Deadline to submit: February 16, 2018

Exhibition dates: December 15 2018February 9, 2018

Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) invites artists to submit a proposal for new artwork in response to the prompt, “If you could do anything, what would that be?”

Five artists will be selected by Guest Curator Don Rossell and GRACE Associate Curator Erica Harriosn to participate in the 2018 Mary B. Howard Invitational: STRETCH. The exhibition is named in memory of Mary B. Howard, an artist, longitme board member, and staunch supporter of the Greater Reston Arts Center. Selected artists will receive a $250 honorarium and $1000 for materials.

A written proposal of work in response to the prompt, “if you could do anything what would that be?” (500 words max.), Artist statement (250 words max.), CV or resume, Ten (10) images of past work.

For more information, click here

  1. Tell me a little bit about your background? When did you begin working for BOPA?
    I began in 1985 as an event coordinator for the Baltimore Office of Promotion and Tourism.  I oversaw the Baltimore Farmers’ Market, Kid’s Stuff Program, July 4th & New Year’s Eve fireworks, and worked on the Preakness and Thanksgiving Parades. I left briefly to go to the Baltimore Convention Center where I worked as an account executive, then I returned to BOP (Baltimore Office of Promotion) in 1989 as the Assistant Promotions Director. We didn’t become BOPA until 2001 when we merged with the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Art and Culture (MACAC). My role progressed to Director of Promotions, to Deputy Director, then Chief Operating Officer, and now interim CEO.

  2. What does a typical day look like for you? Actually, my days vary and are multi-faceted. They are most often a mixture of pressing matters that need immediate attention and action, combined with items that require long range planning. I usually have a full schedule of meetings in and out of the office. So in many ways, my typical day is not typical. I also get a lot of calls from people outside the office who want to do an event and need help finding a contact or seeking information on logistics.

  3. How has your role changed since assuming the position of Interim CEO?
    My role has changed significantly. In addition to serving as Interim CEO, I am overseeing finance during this interim period. Also, as Interim CEO, I interface more with City Hall by attending cabinet meetings and regular touch-base meetings with the Mayor’s Office.

  4. What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve dealt with since becoming Interim CEO?
    I think the biggest and most exciting challenge right now is keeping the momentum going at an effective, productive and creative level. BOPA never has a slow time of year, so solid organization is key. During this period, Festivals Director Kathy Hornig, who has now become interim COO, has been doing an excellent job tracking and organizing all the current issues that need to be addressed.  Kathy, Chief of External Affairs Donna Drew Sawyer and I meet on a weekly basis to go over any pressing issues. I find this helpful to keep everyone in the loop, get answers quickly, and maintain steady lines of communication. This is vital because, as you know, we move at a very fast pace here. In addition, we have stepped up our meetings with the department directors, which used to be monthly, to occur bi-weekly. Most importantly, we are very fortunate to have such strong, committed and creative staff here at BOPA to help meet our goals.

  5. What is the most rewarding thing to you about your job?
    I find it very rewarding to see the tremendous positive impact our events and programs have on the Baltimore community, both on the arts community and the community at large. Sometimes, we ourselves take it for granted, because when it’s your job, you don’t always stand back and look at the positives, but when you see the media coverage and the economic impact, you realize what a big deal it is. Our reach now, especially with Light City, is becoming more national. We’re getting even more international artists and I hear that in the international light artist world, people are talking about Baltimore. Through our grants, arts programs and festivals, and facilities, we are able to enhance the Baltimore experience and produce good news for our city. It’s good to work at a place where you’re always planning positive and meaningful programs that affect the community and in fact, make people want to come to Baltimore and live here. You can’t do that everywhere.

  6. What are your hopes for BOPA’s future in the next five years? My hope for BOPA in the next five years is that we can continue to do the good work that we do, that we build on our successes and reinforce the BOPA brand. For so many years we’ve done these large events and didn’t say that they were produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts. Not everyone knows about BOPA and we haven’t always been good about putting ourselves out there. Now, we realize how important that is that people understand the BOPA brand. It’s also important that sponsors understand we are a nonprofit when we’re going out to raise money, so we can keep our events free and open to the public. I would like to grow our events and programs to include an even larger audience on a national scale, to expand our reach to more national sponsors, and to provide more employment opportunities for Baltimoreans. We employ a lot of Baltimore artists, as you know, and a lot of people through our events, so I would like to expand that.

  7. Anything else you’d like to add?
    My answer, if someone asked me why I wanted to work here, would be that you just can’t do this kind of thing anywhere else. It’s very rare that you can work somewhere where you’re doing arts programming, annual events, running facilities, helping to plan a Super Bowl parade or a Fan Fest for the World Series. It’s very unique, and always changing. 

Diedra Krieger’s Plastic Fantastic

Art in the Open (AiO), a partnership between The Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA)City Parks Association, and Fairmount Water Works, re-frames the ‘plein air’ tradition of creating art outside and on-site in a contemporary context, encouraging both artists and audiences to draw inspiration from the city’s diverse natural and urban landscapes. Using the Schuylkill River Banks Park as studio space, participating artists will have the opportunity to explore new working methods, develop process-oriented works, and interpret a compelling intersection of urban and natural environments in the public realm. Selected artists will also be able to participate in complementary programs and public engagement events presented by more than 30 organizational partners, as well as exhibit their finished work as part of the 2018-2019 AiO exhibition series. AiO reaches an estimated 12,000 visitors over the course of the three-day event.

Deadline: February 1, 2018

For more information, click here

Gormley Gallery at Notre Dame of Maryland University is now accepting entries for the 29th National Drawing and Print Competitive Exhibition. This year’s juror is Kim Domanski, Public Art Coordinator for Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts. For a fee of $36 artists may submit up to 3 drawings or prints. A minimum of $1,500 will be available in purchase prize awards.

DEADLINE: January 31st, 2018

For more information, click here.  To apply, click here. 

Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo) seeks proposals for site-specific, temporary public art that will enliven the East Avenue neighborhood. We welcome and encourage proposals for incisive, surprising, and unique sculpture and installation art of all forms, including electronic media-based works that can be presented outside. Of particular interest are projects that connect visitors to the location, buildings, park landscape, community and/or history of the neighborhood. Proposals for works that prompt visitors to return multiple times to experience changes in the piece are encouraged. RoCo welcomes visual artists, sculptors, sound artists, performing artists, photographers, filmmakers, and others to submit a proposal. Download the full RFP document here:  rocopublicartrfp2018.pdf

“We Interrupt this Program…”

An art show about disrupting the straight male gaze in sci-fi/fantasy art, including visual art, film and video games.

In Laura Mulvey’s 1975 essay Visual and Other Pleasures, the concept of the male gaze in cinema is outlined as a visual narrative controlled by an active male character and a passive female character. Simply put, the story is told, and viewed by the audience, through the eyes of a heterosexual male. Consequently, the story depicts the female character in “their traditional exhibitionist role” and are “looked at and displayed”.

Despite depicting imaginary worlds where anything is possible, all too often sci-fi and fantasy artistic mediums fall victim to the male gaze, objectifying women, underutilizing depth of character development, or failing to cast women as well as others in the LGBTQA community in central roles.  We Interrupt this Program.. Is an art show aimed to disrupt the male gaze in sci-fi and fantasy mediums. The show will open to the public on April 7, 2018, and be on view until May 27, 2018.

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