>> This week’s arts pick goes to the Curator’s Office, who will be hosting performance artist Kathryn Cornelius in her first private gallery solo show, Common Ground. Cornelius, who has taken her wry performances around the world, will display two videos and two photograph series that show her searching for a kind of inner spirituality in an overconnected, digital world. Jeffry Cudlin writes in the exhibit brochure, “In these pieces, Cornelius appears silent, collected…

Since 2001, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has honored one artist annually with the $25,000 Lucelia Artist Award. In order to be eligible, artists must be under the age of 50 and either American or living in the United States. Each of the five distinguished jurors, including artists, critics, curators and scholars, nominate three artists in recognition of their contribution to the art scene in the U.S. and abroad. Following initial selection, the jurors examine…

His works are frequently found in museums all over the world, but right now you can get the first glimpse of ten new works by famed artist Chuck Close right here in D.C., at Adamson Gallery. Although the prices of these new works put them out of touch for most of the population, they are easy to be engulfed by. As always, Close’s thought-provoking work compels his viewers to pay “close” notice not only to…

FRIDAY: >> The city’s free concert series follows MC Hammer with a rare appearance by salsa legend Willie Colon, 7-9 p.m. at Woodrow Wilson Center. >> President Nixon’s White House counsel John Dean will be at Politics and Prose to discuss his book, Broken Government, which examines “the institutional damage he believes the Republican Party has inflicted on the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government during the Bush administration.” 7 p.m. He’ll also be…

It’s round two of the official opening of the fall art season. If you didn’t get to check out all the openings last week (and who humanly could have?), spend part of your Saturday afternoon perusing the rest — our reviewer particularly enjoyed the show at Flashpoint. But block off your evenings for the parties to celebrate the following openings: >> Up in Bethesda, it’s the big night for the Trawick Prize finalists, as they…

>> SiteProjects DC, which we reviewed last month, is ongoing throughout the 14th Street NW stretch, with special events sporadically showing during its run. Since Tuesday, Kathryn Cornelius has been performing her Art Services (Waste) at venues along the corridor. Tonight find her at Hemphill Fine Art from 4:30 to 5 p.m., then at Gallery Plan B from 5 to 5:30 p.m. Tomorrow see the act at Adamson Gallery from 4:30 to 5 p.m., then…

If you’ve been complaining that Memorial Day weekend wiped out your wallet, D.C. art venues heard your pleas for something a little less draining on your finances. This weekend the city is chock full of free activities, from private gallery openings to neighborhood wide social events. Put on your walking shoes and check out the following: >> It’s time again for the annual Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend. Held on the first full weekend in…

>> Welcome to March and another First Friday in Dupont Circle from 6 to 8 p.m. Find the gallery locations here. >> We’ve all got our old movie favorites. If you pop in Gone with the Wind everytime you’re home sick, or channel surf for old episodes of I Dream of Jeanie on a Sunday afternoon, you’re just the person Mark Bennett is drawing for. His India ink draftings of the fictional homes used in…

What’s so great about a beach photograph? There are few artistic outlets for the digital camera-clutching traveler more instantly rewarding than pointing at the red ball on the spiky, waved sea and clicking. Pure pastiche, quick beauty. No need to run a light meter or take a tripod. The stuff is art before it enters the shutter. So there’s this show by large-format sometimes fashion photographer/videographer Renate Aller. It’s at Adamson Gallery, a gallery…

>> Despite what we hear is a serious rash of over-dressed staffers at the Corcoran Gallery of Art running off to “dentist appointments” with updated résumés in hand after several high profile dismissals were announced earlier this month, there appear to be several good reasons to head down to the beleaguered museum. The first major retrospective of the work of Robert Bechtle, the San Francisco-based painter known for his photorealistic streetscapes, is up through June…