Pictured: Nancy Ross: Nancy O series, stoneware, wheelthrown and altered. www.virginiaartisans.org

Ellipse Arts Center
Arlington Cultural Affairs
4350 N. Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
703-228-7710
ellipseartscenter@arlingtonva.us
Hours: Wed. - Fri: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Past Exhibitions
2006-2007

You Are Here
Maps Re-Defined by Mid-Atlantic Contemporary Artists Friday, August 24 - Saturday, October 13, 2007

Curator:  Cynthia Connolly, Ellipse Arts Center Director
Artists:  Dawn Gavin, Julie Jankowski, Karey Kessler and Renee van der Stelt

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 6, 6 - 9 p.m.
Artists' Talk:  Saturday, October 13, noon - 2 p.m. as part of Discover Arts: Ballston!
Discover Arts: Ballston Schedule:
10 am - 4 pm   Ballston Arts & Crafts Market, Welburn Square
11 am - 2 pm   Artists' Talk Ellipse Arts Center, Refreshments
Noon - 4 pm     In Store Wine Tasting:  Grand Cru + Vinera, 4401 Wilson Boulevard
2 - 4 pm            Dead Man's Hollow plays bluegrass at the Arts & Crafts Market


Ellipse Projection Annex Presents
New Video work by You Are Here artist Dawn Gavin
Screening will run during normal gallery hours

Educational Workshop
Shifting Terrain: Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Exhibiting artist Dawn Gavin will lead teams of ten students from each Arlington high school in the creation of their own map works. Still digital images will be taken of the students' work in progress and used to generate a collective time based outcome. The students will learn about animation, drawing, digital photography and collage in this workshop.

TRANSFORM/NATION
Contemporary Art of Iran and Its Diaspora
June 22 - August 4, 2007
The Ellipse Arts Center will be closed the week of July 4, 2007

Curators: Iranian Alliances Across Borders Co-Founders Nikoo Paydar & Narges Bajoghli, and Maryam Ovissi & Leyla Pope.

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 21, 6 - 9 p.m.
Parking is free for the opening reception

Enchanted Strings: Persian Classical Music Ensemble
Thursday, July 12, noon - 1 p.m.  Free
The group Enchanted Strings will present a collage of music that brings together cultures and generations, integrating western classical music with traditional Persian stringed instruments to create a vivid tapestry of melodies that embrace every listener. 

Panel Discussion:   The Power of a Cliché: Exhibiting Iran
Thursday, July 19, 7 - 9 p.m.   Free
Panelists: Maymanah Farhat, ArteEast Editor; Leyla Pope, TRANSFORM/NATION Co-Curator; Haleh Anavari, TRANSFORM/NATION Artist
 

Curators' Statement

Since the 1979 Revolution, Iranians have been in a perpetual transition and transformation. The dramatic end to the Shah's rule, the creation of the Islamic Republic and the eight year Iran-Iraq war, have all contributed to the creation of one of the fastest growing diasporas in recent history. Nearly 30 years later, in an era dominated by the United States led "War on Terror", contentious notions of the "Axis of Evil", and heightened global anxiety over nuclear ambitions, Iranians in Iran and those outside of its borders are finding themselves in the throes of individual, local, national and global tensions -- they are expressing their experiences and views in new and compelling ways. 

Despite living in an environment where self-expression is limited and government censorship is often physically palpable, it is the young people of Iran who are pushing limits and transforming the cultural fabric of society. Concurrently, Iranians living outside Iran have been grappling with the reality of their dual (and often dueling) identities in their relatively newly-formed hyphenated communities, creating new meanings for diasporic identity and culture.

TRANSFORM/NATION offers the unique opportunity for these culturally related, but geographically separated, communities to interact with one another via simultaneous exhibits in Arlington, VA and Tehran, Iran. Via photography, paintings, installations and films by artists from Iran, Europe and the United States, TRANSFORM/NATION brings the individual experience to a global conversation about identity, nationalism and Iran's place in the world. For more information about this exhibition and IAAB's sister exhibition in Tehran, see http://www.iranianalliances.org/art.htm. The link to the blog for both shows is http://iaabart.blogspot.com

Selection Process

The artists for this exhibition were selected through a Call for Art process. We asked artists of Iranian heritage to address one or more of the following themes: identity, tradition, stereotypes and society. From over 150 submissions throughout the world, we selected the following artists for the DC exhibition who represent communities across the United States, Europe and Iran.

Established in 2003, Iranian Alliances Across Borders (IAAB) is a D.C. based non-profit, non-partisan organization with a mission to strengthen the Iranian Diaspora community and empower its youth. The IAAB does this through its exhibitions, international conferences, youth leadership camps and unique online resources that connect Iranians across various borders. For more information on IAAB see http://www.iranianalliances.org

Hand Pulled: Juried Mid Atlantic Print Show
Friday, April 6 - Saturday, May 26, 2007
Juror:  Joan Boudreau, Curator, Graphic Arts Collection, National Museum of
American History, Smithsonian Institution
Opening Reception:  Thursday, April 5, 6 - 9 p.m.
Parking is free for the opening reception
Juror's Talk: April 19, 7 - 9 p.m.

Hand Pulled is  an exhibition of the work of printmakers who live or work in Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland or West Virginia.

JUROR'S CHOICE AWARDS

Nancy McNamara "And She Kept Her Figure", 2006
Mary Morrison "Close Quarters", 2006
Norman Strike "Ben's Chili Bowl", 2005

HONORABLE MENTION

Evan Jensen "Jilly",  2007

ARLINGTON COUNTY PURCHASE AWARDS

Melissa P. Hackmann "Saturday Morning", 2006
 

Joan Boudreau curated or assisted with preparations for the following graphic arts collection exhibitions: Picturing Words: The Power of Book Illustration; Rube Goldberg, Comic Art and Invention; The Feather Trade and the American Conservation Movement; Prints at the Smithsonian: The Origins of a National Collection; With Pen & Graver: Women Graphic Artists before 1900; The Boy and His Press; 300 Years of American Papermaking; The Art of the Nature Print.  Her research interests include 19th century printing for the government, environmental history and imagery.

Educational Workshop

Social Justice and Printmaking Workshop:  May 15 & 16, 2007
Exhibiting artist Alex Huttinger will lead Arlington Public Schools middle school students in workshops that teach the tradition of relief printmaking - an art form which has a rich history of social and advocacy application. Through this workshop, the students will generate new ways of thinking and expressing themselves. They will then visit the Ellipse Arts Center, view the Hand Pulled exhibit and make a drawing. Afterwards they will tour the Lee Arts Center printmaking studios and complete their print.

Review of Hand Pulled in The Falls Church News Press, April 12, 2007
http://www.fcnp.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1100&Itemid=36

Colorfield Remix Night #1
April 27 - May 26, 2007
Ellipse Projection Annex
Screening will run during normal gallery hours

Curator:  Richard Chartier

WPA\C's Experimental Media Series - Colorfield Remix  challenges artists to reinterpret the Color-Field artists with experimental video, sound and performance pieces. It is a citywide project happening in spring and summer 2007, linking numerous art venues and celebrating the many legacies of the generation of Color Field and Washington Color School artists, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Howard Mehring, Thomas Downing, Paul Reed and Gene Davis.

The videos at the Ellipse include video and sound works by the following:
Frank Bretschneider (Germany); Chris Carter + Cosey Fanni Tutti (United Kingdom); Sue Constabile (United States) + Beequeen (Netherlands); Evelina Domnitch + Dmitry Gelfand (Russia/United States); Tina Frank (Austria) + General Magic (Austria); Bas Van Koolwijk (Netherlands); Ryoichi Kurokawa (Japan); Stephan Mathieu (Germany); Steve Roden (United States), Mark Fell (United Kingdom) + Ernest Edmonds (Austria).
For more information: http://www.wpaconline.org

Still from "Chronomops" (2006)  by Tina Frank	Still from "Scorch" (2005) by Ryoichi Kurokawa

Photo 07: "The Photos you have taken in the last 75 years"
January 26 - March 10, 2007
Juror: Frank Day,  Fine art photographer from Washington, D.C.
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 1, 6 - 9 p.m.
Juror's Talk: Thursday, February 8, 7 - 9 p.m.

Juried exhibition for photographers who live, work or have a studio in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia or Washington, D.C.
Frank Day has been active as a fine art photographer in Washington, DC for many years. He has taught photography at Photoworks, The Washington Center for Photography and the Smithsonian Institution. His work has been selected for the Washington Project for the Arts/Corcoran and Transformer fundraising auctions. His recent work includes an extensive body of work on the erasure of personal and social memory in East Berlin, and on the ramifications of globalization for African economies and identity. His East Berlin photography exhibition was picked as photography show of the year for 2004 by The Washington City Paper.  Mr. Day also writes on photography for Photo Review.
 

Project Mobile Ellipse Presents:

Presentation 101: How to House Photographs & Works of Art on Paper
Wednesday, February 21, 2007, 7 - 8:30 p.m.
Presented by Ken Ashton, Corcoran Gallery of Art Technician for Works on Paper
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: Please call 703-228-7710 and leave a message in the specialized voice mail box.

All Arlington Salon
October 26 - December 16, 2006
Opening Reception: Wednesday, October 25, 6 - 9 p.m.
Juror: Andrea Uravitch, Arlington Artist

Juried All-Media Exhibition for Artists who Live, Work, Study or Maintain Studios in Arlington, Virginia. 
Awards Given: 
Juror's Choice: 
     Carlo Biggio Portrait of the Artist and His Wife at 84
     Jordana Eisen: Home
     Hendrik Sunqvist:  Self Portrait in Tucson & Riyaila in Tucson
Honorable Mention:  David Amoroso:  Viajero #4
Purchase Award: Ruth Sievers:  Self Portrait at the Columbia Pike Studios


 

David Amoroso: Viajero #4	Ruth Sievers: Self Portrait in the Columbia Pike Studios, 2006

Project Mobile Ellipse: Visual Arts Career Roundtable

Wednesday November 15th:
9:45 - 11:30 a.m. Morning panel discussion with portfolio review
11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Afternoon panel discussion and open portfolio review.
For reservations contact Mary Eckstein 703-228-6299.

Arlington High School students will visit the Ellipse Arts Center for a panel discussion on careers in the visual arts. The students will have the opportunity to have their portfolios reviewed by our expert panelists, who include Stevens Jay Carter, DC visual artist and 2006 recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant Award,  Veronica Jackson,  Principal and senior exhibit designer for the Jackson Design Group,  Vida Russell,  DC print designer and illustrator, and  Victoria Reis,  Executive Director of Transformer, a DC based emerging arts non-profit organization.

The Ellipse Arts Center and the Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran present
Conversions: An Exhibition exploring spatial interpretation juries from three distinct points of view.

Jurors:  Heather & Tony Podesta, Collectors
            Dennis O'Neil, Handprint Workshop International
               Sam Gilliam, Washington, D.C. artist

July 20 - September 29, 2006
Opening Reception: Wednesday, July 19, 7 - 9 p.m.
Juror's Talk: Wednesday, Juy 26, 7 - 9 p.m.
Artist's Talk: Thursday, September 21, 7 - 9 p.m.

Site specific juried show with the following Mid-Atlantic artists:
Renee Butler • Kathryn Cornelius,• Susan Eder and Craig Dennis • Tai Hwa Goh •
M. Sedestrom Guthrie • Lisa M. Kellner • Michele Kong • Tomas Rivas • Joan Sarah Wexler   Ami Martin Wilbur • Amy Glengary Yang.

Washington Post Review

 

Renee Butler: Movement in B flat.   2005-6 Screen, silk, mirror, wire triangles and circle, 2 video projections, sound and wooden armature.	Lisa Kellner: Oil Spill. 2006 Yellow quilting pins and paint on prepared board. 8' x 4'

Project Mobile Ellipse: Visiting Artist Series
Conversion artist Susan Eder will visit Arlington County High Schools and present a slide lecture of her work on Friday, September 22nd.
For Reservations, contact Mary Eckstein at 703-228-6299
 

From the Junkyard to the Frontyard
May 5 - June 24, 2006
Art made from junk by Richard Bay, Carolyn Bernstein, Berry Johnson, George Kakissis, Elizabeth Morisette and Jeff Wilson.

Thursday, May 4, 6 - 9 p.m. Opening reception with Leon of Leon's Auto Parts of Leon, VA, strolling and playing his breather-back banjo.
Friday, May 5:  Watch artist Richard Bay at work!  There will be two seminars, "Art and Healing", 3:30 - 4:30 p.m and 5 - 6:30 p.m.  Reservations: Mary Eckstein, 703-228-6299
Thursday, May 18, 4 - 7 p.m. Open weaving with Elizabeth Morisette
Thursday, May 25, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Open Weaving with Elizabeth Morisette
Thursday, May 25, 7 - 9 p.m. Junkyard Show 'n Tell with the artists sharing thoughts and images of their work.
Thursday, June 1, 7 - 9 p.m. Electric Possible (special edition). Electro-acoustic free improv. solos using homemade or recycled sound sources.  http://www.panicresearch.com

George Kakissis An automotive technician in Arlington, Kakissis creates his artwork from trash at the Arlington Trades Center	Perry Johnson Mass food container with cast cement.

Jeff Wilson Wilson creates assemblages from lids of all kinds. He teaches art at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington.	Elizabeth Morisette Morisette collects collections, composing them into shapes, weaving them into rugs.

Photo 06 Regional Juried Photo Show
January 20 - April 1, 2006
Opening Reception:  Thursday, January 19, 6 - 9 p.m.
Juror's Talk: Thursday, February 23, 7 p.m.
Discussion: Thursday, March 9, 7 - 9 p.m.  "The Impact of Digital Technology on the Future of the Gelatin Print".

A juried exhibition of the work of amateur and professional photographers working in any photographic medium who live or work in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia or the District of Columbia, created within the past 75 years.
Juror's Choice/Merit Awards were given to:
Tom Dickinson: "Fading Memories; Edgerton (WI) Senior Class Trip To Washington, March, 1969"
Pamela Richmond: "White Eggplant", 2003
Frank Beach: "Fire Fighters", 1934

Juror:  Michelle Anne Delaney,  Associate Curator in the Photographic History Collection, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

All Arlington Salon "My Summer Vacation"
October 7 - December 17, 2005
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 6, 6 - 9 p.m.
Indoor Picnic & Open Mic: Friday, November 4, 7 p.m.  with all 5 minute performances (bring a picnic and blanket)

An all hung exhibition for visual artists, performance artists, playwrights, actors, writers, poets and musicians, who live, work, study or maintain studios in Arlington. At the indoor picnic on Friday, November 4, beginning at 7 p.m., everyone is invited to read a poem, sing a song, play the banjo and spoons, do a jig and hang out. Claim your turf at 6 p.m., performances begin at 7.

Mobilivre-Bookmobile Project
September 9, 10, 2005
Locations: 
Friday, Sept. 9, 2 - 5 p.m. Thomas Jefferson Community Center
           6 - 11 p.m.  Clarendon Park, next to the Clarendon Metro, with guest artist Austin Thomas
Saturday, Sept. 10, 7:30 a.m. - Noon  Farmer's Market at Courthouse
           1 - 5 p.m. Rosslyn Jazz Festival, Gateway Park

The project is a community arts initiative founded by the BOOKMOBILE collective, a diverse group of emerging North American artists and community activists. Their mandate is to fuse artistic production with political activism and community organizing. They tour annually in a vintage Airstream across the United Stages, visiting community centers, libraries, schools, festivals and arts centers, exposing thousands of visitors to a unique collection of independently produced book works as well as teaching workshops to a variety of communities. In each city and town, they encourage local artists, writers and activists to host events coinciding with their visit. Their visit to Arlington, hosted by the Ellipse Arts Center, led to the Project Mobile Ellipse, that will instigate diverse art "happenings" throughout Arlington County. The "happenings" will include short term exhibitions, one-night showcases, evening performances, daytime lectures, site specific works, videos and poetry readings.  The BOOKMOBILE will bring with it a 2005 juried exhibition of about 300 artists.                                                          

The Tour of Arlington Classic Mini-Putter
July 1 - August 13, 2005, Arlington County Fair, August 19 - 21.
Gallery Opening:  Thursday, June 30, 6 - 9 p.m.
Special Gallery Hours:  Wednesday - Friday: Noon - 8 p.m.
Saturday:  11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Arlington County Fair:  Fri., Sat., 19 & 20, 1 - 8 pm., Sun. 21, 11am - 8 pm
Course open for play during gallery hours, last tee time 1 hour before closing. To Play:    $1 per child under 12, $2 adult
Each child under 12 must be accompanied by one adult.

The Ellipse Arts Center's summer 2005 exhibition will be an Arlington-specific nine-hole miniature golf course designed by local artists. Experience Arlington without leaving the air-cooled comfort of the Ellipse Arts Center!  Putt your ball through the "unmentionable obstacles" of an Arlington dog park; go back through time to Arlington's Civil War Forts or the glory days of country music in Arlington with WARL and Jimmy Dean. Fill both your spirit and your gas tank at the Arlington Temple United Methodist Church/Exxon Station in Rosslyn. Artists are:
David Amoroso: Pooper Scooper
Elizabeth Baldwin:  Arlington Temple United Methodist Church
Laura Jane Hamilton:  Bob Peck Chevrolet
Andrew Herndon: Galaxy Putt
Jocelyn Buck Hunn:  Fort CF Smith Park
Kelly Parkhill, Ellie Shea and Jim Doyle:  WARL Radio
Jennifer Soles:  Little House, Big House
Bess Taylor:  Lubber Run
Elizabeth Wolf:  Civil War Forts in Arlington
Article in the Washington City Paper, April 29, 2005

Pictured Below,  Left to right
Top:  1. WARL Radio         2.  Pooper Scooper      3.   Bob Peck Chevrolet   
Bottom:   4.  Lubber Run      5.  Little House/Big House          6.  Pooper Scooper

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