Corcoran College Book Arts Graduates

 
This year marks the third graduating class out of the Master of Book Arts program at the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday I drove downtown with friend and artist Raya Bodnarchuk to view the graduates’ thesis exhibition and to hear their defense presentations. It’s the largest graduation class yet with nine students participating, which made for an exciting and varied show.

Accordion books, wall-mounted pieces and sculptural installations were included. After everyone had a chance to view the exhibit, we proceeded to the auditorium for presentations on each student’s body of work. Themes ranged from Maria Riutort’s Memory and Landscape about the human rights violations in her native Chile, to Marjorie Devereux’s very personal Visual Autobiography and Elizabeth Curren’s Artist’s Books and Children’s Books.
     The exhibition will be up through May 19th in the Corcoran’s Rotunda Gallery, so if you have an interest in the book arts it’s a show that’s definitely worth seeing.

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DC Cherry Blossoms Pop Out

This past weekend was the National Cherry Blossom Festival here in Washington, D.C., and for once the blossoms cooperated by blooming in conjunction with the festival. Because we’ve had an unusually cold spring followed by a few very hot days, the trees were especially full this season.
Rather than brave the large crowds on The Mall, I opted to go to the nearby neighborhood of Kenwood, known for its spectacular display of trees. Walking through Kenwood is truly magical, especially once the blossoms start losing their petals–it’s like walking through a shower of pink snow. Crowds of amateur and professional photographers document the event, while neighborhood kids sell cookies and lemonade from stands in their front yards.
If you didn’t make it to see the trees this year, you can still commemorate Japan’s gift to our nation’s capitol by constructing your own cherry blossom pop-up card. Visit http://www.cherryblossompopup.com/