Source Festival Mash-Up reviewed by City Paper

Visual artist Kate McGraw and playwright Allyson Currin performing "Combustion."
Image: C. Stanley Photography

The City Paper reviewed the first Source Festival Mash-Up night on Tuesday and gave high props to my artist pal Kate McGraw. If you're around this weekend, go see it! Compelling work that will really make you think and it's super fun to see how creativity mashes together even when they're coming at it from different angles.

The clearest mash-up of the evening is the final piece, “Combustion” by playwright Allyson Currin, visual artist Kate McGraw and musician Scott Burgess. During intermission, the floor is covered with a drop cloth and white paper, while a large canvas leans against the back wall. An electric guitar, music stand and amp are set up on the left side of the stage and another music stand and arm chair are on the right. When the performers arrive on stage, Burgess picks up the guitar, McGraw grabs a black marker and walks toward the canvas, and Currin sits in the chair and removes her shoes and socks before lining them up evenly on the side of the chair. She launches into a monologue about a day in her life and her clipped delivery is matched by McGraw tracing a large rectangle on the canvas and Burgess strumming chords to reflect the changes in her day. When Currin describes her inability to fall asleep and her frustration with sheep-counting, McGraw strikes the canvas and Burgess plays a distorted note that brings the focus back to Currin. This repeats until the boxes drawn on the canvas get so small that they must be, in some way, “broken.” McGraw does this by pouring red paint across the floor and paints the paper using her entire body, then grabbing Currin and encouraging her to do the same thing. In doing this, she breaks out of her shell and is finally able to sleep after expending creative energy. Each performer has a very specific action in this performance but the interaction between them is what makes the mash-up work well. Combining concepts that don’t appear to complement each other is what makes this production more captivating than the others that precede it.

The Source Festival 2009 Mash-Ups!

Mash-ups are creative blind dates where artists mesh disciplines to create inventive performance pieces. Combinations include: a dancer, a filmmaker and a writer; a hip hop musician and a theatre director; a composer, a playwright and a visual artist.

Performances are Tuesday, June 30 through Sunday, July 5 at Source (1835 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20001). Full details at sourcedc.org/sourcefestival.

Anything pink rocks!

Reincorporation Jamboree
Artists Seeking a Secular Coming of Age
Curated By Steven Frost
June 22 through July 25, 2009

Closing Reception:
Friday July 24
7pm
@ Honfleur Gallery
1241 Good Hope Road, SE
Anacostia

The work of emerging artists Hatnim Lee, Kristina Bilonick, Theodore Knox, Ben Fino-Radin and Sean Johnson premiers at Honfleur starting June 22nd, 2009, as they touch on contemporary society and their own rites-of-passage. Curator Steven Frost selected the five artists for this exhibition, who have emerged from rites of passage with unique perspectives. The title refers to a reclaiming of societal rites of passage by artists who may not relate in a traditional sense. Reincorporation is defined as the the act of forming again into society or legal entity- ie, rejoining society after experiences separating one from it. Artist Sean Johnson sums up the artists position thus; "I find in many ways confronted by the norms that construct our everyday conversations, our ideals and how we perceive life. Challenging these ideals creates conflict, but simultaneously allows us to consider a different perspective about how others exist, and break away from securities that we latch onto."

Gaia event will dazzle you

You really ought to put this on your calendar. It's not just another night club party; it's going to be an experience!

Pink smash! (You should not miss this!)

Beer + Drag + Opera
Creative thinking... it's not just for artists!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
6:30 to 8:30 PM
@ 1405 Florida Avenue, NW
(Two short blocks up from U Street.)

Find out how you can help define a live-work home in the creative economy!
www.definelive-work.com

Visual artist Kate McGraw and playwright Allyson Currin performing "Combustion."
Image: C. Stanley Photography

The Source Festival 2009 Mash-Ups!

Mash-ups are creative blind dates where artists mesh disciplines to create inventive performance pieces. Combinations include: a dancer, a filmmaker and a writer; a hip hop musician and a theatre director; a composer, a playwright and a visual artist.

Performances are Tuesday, June 30 through Sunday, July 5 at Source (1835 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20001). Full details at sourcedc.org/sourcefestival.

Art is nice

Watch CBS Videos Online
Using art to transform people's lives for the better. I like it.
(Thanks for sharing this with me Amy!)

Arty stuff this week...

Phillips After 5

Poet Night

5 - 8pm

Summer Films at the Phillips:

FRANKENSTEIN

6:30pm

Gallery Talks

Paint Made Flesh:

Nip/Tuck- Perfection & Distortion of the Modern Body

6pm, 7pm

Film screening and gallery talks included in admissiong to special exhibition.

$12, $10 for students, visitors 62 & over, Free to Members

@The Phillips Collection

1600 21st Street, NW

Fringe Festival Preview

Wednesday, July 1

7 - 10pm

Free and Open to All

*Must be 21 to enter

@RFD - Back Room

810 7th Street, NW

Last week to experience Artomatic!!

Now - July 5

Fri-Sat: Noon - 1am

Sun, Wed, Thurs: Noon - 10pm

@55 M Street SE

Six in the Mix: Selections by Renee Stout

July 3 - August 26

First Friday Reception

Friday, July 3

6 - 9pm

Food and refreshments will be served.

$5 suggested donation.

@Hillyer Art Space

9 Hillyer Court, NW

DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities

Art Salon

Wednesday, July 1

7 - 9pm

@Merdian International Center

1624 Crescent Place, NW

Barbara Bell, Entrance

Double Artists

by Foundry Members and Guest Artists

July 1 - August 1

Opening Reception

Friday, July 3

6 - 8pm

@Foundry Gallery

1314 18th Street, NW

Washington Printmakers Gallery presents

An exhibition of printed matter from

40 printmaking studios from around the world

June 29 - July 26

Opening Reception

Friday, July 3

5:30 - 8:30pm

visit http://blog.meetyourprintmaker.com

@Washington Printmakers Gallery

1732 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Landscapes for Lucy by Brian Williams

and

New Member Show: All in Color

June 24 - July 18

First Friday Reception

Friday, July 3

6 - 8pm

@Studio Gallery

2108 R Street, NW

WASHINGTON PROJECT FOR THE ARTS PRESENTS:

The Mapplethorpe Demonstration - Twenty Years Later

Tuesday, June 30

6:30pm

(doors open at 6:00pm)

@Warehouse Gallery & Theater

1021 7th Street, NW

WALA 25th anniversary celebration

As a recovering lawyer, I often conveniently forget that there are a lot of lawyers out there who are extremely supportive of the arts and of creatives. Especially the lawyers who volunteer for Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA!) and provide support for "artists in their creative endeavors through education, advocacy and pro bono legal assistance." They're throwing themselves a 25th anniversary party "to celebrate WALA’s work helping the arts community to grow and thrive." An excellent mission!

July 14, 2009
6:30 - 8:30 pm
Baldacchino Gypsy Tent Bar
Capital Fringe Headquarters
607 New York Avenue, NW

$100 includes 2 tickets to Capital Fringe performances

More info here.

DC arts commission doing good stuff

Even though I'm a DC arts commissioner now, I can't take credit for some great programming that's coming out of the Commission these days. Like Art Unplugged, a series of summertime acoustic performances throughout the city that showcase DC talent. See performance schedule here.

And the Art Salon on Wednesday from 7pm to 9pm at the White-Meyer house of the Meridian International Center @ 1624 Crescent Place, NW, just off 16th Street. Mix and mingle with creative folks in DC.

Anything pink rocks!

Photo: Sarah Chadha

Synchronized Swimming competition

This is the best call for artists I have seen in a long time! The WPA will hold a synchronized swimming competition at the newly-hip Capitol Skyline Hotel on July 19. You must register your team by July 3. There will be prizes and I will be judging so feel free to try to buy my vote. Call 202-234-7103 for more info!

Save the Date: DCCAH Art Salon

DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities
Art Salon

Wednesday, July 1
7 to 9 PM
@ Meridian International Center
1624 Crescent Place, NW

Remarks by Regie Cabico, Poet/DCCAH Grantee
Dr. Curtis Sandberg, Curator, White-Meyer House
Yosi Sergant, NEA, Director of Communications

Soundscapes by Brian Liu

More art ideas for the White House

Ken Ashton, "The Ontario Theater" (1993)

ArtInfo asked DC's own awesome gallerist and arts activist Jayme McLellan what art she suggested for the White House and here are her ideas:

“The Obamas would most definitely benefit from having the work of Sam Gilliam in the White House. Gilliam is internationally recognized as the foremost contemporary African-American Color Field painter and lyrical abstractionist. Further, he has called Washington, D.C., his home since 1962. Adding his work to the collection would contribute to the breadth of the White House collection and support D.C. as a place for historical, living artists.

“Ken Ashton resides in Washington, D.C., and has spent the past decade photographing neighborhoods throughout the world. He has undertaken an encyclopedic project of photographing communities in the Northeastern corridor of the U.S., from D.C. to Boston, entitled ‘Megalopolis.’

“Iona Rozeal Brown’s most recent paintings are an unprecedented mixture of anonymous courtesans, geisha, and other Japanese subjects. She explores the theme of Afro-Asiatic allegory, addressing the global influence of African-American culture as fetish. Brown’s work signals the energy, critical direction, and complexity of contemporary practice that is engaged in a tenuous marriage of commerce and resistance. Brown brings a subversion to her art and manipulates hyper-self-conscious imagery to articulate contemporary concerns regarding race, gender, and class.”

Majorly recommended: A very pink weekend!

Love Thy Neighbor
Policy Brand Trunk Show and Happy Hour
Featuring new DC-inspired clothing

Friday, June 26
6 - 10 pm
@1240 9th Street, NW
(enter through Blagden Alley...next to Fight Club)

Yummy food by Chix
Killer beats by DJ Obeyah and DJ Small Axe

Art Chat
The Passionate Collector: Look at this art. It'll change your life.

Saturday June 27
8 PM
@ Artomatic
55 M Street, NE
(Navy Yard metro station on the green line)
In the Education Room on the 4th Floor

Panelists:
Philippa Hughes
Veronica Jackson

Anything pink rocks!



THE NAKED TRUTH from ABOVE on Vimeo.

Awesome installation art piece in Copenhagen.

Thanks Nik!

Arty stuff this week...

"Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia" Webinar

Tuesday, June 23

8pm

Webinar Address: 

http://connect.johnshopkins.edu/AsiaCeramicsForum

RSVP: Lyz Bridgforth

bridgforthe@si.edu or 202.633.0521 by June 20, 2009

 For more information: http://www.asia.si.edu/CeramicsForum/

Lu Zhang, Hairpiece, 2008

PAUSE

Elizabeth Crisman, Laura Hughes and Lu Zhang

June 25 - July 24

Opening Reception

Tuesday, June 25

6 - 8pm

@ Stamp Gallery

University of Maryland, College Park 

Flashpoint Business Center presents:

New Space Roundtable: GALLERIES IN FLUX

Navigating the real estate challengers around visual arts space

Wednesday, June 24

9:30 - 11am

RSVP: redcircle@flashpointdc.org by Monday, June 22

@ Conner Contemporary Art

1358 Florida Ave, NE

A Preview of Paintings by Danish Artist

Lars H.U.G.

Wednesday, June 24

6 - 8pm

RSVP: jackie@hamiltoniangallery.com

@ Royal Danish Embassy

3200 Whitehaven Street, NW

Paper Jam: The Art and Grime of the East Coast Rock Poster

Q&A Session with Artists

Thursday, June 25

The reception: 6:30pm

Talking: 7pm

Free with refreshments provided.

@ Civilian Arts Projects

406 7th Street NW, Third Floor

Lecture with Painter: 

John Currin

Thursday, June 25

6:30 pm

@ The Phillips Collection

1600 21st Street, NW

Faraway Nearby:

Artists' Roundtable

Thursday, June 25

7:30pm

@ Greater Reston Arts Center

12001 Market Street, Suite 103, Reston

Artist Victor Ekpuk

at National Museum of African Art 

Friday, June 26

12 - 1pm

@ National Museum of African Art, Lecture Hall

950 Independence Avenue, SW 

Idylls

May 29 - July 3

in partnership with the World Bank Art Program

Take a public tour of the exhibit

Friday, June 26th

12pm and 4pm

To sign up for a tour, contact kbilonick@wpadc.org by Wednesday, June 24. Note which tour you would like (noon or 4pm).

The works can also be viewed from the glass exterior of the building on H Street between 18th and 19th Streets, NW

@ The World Bank, Main Complex, Front Lobby Gallery

1818 H Street, NW

Landscape Biology

Natalie Cheung, Melissa Dickenson, Kim Manfredi, Katherine Mann

June 26 - August 28

Opening Reception

Friday, June 26

6 - 8pm

@ Carroll Square Gallery

975 F Street, NW

The Pink Line Project and Policy Brand present

Love Thy Neighbor

Trunk Show/Happy Hour

with a preview of new D.C. inspired clothing by Policy Brand Clothing. Co.

Music by

DJ's Obeyah and Small Axe

Chop-Chop Food Bar by Chix

Friday, June 26th

6 - 10pm

@ Vacant Warehouse

(enter through the rear of the building on Blagden Alley)

1240 9th Street, NW

Mixed Media Multiplied

Del Ray Artisans Opening Party

Opening Party

Friday, June 26

7 - 10pm

@ Del Ray Artisans Gallery Nicholas A Colasanto Center

2704 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria

Sam Gilliam: New Paintings

May 22 - June 27

Exhibit closing

Saturday, June 27

http://wheretraveler.com/classic/us/dc/wdc/fe/feature.html?dest=FE0000002826/article.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574180412518614666.html 

@ Marsha Mateyka Gallery

2012 R St., NW

 iona rozeal brown, all falls down, 2008, Mixed media on panel, 62.25” x 50.125” x 1.5”

Figurative Art Today: Between East and West

a Symposium at The Phillips Collection

Saturday, June 27th

1 - 5pm

@ the Phillips Collection

1600 21st Street, NW

 Landscapes For Lucy by Brian Williams

and 

New Member Show: All In Color

June 24 - July 18

Meet the Artists Reception

Saturday, June 27

3 - 6pm

@ Studio Gallery

2108 R Street

Burning Desires: 

Exhibition, Music, and Artist Graduation

Support international women artists as they begin their journeys as leaders, art educators and entrepreneurs.

 Saturday, June 27

3-6 pm

@ Convergence Gallery

1801 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria 

The Sickness 3 Closing Party

Artist-in-Residence Aniekan

Saturday, June 27

6 - 9pm

@ Dissident Display Gallery

416 H Street, NE

Aurora Robson

Opening Reception

Saturday, June 27

6 - 9pm

@ Project 4 Gallery

1353 U Street, NW, 3rd floor

Margaret Boozer

Dirt  Drawings

June 27- August 16

Opening Reception

Saturday, June 27

6-9pm

@ American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center

4400 Massachusetts Ave  NW

Leslie Holt, Hello Picasso (dancers), oil on canvas, 6" x 4", 2009

Leslie Holt   |   Hello Masterpiece

June 27 - August 1

Opening Reception

Saturday, June 27

6:30 - 8pm

in conjunction with the opening reception at Adamson Gallery next door

and in celebration of Hello Kitty's 35th Birthday!

@ curator's office

1515 14th Street nw

suite 201

This District Moment: 

Report from the Streets

Closing Reception

Saturday, June 27

7 - 11pm

@ Pyramid Atlantic Art Center

8230 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring

ART CHAT

The Passionate Collector: 

Look at this Art. It'll Change Your Life

Saturday, June 27

8pm

@ Artomatic

55 M Street, SE

James Renwick Alliance

Education Room (4th Floor)

New York Night Train Happening

Saturday, June 27

11pm

$10 at the door/21+

@ Civilian Art Projects

406 7th Street NW

Workshop and Chalk Art Event for Children and Families 

(all are invited to attend)

Sunday, June 28

12p- 1ish 

@ Artomatic 

8th floor, Children’s Workshop Room

For more information: www.chalk4peace.org

GOLD LEAF STUDIOS 

Summer Open House

Sunday, June 28

2 - 6pm

@ Gold Leaf Studios

443 I Street NW

Cover of Artforum, September 1989. Photo © Frank Herrera

Washington Project for the Arts Presents:

The Mapplethorpe Demonstration - Twenty Years Later

Tuesday, June 30

6:30pm 

(doors open at 6:00pm)

@ Warehouse Gallery and Theater

1021 7th St NW 

Sleeping Tree 

Catalog Signing and Film Screening

Tuesday, June 30

7:30pm

@ Greater Reston Arts Center

12001 Market Street, Suite 103, Reston

Mash-Ups: COMBUSTION

Created by Scott Burgess, Allyson Currin and Kate McGraw

Tuesday, June 30 - Sunday, July 5

Source Festival date

Tuesday, June 30

8pm

$18/person

@ Source

1835 14th Street, NW

Party pics from Not From Concentrate

Chanan Delivuk's work pictured above.

Fun pictures from Saturday night's opening of Not From Concentrate. Some really fantastic art and it's all for sale. Let me know if you're interested and I can take you by the Hounshell space to take a closer look without hundreds of people jostling you. You can also see Josh Yospyn's work here.

Many many thanks to Eat Well DC for providing the wine for the event! They are great neighborhood supporters so please support them at Logan Tavern and Commissary, both on P Street.

Ginormous thanks to DJ Anish and his partner in musical crime Chris for spinning the best vinyl I've heard in a long long while!

And yummy cupcakes for all you Pink Line Project fans provided by Yours Truly cupcakes.

Two revelers wearing delicious fruity colors that work quite well with Josh Yospyn's photographs.

Anything pink rocks!

Check this girl's pink skateboard! Awesome! Pictures of Go Skate Day by maxedaperture.

First look at awesome new street art in Irvine's alley

I was practically in bed last night when I got the call to get over to the alley behind Irvine Contemporary right away to check out new street art being installed for tonight's opening and block party for Street/Studio. This work is so sweet! Two of my absolute favorite artists, Gaia and Oliver Vernon, are shown above pasting up Gaia's magnificent piece. Below is Oliver's rockin' piece. Can't wait to go back and see the finished products tonight. But only after the opening for Not From Concentrate at the Hounshell office at 1506 14th Street, NW, from 6 to 8 pm. :)

More pictures here from last night.

Pink Line Project: Not From Concentrate

Not From Concentrate:
A Juicy Art Exhibit

Chanan Delivuk + Joshua Yospyn

Vegan creatures and freshly squeezed fruit. Delicious!

Saturday, June 20
6 - 8 pm

Tunes + Sips + Vegan Eats

Featuring DJ Anish!

@ Hounshell
1506 14th Street, NW

Thank you Logan Tavern for providing the wine!

Join the Pink Line Project Facebook Fan Page and receive an extra special treat from Yours Truly. Join here.

Brought to you by The Pink Line Project.

"two smart young artists address athleticism and play"

Nice Washington Post review of a show at DCAC that I liked called The Twelfth Man featuring two faboo artists Patrick McDonough and Kenny George. Wait til you see what we've got in store for these two later this year!

Workbook teaser

This is a teaser version of the Workbook video, which documents the making of the installation by the same name at Flashpoint a few months ago. I love the sound of them making art! Prints from the show are still available at www.wedrawdc.com.

TJ Bilonick rocks the house

Awesome friend Kristina Bilonick is featured in today's Daily Candy. Soooo awesome! And she's got a show coming up at Honfleur too, curated by another awesome friend Steve Frost! So much awesomeness!

See Daily Candy piece here: Sure as Shirt

Banksy v. Bristol Museum

The Bristol Museum invited Bansky to install wry multi-media objets d'arts throughout the museum. Totally fun!

Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery is proud to present a unique collaboration between the city's foremost cultural institution and one of the region's most infamous artists.

Throughout the summer, visitors will find some unusual specimens amongst the museum's permanent collection - a stonehenge made from portable toilets greets visitors on arrival, a burnt out ice cream van now replaces the enquiries desk and the life size historic biplane suspended from the ceiling now provides refuge for a Guantanamo bay escapee. Banksy has filled the museum with his own wry take on classical art.

More about the installation on Coolhunter.

The Screamers

A few weeks ago, I reported on a Floating Lab Collective art project that allowed you to scream at the crummy economy. Here are some pictures of screamers.

Maestro!

What a huge and pleasant surprise to run into Maestro Ralph Herndon last week at the Chorale Arts Society gig at the Canadian Embassy. I worked with him years ago in one of my first jobs out of college when we bonded over music. Not only can this man tickle the ivories like nobody's business, but his singing will give you goosebumps. Soooooo cool to run into him again after all this time.

It's official!

Woot!

Arty stuff this week...

Cambodia Past, Present, Future:

"Producing Angkor: The Material, Spatial, and Cultural Generation of the Khmer Empire"

Mitch Hendrickson, University of Sydney

and

"Keeping Watch: The Role of Heritage Watch in Protecting Cambodia's Cultural Legacy"

Dougald O'Reilly, Yale University

Tuesday, June 16

2pm

@ Freer + Sackler

Meyer Auditorium

1050 Independence Ave. SW

Stimulus

July 16 - July 11

Opening Reception

Tuesday, June 16

5:30 - 8:30pm

For more information go to www.nevinkellygallery.com

@ Nevin Kelly Gallery

1400 Irving St NW #132

VelocityDC Dance Festival

Official Launch Party!

Featuring WPAS, Dance/MetroDC, Harman Center for the Arts,

The Washington Ballet, and CityDance Ensemble

Wednesday, June 17

5pm

RSVP by June 15 to info@citydance.net

@ Sky Bar at the Beacon Hotel

17th & Rhode Island Avenue, NW

Points of View: Marcel Duchamp: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk

Curator James McManus speaks about the portrait of Marcel Duchamp by Brian O'Doherty

In conjunction with Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture exhibit

Thursday, June 11

6 - 6:30pm

@ National Portrait Gallery, Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture

8th and F Streets

Meet at F Street lobby

Serigraphs by Glenn Fry

June 17 - July 19

Opening Reception with the Artists

Thursday, June 18

6 - 8pm

@ plan b gallery

1530 14th Street, NW

Victor Ekpuk

Opening Reception

Thursday, June 18

6 - 8pm

@ Long View Gallery

1302 9th St NW

SCULPTURE 1275: Martha Jackson Jarvis

Presented by The Washington Sculptors Group

May 26 – July 24

Opening Reception

Thursday, June 18

6:30-8:30pm

@ 1275 Pennsylvania Avenue, NY (lobby)

Jenny Walton: Artist Lecture

Thursday, June 18

7pm

@ Pyramid Atlantic

8230 Georgia Ave

Strictly Painting 7

with curator Vivienne Lassman

Opening Reception and Juror's Talk

Thursday, June 18  

7 - 9 pm

@ Emerson Gallery

McLean Project for the Arts

1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean

Studio 4903 Summer Show

Friday, June 19

4 - 9pm

Saturday, June 20

12 - 7pm

@ Studio 4903

4903 Wisconsin Ave., 2nd floor

Lilianne Milgrom

Milgrom on Morandi: Ceramics and Painting

Gallery Reception

Friday, June 19

6 - 8pm

@ Cross MacKenzie Gallery

1054 31st Street NW Canal Square

Faraway Nearby

Juried by Dale Lanzone

June 18 - July 31

Reception and Awards Presentation

Friday, June 19

6 - 8pm

@ Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE)

12001 Market Street, Suite #103, Reston

AAC: Paradox Now!

June 19 - August 22

Opening Reception

Friday, June 19

6 - 9pm

Opening night Lecture by Anna Lucas @ 7:30pm

@ Arlington Arts Center

3550 Wilson Blvd

DCAC's Sparkplug

June 19 - August 22

Opening Reception

Friday, June 19

6 - 9pm

@ Jerkins Community Gallery

3550 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington

William Eggleston

Democratic Camera; Photographs and Video 1961–2008

Opening

Saturday, June 20

@ Corcoran Gallery of Art

500 Seventeenth St NW

Earth First Family Day:

Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes

and

Nature as Nation

FREE all-day, all-ages, all-out celebration

Includes: art-making workshops, storytelling, music from award-winning group Milkshake, theatrical performances, and family tours

Saturday, June 20

10am - 2pm

@ Corcoran Gallery of Art

500 Seventeenth St NW

Free Summer Saturdays at the Corcoran

Saturday, June 20 - Saturday, August 29

Join the Corcoran on Saturdays this summer for

Gallery tours, workshops, demonstrations, and performances!

Warholapalooza: Family Day

Saturday, June 20

12 - 6pm

Art Workshop

12 - 3pm @ Kogod Courtyard

3 - 5pm @ Portrait Gallery Education Center

James Warhola Book Reading and Signing

12:15pm @ Kogod Courtyard

Face-to-Face Portrait Talk by James W. McManus

1:30pm

Reel Portraits: Andy Warhol's Screen Tests

2:30pm @ McEvoy Auditorium

Face-to-Face Portrait Talk by John W. Smith

4pm

In Conversation with Calvin Tomkins and Anne Goodyear

5pm @ McEvoy Auditorium

Not From Concentrate:

A Juicy Art Exhibit

Chanan Delivuk + Joshua Yospyn

Vegan creatures and freshly squeezed fruit. Delicious!

Tunes + Sips + Vegan Eats

Saturday, June 20

6 - 8 pm

@ Hounshell

1506 14th Street, NW

Alan Callander - 2009, video

Experimental Video

Curated by Brandon Morse

Presented by The Rubell Family Collection + Conner Contemporary Art

Saturday, June 20

6 - 9pm

@ Capitol Skyline Hotel:

pool-side/video-side/bar-side

10 "eye" Street, SW

Street/Studio

Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Gaia, Imminent Disaster, Oliver Vernon,

James Marshall (Dalek), EVOL, and PISA73

June 20 - August 1

On-site wall murals and installations

Wednesday, June 17 - Saturday, June 20

Preview day: Friday, June 19

1 - 4pm

@ Irvine Contemporary

14th and P Streets

Panel discussion on the impact of street art in the contemporary art world

Friday, June 19

7pm

@ Katzen Arts Center, American University Museum

Opening Reception and Alley Block Party

Saturday, June 20

6 - 11pm

Music by DJs Iona Rozeal Brown and Jahsonic

@ Irvine Contemporary

1412 14th St, NW

Photography Exhibition

at Gallery Serengeti

Featuring Chinaedu Nwadibia, Gloria Kirk, Bruce McNeil, Oggi Ogburn, and Zoma Wallace

Saturday, June 20

7 - 9pm

@ Gallery Serengeti

7919 Central Ave, Capitol Heights

New. (Now).

Introducting the 2009 Hamiltonian Fellows

June 20 - August 1

Opening Reception

Saturday, June 20

7 - 9pm

@ Hamiltonian Gallery

1353 U Street, NW

Cynthia Underwood's Opening at Homebody

Saturday, June 20

7 - 10pm

@ Homebody

715 8th Street, SE

RIPPLE: Art Affecting Oceans

Art Show & Gala

Brian Tucci, Jay Alders, Steve Mullen, Justin Parisi-Smith, Megan Kelley, Sean Davey

Saturday, June 20

8pm - midnight

@ ARTiculate Gallery

WVSA SAIL Public Charter School

1100 16th St NW

Construction material art

Police arrested the guy who built this public art sculpture out of materials he found at a construction site. More here. (Thanks Steve for sending this to me.)

I'll be swearing tomorrow night!

I'm thrilled to announce that I've been appointed to the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities! I'll be sworn in as a commissioner tomorrow night, Monday June 16. So many people have been so supportive of me and Pink Line Project over the last couple years by attending events, giving me great advice, partnering and collaborating on projects, spreading the good word about art and creative thinking, and being generally positive and encouraging. I wish I could invite every one of you to the ceremony to thank you for your support in getting me to this position, but I don't think the swearing-in room could hold thousands. So please come to Marvin after 8 PM so we can all celebrate together!

Highly recommended: Phillips Collection and Millennium Art Salon Symposium on Figurative Art

Image: iona rozeal brown, all falls down, 2008

Figurative Art Today: Between East and West

A symposium featuring artists, curators and collectors at The Phillips Collection
Saturday, June 27
1-5 p.m.


Prominent and diverse artists, curators, and collectors from DC, NY, and LA discuss the position of figuration today in relation to other contemporary art practices. Reaching beyond the United States into Europe, Asia, and Africa, the panel will also consider the dynamic interchange between Eastern and Western visual approaches.

The discussion promises to be deep, provocative, enlightening.

Please join us.

Program

Koan Jeff Baysa, independent curator
Glyphe

iona rozeal brown, artist
(afro-asiatic allegory) a3

Allan deSouza, artist
Out of Place: Bodies in Transition

Kristen Hileman, Washington, D.C. based curator
Flawed Figures/Moral Images?

Henry Thaggert, collector
Was Andy Warhol Black?

Vesela Sretenovic, curator of modern and contemporary art
The Phillips Collecton
moderator

This panel is co-organized by The Phillips Collection and Millennium Arts Salon (MAS). It coincides with the exhibition Paint Made Flesh on view at the Phillips through Sept 13, and represents a part of the MAS's 2008-2009 season program Between East and West.

Anything pink rocks!

Recession boosts creativity

The New York Times reports that the recession is shaking up the contemporary art world. "A wave of small-scale, independent initiatives is leading a shift from self-referential conceptualism and production-line output toward a rediscovery of accessibility and classical skills." Good!

I particularly like the work of a bunch of Brits called "the slack space movement," which is taking over empty shops and turning them into studios and galleries.

In Dursley, a former manufacturing town in western England, the ceramic artist Karen Hilliard is coordinating a project to transform a street of boarded-up buildings into spaces for local artists. And in the southeast seaside town of Margate, the district council is backing a project to fill empty shop windows with giant papier-mâché props, ranging from supersize shrimps to olive oil bottles. “There is nothing worse than walking past streets of empty shops,” said Heather Sawney, the project’s director. “This keeps people’s imagination fresh and gives them a pride of place.”

Absolutely brilliant! Animating these depressing spaces can only be a good thing for a community.

You must see Beautiful Losers tonight!

Support the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center by attending the exclusive DC screening of Beautiful Losers at the AFI in Silver Spring tonight!

More info.

Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.

Memories of color

Great little Coup d'Espace at the ole WPA called Unwrap by Anita Walsh, who ...

transforms the office into a room-sized installation of color and memory. This interactive project asks participants to type their memories of specific colors onto paper that were hand made by the artist from old crayon wrappers; these personal recollections become collaborative works which are then attached to the walls of the artist’s “castle” installation.

You can check it out until June 26 @ 2023 Mass. Ave, NW. More info here.

That's me and Cynthia Connolly writing up our color memories. I bet you think I wrote about pink, but I didn't! If you've ever seen my apartment or my wardrobe, you know I love color. We need more color in DC and a lot less beige. We also need more of these awesome interactive art projects to give more opportunities for more of us to think creatively. More more more! Yay Anita!

Arty stuff this week...

CreativesDC and the National Museum of Women in the Arts presents:

Women Using Creativity to Grow Their Business

DC's most dynamic women present at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Tuesday, June 9

6:30 - 9pm

$10

@ National Museum of Women in the Arts

1250 New York Ave NW

Bartending 4 Change happy hour fundraiser

benefiting Words Beats Life, Inc.

featuring DJ Scientific

Wednesday, June 10

6 - 10pm

$5 optional donation at the door

@ Bourbon in Adams Morgan

2321 18th St NW

Geometric Variations, 48 x 48 inches, lowfire ceramic

Nancy Sausser

Moving Towards Stillness: New Sculpture

June 11 - August 13

Luncheon/Lecture

Thursday, June 11

12 noon

Reservations required: 301.377.7800

Reception for the Artist

Friday, June 12

7 - 9pm

@ Montpelier Arts Center

9652 Muirkirk Rd,

Laurel, MD

Outside In:

The Sculpture of Michael Enn Sirvet

Opening Reception

Thursday, June 11

5 - 8pm

@ Design Within Reach Georgetown Studio

3307 Cady's Alley NW

Points of View: "Wanted" Poster: Face-to Face Portrait Talk

Jennifer Quick speaks about the Wanted poster from the Boite -- Series D by Marcel Duchamp

In conjunction with Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture exhibit

Thursday, June 11

6 - 6:30pm

@ National Portrait Gallery, Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture

8th and F Streets

Meet at F Street Lobby

Ici La Renaissance: Mystical Imagination

A Retrospective of Hector Hyppolite

presented by the Haitian Art Club

Thursday, June 11

6pm

@ Art Museum of the Americas

201 18th St NW

Ami Martin Wilber

gestation

June 11 - July 18

Exhibit Opening

Thursday, June 11

6 - 8pm

@ Flashpoint

916 G St NW

Nancy Pane Fortwengler

Fabrications

June 4 – July 6

Opening Reception

Thursday, June 11

6:30 - 8:00pm

@ The Art League Gallery

Located in the Torpedo Factory Art Center

105 North Union Street, Alexandria

Pyramid Atlantic Fundraiser and DC Premier of

Beautiful Losers!

Thursday, June 11

7 pm

@AFI Theater

8633 Colesville Road

Silver Spring, MD

Tickets include admission to the Screening, Silent Art Auction and Reception. VIP Tickets include a pre-reception with our special guests, a private gallery viewing, and complimentary wine and light appetizers.

Individual $50

VIP (includes VIP pre-reception) $125

Duchamp on Screen

An evening of special film screenings featuring Marcel Duchamp

In conjunction with Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture exhibit

Thursday, June 11

7pm

@ National Portrait Gallery, Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture,

8th and F Streets

McEvoy Auditorium

(enter from G St.)

FELLOWS CONVERGE: Redefining the Environment

May 9 - June 13, 2009

Fellows Speak: Panel Discussion

Thursday, June 11

7pm

RSVP: jacke@hamiltoniangallery.com

@ Hamiltonian Gallery

1353 U Street, NW,

Suite 101

Bowen McCauley Dance presents

Lucy's Playlist

June 11 - June 14

Thursday, June 11, 8pm

$20 (Special Opening Night Price)

Friday, June 12, 8pm

$37

Saturday, June 13, 8pm

$150 (Performance + Gala)

Sunday, June 14, 2pm

$37

@ Signature Theatre

4200 Campbell Ave, Arlington

In the Village at Shirlington - Free Parking

Tickets on sale with no service charges at Signature Box Office in Shirlington: 703-820-9771.

Ticket also available on-line from www.ticketmaster.com

The Dinner Party at Artomatic

A venue for in-progress, experimental and new work

Thursday, June 11

8 - 10pm

@ Artomatic - Dance Stage - 6th Floor

55 M Street, SE

Unapologetic

Janathel Shaw, Michael Platt, Donna Coleman and Malia Kai

and

Inspire & Influence

Dorri Thyden and Derede McAlpin

June 10 - July 4

Opening Receptions

Friday, June 12

6 - 8:30pm

@ Touchstone Gallery

406 7th St NW, 2nd floor

Main Gallery and Annex B and C

The Twelfth Man

June 12 - July 12

Opening Reception

Friday, June 12

7 - 9pm

@ District of Columbia Arts Center[DCAC]

2438 18th Street NW

PAPER JAM

The Art and Grim of the East Coast Rock Poster

June 12 - June 27

Opening

Friday, June 12

7 - 9pm

@ Civilian Arts Projects

406 7th Street NW, Third Floor

Barrelhouse and Smartish Pace presents:

Joint Issue Release Party

Friday, June 12

8 - 10pm

@ Artomatic

55 M Street SE

in the Poetry Room, 9th floor

Sy Gresser, Michael Winger and Steven Dobbin

Space Contained

June 9 - July 10

Gallery Opening

Saturday, June 13

4 - 6pm

@ artdc gallery

55710 Baltimore Ave, Hyattsville

Judy Pfaff: New Prints 

and Mingering Mike: Prints & New Work

June 13 - August 15

Opening Reception

Saturday, June 13

6:30 - 8:30pm

@ Hemphill

1515 14th St NW

Ice Milk by April Harrison, mixed media on canvas

Verna Hart & April Harrison

Recent Works

June 10- July 11

Opening Reception

Saturday, June 13

6:30-9pm

@ International Visions The Gallery

2629 Connecticut Ave NW

Aniekan Udofia

The Sickness 3

Saturday, June 13

7:30 - 11:30pm

$10 general admission

Free for Remixing the Art of Social Change attendees

Register at www.wblinc.org

@ Dissident Display

416 H St. NE

MARKETPLACE

Buying reasonably priced works of art at Artomatic

Sunday, June 14

12 - 7pm

@ Artomatic

Navy Yard, 55 M Street SE

Vang Vent | Pat Goslee | acrylic, enamel, Butcher's wax on wood | 11" x 14" | 2006

Stimulus

A Nevin Kelly Gallery group exhibition

Opening Reception

Tuesday, June 16

5:30 - 8:30pm

@ Nevin Kelly Gallery

1400 Irving Street NW #132

Awesome DC street art

14th Street, next to the Black Cat.

Herb & Dorothy

HERB & DOROTHY Trailer from Herb and Dorothy on Vimeo.

Herb & Dorothy is a movie about a postal worker and a librarian who built an impressive art collection without having tons of money. Good lessons for us collectors who aren't real estate moguls or hedge fund managers. Heck, who aren't even your average fancy pants DC lawyer. The movie opens in Washington on July 3.

Highly highly recommended: CreativesDC

Creatives DC and the National Museum of Women in the Arts present:
Women using creativity to grow their businesses

Listen to 10 extraordinary women tell us how they use creativity to grow their business in 3 minutes and 20 seconds of imagery and sound, and then participate in crowdsourcing exciting new DC experiences like a public mural project and an eco-live music club.

Featuring these sensational speakers:
Rakiyt Zakari
Nancy Bratton
Lisa Schaefer
Annette Polan
Sarah Massey
Nyia Hawkins
Yoko Kamitani
Jen Consalvo
Veronica Jackson
Marielle Mariano
Michelle James

Also featuring videoDJ John Bowen - Videokillers!

All attendees receive a free pass to the museum.

All this for a mere $10!

Please RSVP here.

The deets:
Tuesday, June 9
6:30 to 9 pm
@ National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue, NW

Foon Sham is great

Foon Sham, one of my favorite artists around, received a well-deserved great review today in the Post.

Tips from an expert on how to get through Artomatic

Michael O'Sullivan barely keeps up with endurance art fanatic Philip Barlow at Artomatic in today's Washington Post. See here for advice on how to digest the Artomatic behemoth.

Nobody asked me, but my advice is to go back often. I have been twice and still have six more floors to go. Plus there are always different performances going on so check the schedule. Finally, and most importantly, go to my Pink Panel on Saturday, June 27 at 8 pm entitled, The Passionate Collector: Art changed our lives. It can change yours too!

The picture above was taken by Michael himself. The art is by Gert Barcovik, another favorite DC-based artist.

Street Action: Moving Truck

I absolutely love action art! The Americas Society is exhibiting this work by Dias & Riedweg on Tuesday as part of an ongoing series of multi-faceted art projects that "examine the dichotomy between the private and the public spheres in different contexts. Dias & Riedwegs's practice tackles social political issues through a poetic fusion of video, ethnography, and performance art, opening up new lines of thought about human interaction and identity across borders."

A Uhaul truck parked on Fifth Avenue during the Museum Mile Festival will be used by Dias & Riedweg to set up a live Skype connection between Spanish Harlem and the Rio de Janeiro favela of Dona Marta/Botafogo. Interspersed with the Skype transmission will be images taken from Dias and Riedweg's previous presentations of the Moving Truck in New York City (Americas Society) and Brussels (Kunstenfestival des Arts in Brussels).

Moving Truck is an ongoing and multilayered public art project by Dias & Riedweg comprising a series of video projections that are screened in a truck. As conceived by the artists, the public's spontaneous reactions to and interactions with the truck become an integral part of the work itself. Moving Truck is a multifaceted project occurring in several platforms, each of which contributes to the cumulative life of the piece.

Art meets science

Photo by Steven Brooke, courtesy the artist

Maybe Fritz Haeg would like to install my own Salon Contra in the Hirshhorn! :) LOVE this!

Keith Waddington and Mindy Nelson are turning their lives inside out for art this summer. The Miami-area couple, who are scientists and artists, signed up to participate in an exhibition called "Convention" for which they will see their foyer and living-room furniture shipped out to the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, and a bunch of people shipped into their residence for a series of salons meant to foster discussion on diverse topics.

"Salon Colada, Miami HQ" as the Waddington-Nelson part of the exhibition is known, was conceived by Los Angeles–based artist Fritz Haeg. While museum-goers will make themselves comfortable on the couple’s transplanted furniture, Haeg has designed a seating arrangement in the vacated space in their home suitable for conversation.

Waddington and Nelson were selected in part because of their dual backgrounds as artists — both paint and create other works — and scientists. Waddington is a biology professor at the University of Miami who teaches courses in animal behavior, process in science, and a new area called ArtScience. Nelson in an ecologist and behaviorist studying fish abnormalities for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Convention" is on view through Sept. 13.

“I’m a scientist,” he says, “but in the last five years I’ve become really interested in art. I’m interested in the juncture between science and art. My burning interest for about a year has been to try to bring people who are artists and in the humanities together with scientists.”

From Artinfo.

Highly recommended: Barrellhouse @ Artomatic

Barrelhouse and Smartish Pace present:
A joint reading from their new issues

Friday, June 12
8 - 10 pm

@ Artomatic
55 M Street, SE
Poetry Room on the 9th floor

Featured readers:
Sandra Beasley, David Keplinger, Rebekah Sankey, Elizabeth Arnold, Terence Winch, and Eric Pankey.

Save the Date - Not From Concentrate: A Juicy Art Exhibit

Not From Concentrate:
A Juicy Art Exhibit

Chanan Delivuk + Joshua Yospyn

Saturday, June 20
6 - 8 pm

Tunes + Sips + Vegan Eats

@ Hounshell
1506 14th Street, NW

Anything pink rocks!

High brow meets low brow

(Image: David Goldman for The New York Times)
Aaron Goodstone, known as Sharp, at a gallery installation that combines street art with antique pieces.

Louis XIV and Blade (circa 1976)? That’s the idea behind “Whole in the Wall,” a new group show of European and American street art, from 1970 to today. Now open at the former Splashlight Studios building — the last exhibit before that massive space gets torn down — it features work by tagging pioneers like Crash and contemporary artists like Banksy, some displayed against ornate antique furniture. Embroidery and spray paint! High and low culture! Can you handle it?! Yes.

More here from The New York Times.

Arty stuff this week...

Sitar Arts Center Student Showcase Week
Student Showcase Schedule:
Tuesday, June 2 - Friday, June 5
5:30 - 6:30pm
and Saturday, June 6th
12:00 - 1:00pm

A reception will follow each performance in the Center’s Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Art Gallery with student artwork on display.
For a detailed schedule of free performances and events visit:
http://www.sitarartscenter.org/news/calendar.php

RSVP to rsvp@sitarartscenter.org or 202-797-2145 x113.

@ Sitar Arts Center
1700 Kalorama Road NW
Suite 101

Artomatic 2009
May 29 - July 5

@ 55 M Street,

SW
(Navy Yard Metro Station--building is on top of station)

Hours: Wed & Thurs, noon - 10 pm
Fri & Sat, noon - 1 am
Sun, noon - 10 pm
Closed Mon & Tues

Tina Palmer, After Hours

Tina Palmer
Exclusive Preview Reception

Tuesday, June 2
6 - 8pm
RSVP to paul.boudrye@yesbank.com or 202.783.2974

@ TD Bank
605 14th Street, NW (14th & F)





Brown Strokes on a White Canvas
Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas
June 3 - June 12

Opening Reception
Wednesday, June 3
6:30 - 8pm

@ Philippine Embassy
1617 Massachussetts Ave





City Arts Bar Night Fundraiser and Silent Auction

Thursday, June 4
5 - 9pm

@ Madam's Organ Blues Bar & Soul Food Restaurant
2461 18th Street, NW




Brandon C. Smith, Day One The Chase: Malicious Intelligence

Lennon Michalski and Brandon C. Smith
Still and Anxious
June 4 - June 30

Opening Reception:
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
6 -8pm

@ The Aaron Gallery
1717 Connecticut Avenue, NW





Casino Night
To benefit Pediatric Aids/HIV Care

Thursday, June 4
6pm - midnight
$20 entrance donation
Complimentary beverages provided from 6 - 8pm

@ Teatro Goldoni
1909 K Street NW





Asia After Dark
Stay our late for a different kind of "Night at the Museum"

Thursday, June 4
6:30 - 11:30pm
Tickets are $18 at the door

@ Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
1050 Independence Avenue, SW





Donna K. McGee
History in the Abstract
June 5 - June 28

Artist reception
Friday, June 6
4 - 6pm

@ Foundry Gallery
1314 18th St. NW




Marian Osher, Summer Breeze, 2009, monotype - 9 x 13.25"

Marian Osher
Eyetinerary: wonders of familiar pathways
June 2 - June 28

Opening Reception
Friday, June 5
5:30 - 8:30pm

Artist's Reception & Gallery Talk
Saturday, June 6
1 pm, Gallery Talk
2 - 4pm, Reception

@ Washington Printmakers Gallery
1732 Connecticut Ave NW





Coup d'Espace
Featuring Anita Walsh and her installation, UNWRAP
June 5 - June 26

Opening Reception
Friday, June 5
6 - 8pm
(in conjunction with Dupont Circle Galleries First Friday Art Walk)

@ WPA Headquarters
2023 Massachussetts Ave. NW





Spring Community Artshow and Bazaar

Friday, June 5
6 - 8pm

@ New Community ArtSpace
614 S Street, NW





The Art of James Walker
June 5 - July 3

Opening Reception
Friday, June 5
6pm – Midnight

@ Art Whino
173 Waterfront St.
National Harbor, MD

Still from Paolo Buggiani's street performance "Duel," from the series Urban Mythology, 1981

Dwell
June 5 - July 3

Opening Reception
Friday, June 5th
6:30 - 8:30pm

@ 923 F ST., NW

Washington, DC 20009

Gallery #303

More info about the exhibit:
DOUZ AND MILLE

Reyes + Davis Exhibition
Featuring the artwork of Janis Goodman, Jeff Huntington, Judy Jashinsky, Pepa Leon, Barbara Liotta, and Johanna Mueller
June 3 - June 29

Opening Reception
Friday, June 5
6:30 - 9pm

@ Reyes + Davis
923 F Street NW #302





'X' Art Show
Showcasing the Visual Artists of the 'X' Family

Friday, June 5
7 - 10pm

@ Space 88
8211 Mayor Lane
Silver Spring, MD





History in the Abstract by Donna K. McGee
June 5 - June 28

Artist reception
Saturday, June 6
4 - 6pm

@ Foundry Gallery
1314 18th St NW

Jessica van Brakle, Hammerheads, 2009, acrylic latex and ink on panel, 24 x 36"

Jessica van Brakle

June 2 - June 26

Artist's Reception

Saturday, June 6

5:30 - 7:30pm

@ BlackRock Center for the Arts

12901 Town Commons Drive

Germantown, MD

Forward Motion
Curated by Vivienne M. Lassman
June 6 - July 11

Saturday, June 6
6:30 - 8:30pm

@ Momento art gallery
2141 Wisconsin Ave NW
3rd Floor, Suite N

Joseph Barbaccia

June 4 - July 4

Artist's Reception

Saturday, June 6

7 pm

@ Gallery Neptune

5001 Wilson Lane, Bethesda

Flaunt Runway Show
Photography & Fashion Collaboration

Saturday, June 6
8:30pm - midnight
9:00pm, Runway Show
Tickets: $10 each to support ARCH, a community based not for profit in Historic Anacostia
To reserve tickets, call the Gallery at 202-580-5972 or email arts@ardc.org

@ Honfleur Gallery
1241 Good Hope Rd. SE

Gift Exchange

Artist's Talk: Trading Art

Sunday, June 7

3pm

Exhibit closes at 7pm

@ DCAC

2418 18th Street, NW

Highly recommended: Pediatric AIDS-HIV Care Fundraiser

Casino Night to benefit Pediatric AIDS-HIV Care
Thursday, June 4
6 pm - 12 am
@ Teatro Goldoni
1909 K Street, NW

Please come to Teatro Goldoni to enjoy complimentary beverages provided by Cavalli Vodka from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and "No limit" hors d'ouvres all night.
$20 Entrance Donation (purchased at the door)
$20 (optional) for unlimited roulette, craps, poker & wheel of fortune
$200 for Texas Hold'em Tournament (20 person limit with $100 re-buys until 11:00 pm)
Prizes for top chip holders & top poker tournament winner

Purchase tickets here.

Support Arlington Arts Center: Shop at Clarendon Whole Foods!

Shop to Support the Arlington Arts Center!
@ the Clarendon Whole Foods on Wed. June 3rd.

Enjoy your Whole Foods purchase while viewing contemporary art. AAC Resident Studio Artist Matt Best's recent body of work is currently on exhibit at the Clarendon Whole Foods Market Café on the store's upper level. Best's paintings work as the visual travel log of an amateur forager searching for edible fruits and vegetables in his suburban surroundings.

Scream at the economy

Are you really pissed off about the economy but feeling seriously helpless? Check out awesome Floating Lab's project in which you can scream at the economy. Very cathartic, plus an added bonus: you get to be part of making art!

The ancient social concept of “exchange,” once central to the trade of goods and culture, has been hybridized into complex and volatile systems of speculation and accumulation which reduce humans to consumers, taxpayers, debtors and, increasingly, the unemployed.

As a first step to redress this process, Floating Lab Collective has launched Scream at the Economy, inviting anyone and everyone to call in and scream at the economy, expressing desperate and instinctive expressions of survival, warnings of danger, cathartic affirmations of power, explosions of anger and despairing utterances of anxiety and hopelessness (remember Munch!). The recorded archive of screaming will be transformed by six international composers into new symphonies for the “Screamer,” to be performed in front of relevant financial institutions.

How to participate:

1. Call 646-402-5686, extension 90514, 24-hours a day.
2. Scream at the economy (for best results, hold the phone a few inches away from your mouth).
3. Download scream music after June 25th at: www.floatinglabcollective.org.

Upcoming FLC projects will delve further into the state of the global economy by instigating new, alternative forms of community currency.

Floating Lab Collective is the community arts program of Provisons Learning Project.

Report from Pittsburgh

Great road trip to Pittsburgh last weekend. Why Pittsburgh? Some really awesome arty stuff there, that's why. First off, Pittsburgh is Andy Warhola's hometown!

First stop: the Warhol Museum. Warhol was a leader in the Pop Art movement, which artist Richard Hamilton described as "popular, transient, expandable, low cost, mass produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, big business."


Started off one of the best arty days ever by fortifying ourselves with the best hot and fresh donuts ever, which were spit out by an old-fashioned donut machine in a restaurant inside a former train station.

Next up, my new favorite art space: the Mattress Factory...

... a museum of contemporary art that exhibits room-sized works called installations. Created on site by artists from across the country and around the world, our unique exhibitions feature a variety of media that engage all of the senses.

The permanent installations include two rooms by Yayoi Kusama. So so so cool.

Her work explores the obliteration of the self, as the viewer becomes part of the work, reflected in mirrors, obstructed by organic forms, almost as if being sucked into the walls. Yayoi Kusama lives, by choice, in a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo.

I felt like I had just been in a psychiatric hospital after spending time in these loony rooms

Hard to see but the person standing to my left in this picture is Danielle, a friend from DC. Bumped into her while getting off the elevator! She had rushed over between wedding activities (not her own!) to get an art fix.


This Sarah Oppenheimer piece is supposedly not a permanent one. But heck, they let her cut a hole through the museum to the outside. Might as well keep the dang thing. Also sooooooo cool!

This aperture, or “wormhole,” as Oppenheimer refers to the type of hole she created, offers a new line of sight within the exhibition space and functions as both a hole and a screen, directing the viewer’s gaze down and out the third floor window. The hole creates a disorienting sense of an impossible proximity between the fourth floor and the external world outside.

The space of display—the museum gallery—is transformed from a container for specific objects into a lensed view of the outside world. The fourth floor gallery floor and the third floor window are part of the work. The shaped hole in the interior floor extends through the armature, framing a vista out the side of the building. In this way, Oppenheimer has created a zone for pictorial reflection. The view of the outside world is framed and is accepted as the work.

From a darkened entryway, you walk into a long, white-walled room. On the far wall stretches a rectangle in lavender grey. As you move toward it, you slowly realize that instead of a painting, or a solid plane of any kind, it is an opening into a smaller room saturated with ultraviolet light.

This James Turrell is one of his three permanent installations at the Mattress Factory. I wish I could say more than just, "Wow." But, wow! It's always difficult to capture a work's beauty or texture or essence or whatever in a tiny jpg. But capturing Turrell's art in a photograph is a virtual impossibility. So you must go to Pittsburgh to see these works for yourself. The most astounding Turrell piece at the Factory is impossible to photograph because it entails sitting in a dark room for at least 15 minutes before your eyes adjust enough to "see" anything at all.

The neighborhood around the Mattress Factory had a funky feel. Lots of gentrification and all that typical stuff that goes on whenever artists move in. Steel Town had sort of an old world, industrial feel in general that I rather enjoyed. Lots of potential for cheap artist spaces! Saw a sign for riverview loft apartments starting at $500/month!


Lots of beautiful bridges span the three rivers that intersect in Pittsburgh: the Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the Ohio.


Stopped in at the Carnegie Museum of Art and saw this nifty installation:

Opera for a Small Room, a collaboration between Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, introduces visitors to the quirky world of a man named R. Dennehy, the owner of a collection of opera records that the artists purchased at a second-hand store in British Columbia, Canada. The installation, which Cardiff and Miller describe as “a small room for the opera of Dennehy’s life,” features a structure filled with records, lights, and other knickknacks. Visitors can peer into the ramshackle room through holes in the walls, but are not able to enter it. Music pouring out of 24 antique loud speakers permeates the gallery, echoed by the rhythm of pulsating lights. The music, record players, and lights become the “actors” in this theatrical and durational work that conveys a dramatic and individual narrative portrait.

How the heck did I find myself at the Union Town VFW? Because I was hanging out with fab artist Kerry Skarbakka, who moved to Pittsburgh two years ago. He's working on a new body of work that involves breaking bones and getting bruised and cut up while amateur boxing. We accompanied him on this research mission and lemme tell ya, your life experiences are not complete if you have not checked off "amateur boxing night at the VFW" from your bucket list.

The Pennsylvania branch of the Soprano family (on the drive to Fallingwater).


No road trip to Pittsburgh would have been complete without a stop at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Remarkable place. Still awe-inspiring even on the second visit.

Sitar Arts Center: Student Showcase Week

SITAR ARTS CENTER
STUDENT SHOWCASE WEEK
Please join us during this week-long
showcase of music, dance, drama, and visual art
to applaud the many talents and gifts
of the students at Sitar Arts Center.

STUDENT SHOWCASE SCHEDULE
Monday, June 1st | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Tuesday, June 2nd | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday, June 3rd | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Thursday, June 4th | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Friday, June 5th | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Saturday, June 6th | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

A reception will follow each performance
in the Center’s Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Art Gallery with student artwork on display.

For a detailed schedule of
free performances and events, please visit us online here.

TO RSVP
Email rsvp@sitarartscenter.org
or you may call 202-797-2145 x113.

Please indicate the date(s) that you will be
in attendance in your reply.

Thank You!

Sitar Arts Center
1700 Kalorama Road NW
Suite 101
Washington, DC 20009

Phone: 202-797-2145
Fax: 202-483-0789
www.sitarartscenter.org

“Celebrating Kids, Arts and Community”

Submit: DC Creates! Art Bank Program

2009 Art Bank Call to Artists

DC Creates! Art Bank Program

DC Creates! invites artists from the DC Metro area to submit works available for purchase. Selected works will be added to the Art Bank Collection. Over 2000 works are displayed in DC Government building corridors, conference rooms and office space open to the public.

Application deadline:
Wednesday July 8th at 5:30pm
To obtain a copy of the application, visit www.dcarts.dc.gov

For assistance in preparing your application
please attend a WORKSHOP
on Wednesday June 24 from 7-8:30pm
at Artomatic - 55 M Street, SE; Washington D.C.
(By Metro - The building is located atop the Navy Yard Metro Station; Ballpark exit)

Highly recommended: Transformer Flat File Party

Images from left to right: Nikki Painter, Untitled (Violet), 2007, mixed media on paper; Katherine Mann, Zombies, 2008, watercolor and acrylic on paper; Paul Jeffreys, Untitled 1, 2008, C-print; Bottom, left to right: Victor Aguilar, Woman; Or, The Narrow Funnel, Which Is A Canon of Bejeweled Phantoms, 2008, Ultrachrome print, and Child, Or, The Infinite Harness of Slow-Motion and Wolves, 2008, Ultrachrome print.

A great way to start or add to your collection!

Transformer Board Member Allison Marvin,
with her husband Chris Marvin,

are pleased to invite you to their home for a

Transformer FlatFile Party

Sunday, June 7, 2009
4 - 6 pm

Space is limited; first-come, first-served.


View works from Transformer's unique FlatFile collection of small
to medium original works on paper by over fifty emerging artists.

All works are available for purchase.
All proceeds support the artists and Transformer's programs.

$25 donation suggested to attend.
Wine and light hors d'oeuvres will be served.

RSVP to addie@transformergallery.org, or call 202.483.1102.