Artomatic is a multi-week, multimedia

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

s event held in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

of the United States. It was founded by

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

artist and arts activist George Koch. The non-juried, open event has provided a forum for artists of all types (visual, performance, and literary) and abilities (from novice to professional). There are also arts education and professional development workshops and discussions. Events were held from 1999 up to 2017 at intervals from one to three years, depending upon the availability of a site. Unable to have in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an online event was held in 2020. The organization has remained active in the local arts community.

Structure

A steering committee comprising local artists, arts administrators, and community activists develops outreach procedures and participation guidelines to ensure the broadest possible artistic representation from the

. Each participant pays a fee and commits to volunteering for 15 hours. Most participants, however, give much more of their time; volunteers execute every task, from hauling trash and building exhibit structures to maintaining the website. As a result, the show draws artists and visitors of different races, cultural backgrounds, ages and experience levels. Artomatic provides a mechanism for emerging and established artists to have the chance to work with and learn from one another. The diversity of artwork and performances attract a broad range of people, providing a forum to build institutional connections; linking public and private schools, universities, community development organizations, human service organizations, corporations, foundations, and cultural organizations. Artomatic Inc is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

that organizes Artomatic events. Artomatic, Inc was incorporated on April 22, 2005. Artomatic Inc is overseen by a volunteer

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

, led by Co-Presidents Jamila Canty and Olivia Garcia.Board of Directors
. ''Artomatic''. Retrieved April 14, 2020. Artomatic hired Natalie Graves Tucker as its first executive director in October 2019.

History

The first Art-O-Matic, as it was spelled then, ran from May 21 to June 19, 1999. It started as a fairly spontaneous event in the Manhattan Laundry buildings on

Florida Avenue Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, B ...

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

Washington. The location, in an old laundromat, accounts for the name. The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities acquired about $25,000 of artwork from this show for permanent display in the capital's public buildings through its Art in Public Places program. The second Art-O-Matic was held from September 29 to October 28, 2000. This time, it was held in the

Tenleytown Tenleytown is a historic neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest, Washington, D.C. History In 1790, locals began calling the neighborhood "Tennally's Town" after area tavern owner John Tennally. Over time, the spelling has evolve ...

neighborhood of Northwest Washington, in a then vacant building that had at various times been a

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

and a

Hechinger The Hechinger Company was an American chain of home-improvement centers headquartered in Landover, Maryland, on the immediate outskirts of Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1999. It was also an online retailer owned by Home Decor Products from 2 ...

. Artist Tim Tate's "artwork at Artomatic 2000 was seen by the curator of the Smithsonian's Renwick Museum, and that show both got his work into the Museum's permanent collection, and his sales at the show provided the seed money that started the

Washington Glass School The Washington Glass School was founded in 2001 by Washington, DC area artists Tim Tate (artist), Tim Tate and Erwin Timmers. The school teaches classes on how to make Glass casting#Kiln casting, kiln cast, Fused glass, fused, and cold worked gla ...

." October 31 to November 30, 2002 saw the third Art-O-Matic, in a former EPA building in the

Southwest Waterfront The Southwest Waterfront is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. (Southwest), Southwest Washington, D.C. The Southwest quadrant is the smallest of Washington's four Address (geography)#Quadrants, quadrants, and the Southwest Waterfront is one of on ...

neighborhood of

, at 401 M Street SW, adjacent to Waterside Mall (the EPA building and the mall were both later demolished). At this Art-O-Matic, for the first time, the Figure Models Guild of the Washington, D.C., area sponsored open

life drawing A figure drawing is a drawing of the human form in any of its various shapes and Human positions, postures, using any of the drawing Drawing#Media, media. The term can also refer to the act of producing such a drawing. The degree of representatio ...

events. There would be live, often nude, models posing, and artists drawing. The fourth Artomatic, as it was now spelled and has been spelled since, was held from November 12 through December 5, 2004, at the old Capital Children's Museum in the H Street Corridor of Washington, D.C.

Blake Gopnik Blake Gopnik (born 1963) is an American art critic who has lived in New York City since 2011. He previously spent a decade as chief art critic of ''The Washington Post'', prior to which he was an arts editor and critic in Canada. He has a docto ...

, art critic for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', wrote that the majority of the show's work was mediocre or worse, and decried the waste of money and effort that could have gone to worthwhile, professional arts activities in Washington, D.C. The fifth Artomatic was held from April 13 to May 20, 2007. This was the first time Artomatic was held outside Washington, D.C.. It occupied two floors of a vacated office building in Crystal City in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. The space had previously been occupied by the Patent and Trademark Office. Artomatic returned to Washington, D.C., with the sixth iteration, held from May 9 through June 15, 2008. This time, they occupied 10 floors of Capitol Plaza I, a new – not yet completed – office building in the

NoMa Noma, NoMa, or NOMA may refer to: Places * NoMa, the area North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., US ** NoMa–Gallaudet U station, on Washington Metro * Noma, Florida, US * NOMA, Manchester, a redevelopment in England * Noma District, ...

neighborhood. In February 2009, Artomatic collaborated with the Pink Line Project for "Luck of the Draw: An Art and Music Experience." This event attracted over 1,500 people and was held at the Capitol Riverfront Neighborhood. Also in this seventh version of the event, several artists received interesting letters from someone who called himself "The Benefactor", causing both admiration and alarm in several of the artists. The seventh Artomatic was also the tenth anniversary event. It ran from May 29 to July 5, 2009 in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It occupied a brand new building, 55 M Street SE, in a development near the new

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...

located right over an entrance of the Navy Yard Metro Station. Over 76,000 visitors attended. The eighth Artomatic was held from May 18 to June 23, 2012, in

Crystal City, Virginia Crystal City is an urban neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, approximately south of Downtown (Washington, D.C.), Downtown Washington, D.C. Due to its extensive integration of office buildings and residential h ...

. It was held in a vacant office building.. The ninth Artomatic was held in

New Carrollton, Maryland New Carrollton is a city in central Prince George's County, Maryland, 10 miles (16 km) east of Washington, D.C. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13,715. History Developer Albert W. Turner acquir ...

, from October 30 to December 12, 2015. The tenth Artomatic was held in

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 47,018. It is named a ...

, in November 2016. Diane Tuckman, a pioneering silk artist and author on the same genre exhibited and taught classes at this Artomatic. The eleventh Artomatic returned to

running from March 24 to May 6, 2017. It was staged using seven floors of an empty office building. The artfair organizers wanted to mark the 20th anniversary year in a meaningful way. However, 2019 came and went without finding a location to host the exhibition, so anniversary plans were moved to 2020, only to be upended by the outbreak of COVID-19. It was announced that for 2020, the production of Artomatic would be a totally online exhibition. The organization remained in existence to promote local art, but had not been able to hold any in-person events until 2024, when a twelfth Artomatic was announced, to take place in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

from March 9 to April 28, 2024. The 2024 Artomatic is in the largest building ever at over 400,000 square feet. The opening remarks ceremony by Washington, DC mayor

Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the current mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously represented th ...

made national news when her remarks were interrupted by

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

protesters who rushed the stage.

Licensed events and partnerships

The Artomatic concept has been licensed out to other places, including

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

, in October and November 2011, and

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, in April 2015. In 2005 the Fraser Gallery of Bethesda, MD exhibited "Artomatic Top 10." The show was curated to exhibit the work of the top ten artists selected by the gallery director from the 2004 Artomatic, and included work by Mark Jenkins,

Michael Janis Michael Janis (born 1959) is an American artist currently residing in Washington, D.C., Washington, DC where he is one of the directors of the Washington Glass School. He is known for his work on glass using the exceptionally difficult sgraffito ...

Tim Tate Tim Tate (born 1960) is an American artist and the co-founder of the Washington Glass School in the Greater Washington, DC capital area. The school was founded in 2001 and is now the second largest warm glass school in the United States. Tate wa ...

and others. The show was selected as a "Hot Pick" of the week by ''

''. Also in 2005, the Anne C. Fisher Gallery in Georgetown selected an exhibition selected from Artomatic artists titled "10 Most Wanted." The exhibition was curated by Fisher and by

F. Lennox Campello F. Lennox Campello is an American (born in Cuba, 1956) artist, art critic, author, art dealer, curator, and visual arts blogger. In 2016 ''The Washington City Paper'' called him "one of the most interesting people of Washington, DC." Early lif ...

, and included work by Frank Warren, the creator of the

PostSecret PostSecret is an ongoing community art, community mail art project, created by Frank Warren in 2004, in which people mail their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard. Selected secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website, or used for Pos ...

project. In 2007, three art galleries in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, put on a coordinated selected show of artists who had taken part in Artomatic. The galleries mounted the art for their monthly Bethesda Art Walk of January 12, 2007. In 2009, this was repeated by the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda, with a second curated exhibition of Artomatic artists. Smaller events and partnerships have also happened in following years, including a small display in the oldest wing of National Airport in 2011 and select Artomatic artists were featured with poetry by BRASH at Studio Gallery on R Street NW in Washington, D.C., in 2010. In 2013, thirty-five artists who participated at Artomatic 2012 were curated by juror

to show work at the

PEPCO The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C., and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon. The company's current trademarked slogan ...

Edison gallery in

Downtown Washington, D.C. Downtown is the central business district of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. It is the third largest central business district in the United States. The "Traditional Downtown" has been defined as an area ...

Artomatic has also partnered with art groups from other cities and countries, specifically glass studios from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for the 2009 iteration, in order to bring work from elsewhere into the DC art scene. The 2009 Artomatic included of one of Washington, DC's Sister Cities: Sunderland, England. Thirty seven artists and businesses from Sunderland participated in Artomatic including glass artists and musical acts.

Notable artists

* Michele Banks exhibited in Artomatic 2024 *

Robin Bell Robin Bell (born 16 November 1977 in Cape Town) is a South African-born, Australian slalom canoeist who competed from the late 1990s to the late 2000s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the C1 event in Beijing in 2 ...

exhibited in Artomatic 2008 *

Joan Belmar Joan Belmar is an American artist (born 1970). He is a painter who uses a three dimensional technique using painting and collage processes with both painted and untreated Mylar/paper strips in circles and curvilinear shapes variations which then pr ...

exhibited at Artomatic 2009 *BRASH, a mysterious poet who has left poems for the exhibiting artists, many of whom choose to display the poems with their artwork * Clark V. Fox exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 under the name Clark Hogan *

exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 * Shanthi Chandrasekar exhibited in Artomatic 2012 *

Anne Cherubim Anne Cherubim is a Canadian artist residing in the U.S., who is an abstract contemporary landscape painter. Cherubim was born in Canada and later started a family in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She is a Resident Artist at Artists & Makers Studios ...

exhibited in Artomatic 2015 * Mary Early exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 * Dana Ellyn exhibited at Artomatic 2004 *

Ric Garcia Ric Garcia (born 1968 Miami, Florida) is an American fine arts painter, digital printmaker, and curator of Cuban ancestry currently working and residing in the Greater Washington, DC area. Education Garcia studied and received a BFA in Graphi ...

exhibited in 2008, 2009 and 2012 * Patricia Goslee exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 and 2002 *

exhibited at Artomatic 2004 and Artmatic 2024 * Barbara Januszkiewicz exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 * Mark Jenkins exhibited at Artomatic 2004 * Nate Lewis exhibited in Artomatic 2012 *

Percy Martin Percy Martin (1871-1958) was an American-born British engineer and automobile manufacturer. Born in Columbus, Ohio 19 June 1871 he obtained a degree in mechanical engineering, specializing in electrical engineering, from Ohio State University in 1 ...

exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 *

Sandra Perez-Ramos Sandra Pérez-Ramos (born San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican artist and community art leader in the Maryland and Washington, DC area. She is a resident artist in Gallery 209 inside Artists & Makers Studios] in Rockville, Maryland. Pérez-Ra ...

exhibited at Artomatic 2016 * Raquel Partnoy exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 *

Amber Robles-Gordon Amber Robles-Gordon (born 1977 San Juan, Puerto Rico) is an American mixed media visual artist. She resides in Washington, DC and predominantly works with found objects and textiles to create assemblages, large-scale sculptures, installations and ...

exhibited in Artomatic 2007 *Erik Sandberg exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 * Nicolas F. Shi exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 and Artomatic 2009 *Dan Steinhilber exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 * Lou Stovall exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000 *

, whose artwork "The Rapture" disappeared under dramatic circumstances during Artomatic 2007, and later a ransom demand (for Monopoly money) was sent to ''

''. The demands were met and parts of the artwork were returned by the thief, named "The Collector," along with his manifesto about society failing to value its art. *

Erwin Timmers Erwin Timmers (born 1964) is a Dutch-born American artist and the co-founder of the Washington Glass School in the Greater Washington, D.C. capital area. Timmers has been recognized as one of the early "green or environmental artists", working mos ...

exhibited in Art-O-Matic 2000, Artomatic 2012, and Artomatic 2024 * Diane Tuckman exhibited in Artomatic 2016 * Frank Warren's

project began at Artomatic 2004 *Colin Winterbottom exhibited in Artomatic 2024

References

{{reflist

External links

Artomatic home pageArtomatic@Frederick - Frederick, MDArtomatic419 - Ohio
Washington Post, January 11, 2007; Page C13.

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, May 4, 2007; Page WE53

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, October 20, 2011 1999 establishments in Washington, D.C. Art festivals in the United States Crystal City, Virginia Festivals in Washington, D.C. Festivals established in 1999 Festivals in Maryland Festivals in Virginia Literary festivals in the United States