The D.C. Docent [Archived: 2010-2014]

Everyone loves a good rabbit hole; something I am consistently reminded of when I get on Soundcloud. More than ever, there are plenty of endless online resources for the study and enjoyment of art, and the past year saw more and more museums going online. Below are a few of my favorite art rabbit holes.

Freer Sackler - They started 2015 by putting their entire collection online. They’re still beta testing, but so far, being able to browse over 40,000 works of Asian Art is keeping me busy (I’m brushing up on my antiquities).

The Getty - They continue to digitize resources and last year was a banner year for them as they put over 250 of their publications, spanning over 40 years, online. And they're only getting started.

The Met - It's the Met, so you know, it's legit. With more than 1500 publications online, this is another serious cache for art junkies with what they've published over the last 50 years.

BOMB - The magazine's archive is rich with artist interviews and other interesting long-form pieces spanning film, literature, music and art. This is the only art magazine I've ever subscribed to, probably been at least a decade now, and it has always been worth it.

ICAA-MFAH - If you're into Latin American or Latino art, then Museum of Fine Arts Houston has got you covered. This first-of-its-kind project has over 5400 documents and 131 shared collections. Orale.

LOC - It's the Library of Congress, enough said. If you live in D.C., then online isn't your only option for accessing one of the premier libraries (online or otherwise) in the world, which includes especially strong resources on folk art, photography and prints.

Smithsonian - Millions of online resources from their collections, libraries and research institutions. 

There are an insane amount of art resources online these days, and this is not an attempt to capture that universe. I like getting lost clicking, and these are some of my favorite places to start. I usually pick an art form or subject that is specific and which I don't know anything about, and then just search across platforms to see what I find.

Last weekend was the fourth year of (e)merge, D.C.'s homegrown art fair. I've been to each of its manifestations, and every year there are artists and experiences to appreciate, admire and even in some cases, swoon over. But every year, the quality of the fair seems to diminish, and it feels more out of sync with the D.C. arts community.

D.C.'s artists and local arts community have some incredible things going for them, and we need a mirror to the rest of the world that reflects the ethos, practice and possibilities within our community. If Emerge is trying to be that mirror, then it is failing.

I have 5 suggestions for the organizers of Emerge if they intend to continue holding their annual art fair:

1. Get a New Location - The Capitol Skyline hotel isn't working...for anyone. Whether it's the unworkability of the rooms/spaces for artists and gallerists (think about how much better the art installations in the garage tend to be), the isolated location, or the lack of foot traffic---it's clear that the location is holding the event back from being accessible to a larger audience and a better version of itself.

2. Focus on Local Artists - Emerge should be about D.C. artists, or artists with ties to D.C....forget about bringing in random galleries from abroad or the rest of the U.S. (unless there's a true D.C. connection). Also, give artists their own spaces (independent and represented) instead of galleries---I'm envisioning something akin to VOLTA, where galleries feature a single artist per space. Let galleries have multiple spaces that can be dedicated to each artist they want to feature at the fair---or give gallerists more freedom to curate their spaces.

3. Bridge the D.C. Museum Gap - Yes, Emerge called 5 local museums "Cultural Partners" this year, but other than the Phillips Collection, these partnerships appeared largely cosmetic. With the loss of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the need for D.C.'s national and federal museums to interact and partner with the local arts community is more crucial than ever. Emerge could try to be the catalyst for that change.

4. Choose Curatorial Depth Over Cash - Every year the number of crappy exhibitors at Emerge seems to increase and the number of patrons seems to decrease. I think there's a correlation. The really good non-local galleries haven't seem to come back---certainly, the local galleries have almost completely stopped participating partly due to price and local politics---but the cost of putting on an art fair remains, and my guess is that crappy gallerists are being allowed to participate to make up the cost. It's been mostly downhill in quality since Emerge's first year.

5. Put the "e" in (e)merge - This is 2014 and some of the most exciting things happening in contemporary society and the art world are happening in technology, telecommunication and social media. Why not try giving us a plugged-in, online and virtual experience to magnify the physical art fair? Emerge primarily exists in a material world; a Twitter and Instagram account just aren't enough.

It's been several months since Civilian left its space over on 7th St., NW due to building issues. As Jayme McLellan, Civilian's Director, is happy to tell you, the gallery itself wasn't closing (duh). A while back I posted about Civilian's collaboration with G Fine Art to share space in the same building, which tonight, you can witness for yourself with the debut of a solo show by local artist Amy Hughes Braden (who you should follow on Instagram @hughesbraden). Amy's celebrity portraits at the Corcoran NEXT show a few years back will always be one of my highlights from BFA Corc students. Her painting since then has only gotten better and her portraits more complex. So what I'm saying is be there tonight!

The thing I like about ExposedDC is that they've been consistent in seeking to show the DMV area "not as a political venue or tourist destination, but as a place where we live and work and love every day." Most people outside of D.C. only have one view of the city; we are not an either/or proposition.

Tomorrow night's opening reception will showcase 49 images of D.C. by mostly local photographers at Long View Gallery. Expect a wide range of genres, quality and subject matter. Also expect affordable art that supports local artists; a win-win proposition.

Disclaimer: I have yet to see Damage Control: Art and Destruction Since 1950, but I've had a lot going on. Trust me.

Today, indulge yourself by checking out this exhibit of modern and contemporary works about artistic expression and destruction. Follow up your browsing with a viewing of some film/video works you may never get a chance to see on the big screen and which aren't part of the works in the galleries. The screening includes work by Cyprien Gaillard, Bruce Conner, Johan Grimonprez, Ant Farm, Superflex, Christian Jankowski, and Doug Aitken. You know some of these names, but not all of them.

I am most interested in Ant Farm's Media Burn and Bruce Conner's Crossroads form the mid-70s. They both comment on the state of America, with Media Burn satirizing the emerging media-circus state and Crossroads appropriating footage of the first underwater atomic bomb test and turning it into something altogether fascinating, fantastical and otherworldly that shows, rather than tells, a distinctly American viewpoint.

Good weather, a vacant lot, time-based works, performance art and some of your favorite local faces including Animals & Fire, James Huckenpahler, Patrick McDonough, Kendall Nordin, Jose Ruiz and more.

Who's behind this set-up? Hamiltonian and Angie Goerner mostly, but with support from lots of other locals. Get going there because this is one-night only.

I'm not done sharing my two cents, but if you'd like to read what others are saying, click below:

A Timeline of the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Troubled History

Former Director of the Corcoran, David C. Levy talks mistakes (but makes no mention of any personal culpability)

Finding consolation in the breakup of the Corcoran

At Corcoran, a tumultuous week takes its toll (with feedback from staff and students)

Tyler Green compares Corcoran to MCI or Enron (and he's not wrong)

I've been struggling with what to say about the Wednesday announcement from The Corcoran Gallery of Art that it will cease to exist and it's respective parts will be subsumed by the George Washington University and the National Gallery of Art. Part of the reason I've been having such a hard time with this, is because I am a docent there.

I found out about the decision much in the same way most others did...through an end-of-the-day email from The Corcoran saying, by the way, here's a letter from Peggy Loar on what's happening to us. By the time they sent the email, I already knew because I had read about it in The Washington Post and in Facebook posts (Corcoran Curator Sarah Cash's post was probably the best one I read). From what I understand, even staff weren't told before the Post article came out. This is the type of behavior that has become emblematic of what the Wall Street Journal described as "mismanagement on a near-epic scale."

The demise of one of America's oldest museums, and the first museum in this country to focus exclusively on collecting contemporary American art, is a catastrophic event for the nation, but more so for the District of Columbia and the local arts community. No other museum in Washington has had an impact on the arts community of this city like the Corcoran has had. Almost every single person I know who is an artist, a gallerist, a collector, a patron, or any other member of the local arts community has a unique relationship with the Corcoran and its school. There is no other Washington museum that can claim the same unique relationship with DC artists; not the Phillips, not the Kreeger, not the National Gallery of Art and least of all the Smithsonian.

The DC arts community loses the most by the dissolution of the museum as we know it, the subsuming of the school and the inevitable scattering of the collection. I have loved every moment of being a docent at The Corcoran and love the collection in a very personal way. When the Corcoran took down George Bellows' 42 Kids to loan to the NGA for it's Bellows exhibit last year I missed it so much; I would walk by where it used to hang and wish it was there. But I knew that it would be back, and when I saw it as part of the NGA exhibit (which was amazing) I was so happy to see it! It was like a visit with an old friend, and I loved seeing it in the context of the rest of Bellows' works, but I also loved the fact that as the exhibit wound-down, I knew it would be returning to The Corcoran. When the Corcoran rehung the American collection last year, 42 Kids was back in the galleries, in a new spot, given better lighting, placement and prominence.

There are so many pieces in the Corcoran's collection I have grown to love in peculiar ways, whether it's the showstopper pieces like Frederic Church's Niagara, Singer Sargent's En Route Pour La Peche, Joan Mitchell's Salut Tomor Hopper's Ground Swell. Or quieter pieces like Richard Norris Brooke's A Pastoral Visit, Jean Chardin's Scullery Maid, Robert Mangold's Five-Color Frame or Thomas Cole's Departure and Return. William Wilson Corcoran collected works that were contemporary for their time, and that philosophy drove the earliest inklings he had for his collection and the museum he envisioned. He was bold in that way for his time, collecting American contemporary artists when everyone else was still obsessed with Europe.

Boldness and vision were at the core of the Corcoran's founding, but the mismanagement of it left room for neither, or rather the lack of both contributed to the mismanagement. Real leadership is about combining vision with execution, something that the Corcoran in these last two decades never seemed to be able to achieve.