Photo by volcanojwArtomatic, which for years was one of the area’s most popular—and free—art exhibitions, is finally coming back after being noticeably absent for the past three years. The show’s organizers announced this morning that the next Artomatic event will be held this spring at the sprawling Transwestern Presidential Tower in Crystal City.
Since 2009 Artomatic has been in the wilderness among regional art shows. The organization lent its name to an art fair in Frederick, Md. in December, but that event was hardly the real thing. Last year saw the debut of the (e)merge art fair and the concurrent But Is it Art? and Submerge events.
But unlike other fairs, Artomatic is open and not subject to the sometimes snooty whims of a jury of art collectors. In 2010, when the organization considered using Hine Junior High School, City Paper art critic John Anderson defended Artomatic’s way of doing things, saying it was more than worth the wait.
Artomatic is known for its bigness, in the past drawing tens of thousands of visitors to see work by upward of 1,000 artists and an even greater number of live performers. The 2009 fair filled up an otherwise empty 275,000-square-foot building at 55 M Street SE. The Crystal City venue this year is even larger—more than 300,000 square feet, the organization’s spokesman told the City Paper.
Giving the scoop to the alt-weekly’s Arts Desk blog, Eric Shutt, Artomatic’s marketing coordinator, said Artomatic’s return will be its biggest event yet, thanks to an assist from local business concerns:
“This one is just the one that worked out in terms of the availability, the timing, and the permits and all the logistical considerations,” Shutt says of this year’s Crystal City venue. It helps, of course, that the Crystal City BID offered Artomatic “significant financial support,” he says. Artomatic took place in a different building in Crystal City in 2007.
Artomatic, which will run from May 18 to June 24, will announce registration instructions for prospective participants at a later date.
