Jutta Eigen was a longtime resident of Washington, DC, a prominent composer, pianist and physician who died from cancer in 2002. This exhibition brings together artists who were part of the defining DC art world of the 1970s and 80s, in which Eigen was an influential and dynamic participant. During these vibrant years, Eigen and the exhibiting artists were connected through Georgetown’s famous Fendrick Gallery, knonw for representing important contemporary, American artists. The show’s artists all admired Eigen and have reunited to celebrate her life through art and music.

Artists include Daniel Brush, Renee Butler, Yvonne Pickering Carter, Craig Cahoon, Joan Danziger, Sam Gilliam, Kitty Klaidman, Dale Loy, Jean Meisel and Elise Wiarda. The curator, Elise Wiarda, is also a member of Smith Farm Center’s Cancer Help Program retreat staff.

The Real Story of the Superheroes introduces the Latino immigrant in New York in a satirical documentary style featuring ordinary men and women in their work environment, donning superhero garb. In doing so, Pinzón raises questions of both our definition of American heroism and the ignorance of and indifference to the workforce that fuels our ever-consuming economy.

The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery is a proud participant of FotoWeek DC.

The exhibition’s opening reception is sponsored in part by the Mexican Cultural institute.   

Digital works of Andrew Reach: Andrew Reach is an architect and Miami native who studied at Pratt Institute and University of Florida. He is currently developing a pilot project to bring computer technology for computer graphics into the Art Therapy Studio at Metrohealth Hospital, Cleveland Ohio.  Living with the insidious pain of a spinal disease and unable to continue as a professional architect, Andrew Reach took a life-altering turn away from a successful career towards art as a way of dealing with his disease.  The result was an inward journey that revealed a wealth of creativity within his subconscious.  His computer-generated works of art express hope and perseverance and tell a story that he hopes will inspire others in dif?cult circumstances to overcome great obstacles.

Digital wheel art technology by Youngchyun Chung: Digital Wheel Art is an interactive system that transforms any wheelchair from a practical tool into a vehicle for self-expression and art-making. This assistive technology enables those with physical disabilities to express themselves, and moreover, provides an opportunity to be an artist.  It also gives general audiences an opportunity to explore and rethink disabilities through art. YoungHyun Chung is an interdisciplinary artist and engineer based in New York. His interests include assistive technology, interactive media art, and sustainable design. His vision is advancing civilization by designing systems, which improve the welfare of humankind. With this goal in mind, he has dedicated himself to research and the implementation of ideas that will bene?t broad audiences especially those who have limited access to technology’s diverse applications.  YoungHyun’s works have been shown in Korea, New York, and Austin, Texas. Gallery visitors will be able to experiment with creating their own images using Digital Wheel Art technology.

Frida Kahlo remains one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, but her spectacular life experiences, writing and views on life and art have also influenced many artists. She always painted herself: her pain, her anguish, her sorrow, her passion, as well as her triumph over disability. Kahlo’s paintings and retablos celebrate a life constantly reinventing itself, in spite of the physical disability that strove to confine it. This exhibition will showcase the work of artists influenced not only by Kahlo’s art, but also by her biography, her thoughts, and her writings.

Selected artists, juried by F. Lennox Campello, include: Priscilla Pompa Alvarez, Sally Brucker, Mark Caicedo, Kathryn H. Cook, Veronica Ebert, Elissa Farrow-Savos, Amy Freeman, Tanya Gramatikova, Manuela Holban, Diane Kahlo, Lily Lash, Maria Lupo, Maria McLean, Laura Pallone, Judith Peck, Reginald Pointer, Nancy Pollack, Chrys Roboras, Katya Romero, Janna Stern, Henrik Sundquist, Yayo Tavolara, & Helen Zughaib.

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A collaborative exhibition featuring works by Rosemary Feit Covey and contemporary dance-theater performance by BosmaDance, Reality Confront End is a powerful multi-disciplinary project that explores the recurring nature of loss and healing throughout human life.

From the artist, Rosemary Feit Covey: “For three years I was commissioned to chronicle David Welch, a young man with a brain tumor. He sought to ?nd artistic meaning in his life and above all else, he insisted on an honest portrayal of his experience.  His last coherent words before his recent death were “REALITY. CONFRONT. END.” I gained additional understanding of these most profound of human experiences while developing a collaborative work with Meisha Bosma with cancer survivors from Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts. The idea was to further our own experience, so as to portray artistically these ineffable subjects. We attempted to cross the divide between the experience of serious illness and loss and understanding of another’s suffering culminating with the exhibition and performance that has meaning.”

ETERNAL RETURN
Choreographed and directed by Meisha Bosma
The BosmaDance presents Eternal Return, an evening-length performance that explores the recurring nature of loss and healing throughout human life. Losing what we have can crush us, but it also holds the power to transform if we allow it. We can choose to shield ourselves with a protective shell, blunting our emotions toward an unwanted reality, or we can turn what is painful and inexplicable into a source of strength and renewed purpose. In collaboration with Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts, Eternal Return draws from personal stories of those living with illness.  By looking at the hard reality of life and death questions, Eternal Return moves from the personal to the universal – and the shared humanity that makes us one.
In the Eternal Return of loss, we are compelled to ?nd ourselves over and over again.

“Observing Nature” features the works by Charlottesville, VA artists Cynthia Burke, John Hughes, Cliff Satterthwaite, and Tom Tartaglino, all of whom keenly observe nature. By blurring the line between representation and abstraction, they create works of art that speak a greater psychological truth. They depict a variety of subject matter: small town architecture, traditional landscapes, rivers, and studies of birds. What’s shared is the sensitivity in how they approach their work – to quote Rodin, “they see clearly into the universe and recreate it with conscientious vision.”

DC’s underground South Asian creative collective, Subcontinental Drift, is inviting you to Positive Exposure: The South Asian Experience Through the Camera Eye. From February 6th to Feb 28th, come experience South Asia and its diaspora—in all its colors, shapes and forms.  Through the photos on display and the diverse events, Positive Exposure aims to take you into the streets, minds, and hearts of what we know as the “subcontinent.”  

Positive Exposure will show around 30 photographs, most of which were selected through an open juried competition. The participants were a diverse set of professional and amateur photographers, some of whom were local, but others were based as far away as Europe and South Asia. The remainder of the exhibition was chosen from a pool of photographs submitted by The Clean Hands Project, led by local photojournalists Jes Therkelson and Phoebe Gilpin. Therkelson and Gilpin trained Dalits (Untouchables) in Nepal to use cameras in documenting their day-to-day experience and the best of their work will be on display.

Subcontinental Drift was established in 2007 with the mission of fostering and providing a supportive and collaborative South Asian American community for creative expression, encourage the sharing and involvement of community events, and expose ourselves to new mind food. SD’s mainstay is its monthly open mic–held at Bohemian Caverns– featuring the “basement talents of the District’s desis.” To learn more about them, visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SubcontinentalDrift.

Additional programming presented in conjunction with the exhibitin include:

• Open mic event, featuring spoken word, comedy, and musical acts, February 12, 7 – 9 PM
• Discussion: “What keeps minorities from getting more access to mainstream art spaces?”, February 17, 6:30 – 8 PM
• “Art In Extremis: Positive Psychology in the Arts” with Gioia Chilton & Rebecca Wilkinson, February 19
• Carnatic (South Indian classical) musical recital featuring local artists Yaamini Lalitha Rao and Rangashree Varadarajan, February 21, 1 – 2:30 PM
• Clean Hands Project film screening and discussion on the plight of Dalits in Nepal, February 28, 1 – 3 PM

Sixteen Americans of multi-cultural backgrounds present their interpretations on the concept of America and its icons.  Viewed by the conscientious observer, the works in this exhibition reveal themes zealously debated among friends but rarely spoken among strangers: economic disparities; cultural segregation; senseless slayings; religious extremism; and civil rights abuse, are among such subjects. Through this exhibition, the artists hope to open the opportunity for diplomatic dialogue.

Featured artists: Aidah Aliyah Rasheed, Ann Williams, Bruce McNeil, Calvin Coleman, Christina Batipps, Cynthia Farrell Johnson, Desiree Sterbini, Halide Salam, Helen Zughaid, Jeffery Kent, Maya Freelon Asante, Megan Hildebrandt, Rebecca Waring, Susan Brandt, Ulysses Marshall, & K. Wesley E. Clark.

Additional programming presented in conjunction with the exhibition include:

• Artists panel discussion, January 17, 1 – 3 PM
• “The Price of Racial Reconciliation,” book signing and discussion with author Ronald Walters, PhD; Saturday, January 24, 1 – 3 PM

Four artists each explore a simple subject of inspiration: a fairytale, an everyday object, an isolated structure. And yet, in their hands this simple entity becomes a metaphor for complicated emotions. The work in this exhibit celebrates life while acknowledging its fragile nature. The four artists are spontaneous in letting their work develop naturally and revel in their materials: the engaging but sharp qualities of glass, the physical demands of translating feelings into steel, and the sheer joy of paint.

Sheep Jones painting with oil and wax on square wood panels, inspires “curiosity about [the] interior life” of each isolated building structure.

With copper, steel, and stained walnut, Lynden Cline explores identity and family through the connections she draws between her unknown biological family and her adoptive family—“the screen by which I judge all family relationships.”

In tranquil colors, Angela Hennessy’s paintings feature delicate objects that seem to be tacked to the canvas. Masterfully creating illusions, she explores “the fragility and celebration of life and relationships.”

Sand cutting, fusing, and casting glass, Allegra Marquart assembles “exaggerated and simplified” narratives that hearken to classic fables.

Additional programming presented in conjunction with this exhibition include:

• Hisaoka Family Thank You Reception, September 8
• Sponsor reception, September 18
• Duke Ellington Jazz Festival Day 1, October 3, 7:30 – 9 PM
• Duke Ellington Jazz Festival Day 2, October 4, 7:30 – 9 PM
• Art Lecture with Mia Choumenkovitch, October 30, 5:30 – 8 PM; discussion about her experiences with the Lorton Prison Art Project