In 2020, Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center in Maryland invited all ages to send homemade postcards to be included an important community art exhibit. The goal was to collect and exhibit postcards from the community that express our feelings and share how we all coped during the social-distancing period of the COVID-19 crisis. I submitted postcards (see 10:17-10:31) as part of this special online exhibidtion. This is a wonderful view of how artists interpreted this time of COVID-19 and brought messages of faith and hope to the world. Enjoy!
I am excited to announce that I am participating in two exhibitions this fall. See more below.
October 1-29, 2017 All Hung Exhibition @ Montpelier Arts Center
Public Reception: Sunday, October 15, 2017, 2- 4 pm
Montpelier Arts Center, 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708
In the antithesis of a curated show, artists answer a general call for entries, inspired by the theme “Giving.” This exhibition will feature artists from Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia. Participants were asked to bring one piece of art per person and a donation of five canned goods. “Recovery” is a part of this exhibition, emphasizing the need to give self care to yourself and move past the baggage of the past (see below).
“Recovery” 2016, collage and mixed media on paper.
“One House Project” An installation created by Art Watch DC with the support of Touchstone Foundation for the Arts
Opening Reception: Friday, November 3, 6 – 8:30 pm Artist Talk: Saturday, November 11, 2 – 4 pm Workshop: Saturday, November 18, 1 – 3 pm
Touchstone Gallery, 901 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Conceived by Art Watch DC, a group initially convened by Ellyn Weiss and Jackie Hoysted, the One House Project embodies both resistance to the subversion of democratic principles and the assertion of their importance. Over 220 DC area artists have come together to demonstrate the power of visual communication to support values such as tolerance and inclusion and to resist the efforts to divide us by race, gender, sexual preference, class or region.The overriding principle of One House is the vision for a country where we are united as one rather than divided; the artists aim to universalize this message by bringing it to a very personal level.
Gifts of my Ancestors, 2017
Each artist has created one 12” square panel commemorating an ancestor of theirs who came to this country, voluntarily or involuntarily, or was here prior to the landing of the Europeans. The panels cover a broad span of time, including ancestors who came on the Mayflower and artists who came themselves very recently, who used the square to tell their own story as newcomers to this country. A structure will be erected in the Touchstone Gallery and covered entirely with these panels, representing the remarkable range of diverse humanity who have combined to make the strength of America.
With the support of Touchstone Foundation for the Arts, The One House Project will be on display during the month of November at Touchstone Gallery. The show calls for viewers to engage with the house structure as a whole while identifying individual panels and cultural history each panel holds within. Audio and video recordings of the artists’ stories will be included and the project will be documented in photographs. As many artists have come together to make the One House Project, it is their hope that Americans come together to embrace the power found in a united people.
A group of the artists and those who conceived the project will hold a discussion about it on Saturday, November 11, 2 – 4 pm.
A workshop will take place on Saturday, November 18, 1 – 3 pm in conjunction with the exhibition to explore the ideas behind the project; participants will make their own ancestor panels, which will be added to the project.
The One House Project has been designed to be replicable anywhere in the country by any group of people – school groups, faith groups, communities of all kinds.
Art Watch DC http://www.artwatchdc.com is a collective of DMV artists who have gathered together to develop ways to use the power of visual communication to express their support for true democratic values, such as inclusion, tolerance, equality under the law, and stewardship of the environment. Our vision is for a country where we are united as one people rather than divided against each other by race, gender, class, religion or any other construct.
Touchstone Foundation for the Arts (TFA)http://www.tfawdc.org is a nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization created by the artists of Touchstone Gallery in order to increase their engagement with the community around them. The Foundation creates opportunities for young and emerging artists in our area to develop professionally and to exhibit at an established gallery and offers other programs to engage the wider community and non-traditional artists. The programs of TFA are made possible by the generosity of our friends and supporters. Your contribution is tax deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. One hundred percent of your contribution supports the work of Touchstone Foundation for the Arts.
For more information, please contact Ksenia Grishkova, Touchstone Gallery Director, info@touchstonegallery.com or Ellyn Weiss, eweiss@ucsusa.org and Jackie Hoysted, jaquelinehoysted@mac.com of ArtWatch DC
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