‘Holiday Market’ Friday through Sunday, December 1 through 3 at the Del Ray Artisans, 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA Call (703) 838-4827, or see www.thedelrayartisans.org.  Features over 20 local artists offering arts and crafts, as well as food for the holidays. Friday hours are 7 to 10 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m.

‘Life in Art’ by Falls Church photographer Shaun van Steyn opens Saturday December 2 at Bangkok Blues . www.bangkokblues.com for advanced tickets, info & directions. Bangkok Blues, 926 W. Broad St.  Falls Church, VA 22046  (703) 534-0095. The band for Saturday night is Steve Saltzman and his One Nation Band, playing classic Rock and Roll tunes. I would expect Shaun’s photos to be on display for a month or so.

Falls Church Artists in Falls Church Businesses – Wildlife and nature photographs by Bob Morrison at First Horizon Bank (133 S. Washington Street). Bob Witt’s images of outdoor locales at Burke & Herbert Bank (225 W. Broad Street). Paintings by Barbara Perris at Falls Church Housing Corporation’s offices (330B South Virginia Avenue).  Ceramic and pottery of Phil and Marianne Kokkoros at F.A. McGonegal Kitchen (212 N. West Street). Artwork created by more than a dozen Falls Church students at Capital Area Pediatrics (Suite 100 at 407 N. Washington Street). Russell Anderson’s photography at Koons Ford (1051 East Broad Street). And the ‘Holiday Gallery’ at 111 Park Avenue.

 Vietnamese art show Saturday, December 2, from 2-7 p.m. at the Poplar Terraces model home on Buckelew Dr . Part of the proceeds will go to benefit the VA Sustainable Building Network’s EarthCraft House Program. See www.poplarterraces.com.  

 Artistic Opportunities ————–

VSA arts, a disabled arts organization affiliated with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ‘2007 International Young Soloists Award’ competition deadline is this Friday, December 1. Open to physical or mentally disabled musicians and singers aged 25 and under. Any musical genre is acceptable. Musical groups (two to eight members) are also eligible if at least one member is disabled, and every member is age 25 or under. Entries should be delivered to VSA, 818 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. no later than Friday. Four artists will be selected, each receiving $5,000 and a performance in Washington, D.C. See www.vsarts.org/x22.xml for downloadable application and further details.

Applications for the May 12 to 13, 2007 Bethesda Fine Arts Festival need to be delivered by December 15, 2006. See www.bethesda.org/arts/artsfestival.htm for downloadable application, and more information.

Here we go again… The 2007 edition of the Bethesda Painting Awards has been announced, and as was the case in 2006, the prize package is once again $14,000 to be awarded to four selected painters. $10,000 for First place, $2,000 for Second, $1,000 for Third, and $1,000 for the ‘young artist’ award (birthday after Jan 31, 1977).
Do we really need to mention that watching Seinfeld reruns doesn’t pay all that well? Keep in mind that fast on the heels of this competition will be the Trawick prize (expect to see another $14,000 prize package), and yes Virginia, this is the year for the Strictly Painting biannual show at the McLean Project for the Arts. That’s OK, you go back to watching TV, I have some work to do.
Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2007. Entry fee is $25 for up to 5 entries via slides only. Information, and application link can be found at www.bethesda.org/arts/painting-awards.htm.  

The up coming fourth annual ‘ Erotic Arts’ show in March, 2007 at MOCA DC will be a juried event. This is the stuff that made Jesse Helms foam at the mouth. Come to think of it most everything made Jesse foam at the mouth. Yet somehow Tobacco subsidies never seemed to bother him, hmm… well everybody has their priorities. In any event, there will be literally thousands of art shows in the greater DC area throughout 2007. This will be the only erotic art show, so if you have a hankering to release your inner Egon Schiele, this is your chance.
  The real challenge here is to operate in that ‘anything goes’ realm and still walk away with something you’d call art. Along with abstracts, erotic art is something that’s very easy to do badly, and extremely difficult to do well. Deadline is the end of January. Prize package is a solo show and $250 for First, $200 for Second, and $100 for Third. The solo show opportunity can be used in any genre you want. A fun show, and some good prizes. Details should be available at www.mocadc.org by the end of the week, or you can call the gallery at (202) 342-6230.