Corcoran Community Day (+Mini-Instawalk)

y’all know i’m a sucker for anything free, especially when it’s free museums. even better is hands-on art-making + free + museum, and that’s what happened today at the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Community Day.

what really drew me was the opportunity to try my hand at printmaking and pottery (bowl-making). let’s just say one was more successful than the other.

the bad

it all started out so promisingly.

but after many many (MANY) failed attempts, i was subtly given the hint to just give up. and this is what i ended up with (the fact that my phone focused on the wrong thing doesn’t take away from the fact that i ended up with uhh, shall we say, modern art):

either i got the clay too wet or i couldn’t bring up the sides correctly, or the top just kept coming off the base (=what you see above). *sigh* p.s. those wheel pedals are on a hair-trigger. press just a little too hard and you’ve got enough rotation speed to lift off. where’s my Demi* when i need her?! (let me just say they must have taken a shower halfway through — i learned today that clay is super hard to wash off your hands, especially if you’re as messy as they were.)

* though, having watched Magic Mike on the bus ride down this morning, i’d much prefer it if Demi were Alex Pettyfer, but i digress.

the good

Midnight Plane to Georgia (The Country)

when i sat down in the printmaking room, one of the assistants came by and asked if i was an artist (i almost doubled over in laughter, but kept a straight face with a “no, not at all”). my artistic skills are indeed sorely lacking, but i was actually surprised at how well this turned out. they basically had you draw out your design on a piece of paper, then lay it over a really thin sheet of foam that you “engrave” by retracing over your drawing with a ballpoint pen, thus creating grooves. roll some paint over it, put a piece of paper over the painted (engraved) foam, flip over, press down using a round blotter in a circular motion to transfer the paint, peel off, and voilà!

the instawalk

the gallery itself is relatively small but with a pretty wide scope, with a focus on American art.

Venus by Antonio Canova

Damien Hirst “Last Supper” series

Reflected in “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” By Rob Fischer

Rembrandt’s “Man with Sheet of Music”

Centerpieces (while they were cleaning up the atrium after Community Day ended)

btw, i don’t know much about the Corcoran (in fact, hardly anything before doing research earlier this week for my weekend in DC), but apparently the future of the gallery is in doubt, so if you’re thinking of a visit, better make it sooner rather than later.