Arts Barn City Shop

The City of Gaithersburg invites artists to submit applications to exhibit and sell their works in the Arts Barn City Shop. Selected artists will have the opportunity to display their artwork in the City Shop from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.

Artists will also receive an advance invitation to apply to be part of the Holiday Artisan Market on Nov. 11, 2023, and the Spring Artisan Market on May 5, 2024.

A panel of jurors will review the applications received during the call and select the artists for the upcoming year. The criteria for review includes the originality and technical achievement in the medium and the type and price of work appropriate for the Arts Barn’s typical patron. Please note, all art must fit in the City Shop area within cubicles that are 14” by 14” by 12” — a typical print bin, or a notecard rack. There is no wall or floor space.

There is a $20 application fee for City of Gaithersburg residents and a $25 fee for nonresidents who are new to the program. Exhibitors must be 18 years old or represented by a parent or guardian. Artists do not have to reside within the City of Gaithersburg limits to participate. All artists must have a current Maryland Sales and Use Tax Certificate.

The City retains 30% commission for sales. Application forms and more information are available online. Both current and new artists may apply. All applications and fees must be received by 5 p.m. May 26.

For more information, contact the city shop manager at cityshop@gaithersburgmd. gov, or call 301-258-6394.

Baltimore-based comic writer and artist Rafer Roberts sent me a note last week, asking if he’d mentioned his latest project coming up with comics publishing giant Dark Horse in June, “The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee.”

He had not. But Roberts is a hell of a writer and artist, not to mention a good guy, so you can bet I jumped at the chance to talk to him, as well as co-creator and artist on the project, Chicagobased Mike Norton.

Ostensibly a coming-of-age tale, “Rock Gods” is about four nerds and high school nobodies who have a shot as the opening band for a washed-up rock star. The problem? They have only one week to rehearse, inter-member tension, school … and a horde of mutated monsters to defeat. “Rock