Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Wilson Building Art Collection

Deadline: This Friday!

As I mentioned here, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is currently accepting applications for the Wilson Building Public Art Collection and the deadline is this Friday.

The Wilson Building is located downtown at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in our capital.

The historic building serves as the headquarters for the Mayor and City Council for the District of Columbia. The works purchased through this call for entries are specifically designated for permanent installation in the Wilson Building.

And this is a very big building, with some very art-friendly walls, is just waiting to be filled with artwork. Only DC, Virginia and Maryland artists are eligible, and I believe that DC residents have some priority.

And as I've said before, I really think that this collection stands a chance to become a very strong and significant opportunity to put together (in one place) a very good sampling of Washington, DC regional artists.

And (of course) this being a public art collection, it immediately leaves out all nudity and any remotely controversial subject - but that's not the Commission's fault, nor the curator's; it's just an unwritten rule in American public art.

Nonetheless I think that this opportunity is as good as any as they come because:

(a) There's no cost associated (entry fees, etc.)
(b) It's easy to enter (you can send slides or CD ROM)
(c) You have a month to prepare (deadline is Feb. 24, 2006)
(d) The curator (Sondra Arkin) is actually someone who has really deep roots in the DC art scene, and knows what makes it tick - artists, galleries, dealers, schools, etc.

No excuses!

And I sincerely hope that some of my fellow gallerists encourage some of their big name area artists (just as we have) to apply and submit to this call, and hopefully be included in the closest that we'll have in this area to a permanent DC artist exhibition.

Download the application here.

Parsons on Transformer

Seems like DCist has finally found a couple of writers to cover the visual arts regularly (about time!). And Adrian Parsons checks in with a really refreshing review of the Relationship Show at Transformer Gallery.

Read the review here.

Wall Snatchers

Curated by our own Kelly Towles and presented by the WPA/C, what promises to be a very interesting exhibition opens tomorrow at the old Staples store in Georgetown.

Wall Snatchers showcases graffiti and street art from Boston, Florida, New York, and Washington DC. It features work by Bask, Eon, Faile, fi5e, Mister Never, Nick Z, and Tes One.

These aren't all your average graffittimeisters. For example, Fi53 (pronounced like the number five) is an MFA graduate from Parsons who has collaborated with Eyebeam to work on new technology that he has applied to street art.

Here's a short video to watch.

It appears that these artists are trying to take the genre to a new place, still somewhat ephemeral, but now "safe" in the sense that they're doing no damage and still getting their message across?

He will be projecting his work on the facade of the old Staples building at 3307 M St. in Georgetown on Thursday night and then they hope to move on to the Corcoran and do the same.

The opening reception is this Thursday, February 23rd, 6:30 - 8:30 pm and the gallery hours are Friday 6 - 10 pm, and Saturday & Sunday 12 - 8 pm.

Picturing the Banjo

NPR has a rare and pretty good local visual arts review and story on the much maligned "Picturing the Banjo" exhibition at the Corcoran.

In fact, it' such an interesting review that I am going to go see the exhibition and make up my own mind about it.

Job in the Arts

Deadline: March 24, 2006

The College of New Jersey has a full time ten-month renewable position available for a Curator/Director in support of The College Art Gallery at The College of New Jersey, beginning Fall semester 2006.

The Curator/Director works closely with the Art Department faculty, the Dean of the School of Art, Media and Music, student Art Majors, and the community to create exhibitions, collect works of art for the campus collection, and contribute to the larger presence of art on the TCNJ campus. This individual must be an experienced professional and scholar who is able to perform the following duties: act as gallery registrar; plan and implement 6 exhibitions per year with faculty input; install exhibitions (student workers available); develop patron relationships; provide programmatic leadership; assist in the development of financial resources through grants and gifts support; assist in growing and developing the college collection; supervise student assistants; teach (as needed) in areas related to museum studies and contemporary art.

TCNJ is in the midst of designing a new Art building that will provide for a new gallery, additional space for exhibitions, collections, and interactive learning areas. By the post mark deadline of March 24, please submit a letter of application, current resume, documentation of recent exhibitions, and a statement of curatorial philosophy to:

Gallery Director Search Committee
Department of Art
The College of New Jersey
P.O. Box 7718
Ewing, NJ 08628-0718