considered. The individual or group associated with the chosen proposal will receive a solo exhibition at Target Gallery from July 8 – September 3, 2017. The artist(s) will also receive a $1,000 stipend.

Fellowship

Deadline: March 20. VisArts invites applications and proposals from local, national, and international artists for a six month Studio Fellowship at VisArts at Rockville.

Current and recent students

Deadline: March 22. Wet Paint at the Workhouse Arts Center (Lorton, VA) is open to any artist who graduated with a Bachelor or Masters degree in 2014, 2015 or 2016, or any current student artist in a Bachelor or Masters program.

Illinois art festival

Deadline: March 30. The West End Arts Festival in La Grange, IL is a juried fine art festival taking place September 9–10, 2017.

Solo show proposals

Deadline: March 31. VisArts (Rockville, MD) invites artists working in all media to apply for 2018 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery and Common Ground Gallery.

Small prints

Deadline: April 10. Artists from all 50 states and Canada are eligible to submit up to 3 original prints for the National Small Prints Show at Creede Arts Council (CO).

Freedom juried show

Deadline: April 16. Project:Free is a call to artists to explore what it means to live in a free world or to have freedom of speech and expression. Organized by SIPMA Contemporary, the venue is the Printmaking Center of NJ. There are no limitations on size or media as long as it fits through an 84” door.

Bethany Beach

Deadline: April 28. The 39th Annual Bethany Beach (DE) Arts Festival will take place on Saturday, September 9. The one-day show will feature more than 100 artists.

Panama residency

Deadline: May 29. Continuing our year-long focus on Black Speculative Art, the Creative Currents Artist Collaborative Summer Artist Residency allows literary, visual, performance, dance and music artists two weeks in conversation with their creative muse and each other as we explore the Black Speculative Arts amongst the backdrop of historic Portobelo, Panama.

1st Stage

Deadline: ongoing. 1st Stage, a small, professional theater in the Tysons area, mounts art exhibits for each production, usually five to six times a year. If you are interested in being considered for a show, contact curator Deborah Conn at [email protected].

4 Kinds of Videos Artists Can Make Right Now

January 27, 2017

Artists and videos: it’s a match made in heaven. People love watching visual art in progress, whether you’re documenting, demonstrating, or just talking about it. As of November 2015, there were an average of 8 billion views daily of videos on Facebook.

Making your first artist video can seem daunting, but the truth is that you probably already have your video camera in your pocket, and free editing software on your computer.

Why bother? People spend a lot of time watching videos online (8 billion views daily, remember?), so it’s an excellent way for fans and collectors to discover new artists. More importantly, including a video on your website can increase sales and make you more memorable to visitors. It’s a great investment for a small business — like yours!

You’ll find ideas for videos at the beginning of this post, and tips for first-timers at the end.

1. Demonstrate a technique

By far the most popular subject matter on our own YouTube channel, demo videos can take a number of forms.

They can be narrated or set to music. They can be in real time, sped up, created from time-lapse photography, or edited down to just the highlights. Show off your skills!

Encaustic Technique 19 by Nancy Crawford
Peel by Duane Keiser
Real Speed Painting by Nancy Freeman
How to Draw Transparent Objects by The Art League

(1b. Livestream)

A livestream — a live, unedited broadcast watched online — is great for demos, because you can answer questions from the audience. You can use YouTube, Periscope, or take advantage of your Facebook following by livestreaming there. (These are all easy to do right from your phone or webcam.)

John Miller Makes a Giant Glass Donut by Corning Museum of Glass
Teresa Oaxaca Drawing Demonstration by The Art League

Martha Wilson as Barbara Bush — Martha Wilson performed as Barbara Bush in 2008 and documented the performance. (Watch the video here.)

2. Document an event

Got a performance or an installation to share? Make a video! A time lapse is a great way to show a long process — like an hours-long studio session, or an installation process.

The iPhone, iPad, and GoPro all have built-in time lapse functions. Or, use your regular video camera, then use any editing software to speed up the footage (and take out the slower parts). If you go this route, you’ll need new audio: think music, or narration.

Sergio Gomez and Steve Prince Live Drawing Performance by Sergio Gomez
Arrival of Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin by Hirshhorn
Steamroller Printing by The Art League

3. Interview yourself

Whether you are responding to questions from a real interviewer, or answering imaginary questions, a video is the perfect outlet for talking about your art. Include images of your artwork to create visual interest.

Kristen Morgin at the Renwick Gallery
Friend Me: Jewelry by Whitney Staiger

Frames from a Scott Hutchison animation (see *i don’t know*, below)

4. Other

We hardly need to say this to artists, but: get creative! How can you use video to add to your art?

Peter Draws combines sped-up footage of Peter drawing with rambling, unrelated narration.
i don’t know is an animation using oil paintings by Scott Hutchison

Tips & Resources

Be compelling: Does your video inspire, inform, entertain? If not, back to the drawing board!
Gear: Not as important as you’d think. Our most-watched video was shot at The Art League using an inexpensive Flipcam, and your phone probably shoots higher quality footage than that. The most important thing is the content of the video.
- Tripod: If you’re both the artist and the videographer, you’ll need something to hold the camera for you. There are plenty of options out there for tripods to hold your phone or camera.
Editing: Editing makes the video. In your case, it’s probably as simple as cutting down clips and stitching them together, and the free software that’s already on your computer can do that. (Try iMovie on your Mac or iPad, and Windows Movie Maker on Windows.)
Music: Sound and music can do wonders! For public domain and Creative Commons music, we like to look on youtube.com/audiolibrary and freemusicarchive.org
Duration: On our videos, the average watch time is three minutes. After that point, it gets harder to hold the viewer’s attention. Try to make your video as short and concise and possible, and grab the viewer’s attention at the very start. (This isn’t necessarily true for livestreams.)
Where to upload: Your video will probably live on YouTube or Vimeo, and from there you can share it on your website, in emails, etc. If you are on Facebook, upload the video directly onto that platform for optimal engagement.

Andrea Cybyk: What’s On the Surface

January 27, 2017

*If Only*, acrylic and graphite on cradled Ampersand Gessobord, by Andrea Cybyk. Winner of the Gallery Director’s Award. (Sold)

This month’s juried exhibit asked our artists to consider “Habits” in all their forms: rituals, addictions — or something as simple as repeated strokes of the paintbrush.

Andrea Cybyk won the Gallery Director’s Award for her painting If Only, a twist on her long-running “Color Strands” series. She told us more about how this fits into her work, why she’s a “nomadic, social painter,” and how she moved from engineer to artist:

What was your goal for If Only?
Andrea Cybyk: I’m interested in repeated lines, shapes and marks, so I use these as parameters to unify each painting or series. I’m very process-driven, preferring a certain viscosity to the paint, a rhythm & variation in the lines, & a balance of color and white space.

How did you arrive at this color palette?
Creature of habit, really. I gravitate to the same colors over and over, favoring transparency over opacity. Each line is left to dry before another crosses it. Where one strand intersects another, they build unexpectedly lush, complex colors, not mixed on my palette. I love the way the pigment is backlit by the pure white surface. The colors are fresh and happy, but hide a darker secret.

Is this part of the Color Strands series? How does it fit in with, and differ from, that series?
If Only is definitely part of my Color Strand series — long, exacting diagonals that tangle into a bit of chaos, echoing the hectic pace of our busy lives. This particular painting is different, though, in that I’ve included handwritten messages of longing and uncertainty. Written in pencil before I began painting, it was a personal outpouring of a very emotional time for me.

If only things were different.
If only I could…
If only you knew…
If only…

My challenge then was to conceal much of what I’d written, mostly with paint, but some by erasing. From a few feet away, you can barely see the words, much in the same way that we’re all “fine” on the surface even if, underneath, we’re not.

What is your creative process like? How do you know when a painting is finished?
I have a perfectly good studio in my basement, but I’m more of a nomadic, social painter. After years of Art League classes, my supplies tuck happily into a rolling carry-on suitcase, and off I go.

I’m an Artist-In-Residence at Palette 22 Restaurant in Shirlington, so I’m in the studio there a couple times a week and with my studio group in Herndon on Fridays. I’m super productive at P22, despite all the noise and people. It’s forced me to think more independently and to adapt my process to the peculiarities of that environment.

I always work flat on a table, not on an easel. I want the paint to pool and dry rather than dripping. It’s a control thing. I’m always working on more than one piece at a time, moving one forward while another is drying and alternating between positive shapes and negative space.

*Floating Forms 12*; acrylic on paper, mounted on cradled wood panel; by Andrea Cybyk.

Knowing when a painting is finished is tricky and fraught with doubt and indecision. All the classic principles of design and composition apply in abstract painting as well, so that helps. I leave a lot of white space in my paintings and use it both as a pathway to move the eye through the painting and as a resting place from potential color overload. Step back, walk away, leave it alone for days, and finally solutions become clear, or I realize it was already complete.

How did you get started in painting? How has your art changed over time?
I was a software engineer. After college, my friends and I frequented the First Friday gallery openings at Dupont Circle, lured by free food and wine. Along the way, I got hooked on bold, intoxicating colors, though it was years before I had the courage to pick up a brush and take my first painting class. The engineer and the abstract artist battled it out in my head for a long time. Eventually the artist won, but my engineer side still likes to have a say in the order of things.

*Openings 31*, acrylic on paper, by Andrea Cybyk.

I studied painting, turned to printmaking for several years, and later returned to painting, bringing with me the brayers which I currently favor over brushes and a love of the luminous glow of pigment on paper. I’ve done a lot of loose, expressive abstraction, but currently prefer more structure in my paintings, hence the focus on repeating shapes.

What are you working on now?
Three different series all at once: Color Strands, Floating Forms, and the newest, Openings. This latest obsession is a series of small works on paper with a grid reminiscent of old windows and ancient buildings. I’m using a gelatin plate, brayers, and a template rescued from the recycle bin. Each acquires a delicate, time-worn patina composed of dozens of layers of acrylic paint.

I’ll show at Artomatic Crystal City in March/April because it’s always fun, and I’m a guest artist at the Vale Arts Spring show April 28–30. In October, I’ll be the featured 2-D artist at the Cooley Gallery in Leesburg.

“Habits” is open through Sunday, February 5. If Only is sold and has been shipped.

Artist Opportunities #355

January 24, 2017

*The Mason’s Table* by Art League instructor Diane Tesler.

NY residency

Painting awards

3-D art

Deadline: February 28. Artful Dimensions Gallery, an all 3-D, non-profit art gallery in Fredericksburg, VA has a call for 3-D artists for its annual juried show.

Heritage crafts

Solo show proposals

Deadline: March 31. VisArts (Rockville, MD) invites artists working in all media to apply for 2018 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery and Common Ground Gallery.

Freedom juried show

Bethany Beach

Deadline: April 28. The 39th Annual Bethany Beach (DE) Arts Festival will take place on Saturday, September 9. The one-day show will feature more than 100 artists.

Panama residency

Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!

Landscape photography

Deadline: January 25. All artist renditions on the Landscapes theme, genres, capture types and photographic processes are eligible for the Landscapes 2017 exhibit at the Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, CO). The juror is Lisa Volpe, associate curator of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

TFAA annual jury

Deadline: January 27. The annual jury is the process by which artists can join the Torpedo Factory Artists Association’s thriving network of professional artists in Alexandria, VA. All artists working in fine arts and fine crafts are eligible.

TFAC visiting artists

Deadline: January 27. The Visiting Artist Program at the Torpedo Factory Art Center (Alexandria, VA) is intended as a professional development opportunity for emerging and experienced visual artists, and to expose visitors to a new group of artists and projects. Applicants may apply for a 1, 2, 3, or 4-month summer residency, June through September.

Wearable art

Deadline: January 28. The Time Machine is an exhibition held in conjunction with the annual “Wearable Arts Festival” in March 2017 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Multiple Exposures Gallery

Deadline: January 28. Multiple Exposures Gallery (MEG), a cooperative fine art photography gallery located in the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia, currently has two membership openings — one permanent membership and one limited term membership through January 31, 2018 — for which we are issuing an open call. Information sessions will be held at MEG on Saturday, January 7, and Sunday, January 22, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon for photographers interested in learning more about the gallery and our selection process.

Drawings & prints

Deadline: January 29. For the 28th National Drawing and Print Competitive Exhibition at Gormley Gallery (Baltimore, MD), drawings and prints (not including photography) in any medium are eligible.

Prince George’s County artists

Deadline: January 30. The Prince George’s County Traffic Box Art Wrap project is announcing a Call for Artists. Hyattsville CDC seeks five designs for reproduction on vinyl wraps to cover 11 traffic boxes, at pre-determined sites within Prince George’s County.

Photography competition

Deadline: January 30. Photoworks Gallery (Glen Echo, MD) announces a Call for Entries for United/Divided, the upcoming public exhibition of photography in 2017.

Hyattsville Metro

Deadline: January 30. The Hyattsville Community Development Corporation in partnership with WMATA’s Art-In-Transit Program seek a muralist or muralist team to submit preliminary designs/sketches for the two wall sections of the pedestrian underpass at the West Hyattsville Metro Station. Artists are encouraged to propose aspirational, dynamic imagery that evokes excitement and change.

Illinois Residency

Deadline: January 30. The Enos Park Residency for Visual Artists (Springfield, IL) offers long-term residencies that provide living and studio space and community through which to reflect and engage one’s work. We accept applications from emerging, mid-career, and established artists working in all media, and especially those who emphasize community engagement, social practice, or socially-engaged works.