OPTIONS 2005 III

From the Options 2005 website -

UPDATE 5/3/05: An e-mail from Dr. Libby Lumpkin:

"When I agreed to organize the WPA/Corcoran's Options 2005exhibition, I had no idea how many emerging fine artists were working in theWashington, D.C. area, or how difficult it would be to narrow the selection to the twelve to fifteen artists who will be presented in the fall. I suggested that, in addition to selecting artists from the official pool of applicants, I be allowed to tour the graduate school studios in the region. I know how difficult it is for young artists to keep abreast of all the exhibition opportunities available to them, and I wanted to make sure that no deserving graduate student would be excluded for not having submitted an application. I recently completed my tours of the local graduate programs at Washington's American University, George Washington University, and HowardUniversity, and the regional programs at George Mason in Fairfax, Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, and Virginia CommonwealthUniversity in Richmond. I am happy to report that I found in these schools a generally high level of professionalism and more than a few extremely promising talents among both young and late-starting artists.

On my first trip to Washington last February, I managed to survey only about one third of the pool of over 300 official applicants. From this group, approximately thirty artists will be singled out for studio visits. This week, I will complete the survey, and the selected artists will soon receive requests for visits. I would like to apologize in advance to the many artists who will not be receiving requests for a visit, almost all of whom are highly accomplished and deserving of recognition. I wish there were time to visit every studio. And, I would like to remind all the artists that I am not rejecting anyone. I am organizing an exhibition. My goal is less to present a fair survey of Washington's diverse and substantial pool of professional-level artists, than to showcase promising new talent alongside local mature artists whose vision heretofore has been underappreciated. The Options 2005 exhibition will privilege the quirky and visionary above professional refinement. I like to be surprised by art, andI hope my exhibition will hold surprises for everyone."

~Dr. Libby Lumpkin 5/2/05

Our previous posts on this are here and here.

Related: Thinking About Art