2016 Open Studio Tour Highlight: Herbert Bearman Gallery

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Herbert Bearman Gallery at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Meyers Museum, Curator: Marsha Reeves Jews

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Can you tell us a little bit about the work that you do in your studio?

 

The Herbert Bearman Gallery at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Meyers Museum is a lovely venue on the third floor of the museum overlooking the Baltimore Harbor. Currently we are featuring the exhibition “Fresh Air”, New works by Greg Fletcher and Leslie Schwing.
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What drew you to the medium(s) that you are currently working with?

 

This husband and wife artist team paint Baltimore City from a fresh and intriguing perspective. They focus on the hidden, the obscure and often ignored places revealing a sense of magic and wonder. From the spiritual to the humorous one is always surprised when looking at their work.
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What is something that you think is unique about your studio or practice?

 

Fletcher and Schwing go out daily to find their subjects. They begin their paintings at the site, often spending hours amidst rubble and decay, as if on an art picnic of their own, with their dog Pablo Picasso in tow. They then return to their separate studios and weave the works into final form which display distinctly different visions. They have been working this way together for over 20 years.
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What is one thing you love about being an artist in Baltimore?

 

Baltimore is so full of talent and vision. We at the Herbert Bearman Gallery feel fortunate to be able to share the works of these artists with our visitors.
What are you most excited about for this year’s Open Studio Tour?

 

This is our first year opening to the School 33 Tour. We look forward to seeing you all.
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The Herbert Bearman Gallery at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Meyers Museum will be open on Sunday, October 9 from 12pm-6pm, located at 1417 Thames Street!

Call for Artists: Public Art Project at Enoch Pratt Library, Hampden

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Request for Qualifications: Public Art for the Enoch Pratt Hampden Branch

Due: November 6, 2016

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) in collaboration with the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Baltimore City Department of General Services seeks a professional artist or artist team to design and produce unique, site specific public artwork for the interior of the soon to be renovated, Enoch Pratt Hampden Branch.  The planned renovations will retain the historic nature of building while bringing a more contemporary library layout and increasing accessibility. The renovations also include the addition of a community meeting space on the lowest floor of the building. This request for qualifications, seeks to identify an experienced professional artist to design and create new work to be permanently installed at the branch, and become part of the City of Baltimore’s public art collection.

To Apply: Click here for the RFQ and application link

Call for Artists: “How To” Video Festival

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Arlington Arts is now accepting submissions for its first “How To” Video Festival featuring screenings of instructional videos that are informative and entertaining. Makers, artists, amateurs and professionals of all types are encouraged to create and submit videos on any subject that teach, inform and entertain.

This call is open to residents of Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC aged 10 years or older. The call is open to amateurs and professionals alike.

Limit of one entry per person or group.

Participants under 18 years of age will be required to provide written parental consent.

Videos will be juried by Arlington Cultural Affairs New Media Curator Paul Shortt with special guest juror, Gareth Branwyn. Branwyn will also present a $250 Best Video Prize provided my LMO. A People’s Choice Award of 3 months of membership and two classes at TechShop DC-Arlington.

There is no fee to submit, but all videos must be 5 minutes or shorter.

Deadline: October 7th, 2016.

The “How To” Video Festival will take place on November 12, 2016 at the Spectrum Theatre: 1611 N. Kent St, Arlington, VA, 22209 from 12-3pm. Admission will be free.

Please see full contest rules here and apply now!

2016 Open Studio Tour Artist Highlight: Sara Dittrich

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A brief interview with 2016 Open Studio Tour Artist: Sara Dittrich

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Can you tell us a little bit about the work that you do in your studio?
I often take a multimedia approach, using sculptural objects, musical performance, video, and interactive electronic technologies to investigate the dynamic acts of listening, communicating and moving. Most recently though I’ve been obsessed with using doll push molds to create hundreds of tiny ears and feet out of clay. I find the repetitive process of using these molds very meditative. Philosopher Henri Lefebvre’s text, “Rhythmanalysis”, has inspired this latest body of work as he writes, “He listens—and first to his body; he learns rhythm from it, in order consequently to appreciate external rhythms. His body serves him as a metronome.” In Lefebvre’s text he further explains how the body is the first point of analysis when it comes to interpreting the myriad of rhythms that surround us (e.g. social, cultural, musical, biological, environmental). I use devices such as repetition, absurdity, and collaboration to filter in the physical rhythms and movements of the body created by the accumulation of footsteps, breaths, and heartbeats. These tools work together to place the viewer in the here and now, and create spaces to “just be”.

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Artwork by Sara Dittrich

What drew you to the medium(s) that you are currently working with?
Typically, in my practice using one medium naturally leads to using another, such as using video to document a performance. In 2015 I participated in 3 residency programs that led me to explore more portable mediums such as photography and mold making. (When living nomadically, it’s hard to think large scale). I gravitate towards using so many mediums because there is a certain creative freedom that comes with working in a naïve nature. You do not become weighed down by what previous artists in that medium have done, or get caught up in having correct technique, or discard ideas because you think it’s not possible/feasible.
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Artwork by Sara Dittrich

What is something that you think is unique about your studio or practice?
I love to collaborate with people in other fields. I’ve done projects with composers, poets, luthiers, and programmers. Right now I’m on the lookout for an experimental dance troupe to work with.

What is one thing you love about being an artist in Baltimore?
Having the freedom and support to experiment.
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Artwork by Sara Dittrich

What are you most excited about for this year’s Open Studio Tour?
Seeing what other artists are up to, and having the chance to get some feedback on what I’ve been working on.
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Artwork by Sara Dittrich

Sara Dittrich’s studio at Woodberry Studios (2121 Druid Park Ave) will be open to visitors on Saturday 3-6pm & Sunday 10am-6pm. Some parking instructions:

The entrance to the parking lot of the studio building is marked by black barrels. Once you turn into the lot, you will see a concrete ramp on your right. The entrance door to the studios is at the top of the ramp. You can park at the top of the ramp or at the bottom of it.

Click Here To View Her Website

Call for Artists: Flash a Light on Homelessness

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Flash a Light on Homelessness is a subsidiary competition of St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore’s Flashlight event. This is a skill-based juried competition.

In a world desensitized by the visual imagery of the plight of homelessness, we challenge you to capture the story, cultivate the emotion, and convey the issue through your lens. We are calling photographers, professionals, and novice, to enter our 2016 Photo Contest.

There will be one winner. The prize is valued at $1,500. There is a $500 cash prize, and the opportunity to be hired as the official paid photographer of the event OR photography equipment.

Please visit our website to learn more about Flashlight, an all-night sleep out event on Saturday, November 5, 2016 on the infield of the Maryland State Fairgrounds that challenges individuals and teams to sleep out and raise awareness and funds to help Baltimore’s homeless.

Entry Fee: $25.00

Entry Deadline: October 1st, 2016.

Please visit their website to apply, terms and conditions and for more informaiton.

2016 Open Studio Tour Artist Highlight: Michelle Dickson

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A brief interview with 2016 Open Studio Tour artist: Michelle Dickson.

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Michelle Dickson in her studio.

Can you tell us a little bit about the work that you do in your studio?
I work in sculpture and drawing simultaneously, allowing them to inform each other, investigating the same concepts in distinct ways. From the moment they are created, they have both a physical presence and a growing absence, simultaneously existing and deteriorating in form. There’s an ephemeral aspect to it. It’s fragile—like memory. My drawings incorporate both collage and printmaking. My sculpture is formed from a combination of found natural materials like driftwood along with plaster, wax, and oil paint. Using layers, I allow some details to come through while others are obscured and buried. I work intuitively without much pre-planning: I make something and respond to it, adding on and then taking away, building up and concealing. I’m comfortable taking risks and never let the fear of ruining something stop me from experimenting. This is combination of curiosity as well as a desire to confront and accept uncertainty, which is a core idea expressed in all my work.

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Neither Mine Nor Yours, 3 by Michelle Dickson

What drew you to the medium(s) that you are currently working with?

I’ve been really enamored with using found wood in my work. I get a lot of inspiration from nature- the patterns, textures, and colors- the growth and decay. The wood that I ultimately choose to take to the studio strikes me as found sculpture. They have a beauty and presence that I could not create on my own. I never take something living, only what is already at the end of its life cycle. I’m attracted to the idea of taking something that has been alive, that has been through its own cycle of birth, growth, and death, and giving it a new life in a sculpture. I like what the history of the wood brings to the work visually and conceptually. I’m seduced by the grain of the wood- how it undulates when carved, and enthralled by the contrast of smooth sanded grain next to untouched areas of rough bark.
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Untitled Mnemonic 3 by Michelle Dickson

What is something that you think is unique about your studio or practice?

I use a lot of different materials and blend them together in unexpected ways. I like to blur the line between where one material stops and another starts.

What is one thing you love about being an artist in Baltimore?

I love the warmth and openness of the art community in Baltimore. It’s a very welcoming city for an artist.
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Untitled Mnemonic 1 by Michelle Dickson

What are you most excited about for this year’s Open Studio Tour?
I just moved into a new studio and I’m excited to have people in my new space.
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Neither Mine Nor Yours, 2 by Michelle Dickson

Check out Michelle Dickson’s studio in Suite 19 of Parkdale Building 1, located at 3500 Parkdale Avenue! Her studio will be open to visitors on October 8, 10am-6pm & October 9, 10am-3pm.

Click Here To View Michelle Dickson’s Website

Call for Artists: Art for Conway Center (DC)

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CALL TO ARTISTS: REQUEST FOR ARTWORK
Be part of the new art collection at the Conway Center
Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m.: Monday, October 10, 2016
Notification of selection of finalists: Early 2017

Curators Deirdre Ehlen MacWilliams and Vikki Tobak invite you to submit artwork available for purchasing to be included as part of the Conway Center, a facility currently under construction in Ward 7, that will offer homeless and low-income women, children and men safe affordable housing, job training and health care, all in one place. The entire project is funded by So Others Might Eat (SOME), an interfaith, community-based organization that exists to help the poor and homeless of our nation’s capital.

Submit up to five (5) artworks for purchase to be incorporated into the art collection at the new Conway Center. This is a juried process and all artworks must be reviewed and approved by SOME. Submission does not guarantee inclusion into the collection.

Application and all project details can be found here: https://goo.gl/forms/9Ye0wyRngoimy9Y73.

Questions, please email: ConwayCenterArtCollection@gmail.com.