The Immigrants by Terri Rea, winner of The Art League Award for Best in Show
Therese “Terri” Rea is a painter and the winner of this month’s Art League Award for Best in Show. Her painting The Immigrants took home the award in our December Open Exhibit, juried by Margaret Adams Parker, on view through January 7, 2018.
We asked the artist to tell us more about this painting. Here’s what she wrote:
The Immigrants seemed to paint itself.
The Other by Terri Rea
I have been concerned about the xenophobia that is spreading worldwide — the hatred and fear of “the other” that is so dangerous and frightening. I had an underpainting and then added some white gesso and started “cutting out” shapes.
The muted palette seemed appropriate for a somber subject. As it evolved I was very aware of the sense of immigrants, strangers in strange lands and the yearning for home as well as the yearning to stay together and be safe. My dad was British, my mum was Czech, and they survived the horrors of World War II.
My creative process is really quite fluid. I enjoy spontaneity.
Quirky by Terri Rea
I began painting with watercolor and have since moved to acrylic painting. While I greatly admire the freshness and clarity of transparent watercolor, I realize that my process is more intuitive and spontaneous. I tend to want my paintings to tell some sort of story, but I also enjoy working with pattern and some abstraction.
Deadline: January 31, 2018. BAU Institute announces call for applications for its summer 2018 artist residencies at a Seaside mediterranean village Near Marseille.
Torpedo Factory installations
The Torpedo Factory Art Center invites artists and artist teams residing in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia to submit their qualifications and proposals for the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s common areas. Up to three artists/artist teams will be selected to install works of art in three designated public locations inside the Torpedo Factory Art Center.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
Philadelphia residency
Deadline: December 30. The Windgate ITE International Residency is an 8-week summer program for five artists; a student artist; photojournalist; and scholar who live and work together at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Site-specific work
Deadline: December 31. The DC Department of General Services is commissioning permanent site-specific work in two and three dimensions.
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.
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.
Home
Deadline: January 9, 2018. For “There’s No Place Like Home,” the Maryland Federation of Art invites all 2-D and 3-D artists to submit works that illustrate what they describe as “home.” Juror: Liza Key Strelka is Manager of Exhibitions at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.
Works on paper
Deadline: January 16, 2018. Maryland Federation of Art invites all artists residing in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico to enter its 39th annual Art on Paper competition. Any original 2-D or 3-D work created on or of paper, including collage, artist book, origami, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and more, will be considered.
Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association
Deadline: January 22, 2018. Phase I of the 2018 jury to join the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association is underway. Read more about the opportunities and benefits of membership on the jury page.
Exhibit proposals
Deadline: January 31, 2018. The Merion Hall Gallery at St. Joseph’s University (Philadelphia, PA) hosts six professional artist exhibitions each school year.
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.
Target Gallery solo shows
Deadline: February 4, 2018. This is an open call for proposals for an exhibition at Target Gallery(Alexandria, VA) in the summer of 2018. This call is open to emerging or mid-career artists from North America working in all visual media.
Illustrators
Deadline: February 6, 2018. Illustrators in any country working in any medium or content can enter work created between January 2017 and February 2018 for the World Illustration Awards 2018.
Deadline: March 8, 2018. Photographic artists of all walks are invited to submit their latest works to a national juried show at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD. The exhibition aims to highlight the current state of photography across a broad spectrum. Artists may submit all types of photographic works including digital, analog, alternative processes, etc.
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.
We’re also getting pumped for a very special milestone in February: this will be the 50th anniversary of the Patrons’ Show Fundraiser! (Tickets go on sale January 13.)
Ikebana 2016 (arrangement by Jane Redmon, photograph by Pete Duvall, vessel by Robert Rosselle)
Fast-forwarding to May, it’s the return of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Ikebana Show (May 1–6). This exhibit, presented in conjunction with the Washington, DC Sogetsu School, pairs contemporary flower arrangements with other artworks to create an ephemeral Springtime experience.
This year, Ikebana will inspire the cocktails at Art on the Rocks (May 4). Do we smell some floral concoctions headed our way?
More to come
This is just the start of our programming for the year. We’ll be adding group exhibits, artist talks, and other events to the calendar, so stay tuned (and subscribe to emails) for more!
Drawing is the foundation of artistic study. This winter, make it the foundation of a weekend well spent!
The Art League has lined up nine different ways to put pencil to paper (or charcoal, pen, etc.) for the absolute beginner and the experienced student. They all start in January 2018!
No experience necessary
Basic Drawing comes in three flavors: Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning (as well as every other day of the week). This is the class to take if you’re rusty or brand-new, since it teaches you all the skills you’ll need for other classes like painting and printmaking.
Some experience recommended
For the classes below, some drawing experience is helpful.
If you’re ready to branch out into a new medium, how about Waxy Media Techniques? Lisa Semerad will show you how to use oil pastels, colored pencils, oil bars, pigment sticks and grease pencils.
by John Murray
For drawing humans (portrait and figure), we have several options you can pursue. Gesture Drawing with John Murray is all about capturing movement (you can read more about it in this blog post). For more advanced students, check out Expressive Figure Drawing with Susan O’Neill, a new class this school year.
Portrait Drawing with Jin Chung is the place to go to learn to capture a likeness. Check out the instructor at work in this video.
If you’re in the mood to practice figure or portrait drawing on your own — but in a supervised, focused environment — there’s always Open-Life Drawing Sessions (Long Pose). This Saturday class lets you use your own media and your own pace to draw from a live model. (For shorter poses, there are also open sessions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.)
And finally, for a class that’ll really get under your skin, take Artistic Anatomical Drawing. You’ll learn to see, and draw, the human form from the inside out with Thanasi Papapostolou.
Deadline: December 31. The DC Department of General Services is commissioning permanent site-specific work in two and three dimensions.
Exhibit proposals
Deadline: January 31. The Merion Hall Gallery at St. Joseph’s University (Philadelphia, PA) hosts six professional artist exhibitions each school year.
Illustrators
Deadline: February 6, 2018. Illustrators in any country working in any medium or content can enter work created between January 2017 and February 2018 for the World Illustration Awards 2018.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
BloomBars
Deadline: December 19 (for best consideration, applications continue on a rolling basis). The application is now live for BloomBars: imPRINT, a juried group exhibition curated by Robert Bettmann and John Chambers. The BloomBars: imPRINT exhibition will be on display April 12 to May 5, 2018 at the gallery at BloomBars in Columbia Heights, Washington, DC.
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.
Philadelphia residency
Deadline: December 30. The Windgate ITE International Residency is an 8-week summer program for five artists; a student artist; photojournalist; and scholar who live and work together at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
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.
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.
Home
Deadline: January 9, 2018. For “There’s No Place Like Home,” the Maryland Federation of Art invites all 2-D and 3-D artists to submit works that illustrate what they describe as “home.” Juror: Liza Key Strelka is Manager of Exhibitions at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.
Works on paper
Deadline: January 16, 2018. Maryland Federation of Art invites all artists residing in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico to enter its 39th annual Art on Paper competition. Any original 2-D or 3-D work created on or of paper, including collage, artist book, origami, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and more, will be considered.
Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association
Deadline: January 22, 2018. Phase I of the 2018 jury to join the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association is underway. Read more about the opportunities and benefits of membership on the jury page.
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.
Target Gallery solo shows
Deadline: February 4, 2018. This is an open call for proposals for an exhibition at Target Gallery(Alexandria, VA) in the summer of 2018. This call is open to emerging or mid-career artists from North America working in all visual media.
Deadline: March 8, 2018. Photographic artists of all walks are invited to submit their latest works to a national juried show at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD. The exhibition aims to highlight the current state of photography across a broad spectrum. Artists may submit all types of photographic works including digital, analog, alternative processes, etc.
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.
Workshops are a great way to dip your toe into something new. The 10 workshops below are Jumpstarts: one- or two-day workshops that serve as an introduction to a new medium for beginners. You could even gift one of these for the holidays with an Art League gift card!
10 Ways to Jumpstart Your Winter
Jumpstart in Watercolor: Rachel Collins shows you the ropes. This is for absolute watercolor beginners or those who need a refresher; some drawing experience is helpful. (January 3–4, $195)
Introduction to Encaustic: Beverly Ryan teaches this ancient medium, a mix of wax and pigment (seen in the video above). This is a great opportunity to try encaustic without buying the tools and equipment yourself. (January 6–7, $330)
Jumpstart in Ceramics: One day with clay! Our ceramics chair Blair Meerfeld teaches this short, fun jumpstart. (January 6, $50)
Jumpstart In East Asian Ink Painting – Sumi-E: The traditions of sumi-e stretch back 1,000 years, but you can pick up the basics in two days with Charlene Fuhrman-Schulz. This is appropriate for an absolute beginner or a painter in another medium. (January 6–7, $195)
Jumpstart in Hand Stitching: Make marks with needle and thread! Julie Booth teaches this workshop in basic stitching with some printing and painting techniques as well. (January 6–7, $195)
Hard Rock Trio, pastel, by Nancy Freeman
Jumpstart in Pastels: A chance to try out soft pastels without buying a set. Dive into this fast, bright, colorful medium with Nancy Freeman! (January 6–7, $195)
Jumpstart in Nuno Felting: With master felter Renate Maile-Moskowitz, learn about nuno felting. It’s a lightweight, drapable felt that’s fashion forward. (January 6, $125)
Photograph by Alison Duvall
Jumpstart in Photography: Alison Duvall introduces the rest of your camera — that is, everything beyond auto mode. A great workshop for a traveler who wants to take home more artistic photos! (January 6–7, $185)
Jumpstart inWet Felting: You have two choices for this introduction to handmade wool felt. (Renate Maile-Moskowitz teaches both.) Option 1 meets January 8 and 15 for three hours each evening. Option 2 meets January 8 only for six hours. ($100)
Is your interest piqued? These are only a handful of the over 200 classes and workshops this winter. Browse our full catalog for more!
Ephraim Rubenstein is coming to The Art League in January! The artist, who you may remember from our 2014 Portrait & Figure Festival and more recent workshops, will be here for a double bill: a free talk and a drawing workshop. We talked to him to get a preview of the weekend’s events:
Rubenstein’s Friday talk will be an introduction to his work as an artist and to the process of color spot painting.
New River, Galax, Late Afternoon by Ephraim Rubenstein (click to view larger)
Color spot (also the subject of a future Art League workshop to look forward to) is a type of alla prima painting. That means the painting is done “at first attempt” or wet-in-wet, in one sitting. Color spot, specifically, was developed around the 1900s by Charles Hawthorne (author of Hawthorne on Painting) and his student Edwin Dickinson.
“It’s a way of seeing color very freshly,” Rubenstein said. The artist pays as much attention to the warm-cool relationships (temperature) as to light vs. dark (value).
Color spot painting is done on a white canvas — no tone — and best in one layer, not built up slowly with grisaille and glazes. The goal is to get it right from the start, “so it has a very fresh look, color-wise.” (This avoids students’ common struggle with “muddy” color, Rubenstein noted.)
Self-Portrait by Lucian Freud, 2002. This unfinished painting emphasizes Freud’s color-spot approach.
A painter working in color spot starts with the greatest contrasts, “setting the perimeter” of the painting with the warmest warms and coolest cools. “Every painting is in a key, the same way a piece of music is in a key,” Rubenstein said.
This talk will cover Rubenstein’s own work in color spot and what interests him as a painter. It will conclude with a brief discussion of the wax-resist drawing technique, below.
January 6–7: Gorgeous Effects with Ink and Wax-Resist
Rubenstein’s workshop will center on a multi-media drawing technique called wax-resist.
Agrigento I; pencil, wax, ink, char-kole, charcoal, conte, and nu-pastel on paper; by Ephraim Rubenstein
This technique uses paraffin wax as a water-repellent resist for subsequent ink washes: the waxy areas protect the lighter values as the drawing progresses. The wax itself can also remain on the drawing and has a cool texture, Rubenstein said.
He said the idea is similar to batik, a fiber dyeing technique that likewise uses a wax resist.
Equestrian Monument, Barcelona II; pencil, wax, ink, charcoal, Char-kole, conte, pastel and Nu-pastel on paper; by Ephraim Rubenstein
Wax-resist drawing can be seen in the work of, for example, Henry Moore during the London Blitz. In this workshop, students will use a lot of different materials: pencil, wax, ink wash, and water-soluble Char-Kole. Rubenstein said the workshop is for intermediate and advanced students with some general drawing experience.
Deadline: December 19 (for best consideration, applications continue on a rolling basis). The application is now live for BloomBars: imPRINT, a juried group exhibition curated by Robert Bettmann and John Chambers. The BloomBars: imPRINT exhibition will be on display April 12 to May 5, 2018 at the gallery at BloomBars in Columbia Heights, Washington, DC.
Home
Deadline: January 9, 2018. For “There’s No Place Like Home,” the Maryland Federation of Art invites all 2-D and 3-D artists to submit works that illustrate what they describe as “home.” Juror: Liza Key Strelka is Manager of Exhibitions at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.
Works on paper
Deadline: January 16, 2018. Maryland Federation of Art invites all artists residing in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico to enter its 39th annual Art on Paper competition. Any original 2-D or 3-D work created on or of paper, including collage, artist book, origami, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and more, will be considered.
Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association
Deadline: January 22, 2018. Phase I of the 2018 jury to join the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association is underway. Read more about the opportunities and benefits of membership on the jury page.
Deadline: March 8, 2018. Photographic artists of all walks are invited to submit their latest works to a national juried show at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD. The exhibition aims to highlight the current state of photography across a broad spectrum. Artists may submit all types of photographic works including digital, analog, alternative processes, etc.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
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.
Virginia artists for State Park center
Deadline: December 15. The Virginia State Parks system is looking for new Virginia artists and artisans to feature in the Natural Bridge State Park Artisan Center. Entries will be juried January 17 and 18. Artists must register by December 15.
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.
Philadelphia residency
Deadline: December 30. The Windgate ITE International Residency is an 8-week summer program for five artists; a student artist; photojournalist; and scholar who live and work together at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
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.
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.
Target Gallery solo shows
Deadline: February 4, 2018. This is an open call for proposals for an exhibition at Target Gallery(Alexandria, VA) in the summer of 2018. This call is open to emerging or mid-career artists from North America working in all visual media.
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.
F.O.M.A. (noun): “fear of missing art”; the nagging feeling that cool art events are passing you by.
This is the time of year where it can feel like fun is mandatory. Why not take a break from shopping and spend a quiet day enjoying some art exhibits and events?
Here are our picks for your December art events around DC — so you can be sure you’re in the know.
Frances Glessner Lee, Red Bedroom, about 1944-48.
Murder is Her Hobby
Through January 28: If you don’t mind some minor gruesomeness around the holidays, check out the Renwick’s latest exhibit. Frances Glessner Lee’s nutshell studies of crime scenes were — and are — used to train investigators’ observational skills.
If the crowds for “Murder is Her Hobby” are a little much, head upstairs for some gems from the Renwick’s collection. We’re particular fans of Wendell Castle’s Ghost Clock and Sabrina Gschwandtner’s Fibers and Civilization (1959).
Matthias Mansen: Configurations
Through December 13: This exhibit of experimental woodblock prints is on its way out, so swing by the National Gallery of Art while it’s still up.
Mark Bradford: Pickett’s Charge
Through November 2018: There’s plenty of time left to see this massive installation artwork by Mark Bradford, but why not be the first? This commission by the Hirshhorn is inspired by an 1883 narrative Civil War cyclorama.
Chloe Irla: Year One
Through December 31: At Montpelier Arts Center, artist Chloe Irla uses data from her daughter’s first year of life to create artistic visualizations.
Trying out silk screen printing at Artfête.
Artfête
December 8–10 only: It wouldn’t be December without Artfête, The Art League’s open house, holiday party, and ceramics and jewelry sales. Here are all the details.
First Night Alexandria
December 31: A family-friendly way to celebrate the new year — plus performing arts everywhere you look — First Night Alexandria is an all-day event. The Art League is getting in on the fun, too! Find artist instructor Patrick Kirwin in our gallery from 1:30 to 4:30 pm for a hands-on art activity.
Artfête — The Art League’s annual open house/party/sale — returns this year with all the cheer and fun we can fit inside the building.
To help you convince your friends and family that they need to come too, here are 80 reasons to make it!
The Foggy Bottom Whomp-Stompers
Things will be getting jazzy over in the sculpture room! We have the Foggy Bottom Whomp-Stompers lined up to play, so bring your dancing shoes!
A wearable art fashion show
Come to the Community Hall room to see work by our fiber and jewelry students as models walk the runway. If you feel inspired, we have lots of jewelry and fiber artists among our …
21 artist demonstrations
We have 21 artist instructors lined up to give demos. Feel free to pop in, see what they’re up to, and ask questions!
Nick Barnes
Andrea Blackmon
Julie Booth
Michael Brehl
Sylvia DeMar
Candace Edgerley
Charlene Furhman-Schultz
Barbara Garren
Abby Goldblatt
Marilyn Harrington
Michael Heilman
Dianna Krueutz
Ed McCluney
Nancy McIntyre
Blair Meerfeld
Renate Maile Moskowitz
Tea Okropiridze
Jimmy Powers
Gretchen Raber
Donna Reinsel
Ava Soriano
55 ceramic artists
This year 55 artists will be selling their wares in our Holiday Ceramics Sale. That’s a lot of variety and a lot of shopping to do! Here are the ceramics sale hours (yes, it’s open during the open house!):
Friday, 12:00 noon–9:00 pm
Saturday, 10:00 am–6:00 pm
Sunday, 12:00 noon–5:00 pm
Get your shopping wrapped up
Ceramics aren’t all — we also have a jewelry, fiber, and stained glass sale during the open house! The jewelry sale continues into Saturday. Here are the jewelry sale hours:
Friday, 12:00 noon–9:00 pm
Saturday, 10:00 am–4:00 pm
Scope out our classroom space
Thinking of taking a class at The Art League? (Winter term starts January 8!) This is your chance to see our main classroom space! Your next instructor might even be one of those giving demos.
When & Where?
We’ve sold you? Great! Come find us at our Madison Annex, 305 Madison Street in Alexandria, VA. The Open House is 6:00–9:00 pm on Friday, December 8. The hours for our Ceramics and Jewelry Sales are above and on our Artfête page.
Deadline: December 15. The Virginia State Parks system is looking for new Virginia artists and artisans to feature in the Natural Bridge State Park Artisan Center. Entries will be juried January 17 and 18. Artists must register by December 15.
Philadelphia residency
Deadline: December 30. The Windgate ITE International Residency is an 8-week summer program for five artists; a student artist; photojournalist; and scholar who live and work together at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Target Gallery solo shows
Deadline: February 4, 2018. This is an open call for proposals for an exhibition at Target Gallery (Alexandria, VA) in the summer of 2018. This call is open to emerging or mid-career artists from North America working in all visual media.
Re-runs: These announcements have been posted here before, but it’s not too late to enter!
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.
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.
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.
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.
This month we have a special, early opening reception!
“Natura Morta” by Darryl Halbrooks will open Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 pm.
by Darryl Halbrooks
Natura morta, Italian for “still life,” is also a reference to Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, known for his subdued arrangements of vessels and the like. In Halbrooks’s, you’ll find more color and movement.
The other difference? Halbrooks’s still lifes are hidden under undulating cloth, leaving the viewer to only guess at what’s underneath. Of course, the drapery is a delight in its own right.
by Darryl Halbrooks
Come to the opening reception to be the first to see the exhibit and meet the artist!
“Natura Morta” is on view at The Art League gallery December 7, 2017 to January 7, 2018. Exhibits and opening receptions are free and open to the public.
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.
