Programs
Gallery Exhibitions
Sitar Arts Center’s Cafritz Gallery celebrates not only the artwork of our students, faculty, and staff, but our community as well. The Gallery Series aims to educate the Sitar Arts Center community about the visual arts from both the artist and viewer’s perspective, while giving young emerging artists the opportunity to exhibit professionally.
Operating for over 15 years, the Cafritz Gallery is an intimate space that exhibits a variety of mediums and styles of 2D and 3D work. With six showcases a year, we offer young artists opportunities to feature and sell their work through solo and group exhibitions. Additionally, young artists can learn from more seasoned artists through juried exhibitions, faculty showcases, and artists talks.
Each year the Cafritz Gallery hosts a juried exhibition that is open to the public. This juried exhibition presents artists with a new theme and a new group of jurors to review the work. Jurors are practicing visual artists and arts professionals working in various organizations and positions within the DC community.
For questions about how to exhibit or interest in being a juror, please contact Korina Isler at korina@sitarartscenter.org or by phone at (202) 797-2145, ext. 106
Current Exhibit
13th ANNUAL PATRICIA SITAR JURIED EXHIBITION
Sitar Arts Center celebrates art in the community with our 13th Annual Juried Exhibition. This Exhibition aims to feature work from emerging local artists, including members of our Sitar community, in a variety of mediums. The opening reception and awards ceremony is on Thursday, March 2, 2023. Last day to submit was Wednesday, February 1st, 2023.
Visit the Gallery:
Monday through Friday 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Saturdays 10:00 AM – Noon
2022 Theme: Unity and the Environment
We live in a world full of countless faces, cultures, and ideas that inspire understanding for one another. Unity creates a sense of balance within our personal worlds and these environments that shape us into unique individuals. Our understanding of unity in these environments can set the foundation for our future. This exhibit invites artists to express themselves by representing an environment of their choice as they explore their relationship with unity in that environment.
Ask yourself, how does unity play a role in this space? Visually represent your understanding of the importance that unity holds within an environment. Does this space reflect an abundance or lack of unity? We encourage you to participate and take advantage of this opportunity to illustrate your views and values on the perplexing relationship between unity and the environment. We are excited to see the story your art will tell.
Prizes & Categories
*Category type is determined by age of participant when work is submitted
Young Adult: Age 16-21
1st Prize: $200
2nd Prize: $100
Adult: Age 22 and over
1st Prize: $400, Solo exhibition at Sitar & Juror for the 14th Annual Juried Exhibit
2nd Prize: $200
People’s Choice Award*
$50 Award
*Chosen by the Sitar Community
EXHIBIT OPENING RECEPTION AND AWARDS CEREMONY
March 2, 2023, at 7:00 pm
Jurors for the 13th Annual Patricia Sitar Juried Exhibition
We are excited to announce the jurors for this year’s Annual Patricia Sitar Juried Exhibition!
Abbey McClain
Abbey McClain is the Executive Director of Touchstone Gallery and the founder & managing director of Art Roving— connecting working artists and art enthusiasts with new opportunities. Previously, she has served as the Executive Director for the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association (TFAA) and worked for the National Building Museum, National Parks Services, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. She is also an artist and travel enthusiast; her work focuses on how human beings and their environment adapt and invent each other.
Erwin Timmers
Erwin Timmers is a “green artist” and the co-founder of the Washington Glass Studio and Washington Glass School. He teaches glass, lighting, sculpture, and metalwork; recurring themes seen in his work are industrial salvage and recycling focused. His work uses one of the least recycled materials: window glass. Timmers references environmental issues that focus on the overconsumption of resources as a society. He describes his work to be, “a showcase of the possibility and beauty of recycled material” he encourages the viewer to consider their impact on the environment. Over the years, he has been featured in books, magazines, and countless art collections. A few of Timmers’ sculptural works can be found in Zenith Gallery, Fraser Gallery, and Gallery Neptune.
Isiah Gatheright
Isiah Gatheright is a wax artist with an eye for using found objects and hidden imagery. He uses his love and curiosity for abstract and encaustic art as his inspiration. Throughout his life, Gatheright has always been surrounded by secondhand items, taking inspiration from the concept of repurposing found objects. He uses the juxtaposition of various materials to explore the possibilities of encaustic art. As a firm believer in the natural order, he drifts with the flow of life and embraces entropy. All things are moving towards chaos, then eventually back to order. Observing these cycles has been essential to his existence and explorations as a young adult. Last year, Sitar Arts Center held its 12th Annual Patricia Sitar Juried Exhibition, EMOTION, where Gatheright won first place with his wax on-wood piece, “Anxiety”. As the winner of the Juried Exhibition, Gatheright was awarded the opportunity to display his exhibition, EXISTENCE, at Sitar Arts Center’s Cafritz Gallery. On viewing from November 7th – December 1st, 2022.
Kay Jackson
Kay Jackson is an environmentalist artist. She has been featured in art collections and exhibitions around the world. Gaining recognition for her use of the gliding technique and old master’s oil painting method. Her work explores various subjects, “ranging from climate change to the human figure, further investigating how man, animals, and natural systems are interdependent and connected.” She describes the act of painting as “an artist’s wordless universe spilling over into reality, merging layers of information and emotion into tangible form.” Her work has been exhibited internationally through the State Department’s Arts in Embassies Program and Museums. You can find her work at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
To learn more about the juried exhibition, please see the prospectus.