The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) announces Windows by Golden Triangle, a new initiative that brings public art to windows and store fronts in DC’s central business district. Five artworks are currently on display and additional installations are planned for the coming months, injecting the neighborhood with artistry and creativity.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) announces recent major collection acquisitions that reflect a commitment to telling the fullest possible story of women in art. The newly acquired works include 166 photographs by the renowned American documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark, a large-scale portrait by artist Delita Martin, three photographs by artist Rania Matar and a sculpture by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos.
“We are so grateful to the generous donors who made these acquisitions possible,” said NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling. “We are always immensely thankful for patrons who embrace our mission and step up to help us build our collection in ways that reflect a broad spectrum of innovative approaches to contemporary art.”
On July 8, 2020 the City of Alexandria presents its newest public art installation, Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies, in Alexandria’s Waterfront Park (1 Prince St.). This new temporary installation by Olalekan Jeyifous is the second in the Site See: New Views in Old Town annual public art series, and will be on display through November 2020. It follows SOFTlab’s 2019 Mirror Mirror installation.
Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies frames Alexandria’s African American history through the lens of the city’s merchant and manufacturing industries of the 17th to 20th centuries. Once a prosperous port city that was home to one of the largest domestic slave-trading firms in the country, Alexandria was a major center for shipping and manufacturing with an economy inextricably tied to the labor of enslaved and free African Americans.
McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) received a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The organization was among the 14 Virginia arts organizations and 846 U.S. arts organizations selected to receive direct funding.
“This grant provides critical support as we continue to adapt our visual arts programming and carry out our mission during and beyond this COVID-19 pandemic,” said MPA Executive Director Lori J. Carbonneau.
On July 8, 2020, Moya Design Partners announced the completion of the new Eastern Market Metro Park–Phase 1, for the Department of General Services (DGS) in Southeast Washington DC.
Moya Design Partners, the Architect of Record on this project, joins the DC Department of General Services, Keystone Plus Construction, and the Capitol Hill community in celebrating the opening of Phase 1 of the all-new, renovated Eastern Market Metro Park (EMMP). Eastern Market is one of the few historic public market buildings left in Washington DC. The surrounding neighborhood, which also houses Barracks Row Main Street, is composed of six disparate parcels of land under complex ownership and management. In 2013-14, Barracks Row Main Street commissioned a community-led master plan that called for public space improvements surrounding the Eastern Market Metro station.
On July 2, 2020, The National Gallery of Art announced the appointment of Michael Lapthorn as chief of design. Lapthorn is currently the exhibition designer at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), where he has been creating innovative installations and exhibition design since 2014. Prior to Mia, Lapthorn was an exhibition designer and manager at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for nine years. When Lapthorn begins his tenure on July 20, he will become the Gallery’s third chief of design since the museum opened in 1941 and will succeed Mark Leithauser, who retired on July 1.
“Through his critically acclaimed work at The Met and Mia, Michael has enlivened the experience of art for millions of museum visitors. I am thrilled that he is bringing his talents to the Gallery. His experience with a wide range of art—from ancient to contemporary and from cultures around the world—will enrich and expand on the Gallery’s long legacy of exquisite exhibition and installation design,” said Kate Haw, executive officer for collections, exhibitions, and programs at the Gallery.
On June 24, 2020, The National Gallery of Art announced the acquisition of I See Red: Target (1992) by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, the first painting by a Native American artist to enter the collection. Smith, an enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation in Montana, is one of the most highly respected artists of the past 40 years. An impressive 11-foot-tall mixed-media work on canvas, I See Red: Target addresses both local and national conversations around the commercial branding of Indigenous American identity through Smith’s deftly layered assemblage of printed ephemera and painterly touches.
The acquisition was made possible by Mitchell and Emily Rales.
The following is a list of relevant grants, loans and impact surveys East City Art has compiled to assist the visual arts community.
This list will be continuously updated during the pandemic.
++Last updated: June 15++
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, announced today that the Sculpture Garden will reopen to the public on Saturday, June 20, with reduced daily hours (11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.), limited capacity, and one gate each for entry and exit. Visitors may enjoy the lush, 6.1-acre garden; meander along the curvilinear pathways; find shade and ample seating around the sprawling fountain; and discover 21 modern and contemporary outdoor sculptures. The Pavilion Café will offer prepackaged salads, sandwiches, and beverages for credit card–only purchase just outside the doors of the restaurant. The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is located between 9th and 7th Streets NW on the National Mall.
ARTSFAIRFAX announces the award of the prestigious 2020 Artist Grants to — visual artist Sarah Hardesty and writer Diane Zinna. The highly competitive individual Artist Grants recognize the exceptional work of Fairfax County artists across a range of disciplines including visual arts, creative writing, theater, dance performance and choreography, film and new media. Each $5,000 award is both a high honor and an investment in artists at critical stages in their creative lives and careers.
Glenstone Museum will reopen as an outdoor-only experience in a limited capacity on June 4 on visitor days (Thursday-Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.). This decision was made following Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s announcement that the county will enter phase one of its reopening plan on Monday, June 1.
CASA and the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (HCDC), announce that Prince George’s County designer, Clara Cornelius, of Studio Cornelius, has been selected to create the design basis for traffic box art wraps to transform select traffic signal and utility cabinets in Langley Park into vibrant public artworks.
Marking a major milestone in the completion of the Corridor of Light, a 13-year effort to create a vibrant gateway for Rosslyn’s central corridor, the installation of Luminous Bodies by Cliff Garten is set to conclude on Monday, June 1, 2020. Located at the Esplanade Bridge, North Lynn Street and Lee Highway (above I-66 and adjoining the approach to Key Bridge), these monumental sculptures mark a major entrance into Arlington from Washington DC.
In honor of America’s essential workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Luminous Bodies sculptures initially will be illuminated with a changing array of blue to blue-green light each evening (8 -10 p.m.). This #LightItBlue display will continue until the pandemic allows the artist to travel for the final programming and dedication of the sculptures.
The District of Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board’s decided on May 28, 2020 to revisit its August 1, 2019, 7-0 vote that would result in the demolition of the site-specific installation MARABAR on the National Geographic Society’s (NGS) campus. NGS’ plans to renovate the M Street plaza on their campus includes the demolition of the installation created by New York-based artist Elyn Zimmerman.
