Art in Embassies Makes a Splash for 50th Anniversary – In his book “The First Resort of Kings,” Richard Arndt, a former cultural attaché with the State Department, stressed the power of art as a diplomatic tool to encourage cultural exchange despite language and other hurdles. “The arts have always had the advantage of transcending […]
Last month, Jenny Honnert Abell traveled to Dakar, Senegal, to experience the people and culture of that West African country. Next weekend, Saturday Jan. 19, she’s giving a talk about her experiences at Hammerfriar Gallery in Healdsburg, where her work is represented locally. This opportunity to travel in Senegal came as part of a commission […]
They say that art is the great international communicator no matter what language you speak. Art also is a symbol of free expression, and has represented the United States in its embassies and consulates around the world by putting our “best foot forward” in the spirit of creativity and cooperation among nations and showcasing some […]
Arts in Embassies program was great diplomatic tool, former Ambassador Tom Schieffer says – WASHINGTON — When Tom Schieffer was U.S. ambassador in Australia and then Japan, he found that a little-noticed program that placed American art in embassies was one of the best diplomatic investments he made. Fifty years after the Kennedy administration started […]
LA Contemporary – Virginia Shore: Chief Curator, Art in Embassies – an Excavation of site and citation – a Question and Answer Interview. How did you get involved with Art in Embassies? I started out as an intern. Within a few months, they put me under contract as a ‘research assistant’ and my job was […]
Oil painting coming home to Utah from South African embassy – MAPLETON — Steven Lee Adams will soon be receiving a large crate at his studio in Mapleton containing a painting he loaned to the U.S. ambassador to South Africa three years ago. His painting has been hanging in the embassy there as part of […]
BOXBOROUGH — An artist and astrologer, Chris Flisher is a close observer time, distance and space, as well as the celestial sky from which he draws inspiration when he creates his colorful spiritual drawings – called mandalas – in his Boxborough home studio. Now Flisher’s artwork is on display half a world away, in Praia, […]
If you’ve ever wondered what a deployed husband, wife, father or mother has seen overseas, there’s an opportunity to look “through their eyes.” The Defense and State departments issued a call-out on Veterans Day 2011 for current and former military and civil service members to submit their images to the “Serving Abroad … Through Their […]
On November 30th, in honor of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations Art in Embassies (AIE) 50th anniversary, the National Portrait Gallery’s courtyard was overflowing with beautiful gowns, dapper men, KanKouran dancers, musicians, artists, politicians, military personnel, philanthropists and very recognizable TV personalities. In addition to marking AIE’s 50th anniversary, the event illustrated the program’s […]
If you’ve ever wondered what a deployed husband, wife, father or mother has seen overseas, there’s an opportunity to look “through their eyes.” The Defense and State departments issued a call-out on Veterans Day 2011 for current and former military and civil service members to submit their images to the “Serving Abroad … Through Their […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton climbed to the top of a 20-foot cube made of 4,000 packs of Post-it notes Friday night to get a better look at the party in the National Portrait Gallery’s courtyard. BusinessWeek Senator Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, and his wife, Abigail, caught up with British Ambassador Peter Westmacott near a […]
The presidential inauguration is still a month away, but D.C.’s liberal establishment got an early start last week, while celebrating the Art in Embassies 50th anniversary. A week of performances and installations—including an exploding pine tree on the National Mall—culminated in a big party in the atrium of the National Portrait Gallery Friday night. No […]
Hundreds of artists, diplomats, and celebrities gathered for this inspiring evening with art installations, music, dance, and mixed-media presentations. Here, Art in Embassies program director Beth Dozoretz flanked by Fox News anchor Bret Baier and his wife Amy. For 50 years, the State Dept’s Office of Art in Embassies has chosen and displayed American Art, […]
Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang doesn’t hate Christmas; he just loves blowing things up. And so it was that at 3 p.m. Friday in Washington, D.C., tourists on the National Mall were exposed to the thunderous spectacle of a Christmas Tree going fire-spitting nuclear. D.C. was a suitable locale for Cai’s “Black Christmas Tree,” given the […]
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presents the State Department Medal of Arts to Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang at a ceremony on Friday in Washington. Cai was among five international and American artists awarded for work that promotes understanding across cultures. The event also marked the 50th anniversary of the department’s Art in Embassies program. […]
Chinese-born artist Cai Guo-Qiang presents one of his remarkable “explosion events,”where a 40-foot pine tree erupts in a shimmer of fireworks as if in a “tree lighting” ceremony, followed by a cascade of black ink-like smoke that mimics traditional Chinese brush drawings. Fifty years after the Kennedy administration started a small-scale effort to place American […]
It’s been a difficult dozen years for Washington socialites, who started planning their comeback last spring, no matter who won the White House: Republican hostesses Ann Nitze and Susan Pillsbury would help Dame Gillian Sackler toss the “The Party of the Year” to celebrate the Sackler Museum’s 25th anniversary. Sackler’s late husband had donated 1,000 […]
Defense Department leaders November 30 honored 12 photography winners, selected from more than 3,000 submissions, for their participation in the State Department’s Art in Embassies (AIE) program. Created to promote deeper cultural understanding through sharing art, the AIE program — which marks its 50th anniversary in 2012 — selects and displays artwork purchased or borrowed […]
Photographer Carrie Mae Weems received a State Department medal from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a luncheon on Friday, November 30, at the State Department in Washington, D.C. Clinton honored Weems and four other artists—Jeff Koons, Cai Guo-Qiang, Shahzia Sikander and Kiki Smith—with the first U.S. Department of State Medals of Arts ever awarded. […]
