Platform Walkers, Stazione Di Lucca, Italy by Shelley Lowenstein, oil on canvas, 16” x 44”
>> Forging has been around for hundreds of years and it was this most ancient of processes that the 18 artists used to create the work that has been on display in Forged at the Target Gallery since May 19. The exhibition seeks to examine the contemporary approach taken to metal working and the work included was created using a variety of techniques. An opening reception will take place tomorrow evening from 6 to 8 p.m. and juror Twylene Moyer will give a special gallery talk at 7 p.m.
>> Since you’re already going to be at the Target Gallery for Forged you may as well just wander over to The Art League Gallery for the opening reception of Rural Connections: Small Scale Landscape Paintings by Pattee Hipschen. Her 5″x7″ landscapes allow for a greater quantity of work to be shown but also for a more intimate and up close look at a specific location. 6:30 to 8 p.m.
>> In addition to the opening receptions of Forged and Rural Connections the Torpedo Factory Art Center will be holding its 2nd Thursday Art Night: Swing into Spring from 6 to 9 p.m. The event will feature live music from Dulcie Taylor, pastry from Bread & Chocolate, a minigolf hole-in-one challenge, and a DIY summer button station. Free.
>> With the all the work on the Washington Harbour at Georgetown Waterfront all but complete Art Soiree is hoping you’ll join them in celebrating the revitalization and redevelopment at the Art Metamorphosis Gala on Thursday evening from 6 p.m. to midnight. There will be 26 artists on hand painting live, video art installations, live music, and food samples from Famous Nick’s Riverside Grille and Tony & Joe’s Seafood. Tickets are required but are free.
>> There are many places to find inspiration, for Eve Stockton the inspiration for her woodcuts comes from hikes through the woods and coastal areas of Nova Scotia. Stockton also allows her interest in science to influence her work, creating a scene that is simultaneously reminiscent of a landscape and cellular activity. LongView Gallery will be holding an opening reception for Stockton’s exhibition Ensembles:
Lanscapes in Transition III on Thursday from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
>> Are you an artist? Do you live east of the Anacostia River? Do you want to win $5000? Then go here and throw your hat into the ring! What if you’re not an artist but you know someone who is and think their kickass self needs to be recognized? Then you need to let them know so they can be included! The First Annual East of the River Distinguished Artist Award is presented by Honfleur Gallery with funding from the Gautier Family and aims to recognize artistic excellence as well as having an impact on DC cultural life. Be sure to read the rules closely before submitting your application. The deadline to apply is Friday at 5 p.m. so get to gettin’!
>> As someone who appreciates art but does not consider themselves an expert on it I’ve come to realize that for me visionary and outsider art are the most accessible, the easiest type of art to identify with because it is created not by someone with training or schooling in art, but rather someone who had something to express and chose a medium that was readily available to them. A visit to the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore (and the Kinetic Sculpture Race in May of each year) will give you excellent examples of this type of art. Even easier to get to is the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery for the opening reception of Messages from Outsiderdom on Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. The work from several nationally recognized visionary artists will be on display. On Monday, June 25 there will be a talk with Visionary Arts Experts Rebecca Hoffberger, founder and
director of the American Visionary Art Museum, and Mary Ellen ‘Dolly’ Vehlow, curator and owner of Gallery O on H.
>> While the opening reception for Holding Patterns by Susan Feller and Rail Ways by Shelley Lowenstein was held back on June 1 Touchstone Gallery will have an encore party – Poetry, Blues, and Art – this Friday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Lowenstein will be on hand to discuss her new series of paintings and will be painting as well. Poet Susan Griffin Hill and Blues Guitarist David Cole will both perform.
>> On Saturday at 11 a.m. Foon Sham, the creator of Curve, the sculpture at the River Inn, will lead an outdoor sculpture tour through Foggy Bottom. Free.
>> There will be a closing party for LUMEN8Anacostia on Saturday from 6 to 11 p.m. featuring Live performances at Honfleur Gallery, DJ Eskimo at The Gallery at Vivid Solutions, Open Studios featuring two Artists-in-Residences, Theatrical Performances at 2020 Shannon Place SE, Food Trucks, and an after party at Big Chair Bar and Grill. Free.
>> The National Gallery of Art begins its series on American filmmaker Bill Morrison on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. with The Miners’ Hymns. Morrison will be on hand to introduce the film. At 4:30 the gallery will present a ciné-concert with Morrison’s film Tributes-Pulse and the music of Danish composer Simon Christensen who will perform live with Peter Navarro-Alonso. On Sunday at 4 p.m. the series continues with Spark of Being, followed by the shorts Outerborough and Release.
