Looking for a gift for the art-lover in your life? You’ve come to the right place.
Whether that special someone loves making art, learning about it, or just appreciating it, there are lots of opportunities to give them something special. Classes, trips, art events, supplies, … well, just see our shopping list below for all the details. (And don’t miss our upcoming holiday ceramics and jewelry sales!)
194 winter art classes
price: $105 to $330
Winter classes at The Art League start in January, making them the perfect holiday gift — and a chance for the recipient to start the new year on the right note.
There are 194 different 9-week classes to choose from. If you’re looking for something shorter-term, there are a wealth of workshops coming up, too.
(Hint: not sure what class is right for them? A gift card lets them pick one themselves — and they can use the leftover to stock up on art supplies at our store.)
Art on the Rocks
2 can’t-miss art events
price: $45 to $300
Put these events on your loved one’s calendar:
The 50th Anniversary Patrons’ Show Fundraiser (February 18) guarantees them an artwork valued at $225 or more, and a good time. Tickets go on sale Saturday, January 13, so this would be a “save the date” gift.
A little later into the spring, we’ve got Art on the Rocks, our art-inspired cocktail party, on May 4. If they like cocktails and they like art, they’ll love Art on the Rocks. Tickets are on sale now!
12 of the 52 artworks in “Petite December”
52 small artworks
price: $30 to $350
Don’t miss your chance to snatch up something beautiful from our Petite December exhibit, opening December 6! Juried byBenedict Heywood, this exhibit consists solely of small, original artworks.
The New York Times said of the exhibit Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman & Designer: “Once the show’s done, the likelihood of there being another on its scale within the lifetime of anyone reading these words is slim.” (The exhibit is brief due to the light sensitivity of the artwork.)
Now you can give a literally once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Met led by Art League instructor Robert Liberace. Our trip is scheduled for January 31!
Too many art supplies to count
Have you been to The Art League’s art supply store? The artist on your list will feel like a kid in a candy store when you send them that way with an Art League gift card in hand.
Also at Artfête: the Holiday Jewelry Sale, December 8 & 9! That’s two days to see what our jewelry students and teachers have created and take home a piece for that special someone.
Hey, artists and art-lovers! What do you want this year? Let us know in the comments, below!
Deadline: December 3. Gallery 263 (Cambridge, MA) seeks artwork that explores, depicts, criticizes, or creates safe havens and sacred spaces. This is a national call open to all US residents. All media are accepted.
Southern painting
Deadline: December 31. New American Paintings — a museum-quality, soft-cover art periodical, published bimonthly — is now accepting entries from: AL, AR, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, and WV. Competition winners retain all rights to their images and pay nothing to appear in New American Paintings.
Greek island residency
Deadline: ongoing. The Skopelos Foundation for the Arts offers residencies for two weeks to two months for ceramists, mixed media artists, painters, printmakers and sculptors from March through December.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
Photo contest
Deadline: November 30. What does an award-winning photograph look like? It can range from an captivating portrait of a family member to a moon-drenched landscape to movement captured at just the right time. The Smithsonian’s 15th Annual Photo Contest is now open for submissions.
Artwork donations: What feminism looks like
Deadline: November 30. Curated by ArtWatch members Erin Devine and Shante Bullock, What feminism looks like takes intersectional feminism as its theme, and seeks works that express the empowerment of women to effect social change. Artists must commit to fully donating the proceeds of the sale to Planned Parenthood and the DC Arts Center.
Matador Review
Deadline: November 30. Alternative art and literature magazine The Matador Review is now accepting submissions for the Winter 2018 publication. We publish poetry, fiction, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction, inviting all unpublished literature written in the English language (and translations that are accompanied by the original text) as well as many forms of visual art.
Text objects
Deadline: November 30. Container, a publisher of text objects and artist’s books, invites submissions during its fall Open Container reading period. Submit poetry, fiction and nonfiction plus a pitch for transforming it into a text object.
Deadline: December 3. George Mason University’s inaugural Contemporary Mural Arts Festival will begin in April 2018 with up to seven murals on its Fairfax, VA campus. University regulations will not allow painting directly on building surfaces, so the project will feature alternative mural methods including painting on suspended mesh fabric, projection, computer-activated light, digitally-printed wrap, banners, etc.
Emerging DMV artists
Deadline: December 3. Target Gallery (Alexandria, VA) invites regional emerging artists to submit work for a new group exhibition. This exhibition will feature up to 5 regional emerging artists — spotlighting new talent and the up-and-coming artistic innovators of the DC, Maryland, Virginia area.
Artists in Action
Deadline: December 8. Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Solomons, MD) seeks artists working in any media to submit proposals to set up a working studio space in the Main Gallery for 1-2 week periods.
Solo show in DC
Deadline: December 10. The Spotlight Art Series@Touchstone is an opportunity for area artists to have a solo exhibition at the Touchstone Gallery. Successful applicants will enjoy a front window 90 sq. ft. wall exhibition space in our street level gallery located in downtown Washington, DC at 901 New York Avenue NW.
Northern Virginia Festival
Deadline: December 10. 27th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival: Every spring the Greater Reston Arts Center invites over 200 artists to showcase their best, original, contemporary fine art and craft in this competitive, juried outdoor event.
Big Fun Art
Deadline: December 11. For Big Fun Art at Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Solomons, MD), take a break from the news of global doom and gloom and celebrate Big Fun Art! Inspired by the likes of Yayoi Kusama. All media welcome; small to large-scale works; indoor and outdoor works accepted.
January Open Exhibit @ The Art League
Deadline: December 15. The January Open Exhibit will be juried by online entry. Open exhibits at The Art League are not limited by theme, medium, process, or content. Artist must be a current exhibiting artist member of The Art League gallery to enter.
Printmaking residency NYC
Deadline: December 20. The Julio Valdez Project Space Artist-in-Residence program is a collaborative, six-month residency program open to U.S. and international artists of all artistic backgrounds and career levels to create new complete body of work through exploration of non-toxic contemporary printmaking.
Video art
Deadline: January 1, 2018. Videos not in excess of 15 minutes are requested for inclusion in Frame & Frequency IV, an international video art exchange, presented as a series of screenings and exhibitions held concurrently at VisArts in Rockville, MD, just outside Washington D.C. and in Medellín, Colombia.
Howard County exhibits
Deadline: January 1, 2018. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group for exhibits at Howard County Arts Council. Proposals from curators and organizations are also welcome.
Shifting Perspectives on Trauma
Deadline: January 1, 2018. For this exhibit by the Perception Project, volunteer artists will receive a written story based upon the experience of a trauma survivor (muse) and use it as inspiration to create an artwork meant to empower and inject positivity to the muse. Artwork is donated to the muse after the end of the exhibition. Acceptable mediums are canvas, wood panels, paper, digital prints, and photography.
Book-based art objects
Deadline: January 5, 2018. Current Books is a new Current Art Fair event featuring independent artists’ book makers, zine makers, and small independent publishers of artist monographs and other book-based art objects. Artists’ book makers, zine makers, and independent publishers of art books and artist monographs are eligible to apply. All applicants must be based in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, or North Carolina.
Public sculpture
Deadline: February 1, 2018. Friends of Leesburg Public Arts is renewing its sculpture on loan program: ArtsPARKs 2018 at Raflo Park in Leesburg VA. For more information, see the Artist Opportunities page and click on “button.”
BlackRock
Deadline: February 1, 2018. BlackRock Center for the Arts (Germantown, MD) is now accepting proposals for solo, themed and group exhibitions to be presented in our gallery spaces in 2019.
Karin Lithell, today’s guest post author, is the artist behind “Home Sweet Home: On the Move” — this month’s solo exhibit. As a Swedish expatriate and observer of human migration, Lithell is concerned with the question of what makes a home a home. Below is the virtual tour of the exhibit, originally published on Karin Lithell’s website.
But first!
We asked the artist to tell us a little more about how exactly these pieces come to be.
The Art League: For these paintings, were you working from photos or memory?
Karin Lithell: I almost always start with a photo and/or combination of photos. Almost all of the photos are my own, but for example the painting from the Syrian refugee camp (Unexpected Changes, below) is built up by a combination of photos from newspapers, etc.
What’s your process like for these paintings? Where does the concept come from and what materials and tools are involved?
All the paintings in the exhibition, except three, are made with oil on canvas — two are silk screen prints (Which is the key to your home? and The abandoned house) and one (What’s home to you?) is an edited photography that I enlarged and printed on Fine Arts paper.
I often paint with a knife to get a more vivid surface. I like the way the colors come down on the canvas in a sort of unpredictable way. It makes the result more interesting and less “precise”. For this exhibition I really wanted to tell a story and to engage the viewers in the paintings. I therefore have tried to make the paintings interesting from a distance as well as when you’re close. I want to catch the viewer early and than reward them with something more if they make the effort to come closer.
How did you collect the stories behind these paintings — letters, conversations, interviews?
It all started with my family and our moves. As we’re Swedish diplomats we’ve been leaving our home many times. For us it’s always by our own free will and even though it’s a big risk to leave everything you know behind and start all over, we’re lucky to always have a house to move into and a job to go to. So in the shadow of the massive refugee migration into Europe in the summer of 2015 I felt an urge to tell stories about leaving your home and trying to find a new home. I also wanted to explore what makes a home a home and not only a place you stay and which difference it makes if you’re forced to leave your home or if you choose to leave.
I have collected the stories in many different ways. Interviews, both in person and via letters. Historical documents and stories from the big Swedish migration to America in the 19th century. AND conversations with everyone I meet.
Do you think this series will continue, or what are you working on next?
I hope to be able to show this exhibition, maybe with some additions, in a few other places- for example here in the US with a deepened focus on the migration in 19th century.
At the moment I’m working on a big piece that I donated to Mentor Foundation and that was bought on CharityBuzz. It is something totally different, which is fun to do as a change. I’m also preparing to participate in MadeInDC pop-up Christmas Market at Van Ness, with my prints and other products.
And now, the virtual tour:
What’s it all about?
What makes a place a home — your home? What does it take to make a new place your home and not only a place where you stay? Does it make a difference for a new place to become your home depending on why you left your old home? It must make a difference if you left your home by your own free will or if you were forced to leave, right? As my family and I have left our home(s) many times and started over in new places and new countries numerous times these thoughts have been on my mind for many years. In the context of the massive migrations in Europe during the summer of 2015, I felt an urge to explore this theme more in depth.
The process of putting this exhibition together has been truly amazing. It has given me the opportunity to talk to and discuss the concept of home and migration with so many interesting people. You are all part of this project in one way or another! It has also been interesting to see what home really is to me – who knew that it would boil down to me being a real “forester”…
What’s home to you?
I have asked MANY friends, family members, colleagues and total strangers “What is home to you?”. It have been amazing to hear and read all the different answers and they have all played a big role in the development of this exhibition. I chose to print some of the words at the rooftops of the homes in the beautiful village Pučišća (Croatia) that I visited this summer.
In the beat of my heart
You might have many places around the world that you call your home. Some of them near, some of them far and some of them might not even be a physical place, but they’re always in your heart. Here I want to illustrate a place and a feeling very dear to me – the pine tree forests in Värmland, Sweden. Before starting to develop this exhibition I never thought about the forest being so closely connected with “home” for me. But over the time, as I have been preparing for the exhibition, this special place in the forest has returned to my mind over and over again. I chose to make a stencil print of my daughter on her horse, instead of painting her, to underline the feeling of being somewhere in your heart rather than in person.
The quote is from the musical “Kristina” by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.
Yearnings
Some people are quick to make themselves at home in new places. Some people never feel at home in a new place, and some might never feel at home anywhere. “Yearnings” try to illustrate the longing you can feel to another place even though you already are in a beautiful place.
Unexpected change
Even when you’re living in a refugee camp you have to deal with your every day chores, like doing laundry. Kids also need to try and keep some every day feeling to their lives by playing and making new friends. Here I want to illustrate the struggle to create a “home” in a place where no one planned to ever be and certainly don’t want to spend a long time.
The quote is from a friend’s friend who was forced to flee Syria and ended up in Sweden. She wrote me a beautiful and heartbreaking letter about her thoughts of leaving home and establishing a new home.
Changing Perspective
My sons flying off the sand dunes in Hornbæk, Denmark. I want to give us all a reminder of how little it takes to change your perspective with this beautiful day at the beach – just a leap into the unknown.
Home Sweet Home?
The house where this room is located is considered home to my family. We have not lived in Sweden for the last 8 years and we’ve never lived in this house year-round, however this house is where we spend most of our time when in our homecountry. So can a home be somewhere you only visit a few weeks each year? A place where you never plan to live year-round?
Morning Commuters
When does a new place become your new home? When you establish new everyday routines? Commuting to work and school? Here I’m illustrating this idea with my husband and sons out biking in Copenhagen, Denmark.
There was a place called Home #1 and #2
The name of this house is Änga, which is a local pronunciation of Meadow.
You can find it close to my summer house in the county of Värmland, Sweden. In this region very many people left their homes in the late 19th century due to poverty and no bright outlooks for their future. 20 percent of the Swedish population immigrated to the USA. A success story from this village is the story of John Bryntesson, who actually found gold in the US and returned to his roots very wealthy and started a saw mill.
Climate Refugees #1,#2,#3
It is not only humans who experience changes these days. Climate change brings new challenges to all inhabitants of our globe: humans, animals and plants. Inspired by beautiful pictures that my husband took on a trip to Greenland a couple of years ago, I have made a series highlighting the struggle for survival in the Arctic region’s changing climate.
I left my heart
In 2012, Ali fled Afghanistan at the age of 12 and came to Sweden as an unaccompanied refugee child. My family became friends with Ali when our good friends opened their home to him. Ali riding a bike symbolizes his forced move and I’m trying to show his struggle to find a new home by placing him in traditional Swedish surroundings.
Ali’s words are quoted in the picture and they try to describe how he felt about leaving his family, friends and country.
Silk screen prints
My newest passion in art is Silk Screen Printing. In the exhibition I show two of my prints “Which is the key to your home” and “The Abandoned Home”. Both inspired by the same house that is featured on my cards and that you have seen above in There Was a Place Called Home.
Ogun, found objects and mixed media, by Noah Williams. Winner of the Eleanor Boudreau Jordan Award for Best in Show
Found-object art — the reuse of items as art materials — is all about seeing things in a different light.
Artist Noah Williams, who once worked as a garbage man, has honed that ability to see an object’s future life. Ogun is the latest of his masks to win an award at The Art League. We chatted with Williams about how his masks come to be and where Ogun fits in with the others:
How did you first get into found object sculpture, and why have you stuck with it?
Noah Williams: I first began creating sculptures from found objects a few years after I graduated from high school. I worked as a garbage man for awhile. My observations of rusty metal, nails, bottle caps took on a whole new meaning when one windy day, the swirl of debris gave me a vision of what could be created with the simplicity of found objects. I continue working with found objects because there is always a challenge of how I will use a new collection of scraps, as well as there is always an endless supply of refuse. Every sculpture will be totally different depending on what I have collected.
Noah Williams discusses his 2013 exhibit at The Art League, “One Man’s Trash”
Where do you find your materials?
I pretty much find everything on the street, driving around and things just catch my eye. Crazy, I have an eye for things people just walk right by.
What do the masks mean to you?
I love reading about African culture and the significance of why and how the various art forms are used. Masks are believed to represent a spirit of the ancestors that possesses the wearer of the mask. I believe while I am creating these masks, I am tapping into the the strength, love, and wisdom of my ancestors. When I am working, I go into a meditative state of consciousness. I can feel the power of my ancestors communicating with me, giving me strength, wisdom, and the love that I need to carry on their spirit for the future generations.
How is this mask different from the others?
The spirit “Ogun” comes from Yoruba, he is a warrior and a powerful spirit of metal, tools, and weapons. This spirit mask represents the fortitude, strength, and motivation we need to embody ourselves when the doubts of daily living are overwhelming. Each mask that I make has its own meaning and symbolism. I was specifically drawn to to interpreting this spirit into a mask because he also represents the ability to clear your spiritual path and helps you to progress.
Ogun (detail) by Noah Williams
What’s your favorite found object to work with?
I love working with metal. The variety of textures, colors, and patterns that can be created with metal fascinates me. While creating Ogun, I was specifically inspired because of his symbolism of also being a spirit of metal.
What’s your creative process like, from an idea to a completed piece?
When I find scraps of metal, shells, fabrics, or other found objects, I lay them out in front of me. I usually get a vision of what I’ll create. I will begin with a base made from chicken wire and then reinforce it with strips of metal, shaping it as I go. There are multiple layers of wire, metal, and fabric that are woven into the the base with wire. Once the mask is sturdy and shaped to my liking, I then begin weaving shells, bullet shells, bottle caps, hair, and whatever other found objects I’ve decided to incorporate into the design of the mask. There maybe as many as six or seven layers of materials built up on the masks before I decide it’s finished.
Amazon Piranha by Noah Williams, from his 2013 exhibit “One Man’s Trash.”
When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
I can remember loving to create art since I was very young. I was always encouraged to spend my free time drawing or painting instead of looking at TV. In my senior year of high school, I realized that I was very talented artistically after being being selected to be in an honors class. I have been working ever since to stay focused on my dream of becoming a successful artist.
What are you working on now?
I am working on an exceptionally large mask at the moment that will not only incorporate found objects, but paintings as well. I haven’t done a lot of painting lately, so I’m playing with concepts of how I will incorporate my paintings into my sculptures.
Deadline: December 15. The January Open Exhibit will be juried by online entry. Open exhibits at The Art League are not limited by theme, medium, process, or content. Artist must be a current exhibiting artist member of The Art League gallery to enter.
Howard County exhibits
Deadline: January 1, 2018. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group for exhibits at Howard County Arts Council. Proposals from curators and organizations are also welcome.
Book-based art objects
Deadline: January 5. Current Books is a new Current Art Fair event featuring independent artists’ book makers, zine makers, and small independent publishers of artist monographs and other book-based art objects. Artists’ book makers, zine makers, and independent publishers of art books and artist monographs are eligible to apply. All applicants must be based in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, or North Carolina.
BlackRock
Deadline: February 1, 2018. BlackRock Center for the Arts (Germantown, MD) is now accepting proposals for solo, themed and group exhibitions to be presented in our gallery spaces in 2019.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
Photo contest
Deadline: November 30. What does an award-winning photograph look like? It can range from an captivating portrait of a family member to a moon-drenched landscape to movement captured at just the right time. The Smithsonian’s 15th Annual Photo Contest is now open for submissions.
Artwork donations: What feminism looks like
Deadline: November 30. Curated by ArtWatch members Erin Devine and Shante Bullock, What feminism looks like takes intersectional feminism as its theme, and seeks works that express the empowerment of women to effect social change. Artists must commit to fully donating the proceeds of the sale to Planned Parenthood and the DC Arts Center.
Matador Review
Deadline: November 30. Alternative art and literature magazine The Matador Review is now accepting submissions for the Winter 2018 publication. We publish poetry, fiction, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction, inviting all unpublished literature written in the English language (and translations that are accompanied by the original text) as well as many forms of visual art.
Text objects
Deadline: November 30. Container, a publisher of text objects and artist’s books, invites submissions during its fall Open Container reading period. Submit poetry, fiction and nonfiction plus a pitch for transforming it into a text object.
George Mason murals
Deadline: December 3. George Mason University’s inaugural Contemporary Mural Arts Festival will begin in April 2018 with up to seven murals on its Fairfax, VA campus. University regulations will not allow painting directly on building surfaces, so the project will feature alternative mural methods including painting on suspended mesh fabric, projection, computer-activated light, digitally-printed wrap, banners, etc.
Emerging DMV artists
Deadline: December 3. Target Gallery (Alexandria, VA) invites regional emerging artists to submit work for a new group exhibition. This exhibition will feature up to 5 regional emerging artists — spotlighting new talent and the up-and-coming artistic innovators of the DC, Maryland, Virginia area.
Artists in Action
Deadline: December 8. Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Solomons, MD) seeks artists working in any media to submit proposals to set up a working studio space in the Main Gallery for 1-2 week periods.
Solo show in DC
Deadline: December 10. The Spotlight Art Series@Touchstone is an opportunity for area artists to have a solo exhibition at the Touchstone Gallery. Successful applicants will enjoy a front window 90 sq. ft. wall exhibition space in our street level gallery located in downtown Washington, DC at 901 New York Avenue NW.
Northern Virginia Festival
Deadline: December 10. 27th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival: Every spring the Greater Reston Arts Center invites over 200 artists to showcase their best, original, contemporary fine art and craft in this competitive, juried outdoor event.
Big Fun Art
Deadline: December 11. For Big Fun Art at Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Solomons, MD), take a break from the news of global doom and gloom and celebrate Big Fun Art! Inspired by the likes of Yayoi Kusama. All media welcome; small to large-scale works; indoor and outdoor works accepted.
Printmaking residency NYC
Deadline: December 20. The Julio Valdez Project Space Artist-in-Residence program is a collaborative, six-month residency program open to U.S. and international artists of all artistic backgrounds and career levels to create new complete body of work through exploration of non-toxic contemporary printmaking.
Video art
Deadline: January 1, 2018. Videos not in excess of 15 minutes are requested for inclusion in Frame & Frequency IV, an international video art exchange, presented as a series of screenings and exhibitions held concurrently at VisArts in Rockville, MD, just outside Washington D.C. and in Medellín, Colombia.
Shifting Perspectives on Trauma
Deadline: January 1, 2018. For this exhibit by the Perception Project, volunteer artists will receive a written story based upon the experience of a trauma survivor (muse) and use it as inspiration to create an artwork meant to empower and inject positivity to the muse. Artwork is donated to the muse after the end of the exhibition. Acceptable mediums are canvas, wood panels, paper, digital prints, and photography.
Public sculpture
Deadline: February 1, 2018. Friends of Leesburg Public Arts is renewing its sculpture on loan program: ArtsPARKs 2018 at Raflo Park in Leesburg VA. For more information, see the Artist Opportunities page and click on “button.”
Every year, The Art League opens up its doors for the annual Artfête Open House & Holiday Party, Ceramics Sale, and Jewelry Sale. Join us at our Madison Annex as we kick off the holiday season and see what happens at The Art League’s school!
When
December 8–10, 2017
Where
The Art League’s Madison Annex
305 Madison Street, Alexandria, VA (Google Maps)
Free admission!
Friday: Open House & Holiday Party
When: Friday, December 8, 6:00–9:00 pm
Help us kick off the holiday season with live music, great artwork, artist demos, a wearable art fashion show, and more. Enjoy live music by the Foggy Bottom Whomp-Stompers as you shop our Holiday Ceramics Sale, Jewelry Sale, and original art by our stained glass, mosaics, and fiber arts students and teachers. Admission is free and all are invited!
Holiday Ceramics Sale
When: Friday, December 8–Sunday, December 10
The ceramics sale hours are:
Friday, 12:00 noon–9:00 pm
Saturday, 10:00 am–6:00 pm
Sunday, 12:00 noon–5:00 pm
This annual event is the perfect opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind ceramic vessels and sculptures created by our students and ceramics associates. These affordable and unique handmade creations are perfect for holiday gift-giving!
Holiday Jewelry Sale
When: Friday, December 8–Saturday, December 9
The jewelry sale hours are:
Friday, 12:00 noon–9:00 pm
Saturday, 10:00 am–4:00 pm
Visit our jewelry studio and shop handmade jewelry created by Art League students and teachers. This sale showcases a variety of metal work based on the techniques taught in Art League classes. Pieces fit all tastes and budgets!
Michelangelo is at the Met — look out for a future blog post on this exhibit!
November is awash in cool exhibits to see in DC, whether you need a family activity for Thanksgiving weekend — or you just want to do something inside and pretend winter isn’t coming.
But before we get to the exhibits, there’s some …
Important art-world news
Today in “things that drive us a little batty,” Fiona Candlin conducted research into why visitors continue to touch artwork and other museum artifacts. We understand the urge, but stand by our motto: please don’t touch. (Atlas Obscura)
Insects, Butterflies, and a Grasshopper; black chalk, watercolor and gouache on parchment, by Jan van Kessel. 1664.
That being said, sometimes you just can’t help it — such was the case for an unfortunate wind-blown grasshopper who entered art history when it entered a Van Gogh back in 1889. The (small) insect has been stuck in thick impasto paint since then, and only discovered recently by a conservator. (NPR)
Our gallery rules therefore prohibit this painting from Art League shows, but perhaps we’d make an exception for Vincent:
Tidings 1975
Before we get to DC, we wanted to point out this Michelangelo exhibit is at the Met, which you need to go see during its three-month run. Why so short? The drawings on view are very light-sensitive. “Once the show’s done, the likelihood of there being another on its scale within the lifetime of anyone reading these words is slim.” (New York Times)
We’re excited to check out the next ARTECHOUSE exhibit, Kingdom of Colors. This is a 270-degree video installation by Thomas Blanchard and Oilhack previewed in the video above. If the style looks familiar, you may have seen the new iPhone X commercial! (ARTECHOUSE, through November 26, timed tickets from $15)
If you’re like us, you want to work some art into your holiday shopping. How about this text-based mural by Yoko Ono at Union Market? It’s a good reminder any time. (Union Market)
Prediction: there will be no timed tickets or enormous crowds, but the Hirshhorn has its next great exhibit lined up with Mark Bradford’s 2017 work, Pickett’s Charge. Inspired by a 19th century cyclorama, this partially abstract work explores the turning point of the Civil War over eight massive paintings and 400 feet. (Hirshhorn, through November 2018)
Jumping forward a couple hundred years: you’ve likely seen Luncheon of the Boating Party at the Phillips. That landmark Renoir is now the starting point for a new exhibit, “Renoir and Friends.” We haven’t seen the exhibit yet, but the headline for the Washington Post review is “Another Renoir show? But this one is worth it.”(Phillips Collection, through January 7, $12 admission)
Finally, The Art League has three exhibits on view, free as always. (The Art League, through December 3)
Friends of Leesburg Public Arts is renewing its sculpture on loan program: ArtsPARKs 2018 at Raflo Park in Leesburg VA. For more information, see the Artist Opportunities page and click on “button.”
Video art
Deadline: January 1, 2018. Videos not in excess of 15 minutes are requested for inclusion in Frame & Frequency IV, an international video art exchange, presented as a series of screenings and exhibitions held concurrently at VisArts in Rockville, MD, just outside Washington D.C. and in Medellín, Colombia.
Shifting Perspectives on Trauma
Deadline: January 1, 2018. For this exhibit by the Perception Project, volunteer artists will receive a written story based upon the experience of a trauma survivor (muse) and use it as inspiration to create an artwork meant to empower and inject positivity to the muse. Artwork is donated to the muse after the end of the exhibition. Acceptable mediums are canvas, wood panels, paper, digital prints, and photography.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
Deadline: November 15. VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital requests original art for the new C.A.R.E. Ambulatory patient facility in South Hill, Virginia. The imagery and subject matter should embody the concept of “Caring.”
Photo contest
Deadline: November 30. What does an award-winning photograph look like? It can range from an captivating portrait of a family member to a moon-drenched landscape to movement captured at just the right time. The Smithsonian’s 15th Annual Photo Contest is now open for submissions.
Artwork donations: What feminism looks like
Deadline: November 30. Curated by ArtWatch members Erin Devine and Shante Bullock, What feminism looks like takes intersectional feminism as its theme, and seeks works that express the empowerment of women to effect social change. Artists must commit to fully donating the proceeds of the sale to Planned Parenthood and the DC Arts Center.
Matador Review
Deadline: November 30. Alternative art and literature magazine The Matador Review is now accepting submissions for the Winter 2018 publication. We publish poetry, fiction, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction, inviting all unpublished literature written in the English language (and translations that are accompanied by the original text) as well as many forms of visual art.
Text objects
Deadline: November 30. Container, a publisher of text objects and artist’s books, invites submissions during its fall Open Container reading period. Submit poetry, fiction and nonfiction plus a pitch for transforming it into a text object.
George Mason murals
Deadline: December 3. George Mason University’s inaugural Contemporary Mural Arts Festival will begin in April 2018 with up to seven murals on its Fairfax, VA campus. University regulations will not allow painting directly on building surfaces, so the project will feature alternative mural methods including painting on suspended mesh fabric, projection, computer-activated light, digitally-printed wrap, banners, etc.
Emerging DMV artists
Deadline: December 3. Target Gallery (Alexandria, VA) invites regional emerging artists to submit work for a new group exhibition. This exhibition will feature up to 5 regional emerging artists — spotlighting new talent and the up-and-coming artistic innovators of the DC, Maryland, Virginia area.
Artists in Action
Deadline: December 8. Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Solomons, MD) seeks artists working in any media to submit proposals to set up a working studio space in the Main Gallery for 1-2 week periods.
Solo show in DC
Deadline: December 10. The Spotlight Art Series@Touchstone is an opportunity for area artists to have a solo exhibition at the Touchstone Gallery. Successful applicants will enjoy a front window 90 sq. ft. wall exhibition space in our street level gallery located in downtown Washington, DC at 901 New York Avenue NW.
Northern Virginia Festival
Deadline: December 10. 27th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival: Every spring the Greater Reston Arts Center invites over 200 artists to showcase their best, original, contemporary fine art and craft in this competitive, juried outdoor event.
Big Fun Art
Deadline: December 11. For Big Fun Art at Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Solomons, MD), take a break from the news of global doom and gloom and celebrate Big Fun Art! Inspired by the likes of Yayoi Kusama. All media welcome; small to large-scale works; indoor and outdoor works accepted.
Printmaking residency NYC
Deadline: December 20. The Julio Valdez Project Space Artist-in-Residence program is a collaborative, six-month residency program open to U.S. and international artists of all artistic backgrounds and career levels to create new complete body of work through exploration of non-toxic contemporary printmaking.
This week a new exhibit opened at The Art League featuring a special group of artists: the IMPart Ceramics & Bladesmithing Exhibit.
IMPart stands for Injured Military Personnel + art. It’s a program we’re very proud of at The Art League — it even earned a shout-out from Michelle Obama — so we’re thrilled to be putting on this exhibit!
Stoneware vessels by Duke Davis, Tommy Elliott, and Rich McAfee from the 2016 IMPart exhibit
The artists of IMPart
The program started in 2011, when Suzanne Bethel, then The Art League’s Deputy Director, had the idea to create a new Art League program to serve the community of Injured Military Personnel and transitioning veterans nearby at Fort Belvoir. The goal of the program remains the same today: personal enrichment, relaxed social engagement, the improvement and redevelopment of fine motor skills, and expressive catharsis.
Ceramics chair Blair Meerfeld and new associate Carla Amerau took the idea and ran with it, attracting participants one by one with demos at Fort Belvoir.
Ceramics and more
IMPart got its start with ceramics, which was a natural fit for those recovering from injuries. The tactile and forgiving material is ideal for people working to rehabilitate their fine motor skills.
“I felt natural at it when I couldn’t do anything else,” participant Jon Meadows told us during his 2015 exhibit, “A Soldier’s Voice.”
The program has grown to include other outlets, as well. On Wednesdays, you can find artists at the wheel in the ceramics studio or bladesmithing with the portable forge and anvil in the sculpture room. IMPart also includes off-site courses in other media.
Today, we’re also proud to say that IMPart is part of Creative Forces, the NEA Military Healing Arts Network.
From the 2016 exhibit. Foreground: I Am My Brother’s Keeper by Mike Goodrich
The exhibit
For this exhibit, we’ve invited participants to share the sculptures, vessels, and blades they’ve made in IMpart. You can find the work in The Art League gallery (105 N. Union St. in Alexandria) through December 3, 2017. You’re also invited to the opening reception on Veterans Day, November 11, at 3:00 pm.
The gallery hours are:
Monday–Saturday: 10:00 am–6:00 pm
Thursday: 10:00 am–9:00 pm
Sunday: 12:00 noon–6:00 pm
More about IMPart
There’s lots more to hear from IMPart participants, including:
It’s starting to feel like that time of year! The months where nothing feels nicer than a sip of cocoa from a mug you made yourself. Or wrapping up in a scarf you weaved. Or sending a card you drew/painted/printed — yourself.
Getting the idea?
Winter is the perfect time to get creative
And with classes starting up in January, it’s also the perfect time to get a head start on those resolutions. So here are some links to help you out:
Sculpture instructor George Tkabladze talks with a student in Wood & Stone Sculpture.
Can’t wait? Try a workshop
9-week classes don’t start until the new year, but we have a bunch of one- and two-day workshops coming up in November and December. These are a way to brush up on a new technique or dive in with one of our Jumpstarts.
Deadline: November 30. Curated by ArtWatch members Erin Devine and Shante Bullock, What feminism looks like takes intersectional feminism as its theme, and seeks works that express the empowerment of women to effect social change. Artists must commit to fully donating the proceeds of the sale to Planned Parenthood and the DC Arts Center.
Artists in Action
Deadline: December 8. Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Solomons, MD) seeks artists working in any media to submit proposals to set up a working studio space in the Main Gallery for 1-2 week periods.
Printmaking residency NYC
Deadline: December 20. The Julio Valdez Project Space Artist-in-Residence program is a collaborative, six-month residency program open to U.S. and international artists of all artistic backgrounds and career levels to create new complete body of work through exploration of non-toxic contemporary printmaking.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
Passages at Target Gallery
Deadline: November 12. Target Gallery (Alexandria, VA) invites artists to apply for Passages, a group exhibition that explores the lasting effects migration has on cultural identity. Adriana Ospina, Curator of Permanent Collection and Education at the Art Museum of the Americas, is the juror.
Photographic portraits
Deadline: November 13. Praxis Gallery (Minneapolis, MN) seeks the submission of photographic art that explores the aesthetic and conceptual considerations involved in the creation of the portrait – revealing personal narratives or creating new anthologies through the creative representation of the subject. All genres, capture types, color and black & white, traditional and non-traditional photographic and digital post-production processes are welcome for submission.
Deadline: November 15. VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital requests original art for the new C.A.R.E. Ambulatory patient facility in South Hill, Virginia. The imagery and subject matter should embody the concept of “Caring.”
Photo contest
Deadline: November 30. What does an award-winning photograph look like? It can range from an captivating portrait of a family member to a moon-drenched landscape to movement captured at just the right time. The Smithsonian’s 15th Annual Photo Contest is now open for submissions.
Matador Review
Deadline: November 30. Alternative art and literature magazine The Matador Review is now accepting submissions for the Winter 2018 publication. We publish poetry, fiction, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction, inviting all unpublished literature written in the English language (and translations that are accompanied by the original text) as well as many forms of visual art.
Text objects
Deadline: November 30. Container, a publisher of text objects and artist’s books, invites submissions during its fall Open Container reading period. Submit poetry, fiction and nonfiction plus a pitch for transforming it into a text object.
George Mason murals
Deadline: December 3. George Mason University’s inaugural Contemporary Mural Arts Festival will begin in April 2018 with up to seven murals on its Fairfax, VA campus. University regulations will not allow painting directly on building surfaces, so the project will feature alternative mural methods including painting on suspended mesh fabric, projection, computer-activated light, digitally-printed wrap, banners, etc.
Emerging DMV artists
Deadline: December 3. Target Gallery (Alexandria, VA) invites regional emerging artists to submit work for a new group exhibition. This exhibition will feature up to 5 regional emerging artists — spotlighting new talent and the up-and-coming artistic innovators of the DC, Maryland, Virginia area.
Solo show in DC
Deadline: December 10. The Spotlight Art Series@Touchstone is an opportunity for area artists to have a solo exhibition at the Touchstone Gallery. Successful applicants will enjoy a front window 90 sq. ft. wall exhibition space in our street level gallery located in downtown Washington, DC at 901 New York Avenue NW.
Northern Virginia Festival
Deadline: December 10. 27th Annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival: Every spring the Greater Reston Arts Center invites over 200 artists to showcase their best, original, contemporary fine art and craft in this competitive, juried outdoor event.
Big Fun Art
Deadline: December 11. For Big Fun Art at Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Solomons, MD), take a break from the news of global doom and gloom and celebrate Big Fun Art! Inspired by the likes of Yayoi Kusama. All media welcome; small to large-scale works; indoor and outdoor works accepted.
Each fall, The Art League brings in a panel of jurors to select artists for solo shows. The jurying takes place two years ahead of time, so artists can get back to the studio and build their exhibit, based on their proposal and jury feedback.
This year’s jurors were Isabel Manalo, Anjuli Lebowitz, and Martin Kotler. Forty-five different artists submitted proposals this time around — no easy feat in itself! The jurors selected 10 artists for shows, which will be scheduled for 2019.
Congratulations to the artists! Now the work begins:
Susan Callahan, a chef and textile artist, will present an exhibit celebrating the non-celebrity chef in shades that match a stainless steel commercial kitchen. She starts with photos, which are screen printed, hand painted, and stitched into the textile artworks for this show.
Margaret Cerutti is a figure and plein air painter — and recently named a member of the Salmagundi Club — who is motivated by light. Her exhibit will explore how light changes the mood of portrait paintings, and she plans to include a studio set-up as part of the exhibit so viewers can experience “sitting” for a portrait.
Painter Berit Jarama Estabrook conceives of a “sacred web” connecting living things for her exhibit, which will invite the viewer to relate to animals. Naturally, the plight of the environment looms large in these mixed-media paintings.
The beauty of mathematics is the subject for Matthew Harwood’s 2019 exhibit — specifically, prime numbers and their relationships. The exhibit will feature digital drawings on metal and laminated banners, as well as explanatory text, scale models, and his artist sketchbook.
Lee Hassig
by Lee Hassig
If you’ve been to Colonial Williamsburg, you may recognize the setting for Lee Hassig’s photographs: it’s Duke of Gloucester Street. But the street isn’t the subject matter for this exhibit; it’s the crowds, with single figures plucked out in unposed portraits for the viewer’s consideration.
Megan Partridge’s gestural paintings of insects started as whimsy, but she says they also function as a kind of self-portrait. These bugs will tickle you — in a good way.
Painter Ann Pickett proposed a polyptych (multi-panel artwork) that spans the exhibit room. It’s inspired by a desire to unite her figural work and abstract expressionist work.
Elaine Qiu
by Elaine Qiu
Titled “The Mystery of You,” Elaine Qiu’s exhibit aims to challenge the idea of “otherness” by creating exchanges between different kinds of people. Viewers will be invited to write one word next to each painting. Qiu, a first-generation Chinese immigrant, practiced calligraphy from childhood — read more in our recent interview on this blog.
Photographer BD Richardson’s subject is the Chesapeake bay — its history, its people, and its questionable future. The photographs will be processed in several different ways, including as salt prints — referencing the bay – and as hand transfers.
Inna Skidan
By Inna Skidan
Finally, the artist Inna Skidan — originally from Ukraine — will bring experimental paintings around the theme of “New Day” to the solo gallery.
