Reception: Friday, August 5 from 6pm to 8:30pm
Principle Gallery, in partnership with Torpedo Factory Art Center, presents a new exhibition featuring artwork by artists recently juried into studio space atTorpedo Factory Art Center. Artists exhibiting include both new and returning Resident Artists, as well as Artists Pro Tem who are eligible to sublease and take part in TFAC programs. New Resident Artists will move into their studios in the fall. The exhibition, curated by Principle Gallery, offers the public a first view of artwork by the artists selected for the Art Center.
The jurying of artists was a highly competitive process which took place in three phases. Phase I was a blind review of only artwork. Phase II reviewed the artist’s ability to communicate about their work and the progression of their artistic careers. In Phase III, jurors reviewed artwork in person and provided an opportunity for the artists to present directly to the jurors. The process is built on equity, transparency, and best practices. Professional curators, professors, and artists in the field jury and score the applicants.
Jurors include: (Bios below)
- Zoë Charlton, MFA, Acclaimed artist, and Professor of Art at American University
- Jaynelle Hazard, MA, Executive Director and Curator of Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art
- Jack Rasmussen, PhD, Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center
- John Ruppert, MFA, Acclaimed artist, and Professor of Art at the University of Maryland
This new annual jury process demonstrates the City’s commitment to the arts and maintaining the building as an Art Center with the highest quality artists at its heart. The Art Center’s Vibrancy Initiative, based on the City Council-approved Action Plan, called for a new jury and re-jury process that is grounded in best practices, with selection based on art quality, artist’s ability to work and interact with the public, working for the greater good of Art Center/community, and diversity including media, place in career, and personal background.
While the artists were selected through the Art Center’s process, Principle Gallery curated the artwork into a unified exhibition. Artwork on view will include paintings, ceramics, jewelry, sculpture, new technology, and more.
Brett John Johnson, Director of Torpedo Factory Art Center explains “Artists are the most important part of the Art Center, and we are excited to share their work in one exciting exhibition. Partnering with Principle Gallery gives artists an opportunity to exhibit in a professional gallery while creating a more outward-looking Art Center connecting directly to the community.”
According to Principle Gallery’s Director Clint Mansell, “Now more than ever, it’s important for arts organizations to collaborate in support of the arts, artists, and disseminating culture. The Torpedo Factory Art Center has been an institution in Old Town for almost 50 years and we are excited to team up for the first time to usher in the new class of artists and a new day for the institution.”
Featured Artists:
- Yuting Chang
- Jessica Valoris
- Sarah Bentley
- Leah Sturgis
- Susan Cohen
- Anna Shakeeva
- Ahmed Nasser Akari
- Ruth Gowell
- Heasoon A. Rhee
- Sally Veach
- Rashad Muhammad
- Beverly Ryan
- Donna Lomangino
- Dhamin Jassim
- Courtney Kolker
- Anthony Nsofor
- Pete Kledaras
- Iryna Smitchkova
- Christine Manwiller
- John T Allen
- Matthew Harwood
- Gregory Logan Dunn
- June Yun
- Minwei Liang
- Rachel Collins
- Marsha Staiger
- Antonio G Scott
- Calina Franzosa
- Tamara Wilkerson
- Ellen Delaney
- Mary Beth Gaiarin
- Heidi Mraz
- Jacelyn Orellana
- Mike Stevens
- Sierra Barnes
- Alanna Rivera
- Vanessa Colina
- Beth Pacentrilli
About the Jurors
Zoë Charlton, MFA, is an acclaimed artist with an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. She has held residencies in Texas, Wyoming, Maine, and Maryland. Her work has been included in national and international exhibitions and is part of the collection with The Phillips Collection in D.C., Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Ark., Birmingham Museum of Art in Ala., and Studio Museum in Harlem, NY. Charlton is a Professor of Art at American University in Washington, D.C., holds a seat on the Maryland State Arts Council, and is a board member at the Washington Project for the Arts in DC. Charlton is serving with the Baltimore Museum of Art to reimagine equitable and accountable structures and functions of cultural institutions within diverse local and regional communities.
Jaynelle Hazard, MA, is the Executive Director and Curator of Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA). In previous roles, she has served as director of exhibitions at Workhouse Arts Center, supported various art programs such as the corporate contemporary art collection at UBS, and worked with Blank Projects, a contemporary art gallery in Cape Town, South Africa. Hazard holds a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Arts from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York. She currently serves as the co-chair for the Washington, DC. Chapter of Sotheby’s Institute of Art Alumni and is on the executive committee for the D.C. Chapter of ArtTable, Inc., a professional organization dedicated to advancing the leadership of women in the visual arts.
Jack Rasmussen, Ph.D., is the Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, D.C. Rasmussen earned his Bachelor’s in Art from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., before moving to Washington, D.C., and completing an MFA in Painting, an MA in Arts Management, and MA and Ph.D. in Anthropology at American University. He has worked at the National Gallery of Art and the Washington Project for the Arts. He launched and operated Rockville Arts Place (now VisArts), served as executive director of the Maryland Art Place (MAP), and the di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature, a contemporary art museum and natural habitat in Napa, Calif. Rasmussen is president of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums and is a member of the board of directors for the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival.
John Ruppert, MFA, has been a Professor of Art at the University of Maryland, College Park, for 35 years and the Department Chair for 13. His MFA is from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. Ruppert’s 40-year career began in cast metals and now includes video, 3D printing, and digital-composite photography. He’s shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in museums, sculpture parks, and galleries across the U.S. and abroad, including in China, Latvia, Finland, and Poland. He held international residencies in Iceland, Italy, France, and the Arctic Circle. His art has been reviewed in Art in America, New Art Examiner, The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, The New York Times, Art China, and Sculpture magazine. He’s been awarded five Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist grants, the Mary Sawyers Baker Award, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award.
About Principle Gallery
With locations in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and historic Charleston, South Carolina, Principle Gallery has been dedicated to exhibiting the best of American & European Contemporary Realism since opening in 1994. Focusing on paintings in oil and bronze sculpture, the gallery represents emerging, mid-career and established artists with a distinctly personal approach to their work. Principle Gallery gains great exposure for its artists through solo exhibitions, selective group shows, and national art fairs. For more information: www.principlegallery.com
