This ground-breaking book describes how artists extend their practices outside of their studios. Their first-hand stories show how artists add to creative economies through their out-of-the-box thinking while also contributing to the well-being of others. Although there is a misconception that artists are invisible and hidden, the truth is that they furnish measurable and innovative outcomes at the front lines of education, the non-profit sector, and corporate environments.
“Anyone serious about a career as an artist must read this book.”(Adam Sheffer, partner, Cheim and Read Gallery)
“Extraordinary. . . . Louden has initiated a public discussion of how an artist can persist. It’s an essential question in a field that no one chooses for its assurance of financial rewards. In many ways, Louden’s book helps us to answer the question, ‘How does an artist make a living today?’” (Art Journal)
“Contributions range from predictable to shocking, in-control and overwhelmed. Some artists have full-time jobs; many are parents … [Louden is] telling it like it is.” (ARTnews)
She graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale University School of Art. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues including the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Drawing Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Weisman Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, Birmingham Museum of Art, Weatherspoon Art Museum and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.
Louden’s work is held in major public and private collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, National Gallery of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, Arkansas Arts Center, Yale University Art Gallery, Weatherspoon Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.
In addition, Sharon Louden is a Senior Critic at the New York Academy of Art and the editor of “Living and Sustaining a Creative Life: Essays by 40 Working Artists” published by Intellect Books and distributed by the University of Chicago Press. Published in October, 2013, the book is now in its sixth printing. With sales in over 18 countries, it has become Intellect Book’s #1 best selling publication two years in a row. The book has been translated into Korean, garnered over 45 reviews, the subject of 15 podcasts and radio appearances and received more individual feedback than can be counted.
From September, 2013 until late May, 2015, Louden went on a 62-stop book tour, where she met thousands of artists from all over the US. Some of the venues who participated included LACMA, the Hirshhorn Museum, Strand Bookstore, Art Basel Miami Beach, the 92nd St Y in New York City, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and many others.
The Artist as Culture Producer: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life” launched at the Strand Book Store in New York City on March 2, 2017 as a part of an extensive 80-stop conversation/book tour. The last book in the trilogy of Living and Sustaining a Creative Life books, “Last Artist Standing,” focusing on artists over 50 years of age, will be published in 2020. (More information about Sharon Louden)
Best Practices in Painting workshop with George O’Hanlon and Tatiana Zaytseva
Want to make paintings that last through the ages?
June 12 to 14, a new workshop is coming to The Art League. Taught by the experts at Natural Pigments, Best Practices in Painting isn’t your typical painting workshop. This one is about changing how you paint from the ground up, with an emphasis on knowing your tools and materials:
Who is this workshop for? What kind of experience is necessary?
George O’Hanlon, instructor: This workshop is intended for all levels of artists and art students. No experience is necessary, although familiarity with common painting terms is useful (i.e., oiling out, glazing, impasto, etc.).
What makes this different from other painting classes?
This is the only workshop taught anywhere that focuses solely on the materials and practices of painting so that artists can create archival pictures and avoid many of the common mistakes made by painters today, such as sinking in, blotchy surfaces, etc.
Why is it important to learn this kind of stuff?
The information in the workshop is transformative, changing how painters work, as many prior students have commented:
“I am not exaggerating when I say it was life changing. Not only does it give me answers to many of the problems I have been having for years, but it is making me re examine all the things I do correctly to have a better understanding why they do work.”
—Marek
“This workshop was what I wished I would have learned in my first year of art school. It challenged everything I thought I knew and things that I could never find the answers to. The information was presented in such a sensible way that provided you the background knowledge to understand how materials function the way they do and what is really happening when problems arise. This will completely change the way I work. I feel I can make more informed choices about the materials I use and be able to troubleshoot and attain the desired effects I want in my work. George and Tatiana were fantastic and it is evident they are so passionate about the work they do and about educating the artistic community.”
—Jessie W.
What are your professional backgrounds?
George O’Hanlon is technical director of Natural Pigments, an artists materials manufacturer and is an expert in historical painting materials and pigments. Tatiana Zaytseva is director of Natural Pigments and was educated in physics and art in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
What is the schedule like over the three days?
The workshop begins with a review of the leading causes of cracking and paint loss in paintings. In light of the research, we review different types of painting supports to help you choose the best one for your painting technique. We review the most suitable grounds for each type of popular support and painting and review factors influencing the embrittlement of the paint film and what artists can do to prolong its life.
Throughout the workshop we provide recommendations involving different supports, grounds and painting techniques that will help you make technically-sound paintings. Here’s the complete curriculum.
What do I need to bring?
A notebook and writing instrument is all that is necessary.
More information about the workshop
For over a hundred years, most causes of paint failures have been studied: humidity, temperature, and paint embrittlement. The symptoms were obvious—cracking, delaminating, and paint loss—but the causes were not. Conservation workers gradually formed concepts as to the causes of cracking and paint loss of old paintings. Concurrently, the coatings industry studied failures in all types of paint films. Artists developed their own ideas, but remained largely unaware of findings from both the conservation community and the coatings industry.
Natural Pigments spent years developing a technical workshop to teach skills that are not taught in art school and universities — a thorough understanding of artist’s materials and tools, what they are designed to do, when to choose them and how to provide considerable longevity to your finished work. This workshop covers the most important aspects of painting that have proven to be the best practices over the centuries.
The information-packed workshop includes all aspects of constructing a painting from the support and ground to the final layers. Practical procedures will be clearly explained and demonstrated on how to build your oil paintings based on conservation research during the past century. This workshop is designed for painters of all mediums, but special emphasis is given to oil painting.
Deadline: June 1. VisArts (Rockville, MD) welcomes artists ages 17 – 27 in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area to submit their application for NextGen 4.0, the fourth juried exhibition in their Kaplan Gallery. NextGen 4.0 is an opportunity for aspiring artists with little to no experience exhibiting their work in a professional gallery.
Nebraska residency
Deadline: June 1. One residency is available in painting, drawing, metals, fibers, or mixed media at LUX Center for the Arts, a non-profit arts center in Lincoln, NE. Artists with an MFA or BFA in studio art are eligible.
Wearable hat art
Deadline: August 1. The Wearable Hat Show at Artists & Makers Studios (Rockville, MD) will be curated by Steven Krensky and a mystery juror. Artists in the metro area are invited to make a statement through the art of the hat. It must be functional, but need not be comfortable.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
First Sunday: Annapolis
Deadline: First come, first served. Applications are now open for vendors for the 2017 season of the First Sunday Arts Festivals in Annapolis, MD.
Leesburg fair
Deadline: First come, first served. The First Annual Arts in the Alley Street Fair will be held one day only July 29, 2017 in Leesburg, VA.
Floyd, VA
Deadline: April 25. Floyd Center for the Arts, located in beautiful, rural Floyd, VA, invites visual media artists within 150 miles of Floyd to submit artwork for exhibition in the New River Art Biennial 2017.
Deadline: April 29. “Spectrum” at Cade Art Gallery (Arnold, MD) seeks hand-pulled prints and book arts that explore traditional or innovative approaches to color in printmaking.
Alexandria CSA
Deadline: April 30. The City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts invites artists and artist teams residing and/or working in Virginia, Maryland or the District of Columbia to submit proposals for participation in a Community Supported Art initiative. Each selected artist or artist team will be paid $2,000 to create fifty (50) original pieces of art.
Deadline June 6: Herndon Town Calendar Photo Competition
Rolling deadline: Solo and group exhibits
Young artists with disabilities
Deadline: May 3. “Electrify!” is a juried competition and exhibition featuring artwork by artists with disabilities, ages 16–25, showcasing artwork that excites our senses, awakens our curiosity, and electrifies our very being.
DC fellowship
Deadline: May 4. The Halcyon Arts Lab Fellowship (Washington, DC) is a nine-month program established to provide emerging artists with time and space to explore new ideas and ambitious projects in an environment of independent learning, study, and collaboration. Halcyon Arts Lab accepts six national or international fellows and two DC-resident fellows in each year of the program.
Watercolor juried exhibit
Deadline: May 6. The Central Virginia Watercolor Guild invites entries to the 2017 Annual Exhibition, to be held at McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, VA. The juror this year is Steve Fleming, former instructor at The Art League.
MD craft show
Deadline: May 7. The Academy Art Museum Craft Show (Easton, MD) is an indoor, juried craft show featuring approximately 65 artists from across the United States.
All-media exhibit
Deadline: May 8. The Open Regional Juried Art Exhibition at Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital (Washington, DC) is open only to artists residing in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Original hanging work created in any medium will be considered.
Wearable art
Deadline: May 15. The ManneqART Competition (Laurel, MD) covers three distinct “sections” of wearable art design: Sculpture, Hair, and Makeup. An artist’s award pool of over $10,000 has been allocated for this year’s ManneqART competition.
Baltimore craft show
Deadline: May 15. The 2nd annual Baltimore Fine Craft Show is a juried exhibition and sale of contemporary American and international crafts and design.
Art sale
Deadline: May 18. Applications are now available for art sale booths at the June 11 Mt. Vernon Spring Art-Fest at Sacramento Center (Alexandria, VA).
Paint out
Event: May 20. Mattawoman Creek Art Center invites artists including photographers to a paint out at Historic Smallwood State Park in Charles County, MD. Register with Barbara Stepura at [email protected]. Meet at the art center in the morning and paint anywhere at the park. Bring a bag lunch and meet back at the art center at noon for a break and an informal critique, if desired.
Inaugural photography
Deadline: May 23. Gallery OonH seeks a broad range of submissions from all levels of photographers for “Who’s Looking Back,” a comprehensive look at the impact of the 2017 Inaugural from January 19-21 and beyond.
All media
Artwork delivery: May 26–28. Mattawoman Creek Art Center (Marbury, MD) invites artists to enter the 23rd annual All Media Juried Exhibition, to be held June 9–July 9, 2017. Juror: Bobbi Pratte.
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.
Matador Review
Deadline: May 31. 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 Summer 2017 issue are now being accepted.
Deadline: June 12. Touchstone Gallery in Washington DC is seeking entries for “Art of Engagement,” a National Juried Show scheduled for August 4–24, 2017. Artwork entries should reflect present-day issues and concerns. Juror: Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator, American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center.
Studio space: Rockville
Deadline: June 16. VisArts invites applications from local and national artists for studio space at VisArts in Rockville, Maryland. The Studio Artist Program provides a unique opportunity for a dynamic individual artist or collaborative artist team to experiment, create new work, evolve an existing body of work or develop a project in a stimulating, supportive environment. Lease period: September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2018.
Glow
Deadline: July 21. Art selected for “Glow” at the Athenaeum (Alexandria, VA) will convey a sense of lightness or hope emanating from something dark. Entries may be literal, figural, allegorical, or abstract. Artists who live or work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia may enter.
Athenaeum
Deadline: July 21. The Athenaeum Invitational celebrates the visual arts of Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. It is a theme-based event featuring the works of both specially-invited artists who have exhibited in the Athenaeum Gallery in the past, as well as works selected through an open call for submissions.
FEAST proposals
Deadline: August 1. F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts 2017 (Rockville, MD) calls for proposals that help envision and frame the future. What voices, stories, platforms, food, services, or experiences are currently missing or hidden?
Show proposals
Deadline: Ongoing. ArtSpace Herndon (Herndon, VA) invites submissions for solo shows and thematic group shows from artists 18 years and older.
Branches by Bryan Jernigan is one of the artworks available in the auction. (Acrylic on canvas, 30″ x 40″)
The Art League is delighted to announce Art on the Vine, our first ever Art Auction & Wine Tasting Party!
Part global wine tour, part fine art tour
This special celebration of visual and vineyard artistry is a unique, must-attend arts fundraiser!
Art on the Vine features a 10-day online auction of artwork by our esteemed faculty of artists, culminating in a final round of bidding for ticketholders at our global wine-tasting party.
Online auction goes live: Tuesday, May 30, 12:00 noon
Final bids: Friday, June 9, 7:30–10:30 pm at The Art League
Tickets on sale: Now!
The auction, ticket sales, and a portion of the wine and food sales, all raise money to benefit The Art League and its programs. To find out more about those programs, please visit our website.
Tickets are limited, so be sure to purchase early! For updates on new artworks as we add them, and other news, subscribe to our Art on the Vine email list.
If you’re going to the “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” exhibit as it travels North America, there’s one thing you should be prepared for: lines.
At the Hirshhorn Museum, same-day tickets necessitate two to three hours in line. And even if you score some advance tickets online, you’ll still have to queue inside the exhibit to get into the titular infinity mirror rooms.
So on a recent trip to the exhibit, phone battery quickly draining, it’s no wonder we found ourselves wishing for some creative ways to kill time in line. Here are our ideas — next time, you can come prepared!
1. Read Kusama’s autobiography
What you’ll need: Infinity Net: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama
The book club here at The Art League read this book a while back, and there’s one word to describe it: wild. Kusama has led an interesting life and met equally interesting people, and her book will fill in many of the gaps left by the wall text.
Tip: If you’re already in line at the Hirshhorn, you can still pick up a copy! It’s for sale in the gift shop, which you can reach in the basement of the building after it opens at 10:00 am.
2. Play “Fake Artist”
What you’ll need: 4 to 10 markers/pencils in different colors; paper; hard surface
Are your neighbors in line bored too? Enlist them in a game of “A Fake Artist Goes to New York,” a game of drawing and social deduction. You can read the official rules in this PDF, but feel free to make the game your own. Basically, all the artists but one know what they’re drawing, and the Fake Artist tries to pretend that they know too!
As you would expect, it leads to some pretty abstract and bizarre collaborations, as the real artists try their best to keep the Fake Artist in the dark. You can buy the game online (it comes in a small box), or create your own from materials you have on hand.
3. Sketch the crowds
What you’ll need: a sketchbook and pencil or pen
Crowds are a great opportunity to do some impromptu sketching. Draw the faces and poses around you, and try to capture the sense of anticipation/exasperation! At the Hirshhorn, there are plenty of outdoor sculptures to sketch as well.
4. Try an artful app
What you’ll need: a smartphone or tablet, lots of battery
We can recommend any of the seven apps on this list as good ways to kill time creatively. Be sure to watch your battery power, since you’ll want your camera for the exhibit!
5. Put on a performance
What you’ll need: someone to hold your spot in line
To really get in the spirit of things, why not create some performance art? Perform on your own, or enlist collaborators to pose and direct. (Find some ideas in this blog post.) Yes, this one will take some guts, but as Matisse said: “Creativity takes courage.”
You’ll see documents from some of Kusama’s own performances once you get inside the exhibit, and you can compare your “happening” to hers.
More creative ways to kill time
How do you use your time productively while waiting in line? Do you have any apps or games to add to this list? Let us know in the comments!
In The Ballad of Holland Island House, a short animation by Lynn Tomlinson, you can hear the story of a house in the Chesapeake Bay that sank beneath the water in 2010.
Tomlinson created the moody, stormy short by painting on glass with oil-based clay, a process you can see at work in the behind-the-scenes video. (h/t kottke.org)
We’re used to seeing DC’s monuments, surely some of the most photographed in the world — especially around this time of year. Sometimes, making the old new again is all a matter of timing:
If you time the sunrise right, you'll see the Washington Monument transform to orange for 2 minutes. Worth it. #mydccoolpic.twitter.com/koikn7wq3A
Want to capture some DC views of your own? Artist Mike Francis is leading a Weekend in the Plein Air Landscape workshop this weekend on the banks of the Potomac. Come paint DC and Alexandria for two afternoons! (As featured in Washingtonian magazine.)
Many of us find art museums a place for quiet reflections and the occasional selfie. For others, they can be a source of frustration.
“For the longest time I really felt angry when I came into a museum,” Kilof Legge told NPR in this story. Legge, and other visually-impaired visitors, have a new resource at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where InSight tours offer creative new ways of experiencing visual art. You can find the schedule and more information on the SAAM website.
Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away by Yayoi Kusama
In our review of “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” at the Hirshhorn Museum, we said we enjoyed its accessibility. Not only are tickets free of charge, but the art itself has a low barrier to appreciation. However, accessibility is more complex than that, as Washington Post critic Philip Kennicott explained in his follow-up review:
“[T]hose who have financial resources are more likely to be able to enjoy it. Not only do they have greater freedom to arrange their schedules around the experience, they are more likely to gain in social status from saying they have participated.”
Of course, Kusama’s not the only exhibit in the area right now. We can heartily recommend Artomatic, open Wednesday to Sunday through May 6. It features seven floors of art as well as performances and workshops. You can see all the upcoming events on their calendar.
Seen a mural in DC that you like? It could be one of 60 created thanks to a city murals program that’s turning 10 years old in 2017. Now, MuralsDC is facing new challenges in maintaining, and finding space for, the artwork.
And finally, if you enjoyed the photos in that or pretty much any Washington City Paper article, you have this photographer to thank: Darrow Montgomery, who is now in his 31st year at the paper.
Deadline: April 21. The Philadelphia Museum of Art invites artists to submit a sketch that shows a work of art from their collection transformed into a mini-golf hole. The finished nine-hole course created by nine artists will be playable at the Final Fridays program on June 30.
DC fellowship
Deadline: May 4. The Halcyon Arts Lab Fellowship (Washington, DC) is a nine-month program established to provide emerging artists with time and space to explore new ideas and ambitious projects in an environment of independent learning, study, and collaboration. Halcyon Arts Lab accepts six national or international fellows and two DC-resident fellows in each year of the program.
All-media exhibit
Deadline: May 8. The Open Regional Juried Art Exhibition at Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital (Washington, DC) is open only to artists residing in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Original hanging work created in any medium will be considered.
Art sale
Deadline: May 18. Applications are now available for art sale booths at the June 11 Mt. Vernon Spring Art-Fest at Sacramento Center (Alexandria, VA).
Show proposals
Deadline: Ongoing. ArtSpace Herndon (Herndon, VA) invites submissions for solo shows and thematic group shows from artists 18 years and older.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
First Sunday: Annapolis
Deadline: First come, first served. Applications are now open for vendors for the 2017 season of the First Sunday Arts Festivals in Annapolis, MD.
Leesburg fair
Deadline: First come, first served. The First Annual Arts in the Alley Street Fair will be held one day only July 29, 2017 in Leesburg, VA.
Dining ware and art
Deadline: April 21. Front of the House: Dining Together in Objects and Images at the Guilford (CT) Art Center will present serving ware and art created by American artists that are fit for the table, or represent gathering to share a meal. The exhibit is open to works from the purely functional to the fanciful and even conceptual, and can include two-dimensional works.
DC-area artists
Deadline: April 21. The City of Rockville, MD announces its Call For Entries 2018 at Glenview Mansion Art Gallery. Open to all artists in the greater DC metropolitan area (MD, VA, WV, DC).
Floyd, VA
Deadline: April 25. Floyd Center for the Arts, located in beautiful, rural Floyd, VA, invites visual media artists within 150 miles of Floyd to submit artwork for exhibition in the New River Art Biennial 2017.
Deadline: April 29. “Spectrum” at Cade Art Gallery (Arnold, MD) seeks hand-pulled prints and book arts that explore traditional or innovative approaches to color in printmaking.
Alexandria CSA
Deadline: April 30. The City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts invites artists and artist teams residing and/or working in Virginia, Maryland or the District of Columbia to submit proposals for participation in a Community Supported Art initiative. Each selected artist or artist team will be paid $2,000 to create fifty (50) original pieces of art.
Deadline June 6: Herndon Town Calendar Photo Competition
Rolling deadline: Solo and group exhibits
Young artists with disabilities
Deadline: May 3. “Electrify!” is a juried competition and exhibition featuring artwork by artists with disabilities, ages 16–25, showcasing artwork that excites our senses, awakens our curiosity, and electrifies our very being.
Watercolor juried exhibit
Deadline: May 6. The Central Virginia Watercolor Guild invites entries to the 2017 Annual Exhibition, to be held at McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, VA. The juror this year is Steve Fleming, former instructor at The Art League.
MD craft show
Deadline: May 7. The Academy Art Museum Craft Show (Easton, MD) is an indoor, juried craft show featuring approximately 65 artists from across the United States.
Wearable art
Deadline: May 15. The ManneqART Competition (Laurel, MD) covers three distinct “sections” of wearable art design: Sculpture, Hair, and Makeup. An artist’s award pool of over $10,000 has been allocated for this year’s ManneqART competition.
Baltimore craft show
Deadline: May 15. The 2nd annual Baltimore Fine Craft Show is a juried exhibition and sale of contemporary American and international crafts and design.
Paint out
Event: May 20. Mattawoman Creek Art Center invites artists including photographers to a paint out at Historic Smallwood State Park in Charles County, MD. Register with Barbara Stepura at [email protected]. Meet at the art center in the morning and paint anywhere at the park. Bring a bag lunch and meet back at the art center at noon for a break and an informal critique, if desired.
Inaugural photography
Deadline: May 23. Gallery OonH seeks a broad range of submissions from all levels of photographers for “Who’s Looking Back,” a comprehensive look at the impact of the 2017 Inaugural from January 19-21 and beyond.
All media
Artwork delivery: May 26–28. Mattawoman Creek Art Center (Marbury, MD) invites artists to enter the 23rd annual All Media Juried Exhibition, to be held June 9–July 9, 2017. Juror: Bobbi Pratte.
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.
Matador Review
Deadline: May 31. 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 Summer 2017 issue are now being accepted.
Deadline: June 12. Touchstone Gallery in Washington DC is seeking entries for “Art of Engagement,” a National Juried Show scheduled for August 4–24, 2017. Artwork entries should reflect present-day issues and concerns. Juror: Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator, American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center.
Studio space: Rockville
Deadline: June 16. VisArts invites applications from local and national artists for studio space at VisArts in Rockville, Maryland. The Studio Artist Program provides a unique opportunity for a dynamic individual artist or collaborative artist team to experiment, create new work, evolve an existing body of work or develop a project in a stimulating, supportive environment. Lease period: September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2018.
Glow
Deadline: July 21. Art selected for “Glow” at the Athenaeum (Alexandria, VA) will convey a sense of lightness or hope emanating from something dark. Entries may be literal, figural, allegorical, or abstract. Artists who live or work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia may enter.
Athenaeum
Deadline: July 21. The Athenaeum Invitational celebrates the visual arts of Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. It is a theme-based event featuring the works of both specially-invited artists who have exhibited in the Athenaeum Gallery in the past, as well as works selected through an open call for submissions.
FEAST proposals
Deadline: August 1. F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts 2017 (Rockville, MD) calls for proposals that help envision and frame the future. What voices, stories, platforms, food, services, or experiences are currently missing or hidden?
The girls in the Space of Her Own mentorship program recently answered that question with art. The result: a series of photographs and life-size self portraits, on view now at The Art League.
As part of their life skills and visual arts lessons, the Space of Her Own (SOHO) girls learned film photography and darkroom practice. They also created life-size self-portraits with markers and pastels, identifying their favorite personal traits.
Photography instructor Alison Duvall taught the photography lessons.
Space of Her Own is a collaboration between The Art League, Alexandria Court Services Unit, and SOHO, Inc. This award-winning program serves at-risk 10-year-old girls, providing an effective solution to enhance Alexandria’s social welfare. The Art League provides visual arts education content for the program.
Nearly 200 girls have successfully completed the SOHO program hosted in part by The Art League, of whom 98% have not become court-involved. Many have continued long-term relationships with their adult mentors and constructive community engagement through SOHO.
The Art League’s visual arts content empowers and inspires the girls in the SOHO program to express themselves in creative ways. These special projects not only create the beautiful artwork you see on the walls — they are a catalyst for positive social engagement, artistic exploration, and expressive catharsis.
Simplicity, photograph, by Bob Friedman. Winner of The Art League Award for Best in Show.
With its abstracted, calligraphic marks and organic forms, the best-in-show artwork above might have been made with a sumi-e brush. But close inspection will reveal it’s a photograph, and one marking a new direction for the photographer.
Simplicity, by Bob Friedman, was awarded The Art League Award for Best in Show in this month’s Open Exhibit. The juror, April Wood, described the photo as stark: “That simplicity created a bold composition that had underlying depth,” she wrote in our juror’s dialogue. To learn more, we got in touch with the artist:
What was your goal for Simplicity?
Bob Friedman: The final goal was an abstract. The original photo was of grass in a pond. Using Photoshop, I converted the color image to monochrome.
Is it part of a series?
Not a series yet, but I am thinking about it. Below is a second photo of grass taken at Burke Lake Park.
by Bob Friedman
What inspired this interest in abstraction? What are you getting out of these abstracts?
The arrangement of graphic elements is often more interesting then the reality of the scene. And, the abstracts just simply look good.
Why are you a photographer?
Because I cannot draw a straight line. Seriously, I enjoy taking photos that I have created. It is a fun hobby.
My father was an avid 16mm motion picture photographer. My brother got interested in photography and had a darkroom in our house. When he went off to college I started to use it and really got interested. The upside of the darkroom was the ability to invite girls to see it. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
What is your creative process like? What is your ideal photo shoot?
I wander around looking for interesting subjects to photograph. I will get in my car and wander the countryside just looking for whatever strikes my fancy. Other times, trips to DC and NYC. Also, sometimes I see something on the TV that peaks my interest like when gay marriage was upheld and the White House was lit up in rainbow colors. I made a real quick trip to DC.
by Bob Friedman
What is the gear you always make sure to pack?
I am using a Fuji X-Pro2 mirrorless camera and several lenses depending on where I am going. Tripod is also carried on occasion.
What are your influences as a photographer?
Actually my major influence was Freeman Paterson. Taking a workshop with him in Canada and learning about “visual design” influenced my photography.
I take photos of things that interest me. Whether it is people, an interesting building, a flower or just something that will bring a smile to my face. I would hope that my images will bring a smile to others.
by Bob Friedman, from “The Day After …” series
I make images of things I find interesting or things that amuse me. For example, one of my previous projects was “X-Rated DC.” This was inspired by John Ashcroft covering up the Spirit of Justice statue. There are lots of half naked women statues in DC. Another project was “The Day After…” This was an exercise in long exposures, but I leave it to the viewer to interpret the meaning in the viewers mind.
by Bob Friedman, from the “X-Rated DC” series.
What are you working on now?
I volunteer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Mondays. I have to wait at L’Enfant Plaza for my train to arrive. I just stand there and photograph people that are interesting.
Deadline: First come, first served. Applications are now open for vendors for the 2017 season of the First Sunday Arts Festivals in Annapolis, MD.
Baltimore craft show
Deadline: May 15. The 2nd annual Baltimore Fine Craft Show is a juried exhibition and sale of contemporary American and international crafts and design.
Paint out
Event: May 20. Mattawoman Creek Art Center invites artists including photographers to a paint out at Historic Smallwood State Park in Charles County, MD. Register with Barbara Stepura at [email protected]. Meet at the art center in the morning and paint anywhere at the park. Bring a bag lunch and meet back at the art center at noon for a break and an informal critique, if desired.
All media
Artwork delivery: May 26–28. Mattawoman Creek Art Center (Marbury, MD) invites artists to enter the 23rd annual All Media Juried Exhibition, to be held June 9–July 9, 2017. Juror: Bobbi Pratte.
Studio space: Rockville
Deadline: June 16. VisArts invites applications from local and national artists for studio space at VisArts in Rockville, Maryland. The Studio Artist Program provides a unique opportunity for a dynamic individual artist or collaborative artist team to experiment, create new work, evolve an existing body of work or develop a project in a stimulating, supportive environment. Lease period: September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2018.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
Leesburg fair
Deadline: First come, first served. The First Annual Arts in the Alley Street Fair will be held one day only July 29, 2017 in Leesburg, VA.
Soulful Marketing for Creative Entrepreneurs
Event: April 14. This free workshop will be presented at Artomatic at 6:00 pm and again at 7:30 pm.
Strictly Painting
Deadline: April 14. McLean (VA) Project for the Arts invites all Mid-Atlantic artists to submit up to 4 jpegs of paintings or works related in some way to painting for consideration in Strictly Painting 11.
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.
Dining ware and art
Deadline: April 21. Front of the House: Dining Together in Objects and Images at the Guilford (CT) Art Center will present serving ware and art created by American artists that are fit for the table, or represent gathering to share a meal. The exhibit is open to works from the purely functional to the fanciful and even conceptual, and can include two-dimensional works.
DC-area artists
Deadline: April 21. The City of Rockville, MD announces its Call For Entries 2018 at Glenview Mansion Art Gallery. Open to all artists in the greater DC metropolitan area (MD, VA, WV, DC).
Floyd, VA
Deadline: April 25. Floyd Center for the Arts, located in beautiful, rural Floyd, VA, invites visual media artists within 150 miles of Floyd to submit artwork for exhibition in the New River Art Biennial 2017.
Deadline: April 29. “Spectrum” at Cade Art Gallery (Arnold, MD) seeks hand-pulled prints and book arts that explore traditional or innovative approaches to color in printmaking.
Alexandria CSA
Deadline: April 30. The City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts invites artists and artist teams residing and/or working in Virginia, Maryland or the District of Columbia to submit proposals for participation in a Community Supported Art initiative. Each selected artist or artist team will be paid $2,000 to create fifty (50) original pieces of art.
Deadline June 6: Herndon Town Calendar Photo Competition
Rolling deadline: Solo and group exhibits
Young artists with disabilities
Deadline: May 3. “Electrify!” is a juried competition and exhibition featuring artwork by artists with disabilities, ages 16–25, showcasing artwork that excites our senses, awakens our curiosity, and electrifies our very being.
Watercolor juried exhibit
Deadline: May 6. The Central Virginia Watercolor Guild invites entries to the 2017 Annual Exhibition, to be held at McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, VA. The juror this year is Steve Fleming, former instructor at The Art League.
MD craft show
Deadline: May 7. The Academy Art Museum Craft Show (Easton, MD) is an indoor, juried craft show featuring approximately 65 artists from across the United States.
Wearable art
Deadline: May 15. The ManneqART Competition (Laurel, MD) covers three distinct “sections” of wearable art design: Sculpture, Hair, and Makeup. An artist’s award pool of over $10,000 has been allocated for this year’s ManneqART competition.
Inaugural photography
Deadline: May 23. Gallery OonH seeks a broad range of submissions from all levels of photographers for “Who’s Looking Back,” a comprehensive look at the impact of the 2017 Inaugural from January 19-21 and beyond.
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.
Matador Review
Deadline: May 31. 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 Summer 2017 issue are now being accepted.
Deadline: June 12. Touchstone Gallery in Washington DC is seeking entries for “Art of Engagement,” a National Juried Show scheduled for August 4–24, 2017. Artwork entries should reflect present-day issues and concerns. Juror: Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator, American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center.
Glow
Deadline: July 21. Art selected for “Glow” at the Athenaeum (Alexandria, VA) will convey a sense of lightness or hope emanating from something dark. Entries may be literal, figural, allegorical, or abstract. Artists who live or work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia may enter.
Athenaeum
Deadline: July 21. The Athenaeum Invitational celebrates the visual arts of Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. It is a theme-based event featuring the works of both specially-invited artists who have exhibited in the Athenaeum Gallery in the past, as well as works selected through an open call for submissions.
FEAST proposals
Deadline: August 1. F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts 2017 (Rockville, MD) calls for proposals that help envision and frame the future. What voices, stories, platforms, food, services, or experiences are currently missing or hidden?
There’s nothing wrong or right about how you experience an art gallery, but some visitors enjoy having a companion. That’s why we created Look See, your Art League gallery exploration guide!
This short guide for all ages starts with some quick facts about art and galleries, and prompts to get you thinking. Look See puts you in the different roles that make a gallery such an interesting place: artist, juror, collector, subject, and of course viewer.
Have a Look See
There’s really only one rule here: don’t touch the artwork. Other than that, you can use Look See however you like. It’s intended to spark conversation, photos, and a second look at the artwork.
You can pick up Look See at the front of our gallery. Just look for the sign with the googly eyes!
We encourage you to share what you find with the hashtag #ArtLeagueLookSee. We’ll be updating the guide with new questions as we continue, so please feel free to make suggestions!
Veronica Barker-Barzel Piece of Cake by Mary Beth Gaiarin, part of the April Open Exhibit at The Art League. Sold.
This week, jurors met to select the newest members of the Torpedo Factory Artists Association. We’re thrilled to have eight Art League members (in bold below) among the group! And, some of them happen to have pieces in our April Open Exhibit (see above and below).
Best of luck to these newly juried artists! You can see an exhibit of their work at TAG Gallery on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory, April 8–30. There will be receptions on April 13, 6:00–9:00 pm, and April 30, 3:00–5:00 pm.
Hamish McMerCow by Veronica Barker-Barzel, part of the April Open Exhibit at The Art League.
This year’s jurors were:
Phase I (online):
Steve Prince (Associate Professor and Artist in Residence at Allegheny College)
Two-dimensional jurors:
David Bellard (Creative Director, Social Marketing & Program Services at Rare Residency Program, Fine Art, VCU)
Glen Kessler (Founder of The Compass Atelier, formerly taught at Maryland Institute College of Art, George Mason University, George Washington University)
Robert Yi (Director of George Washington University’s Corcoran Arts Program)
Three-dimensional jurors:
Michael Janis (Co-director of Washington Glass School, Fulbright Scholar, University of Sunderland, England)
Mary Cloonan (Professor of Ceramics, Adjunct, Towson University and Exhibitions Director at Baltimore Clayworks)
David Knopp (Towson Art Collective and Sculptors Inc.)
Do you sit and look? Rush to see everything you can? Read the label? Take a selfie?
This Saturday, April 8, is international Slow Art Day, a day that asks you to try a specific way of looking at art. As you might guess, it involves slowing down and taking your time.
How do I participate?
It’s easy: go to a museum or gallery near you, choose 1–5 artworks, and look at them for 10 minutes each. Then, talk with others about your experience! If you don’t have a group, there are organized events at many museums and galleries worldwide, including in the DC area.
If you need a guide to get you started, you can try Look See, which gives you five prompts about five artworks (you pick which five). Pick up a handout near the front of the gallery! We encourage you to share your thoughts with #SlowArtDay and #ArtLeagueLookSee.
Deadline: First come, first served. The First Annual Arts in the Alley Street Fair will be held one day only July 29, 2017 in Leesburg, VA.
Alexandria CSA
Deadline: April 30. The City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts invites artists and artist teams residing and/or working in Virginia, Maryland or the District of Columbia to submit proposals for participation in a Community Supported Art initiative. Each selected artist or artist team will be paid $2,000 to create fifty (50) original pieces of art.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
Trawick Prize
Deadline: April 7. The 15th Annual Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards will award $14,000 in prize monies to selected artists and features the work of the finalists in a group exhibition. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and permanent, full-time residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, DC. All original 2-D and 3-D fine art including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media and video will be accepted.
Art @ the Park
Deadline: April 8. Art @ the Park is a regional festival (Mid-Atlantic Region) located in Annapolis MD in the magnificent setting of Quiet Waters Park. It features original art work from exhibitors throughout the region and includes musical performances, children’s activities, eclectic food, wine and beer.
Maryland residents
Deadline: April 10. Join a thriving community of professional artists in the Montpelier Resident Artist Program. To be considered, artists must be at least 18 years old, and reside in Maryland. Residents of Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties will take precedence over others.
Baltimore juried exhibit
Deadline: April 10. School 33 Art Center (Baltimore, MD) is now accepting applications from artists for the 2017 Juried Group Exhibitions. Applications are open to visual artists working in any medium who wish to have their most recent works considered.
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).
Soulful Marketing for Creative Entrepreneurs
Event: April 14. This free workshop will be presented at Artomatic at 6:00 pm and again at 7:30 pm.
Strictly Painting
Deadline: April 14. McLean (VA) Project for the Arts invites all Mid-Atlantic artists to submit up to 4 jpegs of paintings or works related in some way to painting for consideration in Strictly Painting 11.
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.
Dining ware and art
Deadline: April 21. Front of the House: Dining Together in Objects and Images at the Guilford (CT) Art Center will present serving ware and art created by American artists that are fit for the table, or represent gathering to share a meal. The exhibit is open to works from the purely functional to the fanciful and even conceptual, and can include two-dimensional works.
DC-area artists
Deadline: April 21. The City of Rockville, MD announces its Call For Entries 2018 at Glenview Mansion Art Gallery. Open to all artists in the greater DC metropolitan area (MD, VA, WV, DC).
Floyd, VA
Deadline: April 25. Floyd Center for the Arts, located in beautiful, rural Floyd, VA, invites visual media artists within 150 miles of Floyd to submit artwork for exhibition in the New River Art Biennial 2017.
Deadline: April 29. “Spectrum” at Cade Art Gallery (Arnold, MD) seeks hand-pulled prints and book arts that explore traditional or innovative approaches to color in printmaking.
Deadline June 6: Herndon Town Calendar Photo Competition
Rolling deadline: Solo and group exhibits
Young artists with disabilities
Deadline: May 3. “Electrify!” is a juried competition and exhibition featuring artwork by artists with disabilities, ages 16–25, showcasing artwork that excites our senses, awakens our curiosity, and electrifies our very being.
Watercolor juried exhibit
Deadline: May 6. The Central Virginia Watercolor Guild invites entries to the 2017 Annual Exhibition, to be held at McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, VA. The juror this year is Steve Fleming, former instructor at The Art League.
MD craft show
Deadline: May 7. The Academy Art Museum Craft Show (Easton, MD) is an indoor, juried craft show featuring approximately 65 artists from across the United States.
Wearable art
Deadline: May 15. The ManneqART Competition (Laurel, MD) covers three distinct “sections” of wearable art design: Sculpture, Hair, and Makeup. An artist’s award pool of over $10,000 has been allocated for this year’s ManneqART competition.
Inaugural photography
Deadline: May 23. Gallery OonH seeks a broad range of submissions from all levels of photographers for “Who’s Looking Back,” a comprehensive look at the impact of the 2017 Inaugural from January 19-21 and beyond.
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.
Matador Review
Deadline: May 31. 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 Summer 2017 issue are now being accepted.
Deadline: June 12. Touchstone Gallery in Washington DC is seeking entries for “Art of Engagement,” a National Juried Show scheduled for August 4–24, 2017. Artwork entries should reflect present-day issues and concerns. Juror: Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator, American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center.
Glow
Deadline: July 21. Art selected for “Glow” at the Athenaeum (Alexandria, VA) will convey a sense of lightness or hope emanating from something dark. Entries may be literal, figural, allegorical, or abstract. Artists who live or work in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia may enter.
Athenaeum
Deadline: July 21. The Athenaeum Invitational celebrates the visual arts of Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. It is a theme-based event featuring the works of both specially-invited artists who have exhibited in the Athenaeum Gallery in the past, as well as works selected through an open call for submissions.
FEAST proposals
Deadline: August 1. F.E.A.S.T. at VisArts 2017 (Rockville, MD) calls for proposals that help envision and frame the future. What voices, stories, platforms, food, services, or experiences are currently missing or hidden?
National Parks residencies
Deadline: various. The National Parks Arts Foundation invites applications to residencies and proposals for workshops.
While you were trying to get tickets for the hottest art exhibit in DC right now, another art happening was getting underway, right under your nose: Artomatic 2017 is here!
Compared to “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” at the Hirshhorn, Artomatic is less polished. In fact, it’s completely uncurated and unjuried, which makes for a thoroughly different, and a more local, experience. It’s also much easier to get into — no ticket necessary.
Amanda FrazierMichael Price
What is Artomatic?
Artomatic has been around since 1999, returning every few years in a different place in the DC area. The concept is simple: it’s first-come-first-served to get a space for your artwork, installations, experiments, etc.
Within each artist’s designated space, they’re free to do what they wish — paint the walls, turn out the lights, or simply tack their artwork up. Because it’s usually held in an office building, the spaces are as unconventional as the art and include large lounges, meeting rooms, kitchens and, as a special challenge, closets.
Howard HayKate Heneghan
Compared to previousArtomatics we’ve written about, the size of Artomatic 2017 hovers somewhere around the middle. Compared to any other exhibit you’re going to see this year, it’s massive: 599 visual artists over seven floors. There are also performances, workshops, screenings, readings … and one wedding.
The photos in this post will give you some idea of what’s in store for you, but it’s really something you need to experience for yourself. The closest comparison is an art fair — but six weeks long, unjuried, and featuring only local artists.
Ed Keller
What does “unjuried” mean?
Your typical art exhibit or fair has the artists selected by either a juror or a curator. For example, exhibits at The Art League gallery are juried, meaning artists bring in their work and the juror can accept or reject specific artworks.
So what does “unjuried” mean? It means anyone who can pay the fee can exhibit at Artomatic. It means a lower barrier to entry, no overarching theme or goal, and a huge variety of media. Painting and photography are the most popular, but anything goes here: sculpture, fiber art, videos, multimedia installations, collages, wearable art, and the impossible to categorize.
Because anything goes, you’ll get to see plenty of experiments and risk-taking.
M. Jane JohnsonBardia Saeedi
How to Artomatic
Go on a weekend to see more of the artists, performers, and screenings. Check the calendar for events before you go. If you prefer to have the space to yourself, go during the workday: all the rooms will still be open to you.
Take the metro if possible. The building is right next to the Crystal City station, and parking can be a pain.
Take the elevator to the ninth floor, then work your way down to the third. (Pro-tip: One of the cash-only bars is on the ninth floor.) Take the stairs if you’re just going down one floor.
Keep notes of the artists whose work you like or might want to buy — they might be out of business cards, and at the end of seven floors, you’ll be thankful to have specific notes to remind you who did what. Purchased artwork is required to remain up through May 6, so anyone can see the full show regardless of when they visit.
Other tips for Artomatic 2017
Don’t go on a Monday or Tuesday. They’re closed.
Prepare to be overwhelmed and spend two to four hours if you try to tackle the whole thing in one go. If you can, make a couple visits. (Don’t worry, you’ll still get to be overwhelmed.)
Be sure to check out all of the artists from The Art League! Andrea Cybyk, Christine Cardellino, Dale McGrath, Deborah Taylor, Dennis Crayon, Greg Knott, M. Jane Johnson, Jane McElvany Coonce, Linda Lowery, Lisa Schumaier, Pattee Hipschen, Sandi Parker, and Suzanne Yurdin are all participating. (If we’ve missed your name, get in touch so we can add it to the list!)
Artomatic 2017 is on view March 24 to May 6, 2017 at 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington, Virginia. (Metro: Crystal City station.) Hours: Wednesday and Thursday, 12:00 noon–10:00 pm; Friday and Saturday, 12:00 noon–12:00 midnight; Sunday, 12:00 noon–8:00 pm; closed Monday and Tuesday.
