Barter

Nothing like trading services and skill sharing, and DC artist Blair Murphy, came up with this grand idea:
Barter , a non-monetary silent auction organized by Blair Murphy as part of Washington Project for the Arts’ Coup d’Espace series. You got to bid on the goods and services by offering a good or service in exchange. The auction closed at midnight on July 21 and the participants who put items up for auction had until July 23 to choose which bid they wanted to accept.
I just received word that I won the studio visit with contemporary curator Laura Roulet! She has a great eye and vision, and puts together beautiful exhibitions. I look forward to getting her feedback on my work. In exchange, I am going to teach her how to do an intaglio print from start to finish.
Pyramid artist, Jessica Buckley, bid and won a poem or story from Silvana Straw. In exchange, she is giving Silvana a painting.
Exchanged items and certificates representing exchanged services will be installed at the WPA office for the closing reception on July 30.

Artist lecture with Cara Hunt

Cara Hunt, originally from New Zealand, and currently a Pyramid Atlantic keyholder artist-in-residence, will be presenting a free lecture on her work and process. Specifically, she will giving a tutorial on how to create repeating patterns from motifs. How exciting! Please come!
Wednesday, August 4, 7pm
Pyramid Atlantic Art Center
P.S. she also is having an exhibition at Kefa coffee house in August . If you can't make it to her lecture, go check out her show.

New Artist Residency Opportunity

Pyramid Atlantic is very excited to announce our latest residency opportunity!

(In)Habit Artist Residency

October 1-December 15, 2010
Application Deadline: August 15
Notification: September 1
Stipend: $500

Are you a visual artist?
Did you build a loft in your college dorm room?
In your studio or home, do you enjoy arranging furniture in a creative and efficient way?
Has anyone ever said that you are a ‘think outside of the box’ type of person?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, we have an artist residency opportunity for you!

Program Summary
The (In)Habit Artist Residency Program seeks an innovative artists or collaborative team for a creative residency at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, in Silver Spring, Maryland. We are looking for artists who will design and build a sleeping area (within 72 square ft. space). Proposals for a loft, a Murphy bed, or similar possibilities are encouraged, but keep in mind that whatever built needs to be accessible to artists of varying physical abilities and ages. In exchange artist will receive free access to all of our studios, which include: printmaking (letterpress, screenprinting, etching and relief), papermaking and a bindery. Work produced by resident artist(s) will be exhibited during their residency period. Artist may choose to inhabit/sleep in space during the residency period. Space must be completed by December 15. All furniture built for space will become property of Pyramid Atlantic.

For an application and more information, please see our website
for specific questions, please contact Gretchen at gschermerhorn@pyramid-atlantic.org

You're invited....

We are pleased to invite all of you to our exhibition at Miss Pixie's, open Friday July 30th through Thursday August 5th. 

An opening reception will take place on Tuesday, August 3rd from 7- 9 pm. 

Miss Pixie's is located at:

1626 14th St. NW

Washington, D.C.

We look forward to seeing you all,

Catherine Cole, Sarah Eargle, Ethan Sherman, and Maxine Worthy

Tanekeya Word in Stall Space

Please visit our current exhibition of works by Tanekeya Word...

Y.E.S. Program at Pyramid Atlantic

This summer Pyramid Atlantic is hosting the “Youth Empowerment Skills” (Y.E.S.) program, from June 28^th through August 6^th. This program is a major part of Pyramid's teen outreach initiative because of its focus on media literacy and social issues. Executive Director, Jose Dominguez, along with a group of summer college interns from all over the U.S. are working hard Monday through Friday with 14 high school and middle schools teens to raise awareness of their environment.

This program is also very unique for its involvement with non-profit organization, J.J. Express Magazine and Editor, Jenny Chen. Chelsey explains that “working with another organization has been very exciting because by bringing two missions together we are strengthening the effects of our own.” Through J.J. Express the teens are creating a social issue comic book and designing everything from the cover to the story line. Once the teens have their stories put together, revolving around social issues, we send them out to J.J. Express which relays them to global artist all over the world to illustrate what the teens came up with. The teens are very excited to see their stories come to life through this process.

Aside from our social issue explorations, the teens are also learning important job readiness skills such as creating a resume and practicing their introductions and handshakes to give them a strong first impression when they enter the job force. Even further, the teens are very excited to be learning about screen-printing and how to make their own t-shirts on weekly basis (which will be on sale at the final reception – funds going towards the group’s favorite Silver Spring charity - TBD). Another weekly activity includes field trips to various destinations around Baltimore and Silver Spring. Just this past week, a trip was taken to Baltimore’s Artscape Event. Other field trips include: the Discovery Communications building, Non-profit Organization Whole Foods, Comic Book Alliance, Etc.

The Teens are also very excited for their final exhibition which will be occurring on July 29^th at 1pm in the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center. All are invited! The teens will be learning everything from how to hang their own exhibition to formally inviting the public to their reception. We all ask that anyone who finds this program interesting to please come by to see all of our hard work.

YOU'RE INVITED!!!!

Y.E.S. Program Final Reception
Pyramid Atlantic Art Center
8230 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring MD 20910
Thursday, July 29^th at 1:00PM

Sabeth, Sam, and I would like to invite you to our artist lecture!

artdc Gallery Presents: Coverage

Sabeth Jackson - Megan Mueller - Samuel Scharf

July 17, 2010 - August 14, 2010

Artist Lecture: July 24, 2010

6pm - 8pm

artdc Gallery presents a group exhibition of works that explore coverage with relationship to the body, geography, and memory. Accumulating gestures and layers, while referencing the passage of time, these artists present works of sculpture, painting, printmaking and drawing. Sabeth Jackson’s work chronicles domestic themes and uses archetypal and culturally charged imagery to communicate emotions and stories. Megan Mueller finds inspiration in the architecture of tents and the lifestyles of the transient to investigate the idea of permission. Samuel Scharf explores the physicality of movement, collection and deconstruction.

Chelsea in the Stall Space

Chelsea Anderson is a student at Towson University, where she studies painting. She is interested in the impressionist movement, with a focus on such artists as Edgar Degas and Vincent van Gough. 

Guest book in Clam shell box

Using skills I learned at Pyramid, I was able to pull off a very ambition wedding gift for a dear friend. Special thanks to Beth, Linda, Bob, and Patty for their advice and assistance.

The pink paper are 100% cotton handmade, at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center (PA) in Silver Spring, MD. The cover of the box, the book , and the pages are gold stamped using a Kensol gold stamper. Interior pages have gold type in Perpetua italic font size 18 and the cover has the same font in size 24. The gold type on the cover is Kennerley font size 24. The book is hand bound using the Coptic sewing method with one page and two spacers per section with a custom made clamshell box.

Look out for a Clam Shell box class in September!

-Jody, Volunteer Associate

That's the Ticket!

We have free tickets for 25 blog followers, and a guest of their choice, to attend a fun-filled night at the Bethesda Big Train Baseball game on July 22nd.
Tickets will be given on a first-come first-served basis. Followers can pick-up the tickets at Pyramid Atlantic next week on Tuesday, between 10-5pm and Thursday between 10-3pm, or you can meet us at will call (6:30pm-7pm) on the evening of the game. Please e-mail Tanekeya, Pyramid Atlantic intern, at: tanekeyaword@gmail.com to be added to the will call list, to claim tickets, or to schedule a different day to pick up tickets at Pyramid Atlantic.

A couple of blog posts back, I mentioned that we were getting geared up to teach a workshop at the Visionary Art Museum.
Sabeth and I had a great time, and it seems that the kiddos got a lot out of it too!
Check out some of the pictures we took during the week long workshop.

(In) Habit Artist Residency

Pyramid Atlantic is offering a new residency, which invites one artist (or collaborative team) to design a living/sleeping space for future artists in residence.

The 72 square foot room is located within the Pyramid Atlantic building, providing residents with convenient 24 hour access to the studios. Applicants are encouraged to submit plans that address the practical use of the space as well as its aesthetic appeal.

The residency will run from October 1- December 15, 2010, and the chosen candidate(s) will have the option of living in this space during this time. A stipend of $500 is provided to cover the costs of improving this space.

Please check back for the application form and instructions.

I find that when I ask people what they like about Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, I hear one or both of these answers the most:
-The inspiring and innovative art that is made at Pyramid
-The friendships that are forged at Pyramid


Patty and Jody, pictured above, are working on finalizing lesson plans for a bookmaking and box building class they plan on co-teaching in the fall.
Jody, pictured on the right, started volunteering at Pyramid about a year and a half ago. Since then, she has risen to be our volunteer coordinator, an accomplished book binder, and a valuable member of our associate staff.
-Are you looking for a community of artists, who can give you feedback and support?
-Are you interested in learning printmaking, papermaking or bookbinding?
-Are you an artist who is looking for a residency opportunity?

Check us out, why don't you?

American Visionary Art Museum and Pyramid Atlantic team up!

Next week Sabeth Jackson and I will be teaching at class called Mapping Your World at the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. Using handmade paper, relief printing, and paper sculpture, students will make their own unique map of Baltimore.
If you have never been to this unforgettable and original museum, I highly recommend a visit!

Congratulations...

Thien-Kim is the winner of a free workshop for her response to our question last month: What do you like best about Pyramid Atlantic?
Stay tuned for more giveaways and raffles!

The Bathroom Gallery has a name!!!

STALLSPACE

Bookmark Demonstration and Make and Take

On July 11th at 2 pm, Keyholder Resident Artist Lynette Spencer, will perform a demonstration on how to make Kozo bookmarks.

Kozo is a strong and widely used fiber, that is grown as a farm crop. It regenerates annually, making it a sustainable material for paper making.

Following the demo, attendees will be given the opportunity to create their own bookmarks.

(This program is free and open to the public.)

Take me out to the ball game, and make some art too!

Pyramid Atlantic and Bethesda Big Train are partnering up for a fun night of baseball and creative art on July 22.
We will be showing folks how to screeprint t-shirts (bring your own t-shirt) and posters.
Povich Field gates open at 6pm and the game starts at 7:30. For more information, including directions, visit Bethesda Big Train Baseball.
Sign up to follow our blog, and we will give you a free ticket to the game!

Photos from Critique

Thanks to all our fantastic participants!