Thursday, May 31, 2007

Ten Zen Seconds / Interview with Eric Maisel, Part 1

Tomorrow, Author, ERIC MAISEL will be visiting my blog as the last day of the Ten Zen Seconds World Blog Tour. If you have been keeping up with the tour, then you have read some interesting ways to use Eric's technique of mixing mindfulness with a simple breathing technique. Ten Zen Seconds introduces a new, powerful approach to mindfulness. It is a book, a practice, and an invitation to live a more centered, grounded, and meaningful life. Marrying Eastern and Western techniques, it builds on the simple idea that deep breathing coupled with right thinking is the perfect tool for growth, healing, and transformation. The first in a series of books exploring this next step in the practice of mindfulness, Ten Zen Seconds offers you the tools to make changes, solve problems, and simply feel better.

Dr. Eric Maisel is the author of more than thirty books. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Psychology, Master's degrees in Creative Writing and Counseling, and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology. He is a California licensed marriage and family therapist, a creativity coach and trainer of creativity coaches, a columnist for Art Calendar Magazine, provides regular segments for Art of the Song Creativity Radio, and teaches Ten Zen Second techniques through lectures, workshops, and teleseminars. He lives in San Francisco.

Dr. Maisel’s books include:
• Ten Zen Seconds
• Creativity for Life
• Everyday You
• The Van Gogh Blues
• Toxic Criticism
• Coaching the Artist Within
• Fearless Creating
• The Creativity Book
• Affirmations for Artists

Today we will focus on what Ten Zen Seconds is about and what the phrases are.

AM: What is Ten Zen Seconds all about?

EM: It’s actually a very simple but powerful technique for reducing your stress, getting yourself centered, and reminding yourself about how you want to live your life. It can even serve as a complete cognitive, emotional, and existential self-help program built on the single idea of “dropping a useful thought into a deep breath.”
You use a deep breath, five seconds on the inhale and five seconds on the exhale, as a container for important thoughts that aim you in the right direction in life—I describe twelve of these thoughts in the book—and you begin to employ this breathing-and-thinking technique that I call incanting as the primary way to keep yourself on track.

AM: Where did this idea come from?

EM: It comes from two primary sources, cognitive and positive psychology from the West and breath awareness and mindfulness techniques from the East. I’d been working with creative and performing artists for more than twenty years as a therapist and creativity coach and wanted to find a quick, simple technique that would help them deal with the challenges they regularly face—resistance to creating, performance anxiety, negative self-talk about a lack of talent or a lack of connections, stress over a boring day job or competing in the art marketplace, and so on.
Because I have a background in both Western and Eastern ideas, it began to dawn on me that deep breathing, which is one of the best ways to reduce stress and alter thinking, could be used as a cognitive tool if I found just the right phrases to accompany the deep breathing. This started me on a hunt for the most effective phrases that I could find and eventually I landed on twelve of them that I called incantations, each of which serves a different and important purpose.

AM: What sort of hunt did you go on?

EM: First, I tried to figure out what are the most important tasks that we face as human beings, then I came up with what I hoped were resonant phrases, each of which needed to fit well into a deep breath, then, most importantly—which moved this from the theoretical to the empirical—I tested the phrases out on hundreds of folks who agreed to use them and report back on their experiences. That was great fun and eye-opening!
People used these phrases to center themselves before a dental appointment or surgery, to get ready to have a difficult conversation with a teenage child, to bring joy back to their performing career, to carve out time for creative work in an over-busy day—in hundreds of ways that I couldn’t have anticipated. I think that’s what makes the book rich and special: that, as useful as the method and the incantations are, hearing from real people about how they’ve used them “seals the deal.” I’m not much of a fan of self-help books that come entirely from the author’s head; this one has been tested in the crucible of reality.

AM: Which phrases did you settle on?

EM: The following twelve. I think that folks will intuitively get the point of each one (though some of the incantations, like “I expect nothing,” tend to need a little explaining). Naturally each incantation is explained in detail in the book and there are lots of personal reports, so readers get a good sense of how different people interpret and make use of the incantations. Here are the twelve (the parentheses show how the phrase gets “divided up” between the inhale and the exhale:
1. (I am completely) (stopping)
2. (I expect) (nothing)
3. (I am) (doing my work)
4. (I trust) (my resources)
5. (I feel) (supported)
6. (I embrace) (this moment)
7. (I am free) (of the past)
8. (I make) (my meaning)
9. (I am open) (to joy)
10. (I am equal) (to this challenge)
11. (I am) (taking action)
12. (I return) (with strength)

A small note: the third incantation functions differently from the other eleven, in that you name something specific each time you use it, for example “I am writing my novel” or “I am paying the bills.” This helps you bring mindful awareness to each of your activities throughout the day.

Tomorrow I will repeat the incantations and ask Dr. Maisel how artists can use them in managing their high energy creative lives.

At Transformer

Upcoming at Transformer July 11 - August 5, 2007 The Exercises for Emerging Artists - E4: New Media Now in its fourth year, The Exercises for Emerging Artists is a unique, peer critique and mentorship program Transformer created to encourage and support DC area artists in the development and presentation of a new work, or new body of work. Designed for artists beyond the art school experience, but still emerging within their careers and seeking feedback by peer artists and mentors, The Exercises provides a vital opportunity to assist artists in furthering their creative practice and building networks of support. Recent Exercises graduates include Lisa Marie Thalhammer, who will be exhibiting a new series of work at G Fine Art this Saturday, June 2, 2007. Designed as a series of focused 'salon style' discussion sessions spanning several months, during the course of The Exercises participating artists work with Transformer's Advisory Council, curatorial staff, invited guest curators, more established artists, and other arts professionals to gain insightful feedback on the artistic process, culminating in an exhibition of experimental new work. Mentors have included Andrea Pollan, Curator's Office; Annie Gawlak, G Fine Art; Leigh Conner, Conner Contemporary Art; Paul Roth, Corocoran Gallery of Art; Steven Bradley, University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus; Don Russell, Provisions Library; and Alberto Gaitan, artist, among others. The current installment of The Exercises, tentatively titled E4: New Media, involves four dynamic artists working with video, sound and other media. Rebecca Adams, Carolina Mayorga, Rob Parrish, and Fereshteh Toosi will each take over the Transformer project space for unique, one-week long, individual project presentations. E4 is being facilitated by guest curator Niels Van Tomme, an independent curator, art critic, co-director of ICP/A (International Curators Program Antwerp) and the curator of Multimediale - a four-day multimedia arts festival in Washington, DC, April 2007. Please visit Transformer's website http://www.transformergallery.org for updates on E4: New Media as it continues to develop, and to take a look at other artists who have participated in this important program.

Founded in summer 2002, Transformer is a Washington, D.C. based 501(c) 3 non-profit, artist-centered, visual arts organization that connects and promotes emerging artists locally, nationally and internationally. Partnering with artists, curators, art spaces and other cultural entities, Transformer serves as a catalyst and advocate for emergent expression in the visual arts. Exhibitions hours are Wednesday -Saturday, 1-7pm and by appointment. Transformer is supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities/NEA, the Morris Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, and The Visionary Friends of Transformer.

TRANSFORMER GALLERY
1404 P Street NW Washington DC 20005 (202) 483-1102
http://www.transformergallery.org

Bronze and Marble Baseball Cards

Perhaps he was just being polite to Nationals fans, but D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission CEO Allen Lew says he will go to bat for "some sort of Washington Baseball Hall of Fame in the Stadium." This was reported Thursday, March 29, 2007 on "Nats320 -- A Washington Nats Blog."

See
http://nats320.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-own-virtual-tour-with-allen-lew.html

Arts Advocate Mike Licht added a comment suggesting an honorable conclusion to the stadium art impasse: " . . . the Lerners establish a nonprofit corporation for stadium art, throw in some bucks, get their pals to do the same, and ask the DC Arts Commission to provide technical assistance in the art project's execution." at https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=28676208&postID=1386403804068315075
(scroll down)

3DG "Green" Open House & Fair

"Green" Open House and Fair

June 3, 2007
1:00 -5:00 PM
1362 Otis Place, NW
Washington, DC 20010

VALET PARKING AVAILABLE

On Sunday, 3DG will unveil its latest project - Washington, DC's first boutique residential condominium that will be LEED-Certified. At the tipping point in "green" awareness, this project represents how sustainable design and construction practices are being used in today's market.

3DG, a company born and raised in the rapidly transforming Columbia Heights neighborhood, has taken a typical Washington, DC Wardman row home and retrofitted it with the latest environmentally sustainable technology and construction methods. This project marks what many hope to be a shift to a "triple bottom line" approach to development as it is socially, environmentally and economically favorable.

The open house will provide visitors with an in-depth and interactive learning experience about the "green" features that will make this a LEED-Certified building. In addition, they will see "green" living from a more holistic approach as they are invited to tour a model unit outfitted completely with sustainable furniture and complimented with environmentally friendly household products and foods.

A special thanks goes to the following stores for their contributions of environmentally friendly products:

- Crate & Barrel

- My Organic Market (MOMs)

3DG would also like the thank the following local artists for displaying their work:

- Charlie Jones

-
Anne Marchand

For directions, please click here . If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at (202) 298-6636. We hope to see you there!

*****************************************

3DG TO HOST "GREEN BUILDING OPEN HOUSE" AT ITS NEWEST PROJECT IN COLUMBIA HEIGHTS

Neighborhood's First LEED-Certified Condominium
3DG is proud to introduce its most environmentally advanced project ever, located at 1362 Otis Place, in the rapidly developing Northwest Washington neighborhood of Columbia Heights.

The project represents a breakthrough in the DC condominium market, as the first small-scale, LEED-Certified spec development in the Washington area. And it represents a breakthrough for 3DG, as the first project the DC-based architecture, development and construction firm has taken from start to finish with the specific goal of LEED Certification.

To celebrate the accomplishment and spread the word, 3DG will host a Green Building Open House on Sunday, June 3rd, 2007, from 1-5 PM, in partnership with Crate and Barrel, whose first Green line of home furnishings is being introduced nationwide this Spring.

Refreshments will be served, including organic foods, wine, beer and soft drinks. 3DG experts will share information about the environmentally friendly methods and technologies employed in the building, and product literature and samples will be available. Interested parties can obtain sales information and discuss financing options for the condominium units, which are offered for sale through Tutt, Taylor & Rankin Sotheby's International Realty.

About 3DG
3DG delivers world-class architectural design, project administration, construction and real estate services to the Washington DC-area residential and commercial real estate markets, as well as a limited number of high-end single-family and multi-unit dwellings designed and developed in-house. Employing a highly qualified team of award winning architects, LEED-accredited professionals, interior designers, construction management professionals, licensed real estate agents, and financial analysts, 3DG is able to provide a unique, holistic approach to development, project management, and property buying, leasing and selling.

For further information regarding any of 3DG's design, construction and development projects, please visit 3dgllc.com or contact us at info@3dgllc.com or 202.291.3282.

Robert Mellor, New Scenarios 5.30.2007

Irvine Contemporary: June 2 Extended Opening
Robert Mellor, New Scenarios 5.30.2007
 
Robert Mellor: New Scenarios
May 26 - June 27 Extended Hours
Saturday June 2, 11-8 PM Participating in summer openings, we will be open this Saturday until 8:00 PM.


 Forthcoming In June-July Re-Presenting the Portrait:
Photographs by Kerry Skarbakka and Marla Rutherford
June 30 - August 4
Artists Porfolio and Resumes [pdf] Courtney Jordan: New Drawings and Paintings
June 30- August 4


IRVINE CONTEMPORARY
1412 14th St ., NW, Washington, DC 20005
Gallery Hours: Tues. - Sat. 11-6 pm, and by appointment
www.irvinecontemporary.com
| Phone: (202) 332-8767 |
| Email: info@irvinecontemporary.com |

2007 Sculpture on the Grounds

Glenview Mansion at Rockville Civic Center Park. 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville MD. Direction Line: 240-314-5004
June 3, from 1-2:30 pm. Opening Reception/Walking tour.
Selected Artists: Don Herman, David Hubbard, Hanna Jubran, Cecilia Lueza and Bill Wood

- AND-

Montpelier Arts Center June 7 - August 19, 2007
26th Annual Montpelier Invitational Sculpture Exhibition
featuring works in metal by members of Sculptors Inc and Washington Sculptors Group:
John Ferguson, Pete Campbell, Minna Newman Nathanson, David Hubbard, Chris Bathgate,
and Carmen Barros Howell.

Luncheon /Lecture: June 7, noon (Reservations Required)
Reception: June 8, 7 - 9 PM

The Montpelier Arts Center presents a major sculpture exhibition every summer. For the twenty-sixth edition, the exhibition focuses on works in metal. The exhibiting artists will give a slide lecture on Thursday June 7 at 12 noon. Reservations are required for this event and can be made by calling the center at (301) 953-1993 or emailing Montpelier.arts@pgparks.com
On Friday, June 8 from 7-9 pm, there will be a free reception for all the artists in the three June Exhibitions.

Steel can be flexible or rigid; a massive volume or a thin line; a surface to etch or reflect. It is an enormously variable material and the artists here have welded, cut, polished, and painted their works-taking advantage of the multiple facets of this difficult medium. From Carmen Barros Howell's lovely, rusted figures to Chris Bathgate's polished brass and steel machine-like structures, the artists use both surface and mass to create fascinating imagery.

Chris Bathgate's works are built steel pieces that have the look of machine made pieces but the presence of an artist's mind at work. He uses mathematical techniques to achieve the high degree of precision that is required to create these fascinating fabrications.

Pete Campbell, a painting graduate of Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art, welds dynamic abstract works that have a painter's touch.

John D. Ferguson, creates painted welded steel curvilinear forms. His work is in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and he has had numerous commissions and exhibitions including a solo exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.

Carmen Barros Howell, a Chilean born artist, has shown her work worldwide. Her sculptures of welded metal often take the figure or face as their starting point. In her use of the negative space, her creations gain both presence and personality.

David Hubbard constructs his "Monuments" series in steel and stainless steel, often combining a rust coated surface with a polished brush steel surface, thereby adding both color and texture to his works. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Hubbard has had numerous exhibitions and commissions. His work is in many collections, both public and private.

Minna Newman Nathanson works with the reflective qualities of metal and uses these to counter viewer's expectations and perceptions of the materials. She uses folds and the edge to create tensions of scale and position. An educator and curator, Ms. Nathanson has been involved in many Washington arts organizations as both a board member and exhibiting artist.

For more information please call (301) 953-1993 or (410) 792-0664 or TTY (301) 490-2329.
Gallery Hours:10 A.M. - 5 P.M. seven days per week.

Information about the artists can also be found at the following web sites:www.chrisbathgate.com; www.Abstractmetal.com (PeteCampbell); www.hubbardsfinearts.com (Dave Hubbard); www.carmenbarroshowell.com; http://midcityartists.com (Minna Nathanson);

Meat Market Gallery Auction

June 8, 6-9pm
1636 17th Street NW, Washington, DC

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Opening Reception at HEMPHILL


OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, June 2
6:30 - 8:30 PM
 
MINGERING MIKE
The Amazing Career of an Imaginary Soul Superstar
 
TINA NEWBERRY
New Paintings
 
June 2 – July 28, 2007

__________________________________________________

Book Signing with Mingering Mike
Saturday, June 2
4:00 – 6:30 PM
__________________________________________________
 
H E M P H I L L
1515 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
202.234.5601

www.hemphillfinearts.com
www.mingeringmike.com

Monday, May 28, 2007

Nationals’ stadium art project at a standstill

by Michael Neibauer, The Examiner

May 28, 2007 WASHINGTON
"Nationals’ stadium art project at a standstill."

Plans to decorate the new Washington Nationals’ new stadium with crafts, sculpture and bronze figures are in limbo after the D.C. Council eliminated money in next year’s budget for a public arts project. To read the rest of this article, please click on the link below:
http://www.examiner.com/a-751072~Nationals__stadium_art_project_at_a_standstill.html

Sunday, May 27, 2007

TEN ZEN SECONDS Blog tour: WEEK Seven

Author, ERIC MAISEL will be visiting interesting bloggers this week to speak about his breathing and mindfulness techniques in his new book, Ten Zen Seconds.

Eric will visit me on the last stop of the tour on Friday, June 1 and will answer a few questions about making meaning and making a living. I hope you'll join us this Friday.


Here's the week's line up. Enjoy!

MONDAY, MAY 28
Donna Druchunas
http://www.skepchick.org
Blog: http://www.skepchick.org/blog
Longmont, Colorado

Donna Druchunas is a freelance technical writer and editor and a knitwear designer. When she's not working, she reviews books about science, religion, and skepticism and mouths off on the Skepchick blog where she is part of a team of thinking women who reject superstition and pseudo-science and prefer to use reason and evidence to understand the world.

Donna and Eric will be chatting about mindfulness for the skeptic: how creativity and mindfulness can be nurtured without appealing to a higher power or a mystical muse.


TUESDAY, MAY 29
Maya Talisman Frost
www.MassageYourMind.wordpress.com
blog: http://www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Maya Talisman Frost has taught thousands of people how to pay attention. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she teaches playful, eyes-wide-open ways to get calm, clear and creative. She trains clients around the world by phone and email and publishes the Friday Mind Massage, a weekly ezine with subscribers in over 100 countries. Maya's techniques for everyday awareness have appeared in numerous publications, ranging from Parents to Penthouse. (http://www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com)

A small-town girl from Oregon, Maya loves exploring different cultures. She lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina with her husband and three of her four daughters. She chats about mindfulness on her blog at www.MassageYourMind.wordpress.com and plays with all things passionate at www.SexySpanishClub.blogspot.com.

Maya and Eric will focus on mindfulness and FUN--using the Ten Zen Seconds method to pop into ?mindfulness mode? and connect to our sense of wonder.


WEDNESDAY, MAY 30
Alyson B. Stanfield
http://www.artbizcoach.com
Blog: http://www.artbizblog.com
Golden, CO

Alyson B. Stanfield is an art-marketing consultant who writes on the business of art for her Art Biz Blog, http://www.artbizblog.com. It is intimately connected with the weekly Art Marketing Action newsletter, available at http://www.artbizcoach.com. Postings range from pricing and promoting your art to working with galleries and cultivating collectors.

Alyson and Eric will focus on mindfulness techniques for visual artists in the studio and in the art office.


THURSDAY, MAY 31
Isabella Mori
http://www.moritherapy.com
Blog: http://www.moritherapy.org
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Isabella Mori is a psychotherapist and writer. Her blog "change therapy" deals with the wide range of experience of our inner lives, from the joyous " 9 ways to feed the spirit to the academic 10 paradoxes of creative people , from the hopeful recovering anorexia to the amusing Inspired by Dr. Suess.
Special interests on the blog are spirituality, the arts, peace, gender issues, as well as body image and eating disorders. Isabella hosts the monthly Carnival of Eating Disorders, a readers' digest of blog posts on topics related to eating disorders.

One of the wonderful attributes of being an artist is that we are interested in so many things. This is much of what fuels our creativity. However, sometimes, these often very widely diverging interests become overwhelming and it feels like we're drowning in ideas. Isabella and I will chat about applying Ten Zen Second techniques to this important issue.


FRIDAY, JUNE 1
Anne Marchand
Painterly Visions
www.annemarchand.com
Blog: http://www.annemarchand.blogspot.com
Washington, D.C.

Anne Marchand is a full-time artist who creates colorful, energetic abstract paintings with poetic connections to life. Anne's cityscape, public art murals adorn playground walls in Washington, DC. Her blog, PainterlyVisions, showcases talented artists in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Anne comments on life in the arts from her studio in Washington, DC. Her blog is a resource of exhibition opportunities, art reviews, and marketing resources.

Anne and Eric will chat about applying Ten Zen Second techniques to help visual artists focus on the daily creation of artwork.


SATURDAY, JUNE 2 END OF BLOG TOUR

Minna Nathanson Review / Sculpture Magazine

Washington, DC Sculptor, Minna Nathanson's solo show at Parish Gallery is reviewed in Sculpture Magazine's June 2007 issue. (Click article to read.)

Touchstone Gallery presents

Main Gallery
The Silent Observer by Michael Lang
Recent Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture by David Peirick

Opening Reception
Friday, June 8, 6:00 – 8:00pm
On Exhibit through July 8

The Annex
New Works by Christiane Middendorf

Touchstone Gallery
406 7th Street, NW, 2nd floor
202.347.2787


* * * * *

KZ Designs Trunk Show

Friday, June 8, 6:00 – 8:30pm
Benefiting the Dinner Program for Homeless Women

Upstairs on 7th
406 7th Street, NW, 2nd floor
301.351.8308

Friday, May 25, 2007

Time of War Monoprints

by Ellen WeissNoted local printmaker and painter, Ellyn Weiss, will unveil a series of prints called "Time of War" at the Nevin Kelly Gallery, 1517 U Street, NW, in Washington, DC. The show will run from June 1 through June 30.

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 2, 5 - 8pm

"Time of War" is a series of 14" x 14" monoprints made last summer at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts on a press that was once used by Robert Motherwell. The artist describes them as"meditations on the pain of war, as simple and universal as I can make them - my effort to convey feeling directly with a minimum of complexity."

A frequent exhibitor in the Washington area (with a solo exhibition of paintings currently on display at the Touchstone Gallery), Weiss spends her summers printmaking on Cape Cod. During the rest of the year, Weiss lives in Bethesda and paints in her studio in Washington, DC.

As is typical of her print work, the pieces in the Time of War series are marked by dramatic imagery and a mixture of bold colors and stark black and white. Putting aside one's views on the justness of war, these works are sharp reminders that war is a hellish experience for those who are caught in the middle of it.

Nevin Kelly Gallery
1517 U Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Tel: 202-232-3464
www.nevinkellygallery.com
and http://nevinkellygallery.blogspot.com/

Artist Opportunities

THE ARLINGTON ART CENTER'S ANNUAL SOLO EXHIBITIONS FOR 2008
Deadline: June 25, 2007

April 8 - May 31, 2008 Spring Solos
Oct. 7 - Nov. 29, 2008 Fall Solos

All artists living or working in Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania are invited to submit slides. Artworks in all media will be considered. Ten to fifteen artists will be selected for Solo Exhibitions to take place in 2008 in one of AAC's seven galleries which contain approximately 525 combined running feet of hanging wall space, including two Experimental Galleries designed to accommodate installation, technological and other works requiring a complete environment. The grounds surrounding the building can accommodate outdoor sculpture.

Call for Entries: Download the Call for Entries

José Ruiz, Vesna Pavlovic and Lisa Marie Thalhammer

June 2 – July 7 2007
Opening reception, Saturday June 2, 6:30 – 8:30 pm


G Fine Art presents
 
José Ruiz, Descendents of Ascension, a multi-dimensional, mixed-media installation.
Jose continues to be guided in his interest in maintaining a visual conversation with the social issues that he describes as “out of his control.” Each investigation, materialized through a wide variety of mediums and formal processes, inherently resurfaces his ongoing focus on identity, visibility, authorship, and labor.

The title, Descendents of Ascension, is an allusion to the American Dream: those who make up the US are the product of those who immigrated in hopes for a better future, and the spiritual meaning as it refers to the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan cultures, that many of the new Latino immigrants are descendants of. Many of the objects carry this double meaning, described often with a consistent transformation theme.

Among the many works in the show are a sci-fi video piece, depicting immigrants charging across the border, photos of the artist himself awaiting work with day laborers, and a series of A-frame ladders made out of drywall that reference the residue of labor as metaphorical symbols of ascent and descent in social class, society and spirituality. Also included is a series of emblems, the official Descendents of Ascension flag to represent this specific territory in the public realm and in the gallery and hanging above the installation, decals of a patriotic airbrushed eagle in a “preying” position, partially painted over, resulting in a set of wings ascending rather then descending.

Jose Ruiz is a curator at the Bronx River Art Center in the Bronx, NY. He is the Artist-in-Residence, for the workspace program at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Queens, NY and he will be included in the upcoming show, The (S) Files: El Museo del Barrio’s Bienal, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY. Curator: Elvis Fuentes, July 2007 – January 2008.


Vesna Pavlovic, Display, Desire, a photographic installation.

In this work Pavlovic explores performance, desire, projection and participation. Using display houses as a subject, she presents her exploration of images of display and the display of images. Pavlovic projects black and white slides of these staged homes, through pieces of colored plexi-glass, distorting the images and creating a space for the viewer to experience. She uses the image, its surface and physical properties to create a heightened atmosphere for participation and time to become integral in observing the transformation and destabilization of the image.

Pavlovic uses an extensive array of photographic display materials; also showing five black and white photographs from the Show Homes series and six and mounted digital color photographs from the Six Color Transparencies series. The artist describes her experience of these display homes; “walking through a staged house feels like walking through a catalog. You either desire it or not.”

Pavlovic began her studies in documentary photography and cinematography at The Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. She has shown in Serbia and in the US. She recently graduated from the MFA program at the Columbia University and has published several books, the most recent Office Taste co-authored with Casey Smith in 2005 and The Book Project in 2004.


Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Welcome to Lizard County, a series of drawings.

In this new series of work, Thalhammer investigates the underbelly of America’s Highways. Inspired by her experiences in the family’s truck stop, she draws the semi-trucks that brave vast expanses of highways connecting goods and consumers. Alone and lonely, full of desire and intent, this macho trucker world both idealizes women and supports abuse of them. Lot Lizards, a trucker term the title is based on, are prostitutes, who wait in truck stop parking lots. Thalhammer collages images of women from men’s interest magazines as hood ornaments onto the drawings, examining the way feminine beauty is both reverenced and objectified. Appropriated gospel illuminations adorn the drawings, referencing the Bible belt, where the family truck stop was located.

Thalhammer was the recipient of the Young Artist Program Grant Award from the DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities in 2007, and in 2006 the Small Project Programs Grant Award from the DC Commission of the Arts and humanities. She lives and works in Washington DC, and participated in the Exercises for Emerging Artists, which culminated in the show E:3 Painters at Transformer Gallery.

G FINE ART
1515 14th St NW Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005
202-462-1601
Hours: Tue - Sat 11 AM - 6 PM

A Picasso Museum in Málaga

"The Pablo Picasso Museum in Málaga is a wonderful tribute to this great and innovative artist of the twentieth centuary. It had been a long time desire of the artist himself, as well as his family, that he should have a presence in his birthplace city of Málaga." Read article by Ruth Polak here

PULP FICTION:

R. Crumb
Marcel Dzama
Hope Gangloff
Kiki Smith
Renee Stout


Opening Reception: Saturday, June 2nd 6:30 - 8:30 pm


Adamson Gallery is pleased to present Pulp Fiction, a multimedia group exhibition of works from R. Crumb, Marcel Dzama, Hope Gangloff, Renee Stout and Kiki Smith. Running the gamut from sculpture to printmaking to pen and ink drawings, all of the works in this exhibition explore the properties of the narrative.

Taking its name from one of the most popular and accessible forms of narrative, Pulp Fiction presents works that use images to tell stories. The pieces in the exhibition illustrate different narrative strategies.

Brooklyn artist Hope Gangloff works from snapshots of her friends, producing lovely pen and ink renderings colored red, black, and white. Gangloff's images depict drinking, socializing: her friends play poker, go to gallery openings, fall asleep in cabs. The images, because they are taken from photographs, bear the trace of the real events from which they originate.

Washington-based Renee Stout's silkscreen triptych Fatima and Black Nine uses a collage of painted "primary sources" to tell the story of the romance between a psychic and a poet: partial portraits, (a face, a hand holding a card, a woman's legs), a diary entry, scraps of poetry, a dim photograph. The information omitted is as compelling as the information given: like Stout's observant diarist, the viewer is left to piece together the account.

Marcel Dzama's The Cabin of Count Dracula consists twenty hand-drawn lithographs housed in a small wooden cabin lined with beaver fur. The fanciful drawings of vampires, cowboys, children, and monsters are accompanied by a record soundtrack by Albatross Note. Like Stout, Dzama's narrative is a bricolage of parts, drawing the viewer into the history.

The exhibition is rounded out by pieces from Kiki Smith and R. Crumb, who reference the narrative forms of film and the comic. In this way, "Pulp Fiction" is an exhibition full of stories and of the different ways that they are presented.

For more information, please contact Laurie Adamson or Erin Boland at (202) 232-0707.

ADAMSON GALLERY
1515 fourteenth street nw
washington dc 20005

hours of operation:
tuesday - saturday
10:30 am - 5:30 pm

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Myanmar Contemporary Art

May 16, 2007 – June 17, 2007
By: Myanmar Contemporary Artists

Gallery plan b, in cooperation with River Gallery (Rangoon, Burma), is very pleased to present a rare exhibition of paintings from Myanmar’s leading contemporary artists including Nann Nann, Khin Zaw Latt, Maung Aw, Soe Soe, and Than Kyaw Htay.

This group of artists is brought to the United States by Gill Pattison, a New Zealander, who has been a resident in Myanmar for the past five years. Ms. Pattison became involved with the contemporary art scene in the region when she sponsored and organized (in conjunction with the Myanmar Times) a national competition for Myanmar artists in 2004. The competition identified many of the best Myanmar artists––both established and emerging––several of which will be part of this exhibition at plan b. Her aim in promoting these artists was to bring their art to a wider audience...not only the tourists who visited Myanmar but also to an international audience. To this end, plan b is one of several galleries she has selected in organizing exhibitions and shows abroad. Previous exhibits were held on the west coast in San Francisco and Palm Springs and here on the east coast in Princeton, New Jersey, where Gill led a seminar on the importance of this art to the world.

The West knows little about this beautiful but troubled country of 55 million people, nestled between China and India, governed by a reclusive military dictatorship that has held power for over forty years. Myanmar’s art has a surprisingly modern feel. The creative tension evident in many of the best works results from the artist’s struggle to find the means of portraying their rich culture in new and different ways. The exhibition focuses on subjects taken from Myanmar’s rich cultural and religious heritage and the country’s largely unspoiled physical beauty. Icons and symbols of Buddhism, seen everywhere in Burma, predominate in this show. By necessity, most Myanmar artists remain cautious in their choice of subject, generally avoiding themes that might be construed as overtly political or critical of the regime. But these restrictions have a surprising up-side: in focusing on what they see around them, the art has a purity and spirituality that is often absent in the art of emerging nations, where the portrayal of conflict is often to the fore.

While this current generation of artists chooses their subject matter carefully, they are paving the way for those to follow, who will face fewer restrictions. And perhaps, for us the audience, there is a silver lining in the self-censorship of the Burmese artists...their focus on the beauty of their traditions and on the scenes and motifs from a unique culture that is fast disappearing in other parts of Asia, by creating distinctive works of art which convey the essence of their deeply felt cultural and spiritual heritage.


1530 fourteenth street, nw
washington, dc 20005
wed - sat 12-7, sun 1-5
info@galleryplanb.com
202.234.2711 or by appointment

TONIGHT in the Gallery: Joan Belmar - Color Transparencies

Please join Nevin Kelly and staff Thursday, May 24, 6-9pm for the opening of ColorTransparencies, a solo exhibition of work by Joan Belmar.

See more information here: http://www.nevinkellygallery.com/news/

NEVIN KELLY GALLERY TO FEATURE "COLOR TRANSPARENCIES," A SOLO EXHIBITION OF WORK BY WASHINGTON, DC ARTIST JOAN BELMAR

Show runs May 23 - June 17, 2007. Opening Reception Thursday, May 24 from 6 - 9 pm.

Nevin Kelly Gallery
1517 U Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Tel: 202-232-3464
www.nevinkellygallery.com and http://nevinkellygallery.blogspot.com/

Public Art Opportunity in New Mexico

Prospectus #187 - RFQ
Palace of the Governors – New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, NM
Deadline: 5:00 P.M. (MST) Thursday, June 14, 2007
Budget: $ 238,750.00

The Art I Public Paces Program of New Mexico Arts and the Palace of the Governors – New Mexico History Museum seek to commission artwork fro the New Mexico History Museum currently under construction on the north side of the historic Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe.

The committee seeks a timeless, highly visual original artwork that will enhance the visitor’s experience to the museum while addressing the unique connection that exists between the people and place in New Mexico.

The selected artist may use any or all of the available space to illustrate this theme. Available space includes, but is not limited to, the exterior wall and landscaped area near an entrance, the floor in the crossroads gallery, main stairwell walls, and atrium walls as well as a roof top terrace. There is the option of suspended works in some of these locations. The museum also has river cobbles (rocks) used for the foundation from the 18th century available for artists who wish to incorporate them into their work.

Media must be durable, low maintenance, permanent, safe for both children and adults and be ADA compliant. Additionally, the selected artwork may require certification by a licensed structural engineer and a review by a professional fine art conservator at the selected artist’s expense.

Up to five finalists will be selected. This project is open to all artists who are residents of the United States. Artists must receive a prospectus to apply. The prospectus can be downloaded from the web site at www.nmarts.org or contact AIPP staff at New Mexico Arts, telephone 505/827-6490, 800/879-4278 (instate), or emailaipp@state.nm.us.

I love Mid City Artists!

Hmmmm...seems Mid City Artists have a fan over at The Squeaky Buddha Sessions.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

ANONYMOUS III

JUNE 7-23, 2007

The third installment of WPA\C's incognito fundraiser show: 10 artist curators each create a 24 " x 24" piece and select 9 more artists to do the same. The resulting 100 artworks are then hung with no artist identification, and all sold for the same price. Only after a piece is purchased is the name of the artist revealed.

OPENING PREVIEW RECEPTION: THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 6-8pm
Sorry, no works will be sold at the preview.

FIRST DAY TO PURCHASE: FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 6-8pm
First come, first served.

CURATORS + ARTISTS:

SETH ADELSBERGER
Lauren Bender, Edward Fendley, Felipe Goncalves, Seth Goodman, Dale Ihnken, Ryan Jedlicka, Nicola Knight, D'Metrius Rice, Lu Zhang.

IONA ROZEAL BROWN
Ken Ashton, Shante Bullock, Zoe Charlton, Dissident Display (Adrian Loving + Ayodamola Okunseinde), Torkwase Dyson, DJ Eurok, Antonio McAfee, Jefferson Pinder, Bill Warrell

CYNTHIA CONNOLLY
Lely Constantinople, Ginger Farnham, Maureen George, Maremi Hooff, Elizabeth Morisette, Henrich Sundqvist, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Antonia Tricarico, Jeff Wilson

TRAVIS FULLERTON
George Allen, Maria Dubon, Suzanna Fields, Pamela Fox, Michael Lease, Ryan McLennan, Diego Sanchez, Rob Tarbell, Robert Walz

IAN JEHLE
Alan Callander, Kathryn Cornelius, Nekisha Durrett, Kelly Egan, Jennifer Foley, Jiha Moon, Andy Moon Wilson, Sara Pomerance, Carrie Stubbs

LEDELLE MOE
Hannah Brancato, Zac Jackson, Peter Karis, Jackson Martin, Ben McKee, David Page, Neal Reinalda, Cory Wagner, May Wilson

MICHAEL PLATT
Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter, Gina Marie Lewis, Harlee Little, Alice Martin, Theresa Knight McFadden, Jessa McFarlane, Gwendalin Qi Aranya, Keven Reynolds, Stan Squirewell

NOELLE TAN
Ina Archer, Lily Cox-Richard, Stephanie Kuykendal, Cara Ober, Athena Robles, Kirstyn Russell, Tracey Peirce West, Michael West, Stefan Zaklin

ALESSANDRA TORRES
Emily Barletta, Tim Devoe, Miriam Ewers, Janelle Iglesias, Kayo Nakamura, Diana Nowitzky, Tim Scofield, Annie Song, Robin Zwizanski

HEIDE TREPANIER
Jamie Boling, Cece Cole, Madeline Hoch, Jack Lawrence, Matthew Lively, Adrian Meyer, Monica Palma, Bret Payne, Bruce Wilhelm

GALLERY AT FLASHPOINT
916 G STREET NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20001
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12-6pm
202.315.1310 / www.flashpointdc.org

For more information, contact David William: dwilliam@corcoran.org

Young Costa Rican Artists: Nine Proposals

The IDB Cultural Center cordially invites you to attend a lecture on
Gender and Identity in the Caribbean: Afro-Costa Rican Women with Syracuse University Professor Dr. D. Kwame Dixon

Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 6:30 p.m.

After the event, visit the IDB Cultural Center Art Gallery exhibition: Young Costa Rican Artists: Nine Proposals.

Dr. Kwame Dixon will examine the literary discourse of Afro-Costa Rican writers with particular emphasis on the works of Eulalia Bernard, Shirley Campbell, and Delia McDonald. Afro-Hispanic writers, except for Nicolas Guillén, Nancy Morejón (Cuban) and possibly Manuel Zapata Olivella (Colombian), are for the most part socially excluded by the traditional Latin American literary canon because their writing is considered too specific in its themes on the black experience. It is argued that the writings of Afro-Hispanic writers are socially cleansed from the larger literary canon of Caribbean and Latin American literature. This discussion aims to show how Afro-Costa Rican women, through use of identity and gendered discourses, situate Afro-Hispanic writing within the larger frame of Latin American and Caribbean literature.

This lecture is being presented in anticipation of National Caribbean American Heritage Month in June. Dr. Dixon lives and works at the Syracuse University Center in Madrid, Spain, and is currently Visiting Professor of African American Studies at Syracuse University where he teaches courses focused on Race, Democracy and Human Rights in Afro-Latin America.

He earned his Ph.D. in 1997 from Clark Atlanta University and his primary research is focused on understanding how race, racial discrimination and gender intersect to create particular forms of discrimination and marginalization that lead to human rights violations. Dr. Dixon is a Fulbright scholar and has conducted extensive field research on Afro-American communities in Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In 1999 and 2000 Dr. Dixon served as a consultant to Amnesty International for the United Nations World Conference.

Enrique V. Iglesias Conference Center - Inter-American Development Bank
1330 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC
202 623 3558

Metro Center, 13th Street exit - Free and open to the public – Photo ID required First come, first seated

The Art Marketing Action Newsletter

Alyson Stanfield has written an interesting article on personal power and taking 100% responsibility for our actions. She features an image of my art work with this month's power article. Here's the article with one of my cityscape series paintings, "Citylife." You can see the main article Here.

Anne Marchand, Citylife, Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. © The Artist, all rights reserved
http://www.annemarchand.com


Copyright 2007 Alyson B. Stanfield. Alyson takes the mystery out of marketing your art and making more money as an artist. Visit http://www.ArtBizCoach.com to get articles just like this one delivered to your inbox.
------------------------------------------------------------
MAIN ARTICLE: ASSUME POWER
------------------------------------------------------------
Last week, I posted the five principles for no-excuses art marketing, which are woven throughout the book I’m working on. I don’t know what took me so long to come up with these because I’ve been rattling them off at each and every workshop I give. They are also prominent in my coaching and classes.

The first principle, I believe, is the most important. It goes like this:

“You are in charge. You have control over words, prices, artwork, and your image. People will take as much power from you as you give them. Guard your power carefully. Accept 100% responsibility for your actions and make no excuses.”

There are very few times in anyone’s career when they feel like they have all the power. For an artist, the power appears to be in the hands of galleries, curators, granting agencies, collectors . . . anyone but you! It’s easy for this to overwhelm you. It’s easy to allow it to plunge you into victim mode--particularly when you’re hanging out with a cadre of other artists who have chosen complaining over taking action. But all of these people have only as much power over you as you give them.

When you agree to stop playing the victim and accept 100% responsibility, you’ve taken the leap to being a more professional artist. You will ultimately be a more fulfilled and productive human being.

In his book “The Success Principles,” which I never tire quoting,
Jack Canfield writes:

“You only have control over three things in your life--the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behavior). How you use these three things determines everything you experience. If you don’t like what you are producing and experiencing, you have to change your responses. Change your negative thoughts to positive ones. Change what you daydream about. Change your habits. Change what you read. Change your friends. Change how you talk.”

I couldn’t have said it better.

What are the other four principles guiding no-excuses art marketing?
Take a look and share your thoughts on the Art Biz Blog:http://www.artbizblog.com/2007/05/principles_of_n.html

KNOW THIS----------~> People will take as much of your power as you allow them to.

THINK ABOUT THIS---~> What have you lost control over?

DO THIS------------~> Assume control. Make a list of the things in your art career that aren’t going as well as you would like. Where did they go wrong? What can you do to ensure that won’t happen again? To whom have you given too much power? What can you do to change that or to ensure it will be different with a new relationship?

Alyson B. Stanfield
Stanfield Art Associates
alyson@artbizcoach.com

website --> http://www.artbizcoach.com
blog --> http://www.artbizcoach.com

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Jackson Martin and Michael Sandstrom

industrials

May 26th—June 16th
Opening Reception Saturday, May 26th 6pm-9pm

Randall Scott Gallery
1326 14th Street NW
Washington,D.C. 20005
202-332-0806 (tel) 202-332-0807 (fax)

Jackson Martin

Jackson Martin uses steel, glass, and burlap to represent the human propensity toward order and control and its relationship between the natural and the cultural. He alternately uses ephemeral materials, such as trees, soil, water and light that represent uncertainty and the unpredictablity of the world around him. His enclosures, acting as cultural elements attempt to hold and embrace the natural, while still being of industry. It the antithesis of good and evil, the uneasy if not forced alliance of man/man made vs natural, and of nature.

Michael Sandstrom

Michael Sandstrom alternately, explores how camouflaged political controls filter our understanding of history and relinquish our ability to accurately observe and respond to current socio-political events.
Fundamental to his formal concerns is his use of petroleum-based plastics and resins. Thought, the true currency of our time, access to petroleum is one of the most decisive factors in determining the wealth and power of a nation. The lustrous surface of resin appeals to our penchant for "beauty" seducing the viewer to draw near. It acts as a barrier, restricting the viewer's access to embedded objects. Resin, becomes a metaphor for government, protecting the viewer from the "harmful truths" beneath the surface.

Both Jackson Martin and Michael Sandstrom are recent graduates of MICA and both live in Baltimore, MD. Michael Sandstrom,  recently won a Fulbright Scholarship to Berlin.

DC CREATES PUBLIC ART for the New Baseball Stadium

Suspended Installation
Total Budget: $200,000
Submissions Due: Monday, June 18, 2007 at 5 pm

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, in collaboration with the Washington Nationals, the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, and Hellmuth Obata and Kassabaum, P.C., seeks an artist or artist team to design and create a suspended public art installation along the main concourse of the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium. The goal of this public art project is to provide an exciting arts enhancement to the interior of the ballpark while celebrating the spirit of our national pastime. The work will be visible along the main concourse, across the field from Baseball Plaza, and from street level on the south side of the ballpark. The total budget for the project is $200,000.

Download the New Baseball Stadium: Suspended Installation here

For more information, email Emily Blumenfeld and Meridith McKinley or call (314) 664-5902.

Currently on exhibit at MPA

McLean Project for the Arts
Through June 9

Emerson and Atrium Galleries
Walter Kravitz: New Works
Drawing form a broad array of influences spanning from Hieronymus Bosch to Arshile Gorky, Walter Kravitz creates large-scale drawings and paintings based on landscape and figurative images in various states of both abundance and decay.  With a surrealist's openness to spontaneity and intuitive understanding of the subconscious, Kravitz builds these works using exquisitely expressive line work and a restrained and judicious use of color.  The viewer is drawn into a works that is fascinating and compelling yet strange and disorienting as well.

Ramp Gallery
Solomon T. Wondimu:  Skin Color Project
Working with a palette of more that 1,000 tones originating from close-up photographs of skin, Solomon T. Wondimu creates mural-sized digital images and paintings that explore the conflicts and assumptions that exist between the eye and the mind around the concept of skin color.

McLean Project for the Arts is located on the upper level of the McLean Community Center at 1234 Ingleside Avenue in McLean, Va. Hours are Tuesday - Friday 10 am - 4 pm and Saturday 1 - 5 pm.  For more information call 703-790-1953 or visit www.mpaart.org

 
McLean Project for the Arts
1234 Ingleside Avenue
McLean, VA  22101
703-790-1953
www.mpaart.org

CALL FOR ENTRIES


MPA artfest
McLean Project for the Arts

Sunday. October 14. 2007 10am to 5pm
McLean Central Park Rain or Shine!

A one-day juried fine art and craft show and sale featuring the work of 40 local and regional visual artists. Live entertainment will be provided by performing arts groups and a children’s art tent will offer activities throughout the day.

Deadline for entry: June 30, 2007

To Enter -
Complete the MPA artfest entry form download at http://www.mcleanart.org/artfestcall.pdf
Deadline for entries: June 30, 2007
Notification of acceptance: August 1, 2007

For further information email Julie Lansaw: julelansaw@aol.com

Location:
McLean Central Park is located in McLean, Virginia, a suburb located approximately 10 miles from Washington, DC. McLean Central Park is located on the corner of Dolley Madison Blvd. and Old Dominion Drive. In the event of inclement weather, MPA artfest will be held inside the McLean Community Center, which is adjacent to McLean Central Park.

No entry fees.
$150 participation fee, if accepted.
100% of sales to be retained by artist.
Each artist will be provided with a 10’ x 10’ tent.

Extra Incentive!
MPA artMoney will be distributed to corporate and individual sponsors to be spent the day of the event. MPA will reimburse the artist for the MPA artMoney spent. MPA artMoney can only be used for the purchase of art.

McLean Project for the Arts
1234 Ingleside Avenue
McLean, VA 22101
703.790.1953
www.mpaart.org

MPA is a non-profit visual arts center founded in 1962. The mission of McLean Project for the Arts is to exhibit the work of emerging and established artists from the mid-Atlantic region; to promote public awareness and understanding of the concepts of contemporary art; and to offer instruction and education in the visual arts. In addition to its program of high quality, professionally-curated art exhibitions, MPA presents special traveling exhibitions from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. MPA artfest is co-sponsored by the McLean Community Center, Fairfax County Park Authority, and Dranesville Supervisor Joan DuBois’ office, along with corporate and private individuals, and supported by the McLean Chamber of Commerce, Friends of McLean Central Park, and the Arts Council of Fairfax County.

MPA artfest is co-sponsored by the McLean Community Center, Fairfax County Park Authority, and Dranesville Supervisor Joan DuBois’ office, along with corporate and private individuals, and supported by the McLean Chamber of Commerce and the Arts Council of Fairfax County.

Joan Belmar: Color Transparencies

A SOLO EXHIBITION OF WORK BY WASHINGTON, DC ARTIST JOAN BELMAR
May 23 - June 17, 2007
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 24, 6-9pm

The Nevin Kelly Gallery, located at 1517 U Street, NW, Washington, DC, will host a solo exhibition of works by Chilean-born, Washington, DC artist Joan Belmar from May 23 until June 17, 2007. The exhibition, titled Color Transparencies presents Belmar’s recent work in paint, acetate and Mylar. The gallery will host an opening reception with the artist on Thursday, May 24, from 6 until 9 o’clock p.m. The public is invited.

Joan Belmar is not a linear thinker. In fact, he thinks very much in circles. His work has always eschewed the notion that the straight line is a fundamental element of artistic composition. Recently, he has abandoned the strictures of the singular plane of the canvas as well.

For “Color Transparencies,” the artist has constructed works from strips of painted Mylar that he fashions into circles and curvilinear forms and mounts on-edge to a backing of paper, wood or other material. These shapes form the main compositional elements of the work. He overlays the composition with translucent sheets of frosted acetate in which he has cut out shapes that reveal the strips of Mylar beneath. He draws on portions of the acetate so that elements of the composition exist above, within and below the frosted plane. The multicolored strips show clearly where the acetate has been cut away. Where it remains, the strips appear as if through a fog. The width of the strips, sandwiched between the backing and the layer of acetate, gives the works literal depth.

Belmar is a frequent exhibitor in the Washington, DC area. He was born in 1970 outside Santiago, Chile. He received a degree in graphic design at the Catholic University of Chile before moving to Spain at the age of 24. There, he adopted the Catalan “Joan” for his first name (Juan or John). He came to Washington, D.C. in 1999 and in 2003 was granted permanent residency in the U.S. based on extraordinary artistic merit. His work is included in the permanent collection of DC’s John Wilson Building.

Nevin Kelly Gallery
1517 U Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Tel: 202-232-3464
www.nevinkellygallery.com
and http://nevinkellygallery.blogspot.com/

TEN ZEN SECONDS Blog tour: WEEK Six

Author, ERIC MAISEL will be visiting an interesting group of bloggers this week to speak about his breathing and mindfulness techniques in his new book, Ten Zen Seconds . Here's the week's line up. Enjoy!

MONDAY, MAY 21
Ken Dow
www.kendow.com
www.creativityhappens.com/blog/1
Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada

Ken is a technical writer, singer/songwriter, Web developer, instructional designer, and non-fiction junkie who blogs about the nature of creativity. What is it? Why do we do it? How can we bring more of it into our lives? He is a co-developer of the Creativity Happens workshop and currently in training as a creativity coach.

Ken and Eric will chat about how the Ten Zen Seconds approach can be applied to songwriting and musical performance. Also, we’ll take a look at the distinction between a theory and a practice - is it possible to grasp Ten Zen Seconds in any real way without putting it into practice?


TUESDAY, MAY 22
Sally Nicoll
www.sallynicoll.com
Blog: www.sallynicoll.com/snblog
London, UK

Sally Nicoll is the author of Bets and the City, a Bridget Jones meets Wall Street beginner's guide to day/swing trading known in the UK as financial spread betting.

Sally and Eric will discuss how traders can profitably deploy Ten Zen Second techniques to improve decision making, cut losses and increase profits.


WEDNESDAY, MAY 23
Nanne Barkdull


THURSDAY, MAY 24
Penny Plautz
Ezines: Stress Less Living; Everyday Alchemy
Blog: www.wellpower.com
Prophetstown, Illinois

Penny Plautz is a writer and a graduate of Eric Maisel's creativity coaching program. She is the owner of TranforMotion Studios & Creativity Center where she acts as a creative catalyst to the curious in her small farming community. Her latest book, Body Confidence From the Inside Out, was published last July by Whole Person Associates. In addition to her ezines, she has a regular column in her local newspaper that reveals the workings of a creatively quirky mind called "A Penny for Your Thoughts."

Stress Less Living is all about bringing a fresh approach to the tired old subject of stress. Penny’s ezine subscribers will get a chance to ask questions about the Ten Zen Seconds approach to stress reduction.


FRIDAY, MAY 25
Kathryn Petro-Harper
www.kathrynpetroharper.com
Blog: http://kathrynpetroharper.com/mindfullife

Santa Clara, California

Kathryn is a Renaissance woman; she has worked as a librarian, psychotherapist, and community advocate. She is also a self-taught artist, poet, and an omnivorous, voracious reader. Kathryn dedicates her life to igniting curiosity, promoting creative and critical thinking, and inspiring enthusiasm in people for lifetime learning. She believes passionately in the innate creativity of all humans. In her blog, A Mindful Life, Kathryn shares her insights and discoveries with the world.

Kathryn and Eric will chat about customizing the Ten Zen Seconds approach to high-intensity situations like childbirth, arguments, and athletic competitions.


SATURDAY, MAY 26
Melanie Bowden
Blog: http://motherhood.booklocker.com
Davis, California

Melanie Bowden is a freelance writer, teacher, and mother of two. She teaches infant massage classes, writing classes, and speaks to parenting groups about postpartum issues. She is also the creator of the workshop, How To Reduce New Parent Stress. Melanie's mission is to help make the transition of others to parenthood a lot smoother than her own! She is the author of, Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me? True Stories of New Motherhood. Her blog, Spit-up on My Shoulder, provides news, information, and rants for the first-time mom.

Melanie and Eric will chat about how Ten Zen Seconds can help new mothers stay centered and mindful.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Museums reinventing themselves

The DIA's radical new look and feel
Museum hopes approach, massive makeover will help save it

Detroit Free Press article here. by Mark Stryker.

Art on Parade

Every wonder what became of that theme of putting animal sculptures on the streets in the US of A? Well, now theres a new book out that chronicles 87 of those public arts projects.

Collectively, the public art projects give a panorama of the nation, said "American Art Parades" co-publisher Karlynn Keyes -- from the "Belfast Bears" exhibit in Belfast, Maine, to the "Wild Salmon on Parade" in Anchorage, Alaska.

Take a look here.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Studying the Masters

FOUNDRY GALLERY
presents
New works by Trinka

May 30-July 1, 2007
Hours Open: Wednesday – Sunday, noon-6pm
Opening Reception: Friday, June 1, 6-8pm

Exhibit will include selected work by Novie Trump

1314 18th Street, N.W., 1st Floor
(between Massachusetts and N Streets, just off Dupont Circle)
Washington, DC 20036
202-463-0203

Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 12 - 6 pm
Metro: Dupont Circle
Parking available at commercial lot on N St NW between 17th 18th Streets

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Writer Robin Tierney's online versions of this week's articles

->>>> Examiner weekend (Sat.-Sun.) editions.

Portrait Gallery/Harry Benson, Mid City Artists,
http://dcpaper.examiner.com/content/e-edition/2007/05/19/2/29.pdf

->>>>Examiner Thursday, DC area editions. The List -
Arts section - various. Note: The List is read at
random times on Examiner partner stations such as WMAL
radio and TV.
http://dcpaper.examiner.com/content/e-edition/2007/05/17/2/28.pdf

->>>>Examiner Monday -- all regional editions. DAR
Museum’s “And So To Bed” exhibit
http://dcpaper.examiner.com/content/e-edition/2007/05/14/2/24.pdf

Contact Robin Tierney
Writer
Tierneyart@yahoo.com
301-593-1931

EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA SERIES : ColorField.remix

@ Corcoran Gallery of Art / Armand Hammer Auditorium

NIGHT #2 - MAY 30, 2007 / 7-9pm
Curated by BRANDON MORSE
[Artists TBA]

NIGHT #3 - JUNE 27, 2007 / 7-9pm
Juried from open calls by RICHARD CHARTIER + BRANDON MORSE
[Artists TBA]

WPA\C’s Experimental Media Series – ColorField.remix challenged artists to reinterpret the Color-Field artists with experimental video, sound and performance pieces. Selected works will be presented in a three-night curated and juried series. The Kraft Media Prize will be awarded to one finalist and one honorable mention finalist, selected by the jurors for Night 3. Jurors will make selections based on overall quality and innovation as it relates to Color Field influences.

CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART / ARMAND HAMMER AUDITORIUM (NY AVE)
500 17th STREET NW / WASHINGTON DC 20006
7-9 PM FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Friday, May 18, 2007

Robert Mellor: New Scenarios

May 26 - June 27
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 26, 6-8 PM

Irvine Contemporary is pleased to announce Robert Mellor’s second solo exhibition, New Scenarios, opening Saturday, May 26. Robert Mellor’s new series of paintings boldly expands his innovative fusion of hard-edge organic composition techniques and original color harmonies.

Robert Mellor, Lithe, 2007. Acrylic on canvas on panel. 48 x 40 in. The word “scenario” originally referred to the instructions on the back of painted theater scenery used as directions for actors entering a “scene.” Robert Mellor’s New Scenarios can be viewed as new propositions for visual enactment by the viewer, each work providing cues for engaging with the composition, layer by layer, edge by edge, line by line, color by color. While it can be said that any work of art comes alive as art by a viewer’s active engagement, Mellor foregrounds this relationship by composing works of arresting beauty that compel viewers to re-enact the process of composition with the artist.

In this new series of paintings, Mellor often combines references abstracted from landscape and organic forms, city scapes and architecture, Japanese woodblock prints, and cascading fabric from fashion design in totally new ways. His astonishing and original color harmonies command attention and continually reward viewers who take a contemplative pause and convert compositional space into time. Mellor is also the edge-master, sculpting visual space with his hard-edge lines and interplay of forms, working at the edge of figuration and abstraction, building paintings from multiple layers that push the works into three dimensions as substantial objects in their own right. Mellor’s New Scenarios are a set of enticements and seductions for viewers that make a bold, affirmative statement for new directions in painting today.

Robert Mellor has an MFA from Claremont University in California. He began his gallery exhibition career in Los Angeles, and now lives in works in Chatham, VA, near Washington, DC.

IRVINE CONTEMPORARY
1412 14th St ., NW, Washington, DC 20005
Gallery Hours: Tues. - Sat. 11-6 pm, and by appointment
www.irvinecontemporary.com<
(202) 332-8767
Email: info@irvinecontemporary.com

 

Thursday, May 17, 2007

MCA OPEN STUDIOS

DC Examiner article here.

Mid City Artists will be open this weekend on May 19 & 20

Many artist studios within walking distance of the Dupont/Logan Circles will be open for visitors with over 20 artists exhibiting. This is a unique opportunity to see some of DC’s most exciting artists in their ‘home environments.’ Check out the burgeoning local art scene that is finding its focus in the dynamic Mid City neighborhoods, and visit some of the supporting Galleries and art related businesses that have recently opened – following the artists into this upscale urban environment.

Who are the Mid City Artists? They are a diverse and talented group of nearly 40 professional artists who have come together for the purpose of promoting their art, and the Dupont/Logan neighborhoods they call home. It is an opportunity to integrate their art with the fast growing retail and commercial concerns that are located in this area. They are here to let you know that “there is more than a real-estate boom in Mid City - there is a group of extraordinarily talented artists who have quietly made a name for themselves by offering great art at affordable prices to the insiders who know them. The local Community has discovered this treasure, and you can discover it, too.

Mid City Artists
Where & When Weekend at Washingtonian

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

TEN ZEN SECONGS BlogTour: WEEK FIVE

Author, ERIC MAISEL will be visiting an interesting group of bloggers this week to speak about his breathing and mindfulness techniques in his new book, Ten Zen Seconds . Here's the week's line up. Enjoy!

MONDAY, MAY 14
Susan Gallacher-Turner
www.susangt.com
Blog: http://sculpturepdx.blogspot.com
Portland, Oregon

Susan is an artist and writer who exhibits mixed-media sculptural pieces, myth-based story pieces, copper repousse' and masks. She designs masks for local theater as well as presenting workshops in mask-making. Her blog features stories from her sculptural pieces, new poems and short stories as well as personal essays on the art of life and life in the arts.

The special focus of our day will be mindfulness techniques for the working artist with an emphasis on how creating islands of mindfulness outside of the studio can support and promote work inside the studio. When you can't get into the studio, how you can maintain a positive attitude to facilitate your creativity?


TUESDAY, MAY 15
Scott Davis
www.findingyourmarbles.com
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Scott is a poodle-owning, music-loving and cigar-smoking freelance writer and mental health activist based in Toronto. His blog, Finding Your Marbles, is an informative, friendly, and inspired “Handbook for life” for people suffering from mental illness. Scott's mission is to share skills that enable people to manage their day-to-day lives so that they can overcome mental illness and reach their true potential.

Scott is particularly interested in how mindfulness techniques can assist sufferers with managing their illnesses and getting on the road to recovery, with a special emphasis on short, easy-to-learn techniques that they can use to help them get through the tough moments during the day.


WEDNESDAY, MAY 16
Ray and Bernadette Smith
http://www.enlightenedink.com
http://www.enlightenedink.com/journal
Covington, Georgia, USA

Bernadette is a writer, author, artist, Feng Shui practitioner and professional organizer. Her passion is to assist others in identifying ways to create sanctuary within and without. Ray is a professional actor and artist, and integrates his love for these crafts with life experience to help others identify and express their own uniquely creative self. Their website/blog encourages self-discovery and healing through introspection, awareness, inspiration, and the creative process.

Bernadette, Ray and Eric will chat about mindfulness techniques for folks going through a major life transition such as separation, divorce, loss, disability, and aging.


THURSDAY, MAY 17 Mary Ann
no more commas period
http://nomorecommasperiod.blogspot.com/
San Francisco, California

Mary Ann is a part time writer and a full time manager at Borders Bookstore in Union Square. She is currently planning to go to Italy in 2 weeks with some women friends and is feeling guilty that she hasn't learned the entire Italian language or done more research. Mary Ann has been married forever and is a strong feminist and liberal Democrat.


FRIDAY, MAY 18 Trista Hill
http://www.tristahill.com/
http://www.tristahill.blogspot.com/
Delaware, Ohio

Trista Hill is a self-employed fine artist and musician who posts her more personal issues involving creativity on her blog so as to keep her website more professional. : ) She is a professional harpist who plays for special events in the central Ohio area, and is currently working on making a CD of her own harp compositions a reality. She creates artwork on commission, but has great aspirations to finally start a series of paintings that captures the creative and spiritual aspects of being a woman at this age, at this time, on this planet.

Trista would like to focus our day on what it feels like to work in a vacuum -- being self-employed, not having a lot of support due to relationship issues, and structuring your creative time so that you feel that you are actually making progress because you remembered why you were doing this work in the first place.


SATURDAY, MAY 19 Rahul Prabhakar
Blog: http://2brahulprabhakar.blogspot.com/
Seoul, South Korea

Rahul Prabhakar works as a technical communication professional with Samsung Electronics Company Limited. He is based out of Seoul and is passionate about consumer technologies. He is a leading member of the technical writing community in India and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology and a Diploma in Advertising Management. In the last five years, Rahul worked as a technical writer for some of the world's leading technology industry companies, such as Oracle India Pvt. Ltd. He is the owner and moderator of a technical writing discussion group called Technical Writers India. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/technical_writers_india

Rahul and Eric will chat about how technical communicators and writers can apply Ten Zen Second techniques.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Artist Talk with Hasan Elahi

Please join Civilian Art Projects for an informal discussion with internationally recognized artist, Hasan Elahi as he discusses his exhibition at Civilian, the Tracking Transience project, and his forthcoming participation in the 52nd Venice Biennale.

Artist Talk:
Friday, May 18, 2007
6:30pm to 8:00 p.m.
Free with light refreshments provided.
Seating is limited. RSVP to info@civilianartprojects.com.

Click on this link to here Hasan's recent interview on
NPR's Studio 360:

Civilian Art Projects
406 7th Street NW, Third Floor
(7th D Streets)
Washington, DC 20004
202-347-0022
www.civilianartprojects.com


Also, please check out this incredible benefit for

Hoops for Africa and launch of ON LOKATION!

WPA/CORCORAN 9 x 10 MEMBER GROUP SHOW

May 18 - June 8, 2007
OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY, MAY 18th, 6-8pm

Constance Bergfors / Kay Chernush / Jared Davis / Michele de la Menardiere / Elsabe Dixon / Fae Penland Gertsch / Julie Steinberg / Emma O'Rourke / Mark Planisek / Angela White

William W. Parker (WWP) Gallery– housed in Mickelson’s Fine Art Framing
629 New York Ave NW (Gallery Place or Mt. Vernon Metro)

And more hip hop

-- there's an opening of photos of Jonathan Manion at Govinda this coming Friday, May 18 -- and there is going to be a hip hop DJ playing at the show.

Reception: Friday, May 18, 6-9PM

Govinda Gallery
1227 34th Street NW, Washington DC 20007 T. + 202.333.1180 F. + 202.625.0440
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11AM – 6PM

The Hip Hop Project

A friend sent this over to me, to share with you...

The premier of the movie The Hip Hop Project opened this past Friday. It is an incredible and inspiring documentary. Go see the movie in the next 2 weeks - because apparently if a movie doesn't make it then, they take it out of the theaters- and it would be good if this movie stuck around awhile. In the DC area, it's showing at Dupont Circle 5 Theaters, & in theaters in Silver Spring and Marlborough.

The guy responsible for the project, Scott Rosenberg, graduated from DC's Maret School. Scott's uncle is Robert Lehreman, the art collector who has an incredible collection of Cornell's...). "The Hip Hop Project is the compelling Story of a young man named Kazi, a formerly homeless teenager, who inspires a group of New York City teens to transform their stories into powerful works of art, using hip hop as a force for hope, healing, and realization of Dreams." All the money made by the movie will be going back into supporting creativity and giving hope to youth. Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah are also backing the project. You can check it out at:

www.hiphopproject.com
myspace.com/hiphopprojectmovie
or download the music at : itunes.com/starbucks

Monday, May 14, 2007

IDB Cultural Center's 15th Anniversary Concert

The IDB Cultural Center
cordially invites you to attend a concert in honor of the
IDB Cultural Center's 15th anniversary with the

Duke Ellington School of the Arts Jazz Orchestra
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 6:30 p.m.

featuring The "New Washingtonians Jazz Orchestra" at Duke Ellington School of the Arts under the direction of Davey S. Yarborough.

Take The A-Train....................................Billy Staryhorn
Sarah Luzietti,vocals
Latin American Suite................................Duke Ellington

I Got it Bad............................................Duke Ellington

Caravan....................................................Juan Tizol

Pyramid.................................Duke Ellington/Juan Tizol

Sophisticated Lady...................................Duke Ellington

Peanut Vendor.......................................Moises Simons

C-Jam Blues.........................................Duke Ellington

Oclupaca.............................................Duke Ellington

It Don't Mean A Thing...........................Duke Ellington
Sarah Luzietti-vocals

"The Cotton Club Goes Brazilian" : This concert will help the orchestra attend and participate
in the Samba School in Brazil in June, 2007.

Saxophone: Stephen Simmons, Alexandria Daniel, Elias Clark, Reginald M. Williams, Connor Murphy, Mansoor Celestin; Trumpet: Kari Dickens, Sarah Luzietti, Tracy John, Reginald A. Williams, Mathew Peele; Trombone: Lillian Banks, Stefanie Carter, Donnell Raspberry; Tuba: Stanley Banks; Bass: Daniel Steel; Percussion: Sam Shahin, Stanley Banks; Guitar: Phillip Noss; Piano: Jenna Henderson, Jack Ozment, Aaron Clay; Violin: Ashley Parham, Elizabeth Sailer; Viola: Alec Boody

Enrique V. Iglesias Conference Center Auditorium
Inter-American Development Bank - 1330 New York Avenue NW Washington, DC at Metro Center, 13th Street exit - Free and open to the public - Photo ID required First come, first seated - Everyone is welcome.
202 623 3558

Artomatic closing weekend, May 18-20


Artomatic closing weekend, May 18-20, to offer more than 50 free events: After five entertaining, engaging and eye-popping weeks of art, performances and special events, Artomatic will go out with a bang during its closing weekend, May 18-20.

Tens of thousands of people have already visited Artomatic since it opened April 13 in Crystal City, Arlington, VA, viewing works and performances by more than 700 artists and taking part in hundreds of free, fun-filled events. Closing weekend will build on that momentum, offering more than 50 free activities, from film screenings and dance performances to poetry readings and art workshops. “Artomatic 2007 has been a rousing success, and we are throwing one heck of a party to send it off,” said George Koch, chair of Artomatic. “This is one weekend you won’t want to miss.”

Highlights of the closing weekend send-off include: • more than 30 live musical performances spanning everything from acoustic to “swankfunk mostergroove;” • a hands-on mobile-making workshop for adults and kids taught by artist Paul Sikora and an Indian tantric art drawing workshop, both on Saturday, May 19; • films such as “Tumaini Letu,” an award-winning movie that documents the struggles of people who are raising AIDS orphans in Kenya, on Saturday; • spoken word performances and poetry readings on Friday and Saturday; • “Night of the Living Theatre . . . by Dead Playwrights,” a comedy theater performance that calls on dead playrights to pitch their works to Hollywood, on Saturday; • Wes Crawford's "Rhythmic Murder Mystery" on Sunday, which challenges audience members to solve a mystery set to the beat of electronic drums; and • outdoor fire performances by Capital Fire Arts and Flights of Fire on Friday and Saturday; • a mural whitewashing with artist Trinka Margua Simon on Sunday at 7 p.m. Simon, who spent about 400 hours creating her 8th floor mural, will paint over her work on Artomatic’s closing night. The event will be filmed and played in reverse. Even people who’ve already made it to Artomatic this year will want to make a return trip, said Koch, noting that “with so many great, free activities, there is even more to see and do.”

Visitors will also want to be sure and check out one new addition to Artomatic — a display of historical patent documents on the sixth floor. Exhibited by patent researcher Randy Rabin, who rescued them from a shredder, the documents show patent drawings for inventions such as a Wright brothers flying machine, a rocket by space pioneer Robert Goddard and an electric light by Thomas Edison. The new exhibit is fitting because Artomatic is being held on two floors of a building formerly occupied by U.S. patent and trademark workers.

Held regularly since 1999, Artomatic features 90,000 square feet of paintings, sculptures, photography and other creative work. The event, which runs through May 20, is being held on the 6th and 8th floor of an office building at 2121 Crystal Drive, in Crystal City, Arlington, VA. The location is within walking distance to the Crystal City Metro station. Free garage parking is available evenings and weekends across the street from Artomatic (next to the Chevy Chase awnings), but visitors are strongly encouraged to take Metro.

ARTOMATIC
April 13–May 20, 2007
2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington, Va.
Metro stop: Crystal City
Free admission, donations accepted

HOURS:
Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Noon–10 p.m.
Thursday: Noon–11 p.m.
Friday, Saturday: Noon–1 a.m.
Closed Mondays

Sunday, May 13, 2007

8th Street Stripes


What a kool way to spend the afternoon on Saturday adding to the collective field of color stripes on 8th St. NW in Penn Quarter. I was lucky enough to arrive while the music was still playing and helped to paint an orange stripe the length of the street. Carolyn Parker was passing out t-shirts to all the volunteers painting in the street. Lots of other folk, including Rachel Dickerson and Tony Gittens from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and folks from the Corcoran Gallery of Art were wielding paint rollers and pouring the buckets of paint. Here's some pics to enjoy of the days work. Mokha Laget, long time studio assistant to Gene Davis, designed the project. She did a great design which will stay on the street for the next couple of weeks.

Link to my Flickr photos Enjoy!

Metro to Gallery Place and walk to 8th Street towards the mall. The stripes are on 8th St. NW between D & E.

Friday, May 11, 2007

TEN FABULOUS DAYS OF ARTOMATIC 2007 REMAIN

ARTOMATIC 2007
2121 Crystal Drive
Crystal City, VA

April 13 – May 20, 2007

Artomatic runs until May 20th and over 5,000 visitors came by last weekend. Over 50 more activities this weekend . . . Plan your trips to Artomatic! Plan many trips to Artomatic!

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS
Tonight: Washington Jewish Film Festival, Pizza, Workshops, Tours, Live Music, Art, and Dance PLUS MORE

Postsecret Book Signing
Saturday May 12, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Coiled Paper Basket Workshop
Sunday, May 13, 3:00 - 5:00pm

The Marketplace
Sunday, May 13, 3-8:00pm


ample free parking after 4pm & weekends - validated for 1 hr other times
2 blocks/Crystal City Metro

Fri/Sat: noon to 1 am,
Sun, Tues & Wed: noon to 10 pm
Thurs: noon to 11 pm
Open every day but Monday

Funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Battle of Puebla

The Cultural Institute of Mexico
Cordially invites you to the multimedia presentation:

Cinco de Mayo
The Battle of Puebla
by Gregorio Luke

Saturday, May 12, 4pm

Cultural Institute of Mexico
2829 16th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009
Free Admission / Limited Space Available
Preferential seating for the Institute 2007 Members
R.S.V.P. (202) 728 1675

***

Gregorio Luke will explain and illustrate Mexico's victory against French occupation forces in the Battle of Puebla, May 5th, 1862. Since 1999 Mr. Luke is the Director of the Latin American Art Museum at Long Beach, CA. He is one of the most renowned Mexican art lecturers with more than 20 years experience presenting and promoting Mexican art and culture.