NEWS
For 44 years, WPA’s art auction gala (called Collectors’ Night) has been a staple of the DC art scene. Collectors’ Night is not only an opportunity to celebrate with our community, but also provides essential support for the powerful, artist-driven contemporary art programs that WPA produces right here in DC. Proceeds from the auction directly benefit the participating artists and WPA, as all sales are split 50-50.
The gala begins with an intimate VIP cocktail reception for sponsors and host committee, followed by a dinner and an artist performance. The evening ends with a lively after-party, featuring music, dancing, and plenty of art-viewing! More than 100 artworks by the most exciting artists working in the region today will be on display and available for purchase online. Many of the participating artists were recommended to WPA by curators, arts professionals, and other artists, as well as sourced through our annual open call.
Intersection at Cody Gallery, Marymount University (Nov 10-Dec 5, 2023)
“Intersection” brings together David Carlson’s abstract paintings on canvas with Chee Keong Kung’s metal and mixed media sculptures and installation. Both artists push and pull space and time with arching forms that have an exquisite malleability and grace. Geometric compositions are embedded with a rhythmical energy. Both artists create an abstract narrative of bold gestures, subtle transitions, and integrity of materials and process. Layers, shadows, textures, and form are delicately and thoughtfully integrated into the work and create endless pathways to uncover hidden meaning. — Sarah Hardesty, Curator
Art Night 2023 at Hickok Cole, Washington Project of the Arts (Oct 19, 2023)
Every fall, Hickok Cole and Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) partner to host Art Night, an annual exhibition and fundraiser that’s raised almost $2 million in support of WPA’s mission and the local arts community. In 2023, we’re celebrating the power of art to make space for diverse voices and experiences—and the positive impact making space for art has on our lives.
Art Night brings artists, collectors, and the DC real estate community together in a unique celebration of art. Patrons can show their support in THREE ways: joining our Heavenly Host as a sponsor, engaging with and promoting artists through our social campaign, and—most importantly—BUYING ART. As always, 100% of sales proceeds are shared equally between the artist and Washington Project for The Arts.
(not) Strictly Painting 14 at McLean Project for the Arts (Sep 14-Nov 11, 2023)
This exhibit brings together artists who make work that is at once aesthetically pleasing and philosophically compelling. Visual attractiveness and the expression of deep and sometimes disturbing or unsettling ideas live together, as each artist feels an urgency to address fundamental and dire environmental concerns. Beauty, created through skillful and inventive use of materials, becomes the doorway through which the viewer enters into a sincere and pressing dialogue about the natural world and our responsibility to care for it.
Open Latitudes at Workhouse Arts Center (May 27-Jul 30, 2023)
Open Latitudes: Mixed Media Works by Alonzo Davis and Chee Keong Kung presents the work of two contemporary artists who share a commonality rooted in exploration, discovery and improvisation. The use of geometric forms, gestural mark-making, the exploration of the tension between 2 and 3D, natural and man-made materials as well as working in series are integral to both artists’ studio practices.
Art Month 2022 at Hickok Cole, Washington Project for the Arts (Oct 20-27, 2022)
Every fall for over 20 years, Hickok Cole has partnered with Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) to host an annual exhibit and fundraiser that has raised over $1.5 million in support of WPA’s mission and the local arts community. Moving into Hickok Cole’s new office in NoMa in 2021, Art Month became a hybrid event to manage raising funds in the midst of the lingering pandemic. The usual raucous fundraising event became a month-long social media campaign with a smaller party of pledged patrons at the end of October. Both floors of the new Union Market office were decked with 2021’s curated art collection, with an accompanying virtual sales gallery for purchase by experienced and aspiring collectors alike.
Collectors’ Night at Washington Project For The Arts (Jun 3; Auction on Artsy Jun 3-17, 2022)
Collectors’ Night 2022 is our eagerly anticipated annual benefit, happening on Friday, June 3—in-person for the first time in three years. Because it has been a while since we last physically gathered, we’re doing things a little differently: 100–150 artists and patrons will sit down for an elegant, family-style, dinner (catered by Susan Gage). Dinner will be followed by a larger, more raucous party with music and dancing (powered by DJ Geena Marie). The evening’s theme—Your Presence is the Best Art—is inspired by the artist James Lee Byars (1932–1997) and celebrates our return to gathering together.
Collectors’ Night earned its name because of the extraordinary opportunity it offers guests to purchase museum-quality artwork by phenomenal artists. Guests will be treated to an in-person viewing of artworks that will be auctioned virtually on Artsy, June 3–17. Ticket and auction purchases will directly support participating artists and WPA’s artist-organized programming.
What A Relief at Phillips@THEARC (Jan 11 – Mar 18, 2022)
What a Relief: small relief sculptures is a juried exhibition of relief sculptures organized by The Phillips Collection and Washington Sculptors Group (WSG), and presented at Phillips@THEARC. The artists-members of WSG were invited to submit works that engage and expand upon the tradition of relief sculpture in contemporary terms.
The word relief comes from the Latin verb relivare, to raise, implying that the sculpted material has been raised above its supporting background. From ancient Egyptian tombs to Greek and Roman temples to modern sculptural expressions, reliefs have been used around the world. Whether executed in low or high relief, telling a story or created for decorative purposes, the technique presents unique challenges as it combines two- and three-dimensional forms. The 40 selected works—by artists ranging in age from 15 to 81 and all from the greater DC region—reimagine and enliven the centuries-long art practice through various conceptual and aesthetic approaches. — The Phillips Collection & Washington Sculptors Group
(Not) Strictly Painting at McLean Project for the Arts (Sep 18–Nov 13, 2021)
(Not) Strictly Painting, a juried biennial exhibition celebrating the depth and breadth of paintings–or works related in some way to painting–from artists throughout the mid-Atlantic area. Now in its 13th iteration, Strictly Painting is one of the region’s most important painting exhibitions. (Not) Strictly Painting is juried by Foon Sham, Virginia-based artist and Professor of Art at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Virginia Treanor, Associate Curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. — The McLean Project for the Arts
Art Month 2020 presented by Washington Project for the Arts-Hickok Cole (Oct 15-29, 2020)
Every fall, Hickok Cole partners with Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) to host Art Night – an annual exhibit and fundraiser that has raised over $1,000,00 in support of WPA’s mission and the local arts community. This year, we’re challenged to reimagine Art Night, marking our 20th year with a socially-distant, yet highly-connected virtual celebration spanning the entire month of October. And though we’ll miss the conversation and clink of glasses among friends (and the six o’clock race to snag your favorite piece), we’re excited to shake things up with new programming and social content, and our first-ever virtual gallery experience. All curated to connect you with more than ever with local art and the diverse community of creatives behind it.
Art Night not only helps to further WPA’s mission, it also brings artists, collectors and the DC real estate community together in a unique celebration of art. This year’s collection features over 200 works at a variety of price points – bringing pieces that are compelling and affordable for experienced and aspiring collectors alike. — Hickok Cole
Bethesda Painting Awards presented by Bethesda Urban Partnership (Oct 9-31, 2020)
The Bethesda Painting Awards was established by Carol Trawick in 2005. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda. She is past Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, past Chair of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. and Founder of The Trawick Prize.
Sculpture NOW 2020 presented by Washington Sculptors Group & McLean Project for the Arts (Sep 17-Nov 14, 2020)
What a wonderful collection of strong, inventive and well- crafted work. The submissions covered a broad spectrum of approaches, from conceptually oriented, more focused on formal concerns, and often a dynamic balance of the two. These sculptures all represented a high level of creativity in both material construction and ideas. My task was to choose the works that live most completely in the world, the ones that walk the line between communicating the intentions of the artist with both clarity and mystery, while at the same time leaving open a space for personal viewer response and interpretation. As the juror and a viewer with some experience, I chose for inclusion the pieces that worked best for me in this way, the ones that most clearly asserted both their presence and their purpose and did so with the appropriate amount of skill. In addition, I sought to honor the diversity of the submissions by choosing works that represented a myriad of styles, approaches and subject matter. I think the resulting exhibition is both wildly eclectic and deeply optimistic, a testament to the acts of creating and communicating as essential aspects of the human spirit. — Nancy Sausser, Juror
SHIFT at McLean Project for the Arts (Jul 15-Aug 27, 2020)
Juried by Henry L. Thaggert and Sarah Tanguy, the works in this exhibition focus on the concept of shift, change or exchange in paradigm, position, direction, tendency, viewpoint, atmosphere, needs, dreams, schedules, interactions, environment, perspective… — The McLean Project for the Arts
Art Night 2019 at Hickok Cole, Washington Project for the Arts (Oct 17, 2020)
Every fall, Hickok Cole partners with Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) to host Art Night – an annual exhibit and fundraiser that transforms our Georgetown office into a four-floor art gallery…Art Night not only helps to further WPA’s mission, it also brings artists, collectors and the DC real estate community together in a unique celebration of art. This year’s collection features over 200 works at a variety of price points – bringing pieces that are compelling and affordable for experienced and aspiring collectors alike. — Hickok Cole
Escape Velocity at The Fred Schnider Gallery of Art (Jun 14-Aug 14, 2019)
Memory, the unconscious, and spatial experience of our shared concrete and cultural environments all contribute to the evolution of Chee-Keong Kung’s work. Kung believes images can trigger reverberations at different depths within our psyche, recalling memories from years ago or fresh episodes from a week ago. Recurring motifs such as cloud shapes can suggest wafting smoke as well as uncontainable astronomical events. Respectively, they conjure in Kung’s mind Taoist burnt offerings and torrential tropical storms from his upbringing in Singapore. Impressions from the media milieu—magazine ads, news photos, comic books, other artists’ works etc. — are transmuted into specific color combinations and geometric relationships on the canvas.
Strictly Painting 12 at McLean Project for the Arts (Jun 8-Jul 13, 2019)
Now in its twelfth iteration, Strictly Painting is one of the region’s most important painting exhibitions, celebrating the depth and breadth of painters working throughout the mid-Atlantic. This year’s juror is Adah Rose Bitterbaum, owner and director of the Adah Rose Gallery in Kensington, Maryland. — The McLean Project for the Arts
Art Night 2018 at Hickok Cole, Washington Project for the Arts (Oct 25, 2018)
Every fall, Hickok Cole partners with Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) to host Art Night – an annual exhibit and fundraiser that transforms our Georgetown office into a four-floor art gallery…Art Night not only helps to further WPA’s mission, it also brings artists, collectors and the DC real estate community together in a unique celebration of art. This year’s collection features over 200 works at a variety of price points – bringing pieces that are compelling and affordable for experienced and aspiring collectors alike. — Hickok Cole
Marksmanship at Arts Barn (May 18-Jul 7, 2018)
Marks are the foundation of visual art. The moment an artist puts a drawing implement or brush to a surface, they begin to develop a system of marks that will meld together into an artistic creation. The four artists featured in this exhibit use marks in very different ways to realize their visions. — Arts Barn
Power Lines at The American Center for Physics (May 1-Oct 19, 2018)
Power Lines investigates how lines, visible and invisible, can function as metaphoric shorthand to describe underlying forces or conditions in the world, with paintings by Chee-Keong Kung, model sculptures by Barton Rubenstein, and photographs by Meryl Silver. Though their approaches differ, all three artists poetically mine the formal linear and nonlinear elements in their work as well as phenomenological experience and the passage of time. — Sarah Tanguy, Curator
Oblique Horizons at The Fisher Gallery, Schlesinger Arts Center (Apr 27-Jun 10, 2018)
The Margaret W. & Joseph L. Fisher Art Gallery at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College’s Alexandria Campus is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of paintings by Chee-Keong Kung. The exhibition, Oblique Horizons: Paintings by Chee-Keong Kung will be on display April 28, 2018 to June 10, 2018 with an artist’s reception scheduled for 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 5th, 2018.
Art Night 2017 at Hickok Cole, Washington Project for the Arts (Oct 19, 2017)
Each autumn Hickok Cole joins the Washington Project for the Arts to sponsor Art Night. Held at our offices in Georgetown, local metro-area artists and our staff are invited to show their best work…Art Night has become one of the preeminent art events in the region. This year, more than 100 artists will showcase their work and everything is for sale. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of artwork will be shared equally among the artists and Washington Project for the Arts. — Hickok Cole
Ulterior Perspective at The Barry Gallery, Marymount University (Oct 12-Dec 1, 2017)
Each of the artists in this exhibit—J.T. Kirkland, Chee-Keong Kung, Anne Smith, and Monika Stroik—deal with geometry and shifts in perspective in a unique way.
T.J. Kirkland, a Sterling resident, challenges perceptions of surface and space through simple, precise gestures using acrylic on wood. Largely self-taught, the Kentucky native has had solo exhibitions in New York, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and Richmond. He’s been awarded a Professional Artist Fellowship by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, was an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center and won the Robert Riddick Memorial Award from the Rawls Museum.
Chee-Keong Kung, drawing in ink and acrylic on canvas, uses layers of color glazes, calligraphic brushwork, and hard-lined geometry. His work is in private, corporate, and institutional collections, including The National Museum Art Gallery in his native Singapore and The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He studied art and architecture at the University of Houston and real estate at Cornell University. He lives and works in McLean.Smith’s minimal charcoal and graphite drawings deal with space and perspective.
Anne Smith, a D.C. resident, is a teaching artist at the National Gallery of Art and works in the studio of Master Printmaker Lou Stovall. Originally from Syracuse, N.Y., she received her MFA from George Mason, studied woodworking at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, and received a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Williams College.
Monika Stroik’s oil on canvas paintings depict the natural world in relationship to the human influence. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Reston and earned her MFA from the Mt. Royal School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She completed a six-year studio residency at the Arlington Arts Center, had a summer residency at School of Visual Arts in New York, and has exhibited across the metropolitan area.
— The Barry Gallery at Marymount University
Structure Environments at The Gray Gallery (May 6-28, 2016)
Structured Environments is an exhibition featuring two artists brought together to create a dialogue about the formal elements in art. John A Hancock introduces a palette of color swatches with blocks of bold color in his landscapes and Kung Chee Keong uses strong lines, blocks of color and space to create environments through time. Together, the works portray a sense of design influence in a varied, yet complementary way. — Curatorial Director Jaimianne Amicucci
The Gray Gallery, located in Old Town Winchester, VA is dedicated to showcasing contemporary craft and fine art. Just over an hour from DC, The Gray Gallery features artists throughout the mid atlantic region with monthly rotating exhibitions and FirstFriday receptions.
The Billboard Creative Q4 Show (Dec 7-Jan 3, 2015)
“I Want To Stop Traffic With Art” says Curator Mona Kuhn. The Billboard Creative (TBC), based in Los Angeles, transforms billboards into public art. The Q4 show features established and emerging artists’ works on 33 billboards throughout the streets of Los Angeles.