The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards - Madrid, Spain

Over $12,000 in awards and grants; book publication; travel. Deadline: September 27, 2009

American Women Artists National Juried Competition - Easton, Maryland

$10,000 total, $1,000 Best of Show. Deadline: August 15, 2009

12 12 Gallery National Juried Photography Exhibition 2009 - Richmond, Virginia

Up to $1000 in cash prizes. Deadline: August 14, 2009

Boardwalk Art Show - Ocean City, New Jersey

$3,000 in awards. Deadline: July 27, 2009

A Show of Heads - Hudson, New York

$2600 in publication awards. Deadline: August 31, 2009

Columbia City Gallery's 4th Annual Juried Exhibit - Seattle, Washington

$500 best in show; $300 2nd place; $200 3rd place. Deadline: July 31, 2009

81st Grand National Exhibition - New York, NY

Over $14,000 in awards. Deadline: August 8, 2009

Portrait Photography - Fort Collins, Colorado

$700 in awards. Deadline: August 18, 2009

Pandora's Box - Alexandria, Virginia

$500 in awards. Deadline: October 5, 2009

20th Annual Juried Competition - Rock Hill, South Carolina

Best in Show - $1,000 | 1st Place - $500 | 2nd Place - $200 | 3rd Place - $100. Deadline: July 17, 2009

‘Transformers,’ ‘Ice Age’ tie for No. 1 at $42.5M

Prehistoric creatures and robots were in a photo finish for the Fourth of July box-office crown Sunday, with “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” tied with $42.5 million each.

The Edge: Music, books, movies and more

The Edge: brings you music, books, movies and more.

Keys to success: Starting lessons at the right age important for piano-playing skills

When it comes to children taking piano lessons, choosing an age for them to begin can be a tricky decision. And if you’re thinking about lessons for yourself, the thought of starting a new hobby as an adult can be daunting. Is there a too soon or too late for learning piano?

Horoscopes

This week’s birthdays: You will be emboldened to fully be yourself. You won’t feel that you have to hide your magnificence in order to fit in with a person or group. You will speak what you know without fear of the consequences. August brings a special gift.

Jackson rocked fashion world, too

Jackson wore pegged pants, blazers and bright-white socks.

Art-Historic Palin Resignation Fallout

I try, I really try, to keep my opinionated mouth shut about most current political news on this here Art History blog and concentrate instead on nice, safe historic political analysis such as, "Savonarola was quite the pious jackass from 1494-98 in Florence, what with burning all of those canvases, books and pretty decorative objects." Five-hundred years after the fact who is actively rooting for Savonarola? Nobody, that's who, hence the word "safe."

So when, over the holiday weekend during the aptly-named journalistic period known as a "news dump," Sarah Palin announced she was resigning as Governor of Alaska less than two-thirds of the way through her first term, I paid it no never-mind. Free country and all of that. If someone decides to take a long walk on a Flat Earth, who am I to stop them? It has nothing to do with art history.

Except.

Except ... now it does, apparently. One of those dirty, liberal, pajama-wearing, basement-dwelling, Cheeto-eating bloggers has crossed a HUGE line in the sand with me by equating Sarah Palin with Post-Modernism. This is utterly too much. First of all, Post-Modernism is dead, while Ms. Palin is very much alive. Secondly, if we had to, most probably at gunpoint, pick an art-historic movement, era or school with which to associate Sarah Palin, my money would be on Rococo. You?

P.S. To clarify: I truly, madly, deeply love Cheetos. Baked to a delicate crunch, not deep fried to a crackly crunch.

Image Credit: December 2, 2008: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin answers questions from the media at the meeting of the National Governor's Association. Photo © William Thomas Cain/Getty Images.

Casting Calls Announced for The Untitled Art Project

Tell all of your artist friends: the Bravo Network has, at long last, determined a casting call schedule for its upcoming reality television series The Untitled Art Project. According to the press release, they are looking for "emerging or mid-career" artists of the "contemporary" stripe. (Note to readers: Erm, not to split hairs, but any visual artist who is currently [1] breathing and [2] working is, by definition, "contemporary." But I digress.) The schedule is as follows:

• LOS ANGELES
  Saturday, July 11 & Sunday, July 12, 10 AM – 2 PM
  LAXART
  www.laxart.org
• 
  
• MIAMI
  Tuesday, July 14, 10 AM – 2 PM
  Fredric Snitzer Gallery
  www.Snitzer.com
• 
  
• CHICAGO
  Thursday, July 16, 10 AM – 2 PM
  School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  Sullivan Galleries, 33 S. State Street
  www.saic.edu
• 
  
• NEW YORK
  Saturday, July 18 & Sunday, July 19, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
  White Columns
  www.whitecolumns.org

You should also know that there is a full boatload of application papers, portfolio requirements and passport prerequisites Bravo expects hopefuls to bring with them. Take the time to read the fine print, please.

All that's left to say is "Good luck" and that I, a dedicated shunner of Reality TV, will watch this series. Oh, I'd rather be in Hell with a broken back than to sit through, say, The Real Housewives of _______(insert place I don't care about here), but I would make popcorn and glue myself to the screen to watch a Conceptual artist try to etch a zinc plate. Now that's must-see TV, Fellow Art Geeks.

Ease on Down the Road

Love him or loathe what he allegedly became, there's no denying that Michael Jackson touched millions of lives with his music, artistry and iconic cultural status as the "King of Pop." Look here. He even inspired Jeff Koons who is, himself, no slouch in the pop culture sphere.

As for me, I will remember him simply as an integral part of my youth and thank him always for the music; we all have our personal soundtracks in Life. Selective memory, perhaps, but nonetheless valid.

By the way, Bubbles is alive, well and spending his days acting as chimpanzees are meant to at an animal preserve in Sylmar, California.

Image credit:

Jeff Koons (American, b. 1955)
Michael Jackson and Bubbles, 1988
Ceramic
42 x 70 1/2 x 32 1/2 in.
(106.7 x 179.1 x 82.5 cm)
Photo © Douglas M. Parker Studio, Los Angeles
The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica / © Jeff Koons

Wordless Wednesday - Today's Heat Index

© 2008 Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

(And here we all thought the melting timepieces were a Surrealistic flight of fancy. Ha! Not when the Heat Index is >100°F, Señor Dalí.)

See more Wordless Wednesdays on About

Art Myth: Picasso Was a Lefty

Every three to six months someone emails instructing me to add Pablo Picasso to my list of Left-Handed Artists. And every three to six months I have to reply with, "Sorry, no can do" because Pablo Picasso was absolutely, positively not left-handed. However, the Internet being what it is, the tale of the Spanish Master's rumored southpawiness persists.

Today, after another email, it occurred to me (at long last!) that, maybe, the Internet could *also* provide proof to dispel this particular myth. While it's dangerous for me to venture into YouTube (think: short attention span and disproportionate love of TV sitcom clips), you, Dear Reader, deserve the truth. So, without further ado, I give you these offerings from YouTube, each of which shows a clearly right-handed Picasso wielding his brush:

• Picasso in His Studio (0:28)
• Picasso is Painting (7:31)
• Pablo Picasso (0:31)

Do you know of any other vintage Picasso footage online?