We decided to conduct an experiment. We asked artists to take a gamble and offer up their work for a raffle during the Hyattsville Arts Festival on this past May 22nd. We had a ton of foot traffic and a great deal of attention last year, so we figured this was an opportunity to take advantage and develop a different way to sell art.
Kevin Mellema stepped up to the plate and brought a few drawings by my place that were previously on display in the Lee Art Center. Kevin’s work “Ponytail #3″ pictured below really spoke to me, and he agreed to offer it for a raffle. One extremely lucky art lover was going to get an amazing deal!
Ponytail #3
The raffle idea is a bit unusual since it fights the traditional affluent art buying mentality. It’s still an expensive work of art, but one lucky collector will get the work through funding developed by the masses, not the individual wallet. We had to protect the artist with a minimum. It would be a travesty if the gamble failed and he only received pocket change for his work. The project was successful, and we sold enough tickets to pick a winner.
At the close of the day, Amy and I tossed all of the tickets into a pitcher, shook them up, and then she picked one at random! There was no bias! (see the video below!) Kevin and I are both quite pleased that the winner is an artist and an art lover. Which means it will go to a loving home where it will get the respect it deserves.
The artdc Gallery has entered a new realm with this show. Grayson is a tremendous Maryland area artist with an eye for creativity and roots in metal work and sculpture. Artists curating art shows create a unique view outside of the traditional. He’s selected artists with new applications to traditional and non-traditional materials. Stop by and witness work that steps far outside the usual area art show. We often struggle to find superlatives with impact. Here, words, even superlatives, can not produce enough praise for the quality of work in this exhibition.
The opening reception will be April 10th, a Saturday, from 6-9 pm. The show consists of numerous Maryland artists’ works of a larger size and varying mediums; sculpture, painting, drawing, instalation and mixed media. There will be beverages, snacks and great art! Please come and support Maryland artists and the rising Hyattsville Arts District. The show will be held at artdc on Route 1 in Hyatysville, MD.
Participating Artists;
Caroline Battle, Michael Booker, Felicia Glidden, Peter Gordon, Grayson Heck, Jeff Martin, Sarah Martin, Audrey Sackner-Bernstein, Timothy Thompson, Alexandra Radocchia Zealand, and Jesse Cohen.
Check out some install pics shot by Alexandra Zealand:
Just in time for the show’s closing, BRASH dropped off the first run of Lustrous chapbooks at the artdc Gallery in the LUSTine center. They’re already selling, so get your order in if you want one. It’s a different approach that the usual postings done in the past at places like Artomatic and the ZIP Code show in that the poems are compiled in one place, so you can have a take-home collection that spans the entire show. An added twist (from BRASH’s much twisted sensibilities) is that the poems are not directly attributed to the work that inspired them. (There’s also a poem in there about the trash can at the LUSTine center–that’s assuredly not about any of the art!, as well as a small tribute to the wild weather of February 2010 and an examination of Olympic Ice Dancing as a metaphor for love.) I’m told that this is so you the artist can decide which one goes with your work, and then explain why by writing to BRASH@bust.com. The books, put together in an interesting 3 panel way, have identical poetry in each copy, but are compiled randomly, so that different books juxtapose different poems. There are almost 100 poems for the low price of $13, five of which goes to support ArtDC ventures. I’m also told that because the formatted file of the poems was lost right after printing the first draft copy, these early runs will include all the errors and errata that make early runs so much more valuable! So get your copy now!
We must send out our thanks to the benefactor again! We posted previously about the benefactor here where they showed their artdc support with the gift of a silver “I love artdc” piggy bank filled with monopoly money and the hopes that it may draw more community support. Shortly after our Valentines Day opening for the “Lust…” show, Alex from EYA dropped off a package that they received for us. It was another benefactor gift with the idea of using Candy as a fund raiser! We want to send out our Overdue Thanks.
We’re so pleased that there’s a Secret individual out there wishing us support and great hopes for the future. It takes a lot of energy to step out and do something. We’re glad the benefactor did.
Alex, a close friend of artdc.org just sent this ebay link via email. This is it. I feel like Dean Moriarty writing this. You have to check out this item. It’s a sculpture that sells it self. This is Robert Morris taken to a new level. It’s not the sound of it’s own making. It develops it’s own sale. It has 12 bids and is up to over $4,000.00 plus $50.00 shipping. You own it until it sells it self again.
Evidently it pings a server every 10 minutes to make sure that it’s still for sale.
This goes beyond artificial intelligence, it’s something different. I’d love to see the auction history for this item with past and future sales.
We were really pleased to hear that a small package was delivered to the gallery via the EYA sales office. I opened the package and with great surprise, the benefactor sent us a gift! They want the world to support artdc.org so they sent us a great shiny silver piggy bank! Kim from EYA was very excited by the Benefactor’s idea. She loved the fact that they offered this kind of support and affirmation in small ways with big meanings. Personally, it had a great impact on us. Someone is willing to think about us and let us know that we’re doing something right.
We send our thanks to the benefactor! Check out these shots unpacking the bank and monopoly money. Here’s an image of the box shortly after we opened it under a painting by Jill Hackney.
We thought the bank looked so good in the gallery that we put in on a pedestal for display! Let’s hope the public get’s the point and supports us!
Here’s a full shot of the bank on the pedestal. We think it looks great in the space!
Maybe the monopoly money was a little prod at the Washington Post’s Reliable Source accusations of a connection with the collector. (scroll down to read their blurb about “The Collector’s Identity? It’s as Clear as Frosted Glass.”)
We just heard from Michael Winger that Bill Taylor died. Bill Was Sy Gresser’s teacher, and it’s mean a lot for us to get to see the progression of work from one generation to the next. From Bill, to Sy, to Michael. It’s been a rare and unusual gift. I finally was able to really see the connection between Sy and Bill at their recent UMUC show which we posted here. This is a tremendous loss for the DC area art scene. I hear their show may remain up for a few extra days, so I highly suggest you see it while you can.
For some more background about Bill and Sy, please read this article at the City Paper. I was so pleased to see them write this artist’s profile.
Join attorney John D. Mason for a discussion of legal issues artists face–from copyright and trademark to contracts on December 12th, 1pm at the artdc Gallery. Questions are welcome.
Mr. Mason is a Washington DC/Maryland based art, entertainment, and intellectual property attorney. His practice focuses on copyright and trademark matters, litigation, contracts, and commercial matters. He works with artists, writers and creative people and companies to protect and exploit their work and is also a literary agent. He is on the Advisory Board of the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington and the Board of Director of Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts. The website for his firm, The Intellectual Property Group, PLLC, is www.artlaws.com and his e-mail is artlaws2@aol.com.
Find the schedule of events for a Day of art, music, and creativity here.
Yesterday, I stopped by the Art League at the Torpedo Factory to Jury a new show entitled Becoming Animal. The show runs from November 4 to December 7, 2009. Artists were asked to explore the animal within us all or submit images of animals real or imaginary including everything from our favorite pets to endangered and/or extinct species. Artists are also encouraged to explore the fine line between humans and animals. It was my goal to develop a selection of works that did exactly that. It was important for me to attempt to move beyond the average pet picture and find raw emotion with in a tremendous pool of work.
There were well over 450 submissions which made this a tough yet pleasurable task. The Art League is an organized movement which could give Seiko or even a Rolex a run for the money. I was amazed at the attention. There were 5 or 6 volunteers dedicated to helping the process run smoothly. They insisted on bringing the work to me to view it. I felt guilty watching them run from one pile to the next bringing me art. In the end, I was exhausted, yet they had to feel it more since they were constantly running back and forth!
The most difficult task was saying no, over 35o times, such an un-Dale Carnegie task. (I keep hearing his instructions, make them say yes!)
The Art League’s marketing manager too notes on our discussion about the curatorial process, and what I looked for to include a work. At which point, I had to say, there could have been 2 or 3 other shows in this body of work.
One image or painting wasn’t better than another, the chosen works seemed to fit the theme better. Some were picked for their raw emotion, others for my opinion of great skill, and many things in-between. I would have loved to come back for a later visit to think more about which images were chosen, however the spontaneity of the of the process is part of the excitement, and it ads to the show. I like the outcome.
