Competition Winners Announced--See the Fall 2004 issue of American Artist DRAWING for the figure drawings, still lifes, landscapes and abstractions selected in the first competition. Judges selected approximately 40 works from 300 entries, and portrait drawings will be featured in the Winter 2005 issue of the magazine.

New Zine Edition Available--The Gleaner Zine is a quarterly "altered art zine" for collage artists. The August "ish" #10 theme is "The Circus is in Towne," and it also features 1950's art. Subscribers have the opportunity to contribute articles or "goodies." This informative and fun publication is a work of art in itself and is available in bookstores and independent art stores. For more info, contact TheGleaner@aol.com and see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheGleanerZine.

Organizations Unify--The Association of Crafts & Creative Industries (ACCI) and the Hobby Industry Association (HIA) have combined to become the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA). The newly formed group consists of more than 6,000 member companies engaged in the creation, manufacture, distribution and retail of craft and hobby products.

Artist Celebrated--The Romare Bearden Foundation has announced plans for a New York City-wide celebration of the artist from September through March. The 7-month multidisciplinary schedule of programs and events was designed to explore the breadth of Bearden's personal, creative and intellectual achievements. Among exhibitions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will present Romare Bearden at the Met from Oct. 19 through March 6 to showcase the artist's creative versatility in a variety of media; and the Whitney Museum of American Art will present The Art of Romare Bearden, a traveling exhibition of approximately 130 works that explore the complexity and scope of the artist's evolution from Oct. 14 through Jan. 9. For more on the celebration, visit www.beardenfoundation.org.

Honors Bestowed--Among those honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 2004 National Art Materials Trade Association Convention were John Benator and Wally Klarman of Tara Materials. Fredrix has provided top quality canvas to artists since 1868, and Tara-Fredrix' line of products also includes stretcher strips, tools and accessories, and a beautiful line of over 150 styles of solid hardwood ready-made frames as well as custom, closed-corner frames. Tara-Fredrix has been a long-time supporter of ARTtalk, and we salute Messrs. Benator and Klarman. Congratulations!

Program to Continue--The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY) has announced that its popular "Holiday Mondays" program will continue. Special viewing days, which take place on the Mondays of major holiday weekends, will continue for a second year and include Labor Day, Columbus Day, the Monday between Christmas and New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day and Memorial Day.

Actor Honored--The City of Chicago and TV Land have honored actor Bob Newhart, a Chicago native, with a life-sized sculpture. The sculpture commemorates Newhart's role as Dr. Robert Hartley in the now classic series, "The Bob Newhart Show." The bronze sculpture--created by Studio EIS in New York--graces the sidewalk at 430 North Michigan Avenue, the very building seen in the opening credits of the show.

NEA News--President Bush has nominated writer and critic Terry Teachout and art museum director James K. Ballinger (Phoenix Art Museum) to serve on the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts. Once confirmed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the new appointees will serve six-year terms.

Exhibitions

Washington, D.C. -- National Gallery of Art -- Hudson River School Visions: The Landscapes of Sanford R. Gifford is a major retrospective featuring some 70 of the artist's landscape paintings. While his art mirrors the general aesthetic of the Hudson River School, Gifford was a highly individual talent who gradually evolved a personal style marked by a refined depiction of light and atmosphere. This is the final venue for this traveling exhibition Through September 26.

New York, NY -- National Academy Museum -- Into the Storm: Expressions in the American Landscape, 1800-1940 explores the stylistic approaches and symbolism of storms as they evolved over the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Featured are approximately 70 paintings, drawings and prints--including a special selection of works by William Trost Richards--that examine artists' fascination with the storm. Through October 10.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 14 No. 11 -- September 2004