ELLIPSE ARTS CENTER
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Project Mobile Ellipse at Clarendon Day
¶ 1:00 PM
On September 29th, Project Mobile Ellipse headed to Clarendon Day to Paint the Town with Laura Jane Hamilton. Clarendon Day is a community celebration of art, music and food in Arlington’s original downtown. More than 60 restaurants and 80 vendors set up tents in the ten-block area between the Court House and Clarendon Metro stations.
Our featured artist, Laura Jane Hamilton, developed the idea for Paint the Town, where children and adults could paint miniature facades of local area shops and restaurants like IOTA and Hot Shotz. During the holiday season, the painted cutouts will be hung on the tree as ornaments by the farmers at the Farmer’s Market in Clarendon Central Park. We encourage everyone to come back and see if they can find their piece of artwork once the tree is decorated.
Our featured artist, Laura Jane Hamilton, developed the idea for Paint the Town, where children and adults could paint miniature facades of local area shops and restaurants like IOTA and Hot Shotz. During the holiday season, the painted cutouts will be hung on the tree as ornaments by the farmers at the Farmer’s Market in Clarendon Central Park. We encourage everyone to come back and see if they can find their piece of artwork once the tree is decorated.
Some of the painted buildings are absolutely adorable, especially the smiling church! Laura Jane and the Ellipse volunteers had a blast mixing up colors and talking with the kids about the places they recognized around Clarendon.
Later that evening, Chance Video-Dances was showcased next to Mexicali Blues Restaurant. In collaboration with Mexicali Blues, Ellipse Arts Center and the Clarendon Alliance, Transformer presented Jane Jerardi’s public-art projections.
¶ 1:00 PM
Friday, September 28, 2007
Discover Arts: Ballston
Image: art by Dawn Gavin
¶ 3:08 PM
A day of Arts Activities in the heart of Ballston, Virginia!!!
Saturday, October 13th 10am-4pm
Saturday, October 13th 10am-4pm
Discover what the Ballston neighborhood has to offer on October 13th: visual art, crafts, food, wine and music all in one place! Featuring the Ellipse Art Center, the Ballston Arts & Crafts Market, Grand Cru Wine Store and Willow Restaurant, all within a short walk of each other and easily accessible by Metro (Ballston-MU stop, orange line). Follow the footprints to all of the event locations and discover a wealth of arts, culture and culinary delights in Ballston, Virginia!
Featuring artists Julie Jankowski, Renee van der Stelt, Karey Kessler and Dawn Gavin from YOU ARE HERE: Maps Redefined by Mid Atlantic Contemporary Artists. Veggies from the Ballston Farmer's Market and sweets by Willow Restaurant will be served. This is the final day to view this exhibtion 11am-2pm.
Image: art by Dawn GavinBallston Arts + Crafts Market
Welburn Square, 10am-4pm
Over 30 local artists, artisans and indie designers!Live music and swag bags for the first 100 visitors! Welburn Square is located between N. Fairfax Dr. and Wilson Blvd. on N. Stewart Street, across from Ballston Metro Stop.
Wine Tasting
Grand Cru Wine Store 1-3pm
Sample fine wines and discuss wine with the experts! The café opens at 11am and features an array of French and Mediterranean dishes to accompany their extensive wine menu. Shop their wine collection in their attached wine store. Patio seating available. Enter through the Ellipse Plaza. Grand Cru Wine Store and Vineria, 4401 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington Virginia.
Dead Men's Hollow
Welburn Square 2-4pm
This local bluegrass band will perform a free concert at the Arts + Crafts Market at Welburn Square. The Washington Post calls Dead Men's Hollow: "One of our area's most talented traditional acts". Sit on the grass and enjoy the show!
All events are free, open to the public and handicapped accessible.
Discover Arts: Ballston is brought to you by The Ballston-Virginia Square Partnership, The Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington Cultural Affairs, Grand Cru Wine Store and Willow Restaurant! See you there!!!
¶ 3:08 PM
Thursday, September 06, 2007
YOU ARE HERE: Opening Night!
The evening of Thursday, September 6th was opening night at the Ellipse Arts Center for, YOU ARE HERE: Maps Re-Defined by Mid-Atlantic Contemporary Artists. Curated by Cynthia Connolly, Ellipse Arts Center Director, the exhibition features four talented femme fatales: Dawn Gavin, Julie Jankowski, Karey Kessler and Renee van der Stelt. YOU ARE HERE will be on display through Saturday, October 13. Be sure to stop by on that day to attend our Artist’s Talk from noon - 2:00pm.
Artist Brandon Morse (far right) and other guests view the larger-than-life global cutouts by Renee van der Stelt. On a large table, she placed moveable cutouts in a random pattern so guests could interact with her artwork. She also created eye-popping designs using light shining through pinholes. In the topographical work, Black Hole/Iceberg, Renee’s drawings cross three dimensions, suggesting a tactile landscape as vast as the galaxy.
Dawn's most stunning piece is Tract, a 48” circular arrangement of paper map fragments attached to the wall on the heads of over 4,000 insect pins - Wow! One thing these ladies have in common is their passion for detail!
Maps are guides for the world between the real and the imagined, what exists and what we want to believe. Dawn uses maps to illustrate the, “space between places”, because even with a map, we never really know where life will take us.
Cynthia certainly dressed for the occasion! Her map tee-shirt, designed by Jessica Zenor, has 48 states on the front and Alaska and Hawaii on the back. Order your own at: http://www.zenorschnitzel.com.
David Goodman (right), who also works for Arlington County, chatting with a guest. Everyone had a really good time and the food was delicious!
The evening of Thursday, September 6th was opening night at the Ellipse Arts Center for, YOU ARE HERE: Maps Re-Defined by Mid-Atlantic Contemporary Artists. Curated by Cynthia Connolly, Ellipse Arts Center Director, the exhibition features four talented femme fatales: Dawn Gavin, Julie Jankowski, Karey Kessler and Renee van der Stelt. YOU ARE HERE will be on display through Saturday, October 13. Be sure to stop by on that day to attend our Artist’s Talk from noon - 2:00pm.
YOU ARE HERE subverts the way we ordinarily use and see maps. Maps are man-made subjective representations of how the cartographer views the world. They convey the information required of them through the lens of what is expected of them, their own experiences and cultural influences. In this show, the map then becomes a visual way for the artists to discuss their own perceptions with boundaries and representation.
When thinking of maps, the first thing that usually comes to mind is getting from point A to point B. Not so for Karey Kessler, her paintings travel the realm of her imagination. She focuses on the psychological side to mapmaking, depicting spaces that dissolve through time. Her looping roadways lead to mysterious grasslands, unknown cities and of course, “Tranquility”.
Karey (right) talking with District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC) Director, B. Stanley (left).
Karey (right) talking with District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC) Director, B. Stanley (left).
Artist Brandon Morse (far right) and other guests view the larger-than-life global cutouts by Renee van der Stelt. On a large table, she placed moveable cutouts in a random pattern so guests could interact with her artwork. She also created eye-popping designs using light shining through pinholes. In the topographical work, Black Hole/Iceberg, Renee’s drawings cross three dimensions, suggesting a tactile landscape as vast as the galaxy. 
Julie Jankowski (center) opens a dialog between different views of the natural world. Using satellite imagery, Julie gives us stadiums, magnified views of cities and a dramatic birds-eye view of the 2003 New York blackout. Her American landscapes feature cell phone towers, offering a contemporary twist on the way we see the world.
Guests enjoying some refreshments with Jankowski's Blackout, 23:15 EST 14 Aug. 2003 in the background.
YOU ARE HERE also includes Recticular, a new and intriguing digital video by artist Dawn Gavin (center left). Here she chats with sewn artist, Brece Honeycutt (center right) about the meaning of her work.
Dawn's most stunning piece is Tract, a 48” circular arrangement of paper map fragments attached to the wall on the heads of over 4,000 insect pins - Wow! One thing these ladies have in common is their passion for detail!
Cynthia certainly dressed for the occasion! Her map tee-shirt, designed by Jessica Zenor, has 48 states on the front and Alaska and Hawaii on the back. Order your own at: http://www.zenorschnitzel.com.
Our wonderful volunteers, Olivia, Frank and Anne, serving it up at the bar. Notice the little maps which tell where the drinks came from! We had wine and lemonade from California and Virginia's finest water straight from the tap!
At the food table, miniature maps stuck out from the cheese, crackers and fresh vegetables. Where do the ingredients for hummus come from? California, Montana, Canada and Java…who knew!
Our gallery assistants had loads of fun cutting out tiny maps. Here is Meggan hard at work.
David Goodman (right), who also works for Arlington County, chatting with a guest. Everyone had a really good time and the food was delicious!
Ellipse Arts Center Education Programmer, Lisa Marie Thalhammer (left) and Kristina Bilonick (right), Art Market Organizer for the Ballston-Virginia Square Partnership, will team up on October 13th for Discover Arts Ballston. A day filled with visual art activities in the Ballston, VA area.
You won’t want to miss the last day to view YOU ARE HERE and hear firsthand from the artists what inspired their interest in mapping. October 13th is also the last Ballston Art Market of the season. The Ellipse Arts Center neighbor, Grand Cru will also be hosting a wine tasting at their new location during these events. Just follow the colorful footprints to find your way!
¶ 3:26 PM
You won’t want to miss the last day to view YOU ARE HERE and hear firsthand from the artists what inspired their interest in mapping. October 13th is also the last Ballston Art Market of the season. The Ellipse Arts Center neighbor, Grand Cru will also be hosting a wine tasting at their new location during these events. Just follow the colorful footprints to find your way!
Grand Cru + Vineria
4401 Wilson Blvd (enter through Ellipse Plaza)
Wine tasting from noon - 4:00pm
4401 Wilson Blvd (enter through Ellipse Plaza)
Wine tasting from noon - 4:00pm
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Carolina Mayorga Decorates Planet Arlington's World Music Festival
On September 1st, Planet Arlington's: World Music Festival took place on the Netherlands Carillan/ Iwo Jima Memorial Grounds. It was a day to relax and unwind, celebrate Arlington's rich diversity and listen to some of the world's most acclaimed musicians.
Tigers and baboons popped up in the crowd, adding to the festive atmosphere.
At the arts and crafts tables, parents and children could release their inner beasts by making masks of their favorite animals.
These kids really enjoyed getting their hands in the art! They had everything they needed - markers, glue, yarn, animal patterned papers and examples of masks they could draw inspiration from.
Mayorga, with the help of some enthusiastic volunteers, offered face-painting at the festival. Penguins, kittens and elephants were among the most popular choices.
The children modeled their creations and roared with pride, such as these youngsters in their jungle masks. Grrr!
Novie Trump (right), manager at the Lee Arts Center, and Sherrie Bartholomew-Whysall (left) lead the children's art program booth.
Music and art lovers from all over the DC Metropolitan area, as well as out-of-towners attended the event. Some even rode their bikes to the celebration. Hopefully, they weren't scared away by all the wild animals!
¶ 4:00 PM
On September 1st, Planet Arlington's: World Music Festival took place on the Netherlands Carillan/ Iwo Jima Memorial Grounds. It was a day to relax and unwind, celebrate Arlington's rich diversity and listen to some of the world's most acclaimed musicians.
Arlington Cultural Affairs commissioned Carolina Mayorga, an award winning DC-based artist, originally from Bogota, Columbia, to educate and entertain the children during the festival. Her work can be seen in public and private collections, such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Art Museum of the Americas. She is most famous for "Newspaper Soup" from her 2007 series, New Trends in South American Cuisine, exhibited in E4: Station to Station at Transformer in Washington,DC.
Mayorga's creative fingerprints were all over the Children's Stage. With the theme, Animals of the World, she developed colorful decorations and digitally rendered animal cut-outs.
Carolina Mayorga's creeping praying mantises hung from the trees, which were also on display downtown on 14th Street through Street Scenes. Street Scenes is the brainchild of Nora Halpern and Welmoed Laanstra, Arlington County's new Public Art Curator. Welmoed will continue her vision of bringing art outdoors by, "[stripping] the walls away from exhibitions and collections -- [treating] the entire city as gallery space" through her new job with Arlington County.
Tigers and baboons popped up in the crowd, adding to the festive atmosphere. 
At the arts and crafts tables, parents and children could release their inner beasts by making masks of their favorite animals.
These kids really enjoyed getting their hands in the art! They had everything they needed - markers, glue, yarn, animal patterned papers and examples of masks they could draw inspiration from.
Mayorga, with the help of some enthusiastic volunteers, offered face-painting at the festival. Penguins, kittens and elephants were among the most popular choices.
The children modeled their creations and roared with pride, such as these youngsters in their jungle masks. Grrr!
Ellipse Arts Center's Education Programmer, Lisa Marie Thalhammer (far right) chats with young artists. Below they show off their creativity.
Novie Trump (right), manager at the Lee Arts Center, and Sherrie Bartholomew-Whysall (left) lead the children's art program booth.
Music and art lovers from all over the DC Metropolitan area, as well as out-of-towners attended the event. Some even rode their bikes to the celebration. Hopefully, they weren't scared away by all the wild animals!¶ 4:00 PM
CO2LED at Planet Arlington: Making a Clean Difference
On the corner of Ft. Myer Drive and North Lynn Street, there was a traffic island set aglow with light. Using solar-powered LED’s (light-emitting diodes), plastic bottles and flexible poles, artists Jack Sanders, Robert Gay and Butch Anthony successfully turned recyclable materials into an eye-catching public installation. As part of Arlington County’s FreshAIRE campaign (Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions), CO2LED aims to educate Arlington residents about the potential for a cleaner, less polluted future. The exhibit was on display from June 15 through September 1, 2007 during Planet Arlington's: World Music Festival.
LED light is far more energy efficient compared to traditional incandescent bulbs. They illuminate longer, cost less (being solar-powered) and help to eliminate toxic CO2 gas, which is spewed into the atmosphere by power plants that supply our electricity. Power plants burn fossil fuels, LED lights don’t require plants at all. They are self-replenishing. All they really need is the sun. If everyone in the world made the switch today, we could definitely increase our chances of slowing Global Warming.
Saving the environment is on everyone's mind. As festival goers left Planet Arlington, they were able to walk through this public installation piece and read the description about this solar-powered artwork. Once the exhibit is over everything will be recycled.
¶ 3:57 PM
