All Art Friday

All Art Friday

Mosaic of Art Radio Program

Today, New Year's Day, at 3:00 p.m. EST, George Fishman launches his Mosaic of Art radio show on BlogTalkRadio. Though Fishman is a mosaicist and will discuss mosaic art, he intends to focus his program on "the making and distribution of visual art" in all media by talking with artists, curators, historians, dealers, collectors, art publishers, and others about creative processes, technical issues, tools and materials, and business perspectives. The show, he says, is "for anyone who's interested in learning how imagination is cultivated and fed and how it translates itself into tangible objects." It will be a mix of live interviews, call-ins, and recorded content, with peeks into studios and galleries. All programs will be archived.

Commenting on his show's title, Fishman explains, "A mosaic is a pattern or picture that's made of hundreds or thousands of small units — whether glass, ceramic, stone or some other material — that are organized and assembled coherently. In a comparable way, we find artists and other  players in the art/design world working with different ideas and materials, but — looked at collectively — sharing in an enterprise we can call ART. This show will give voice to the individuals and also look into the ideas and themes they share."

The show will broadcast regularly on Sundays, from 3:00 p.m. EST to 4:00 p.m. EST. Fishman (gfmosaics@bellsouth.net) welcomes ideas for features and discussions.


Shows Close to Home

Irvine Contemporary (1412 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 2005; 202-332-8767) is presenting, through January 30, The Struggle to Right Oneself, an ongoing photography project by Kerry Skarbakka. On January 9, the gallery plans an artist talk and screening of Skarbakka's new video, "Attraction of Elements"; the evening will include a live music performance by Yoko K. For hours or other information, telephone the gallery, visit the Website, or e-mail info@irvinecontemporary.com.

Also showing through January, at the Gallery at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (Washington, D.C.), is Appliqued, Fabricated & Cast, an exhibition of tapestry by Amanda Richardson and sculpture by Paul Martin Wolff. This show is under the auspices of Zenith Gallery. For hours or other information, telephone 202-783-2963 or e-mail art@zenithgallery.com.

In Richmond, Fragments of Our Imagination: Narrative Jewelry by the Collaborative Partnership of Kranitzky & Overstreet, opens January 15 at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond (1812 West Main Street; 804-353-0084). The exhibition features one-of-a-kind jewelry hand-crafted from found or scavenged objects by Richmond artists Robin Kranitzky and Kim Overstreet — collaborators for more than 20 years since starting their jewelry venture Lost & Found. The show, which runs through March 21, is presented in conjunction with Minds Wide Open: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts, the first statewide celebration of its kind. Gallery hours are Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.; Sunday, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Featured above is one of the artists' mixed media "narrative" brooches, which are sought by collectors and are in the permanent collections of such museums as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This particular object is featured on the cover of the artists' book, Symbiotic Realms: Selected Works 1985 - 2008.

To visit Kranitzky and Overstreet's Website, click here. Their online gallery is here.

Between March and June 2010, Minds Wide Open will feature scores of special events throughout the state to honor women's contributions to the arts and culture.


Exhibition Farther Afield

Collage: Piecing It Together is on view through February 28, at the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine. Comprising 34 works from the museum's collection and loans from contemporary Maine artists, the exhibit explores the history of collage from the early 20th Century to the present and demonstrates how collage techniques are used to produce photomontages, printmaking and cut-paper compositions, assemblages of deconstructed book illustrations, paintings with collaged figurative elements, and abstract "pieced" works that use newsprint and colored papers. A complete list of the exhibition's artists is here.


Artist Call

Are you an eco-aware artist? The Urban Forest Project needs your help to "plant" 100 street banners in downtown Washington, D.C. to help encourage public participation in the city's environmental efforts.

Each banner in the "forest" is to address a "pressing" environmental issue through visual interpretation of an idea about, a metaphor for, or a form or characteristic of a tree. The only constraint is that the banner not advertise a brand or product, or endorse any political party or group. A complete project description and banner specifications are here. Art submissions are due January 8.

The project was conceived by Worldstudio and is presented in collaboration with the District Department of Transportation, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, AIGA DC, and Corcoran College of Art and Design.

Questions should be referred to Rachel Dickerson, D.C. Commission on the Arts; telephone 202-724-5617 or e-mail rachel.dickerson@dc.gov.


Ask Joan of Art

Do you have a question about an American artist or his or her work? If you do and can't seem to find a satisfactory answer, or any answer at all, don't hesitate to take advantage of the art specialists at Smithsonian American Art Museum, who maintain Ask Joan of Art, the "longest running arts-based electronic reference service in the country". Go here to submit your question. Using their own print and electronic resources, the specialists from SAAM's Research and Scholars Center will provide a brief answer or direct you to sources you can use. They'll post questions weekly on the Website and publish the Best of Ask Joan of Art on SAAM's blog Eye Level. Ask Joan of Art also is on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/askjoanofart.


Arts Field Forecasting Recapped

Take a look here at Barry Hessenius's "Looking Back on Five Years of Predictions", which ranges over the issues and challenges the arts present, from audience development to advocacy to arts education.


He Said It!

". . . museums thrive on exchanges of energy, information, and influence. They crave audiences and exist to create a conversation with them. In the case of museums of contemporary art, that conversation should be about what sort of people we are, what sort of historical moment we're creating together—and what sort of art we all deserve. . . ." ~ Jeffry Cudlin*, "The Year in Museums", Washington City Paper, December 23, 2009

* Jeffry Cudlin is an artist, curator, art critic, and musician. He is the exhibitions director for Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, Virginia. He blogs at Hatchets and Skewers.

Happy New Year 2010!