ECA News Briefs

The National Gallery of Art announced today the appointment of Steven Nelson as Dean of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA). Nelson is currently the Andrew W. Mellon Professor at CASVA (2018–2020), on leave from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he is professor of African and African American art history and director of the UCLA African Studies Center. Nelson will become CASVA’s third dean since its founding in 1979 and will succeed Elizabeth Cropper, who will retire in late May 2020. Nelson will begin his tenure in July.

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The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) announces the selection of artists Jackie Hoysted, Kirsty Little, and Joanne Miller to inspire environmentally friendly living through the Sustainable Environmental Public Art Project Initiative (Initiative). A collaboration between AHCMC and the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), this Initiative facilitates our community’s collective reflection on the state of our environment regarding climate change, waste reduction and water quality.

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This March, for Women’s History Month, #5WomenArtists, the global social media campaign promoting gender equity, is highlighting art and activism.

Can you name five women artists? Spearheaded by the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), #5WomenArtists is entering its fifth year of calling attention to the inequitable treatment of women in the art world, with a focus in 2020 on women artists working towards social change.

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Grand Prize-winning Works To Be Displayed Alongside Museum’s Exhibition “The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today”

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced Chiemeka Offor of California and Sofia Gress of Florida as the grand-prize winners of the museum’s nationwide Teen Portrait Competition. Open to students between the ages of 13 and 17 residing in the U.S. and its territories, the competition yielded 15 finalists, with Offor and Gress taking home the top prizes. The museum received 629 eligible entries from 45 states; the rules for this edition specified that portraits must be in the medium of photography. The entries were reviewed by the Portrait Gallery’s Teen Museum Council, a group of 20 high school students from Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia who create interactive programs and events inspired by the Portrait Gallery’s collection. The Teen Museum Council’s objective is to increase teen engagement with the museum.

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Hill Center Galleries is proud to announce the winners of the Hill Center Galleries Juried Exhibition. Juried by Myrtis Bedolla, owner of Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD, 165 artists submitted nearly 700 pieces for consideration. Bedolla selected 94 pieces for the show, representing work from over 80 artists. At the exhibition’s opening reception on February 5, Bedolla announced the award winners:

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The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced a five-city tour next year of the portraits of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively, that will launch during the summer of 2021. Next year, in mid-May 2021, the Obama portraits, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, will temporarily go off view from the museum’s exhibitions for tour preparation.

The tour will commence in Chicago, June 18, 2021, and will continue, with the works traveling across the country, through May 30, 2022. This is one of several initiatives being set by the Portrait Gallery to engage communities nationwide throughout the next four years. The artworks are expected to reach millions of people who may not be able to visit Washington, DC.

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Two Fairfax County Public Schools will explore a deeper engagement with the arts as part of the ARTSFAIRFAX Artist Residency Program. Students in Rocky Run Middle School and Lake Braddock Secondary School art programs will work with artists who connect 3D art exploration through mosaics and dance to history, language arts, and creative writing to offer students engaging, unique, and innovative learning experiences.

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The National Gallery of Art, Washington, announced today that Eve Straussman-Pflanzer has been appointed curator and head of Italian and Spanish paintings. She will begin the post in June 2020. Straussman-Pflanzer is currently head of the European art department and the Elizabeth and Allan Shelden Curator of European Paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts, where she has worked since 2016. Straussman-Pflanzer has previously held posts at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum in Massachusetts, the Art Institute of Chicago, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In her new position at the Gallery, Straussman-Pflanzer will succeed David Alan Brown, who retired in 2019 after serving 45 years as curator.

“I am delighted to welcome Eve to Washington and to the National Gallery of Art team. She inherits an important collection of Italian and Spanish paintings—one that includes our beloved Ginevra de’ Benci by Leonardo da Vinci,” said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art. “Eve’s experience, scholarship, and creativity will enable us to understand and exhibit that collection in new ways while also fueling visitor curiosity about the extraordinary works we hold in trust for the nation.”

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Expansive Exhibition Will Trace Gilliam’s Six-Decade Career.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will present the first American museum retrospective of Sam Gilliam in more than 15 years opening in spring 2022. This groundbreaking exhibition will encompass Gilliam’s six-decade-long practice, from his early explorations of the ideas of the Washington Color School and his now-iconic “Drape” compositions to key examples of his most recent work.

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Each year, Joe’s Movement Emporium recognizes movers and shakers in our Joe’s universe with the “Mighty Joe” awards. These individuals make Joe’s programs possible. This March 28, 2020 at 7 pm Joe’s celebrates 25 Years and Beyond of inspiring creative community development through diverse cultural experiences with the out-of-this-world Futuristic Glam Gala in its Mount Rainier, MD facility.

The 2020 Mighty Joe Awards will be presented during this interstellar event in the Meyer Performance Theater. Liftoff is Saturday, March 28th at 7 pm. Sponsorships and tickets to this out-of-space-themed event, are now available at www.joesmovement.org/glam. Glam Rock Fabulous, Afro-Futuristic Fierce, Star Trek Stunning,  Super Hero Chic costumes encouraged.

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Hamiltonian Artists is pleased to name Lily Siegel as its first Executive Director effective February 18., 2020. The organization is moving forward with a bold new restructuring that formally combines the fellowship program Hamiltonian Artists and Hamiltonian Gallery under a single banner of the 501c3 nonprofit Hamiltonian Artists. Siegel comes to Hamiltonian from Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) in Reston, VA, where she has served as Executive Director and Curator since 2016.

“Ms. Siegel’s experience and energy will be a great boost in Hamiltonian’s reorganization plan to continue to provide our signature professional development programs for emerging artists into the next decade. We are excited to have her leading our growing Hamiltonian Family forward,” says Founder of Hamiltonian Artists and Hamiltonian Gallery, Paul So.

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WPA is thrilled to announce the launch of a new funding source for public-facing alternative and experimental visual art projects inside the nation’s Beltway: Wherewithal Grants. Generously funded with a $200,000, two-year grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts as part of its regional regranting program, Wherewithal Grants are intended to both sustain and stimulate artist-organized culture and ensure that DIY and visual art practices continue to be valued in the DC region.

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The long anticipated Buoyant Force by Sue Wrbican was delivered and placed Friday, January 31. A formal community celebration is being planned for the Spring. Stay tuned for more information.

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It was night-time and we were somewhere in between Mississippi and Louisiana. It had been a long day of driving (and just a little bit of bickering) and we just wanted to get to our campsite.

Tom suddenly looked concerned. “The car just did something weird. But maybe it was nothing…”

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