Brentwood Arts Exchange, 2019-2020

SEPTEMBER 2019– JUNE 2020

BRENTWOOD ARTS EXCHANGE

THE MARYLAND-NATIONAL CAPITAL PARK AND PLANNING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION, PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

WELCOME THE BRENTWOOD ARTS EXCHANGE, The MarylandNational Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) component of the public–private partnership of the Gateway Arts Center, serves as an anchor for arts-based community development in the Prince George’s County Gateway Arts District. We support artists and the community by welcoming everyone to experience contemporary art exhibitions featuring prominent regional artists; intimate concerts by local musicians; affordable arts classes for all ages; and our craft store, where work by local artisans may be purchased.

Contact: 301-277-2863 email: pgp-brentwood-arts@pgparks.com online: arts.pgparks.com Location: 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722 Hours: Monday–Friday, 10 am–7 pm; Saturday, 10 am–4 pm; Sunday, closed

EXHIBITIONS At the core of the Brentwood Arts Exchange programs are its two contemporary art galleries.

The 2,500-square-foot Main Gallery presents a broad range of exhibitions focusing on the best work by early–mid-career artists in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore region. The 800-square-foot Lab Gallery, which doubles as an event space, supports artists by encouraging new approaches to two-dimensional work and presenting solo exhibitions by artists who are creating exceptional work. Additionally, our Fine Craft Store hosts a mini-exhibition front window feature, presenting small sculptures and highquality craft work.

FILMS The Brentwood Arts Exchange presents several short, thematic series of film screenings each year focusing on heritage celebrations and current social topics important to the arts. The Brentwood Arts Exchange works with local film curators and subject experts to find films that audiences may have little chance to see elsewhere. Past film series have focused on the U.S.–Mexico Border (“Afrofuturism”) and looked into everyday life across the cultures of the Arabic world. The 2019-2020 season is titled “The Art House,” focusing on films crossing different genres and generations that did not conform to mainstream norms but still resonate through the span of time.

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MUSIC

FINE CRAFT STORE

LISTENING ROOM CONCERT SERIES Entering its fifth year in 2019-2020, the Listening Room offers a rare opportunity to experience live music in an intimate gallery setting. Our concert series thrives on its eclectic lineup, featuring acts that range from Americana to rap, classical quartets, Japanese Koto, bossa nova, free jazz, indie rock, and any other genre in which local bands are making great music— which is just about every genre. Past acts have included Koyaki Issa, Sligo Creek Stompers, Olivia Mancini, and even a rare, small-setting appearance by Dom Flemons. Stay up to date at arts.pgparks.com.

The Fine Craft Store at the Brentwood Arts Exchange has become a shopping and giftbuying staple of the Gateway Arts District.

Featuring a constantly evolving lineup of craft and functional art by more than 40 local artists, everything from ceramics to jewelry, leather, glass, woodworking, and more are offered. The Craft Store is a great place to find unique items and support the local creative economy by keeping money in the community.

SONIC FRONTIERS: EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC SERIES This new music series taking place in the fall and spring will ask you to expand your mind and soul with a diverse and eclectic mix of sight and sound. Sonic Frontiers presents an exploration of experimental and improvised performances arranged by local musicians and groups in the DMV. From electroacoustic -ambient sound meditations to explorations in modular synthesis, with maybe a little cowbell thrown in, this concert series will be worth checking out.

Perhaps the best way to experience art is by making it. Whether you are 6 years old, or 60+, and whether you are using traditional media or working in our new computer lab, we have classes to get your creative juices flowing.

Classes change each season, so check online at arts.pgparks.com for the current listing of youth camps, Kids’ Day Out events, teen film and architecture programs, drawing classes, and more.

CLASSES

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Contortion

MAIN GALLERY SEPTEMBER 3–OCTOBER 26, 2019 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 7, 2019, 5-8 pm Artist Talk: Saturday, October 5, 2019, 2-4 pm

Contortion: Melodrama and the Figure Brentwood Arts Exchange is proud to announce the opening reception for the group exhibition Contortion: Melodrama and the Figure. Artists David Ibata, Melissa Ichiuji, Jenny Kanzler, and Rives Wiley explore the psychological, powerful, enigmatic, and at times, odd concepts of figurative painting, drawing, and sculpture.

This exhibition intends to uphold, enhance, and transcend the human form to provoke and question the viewer’s understanding of the form.

NOVEMBER 11–DECEMBER 28, 2019 Opening Reception: Saturday, November 16, 2019, 5-7 pm Artist & Curator Talk: Saturday, December 14, 2019, 2-4 pm

From Baltimore With Love by Schroeder Cherry This diverse group exhibition highlights the vibrant and unique character of the contemporary cultural scene in Baltimore County, displaying various disciplines that give this area its nationally renowned reputation as a groundbreaking art nexus. Brentwood Arts Exchange acts as an anchor for the greater D.C. art community and is proud to serve as a bridge to these art meccas through this exhibition, providing an opportunity to view art that is often overlooked to be seen in person because of proximity.

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Maria Gabriela Mizes Hickey

JANUARY 13–FEBRUARY 29, 2020 Opening Reception: Saturday, January 18, 2020, 5-7 pm Artist & Curator Talk: Saturday, February 15, 2020, 2-4 pm

Cold Hands, Warm Heart: Myths of Black Motherhood

by Deirdre Darden

In celebration of Black History Month, Curator Deirdre Darden has assembled a thoughtful and poignant group exhibition examining the multilayered dichotomy of the African American woman as it relates to motherhood and identity through the fabric of the American landscape.

The term “cold hands and a warm heart” is explained as appearing stern on the outside while being truly tender from within. Throughout history, black women have often been accused of carrying an intimidating, angry, or stern appearance, while simultaneously being labeled as nurturing, mothering figures. This exhibition, composed of a diverse collection of artists using different art-making methods, examines this double consciousness that black people, in particular, black women, experience.

MARCH 16–MAY 30, 2020 Opening Reception: Saturday, March 21, 2020, 5-8 pm Artist Talk: Saturday, April 11, 2020, 2-4 pm

Brentwood Arts Exchange 10th Anniversary Exhibition:

JUNE 15–AUGUST 22, 2020 Opening Reception: Saturday, June 20, 2020, 5-8 pm Artist & Curator Talk: Saturday, July 18, 2020, 2-4 pm

Layers: Cause and Effect by Maria Gabriela Mizes Hickey The use of layers in images threads a connection between many traditions, from painting to map-making, to infographic timelines. Overlapping shapes and lines are sometimes used to associate different levels of data, allowing them to contribute to the whole while maintaining their own identity. In the visual art process, layers can convey a myriad of visual, emotional, and aesthetic responses.

This vibrant group exhibition features artists Alexandra Arata, Cheryl Edwards, Amani Lewis, and Maritza Sosaya. All of the artists use different forms of layering in creating their work, each employing their own methods to develop unique and distinctive outcomes.

Moving Forward Brentwood Arts Exchange first opened on March 19, 2009, with a group exhibition composed of the talented artists of the Gateway Arts District. In a decade, those artists have evolved into giants of the greater Maryland arts community. The Gateway Arts District has gained national attention and Brentwood Arts Exchange has become the anchor and an institution for this influential collective. In celebration of this milestone, we have decided to move forward instead of looking back by exhibiting a fresh group of artists in the district who are redefining and trailblazing on the foundation to which they now belong. Please join us as we move into the future!

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Jeremy Flick

LAB GALLERY SEPTEMBER 3–OCTOBER 26, 2019 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 7, 2019, 5-8 pm Artists Talk: Saturday, October 5, 2019 2-4 pm

.superpositions. by Jeremy Flick Jeremy Flick applies a highly controlled approach and adapts minimalist strategies to compose paintings that have a rigorous sensitivity to abstraction and color. Flick abandons the traditional rectangular frame in favor of irregularly shaped canvases to offer a skewed, but methodical aesthetic. Divergent shapes of opaque, intuited color appear to be transparent to create overlapping boundaries, causing symmetry and asymmetry, resulting in harmonious, precise, and meticulously balanced compositions.

NOVEMBER 11–DECEMBER 28, 2019 Public Reception: Saturday, November 16, 2019, 5-7 pm Artist & Curator Talk: Saturday, December 14, 2019, 2-4 pm

Constituents by Alex Braden and Emily Francisco Braden and Francisco are primarily known as innovative art practitioners who use both sound and visionary methods to create memorable experiences. In this exhibition, they collaborate to create a sensory encounter that must be seen and heard to believe. Constituents displays a sculptural sound installation exploring fragmentation and the ambiance of the in-between.

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Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter

Carson Murdach

JANUARY 13–FEBRUARY 29, 2020

JUNE 15–AUGUST 22, 2020

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 18, 2020, 5-7 pm Artist Talk: Saturday, February 15, 2020, 2-4 pm

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 20, 2020, 5-8 pm Artist Talk: Saturday July 18, 2020, 2-4 pm

Playing to WIN

by Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter

The Architect’s Dream by Carson Murdach

Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter’s methodical mixed media assemblages comment on the destructive nature of competition and how it relates to our contemporary society. “The question of how one wins and why can be essential to understanding the collective character of a country or that of a single individual. Can the goal of “winning” become so significant that it can become a blinding force?

Using motifs from classic board games, as well as lotto tickets, playing cards, and game-related quotes, images were created while pondering the implications of the phrase “playing to WIN.”

This ambitious and obsessive series of drawings investigates the cyclical nature of history through a sprawling imagined landscape. Depictions of cookie-cutter homes and monumental buildings engulf the terrain and create a landscape of their own. Patterns and structure turn into chaos as the work narrates cautionary tales of humanity’s pattern of civilization. Among all this adversity, rather than wallow in nostalgia and regret, The Architect’s Dream directs us to a potentially disastrous endgame and a need for balance.

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FAMILY HOLIDAY

WORKSHOPS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2019, 2-4 PM

Calabash Carnage: Family Pumpkin Carving Celebrate Halloween and have lots of fun at Brentwood Arts Exchange! You and your family are invited to join us for a pumpkin carving workshop. Use your imagination, create your own designs, and leave the mess with us.

FREE admission (Pumpkins are $5 each)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019, 2-4 PM

Thanksgiving Glitterfest Enjoy a FREE one-day workshop that teaches participants how to decorate sparkling centerpieces with glitter for their Thanksgiving table. Families are encouraged to bring their own items to decorate, but can also choose from a limited selection of free centerpiece items at the workshop.

FREE

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2019, 2-4 PM

Holiday Ornament Workshop The holidays are about being together, and there’s no better way to do it than creating together. Bring the family and build memorable, elegant ornaments with special paper. All materials and instructions are provided, so you can deck the halls as soon as you get home.

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2020, 2-4 PM

Unshrink My Heart:

FINE CRAFT STORE EVENTS

Valentine’s Shrinky Dinks Attend our annual Valentine’s workshop with an ’80s twist! Create handmade Valentine keepsakes for your loved ones using Shrinky Dinks—amazing, shrinkable sheets. Craft your own jewelry, key chains, and any other Valentine’s Day gifts you can imagine.

Children will receive their first two sheets of blank Shrinky Dinks FREE; additional sheets will be available for 50 cents each.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2020, 2-4 PM

Easter Egg Dyeing Fun, glitter, and eggs. We promise all three at this FREE family-friendly workshop! Create beautifully decorated eggs that will impress your friends and even the Easter Bunny.

Children will receive their first two eggs FREE; additional eggs are 2 for $1.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2019, 10 AM-7 PM

Black Friday Sale Give art and buy local. Discover one-of-akind gifts while supporting local artists at our friendly, calm, local shopping experience. One day a year, fittingly the day after Thanksgiving, we mark down everything in the Fine Craft Store 20%, but still pay the artists the same as with a regular sale. This is what holiday shopping was meant to be!

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2019, 11 AM-4 PM

Holiday Craft Fair & Beer Tasting Lounge Join the revolution of actually enjoying holiday shopping. Don’t get stuck at crowded malls— come to the Brentwood Arts Exchange to support local artists and small businesses as you shop for beautiful handmade items. Stop by the beer tasting lounge area and sample a different kind of craft while you meet and talk with the artists who made the gifts you’re buying.

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2019–2020

Hispanic Heritage Month Film Series

FILM SERIES:

Each screening will be followed by a discussion with film series curator Ryan Long, Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Maryland, College Park.

“The Art House”

FREE

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019, 7-9 PM

Los Olvidados

(The Young and the Damned) Directed by Luis Buñuel, Mexico, 1950 (80 min.)

Hell-bent on revenge, the cocky reform school runaway, El Jaibo (Roberto Cobo), returns to his old neighborhood in post-World-WarII Mexico City’s poor and squalid slums, to reunite with his faithful gang of juvenile delinquents. However, as the dangerous ringleader lives and breathes retribution, his destructive obsession to find the informant who supposedly sent him to jail will intricately interweave his bitter fate with that of Pedro (Alfonso Mejía), his weak and unwitting accessory, in a despicable act of pure evil.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019, 7-9 PM

Memorias del Subdesarrollo (Memories of Underdevelopment)

Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, USA, 1973 (97 min.)

This classic Cuban film observes the protagonist Sergio (Sergio Corrieri) through his life following the departure of his wife, parents, and friends in the wake of the Bay of Pigs incident. Alone in a brave new world, Sergio observes the constant threat of foreign invasion while chasing young women all over Havana before finally meeting Elena (Daisy Granados), a young girl he seeks to mold into the image of his ex-wife, but at what cost to himself?

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019, 7-9 PM

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020, 7-9 PM

La Mujer Sin Cabeza

The Spook Who Sat by the Door

(The Headless Woman)

Directed by Lucrecia Martel, Argentina, 2008 (87 min.)

While driving down a deserted road, Veronica (María Onetto) hits something with her car as she struggles to answer her cell phone. After admitting to her husband, Marcos (César Bordón), that she thinks she may have killed someone, all traces of Veronica’s activities in the previous days begin to disappear. What ensues is a psychological exploration of an unfaithful wife whose unconscious battle with guilt begins to unravel not only her life but also her grip on reality.

Noir Auteur: Curated

by Dawne Langford In celebration of Black History Month, renowned Washington, D.C., filmmaker, historian, and curator Dawne Langford has assembled three gripping films that define black arthouse cinema. Largely suppressed and underrecognized when released, Ms. Langford will explore this legacy and its importance through this series.

Directed by Ivan Dixon, USA, 1973 (102 min.)

To improve his standing with black voters, a white Senator starts a campaign for the CIA to recruit black agents. However, all are graded on a curve and doomed to fail, except for a soft-spoken veteran named Dan Freeman.

After grueling training in guerrilla warfare, clandestine operations, and unarmed combat, he is assigned a meager job as the CIA’s token black employee. After five years of racist and stereotyped treatment by his superiors, he returns to his native Chicago to work for a social services agency, by day. By night, he trains a street gang to be the vanguard in an upcoming race war, using all that the CIA has taught him.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020, 7-9 PM

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty Directed by Terence Nance, USA, 2012 (84 min.)

A quixotic artist hypothesizes about why he feels bad when a mystery girl stands him up.

The event prompts him to ask what is the content of a momentary feeling. “Is it the sum of your experiences? And more importantly, are your experiences the sum of you?”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020, 7-9 PM

Killer of Sheep Directed by Charles Burnett, USA, 1978 (80 min.)

In Watts, Los Angeles, Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders) spends his days toiling away at a local slaughterhouse. His macabre profession seeps into his personal life as he struggles to keep his family afloat and content. Other life situations also prove to be difficult, since it seems that dark intentions lurk within the people he meets outside his family. The layers of stress cause Stan to question whether a better quality of life is possible.

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RENTAL OPPORTUNITIES Brentwood Arts Exchange features three unique, distinct, and affordable spaces for hosting various types of events of all sizes. Each room provides a different atmosphere and size that can accommodate groups and events of various sizes.

MAIN GALLERY: This contemporary art space can comfortably accommodate 50 people seated to 125 people standing. The main gallery features six shows annually and provides a beautiful and thought-provoking setting for an event, such as corporate or organizational events or celebrations, holiday parties, individual birthdays, graduations, baby or bridal showers, lectures, book signings, workshops, film screenings, concerts, and more.

LAB GALLERY: Perfect for a more intimate occasion, our secondary art exhibition space can accommodate 20 people seated to 40 people standing. This gallery also has a rotating exhibition schedule to provide your guests with inspired displays of different artworks.

CLASSROOM: The classroom at Brentwood Arts Exchange is perfect for Saturday birthday parties for kids or team-building creative exercises for adults and can accommodate approximately 30 people seated to 50 people standing. This classic workspace provides guests with a space to find their inspiration and enjoyment as well. This room is also available for workshops or classes (during open hours only).

ADD AN ART ACTIVITY: Brentwood Arts Exchange can provide an entertaining and stimulating creative activity to any rental! Adults can enjoy such projects as paint your own wine glass, mosaic masterpieces, painting on canvas, or block printing. Or you can add a fun creative event for your child’s birthday party, for example: painting a flower pot, T-shirt, or hot chocolate mug; printmaking for kids; or painting your own canvas.

The Arts and Cultural Heritage Division produces exciting arts activities and events every day in spaces throughout Prince George’s County.

For the most up-to-date information about our upcoming arts programs, opportunities for artists, and chances to win program discounts and free tickets to shows, be sure to LIKE ArtsPGParks on Facebook, FOLLOW @artspgparks on Twitter, and VISIT arts.pgparks.com to sign up for our weekly email newsletter!

M-NCPPC, Arts and Cultural Heritage Division 7833 Walker Drive, Suite 200 Greenbelt, MD 20770 301-446-3232, TTY 301-699-2544 arts.pgparks.com The Department of Parks and Recreation encourages and supports the participation of individuals with disabilities. Register at least a minimum of two weeks in advance of the program start date to request and receive a disability accommodation.

Cover art: Maria Gabriela Mizes Hickey