James Terrell is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Northeast, Washington, DC. His paintings incorporate ideas of ancestry and identity alongside formal concerns of color and composition. Terrell holds a MFA in painting from Parsons School of Design and a BFA from Howard University. He has exhibited throughout Washington, DC for over 15 years, including at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum and the Howard University Gallery of Fine Art. He works as an art teacher in the DC Public Schools.
2016 News Archives
September
Elana Casey
Elana ‘Asha’ Casey currently resides in Washington D.C. where she was born and raised. Her artistic training began at Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Since then, she has mentored and worked with artists and arts professionals like Amber Robles-Gordon, Abigail Deville, Sarah Cash and most recently Sanjit Sethi.
Casey is a painter and mixed media artist. Her work is multifaceted and explores themes of godliness, self-preservation, healing, and space. She draws inspiration largely from books and documentaries concerning the Sociology of people of African descent. Casey is a (2016 BFA) graduate of the Corcoran School of Art at the George Washington University. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Art Teaching.
Amber Robles Gordon
Amber Robles-Gordon, is a mixed media visual artist. She primarily works and is known for her use of found objects and textile to create assemblages, large-scale sculptures and installations. Her work is representational of her experiences and the paradoxes within the female experience.
Robles-Gordon has over fifteen years of exhibiting, art education and exhibition coordinating experience. She completed her Masters of Fine Arts from Howard University in November 2011, where she has received annual awards and accolades for her artwork. Since, her exhibitions and artwork has been reviewed and/or featured in the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Washington Informer, Examiner, WAMU American University Radio, WPFW 89.3, MSNBC the grio, Hyperallergeric, Ebony.com, Bmoreart.com, Puerto Rico Artnews, the Miami Herald, and Callaloo Art & Culture in the African Diaspora.
She has exhibited nationally and in Germany, Italy, Malaysia, London and Spain. In 2010, Robles-Gordon was granted apprenticeship to create a public art installation with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, D.C. Creates Public Arts Program. Robles-Gordon was also commissioned to create temporary and permanent public art installations for numerous art fairs and agencies such as the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, DCCAH,Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association (NVFAA), Humanities Council of Washington, D.C., Howard University, The Schomburg Center for Black Culture and the Washington Projects for the Arts.
Throughout her career, she serves as an advocate for the Washington, DC area arts community. As of November 2004 through July 2012 Robles-Gordon has been an active member of the Black Artists DC, (BADC) serving as exhibitions coordinator, Vice President and President. In 2012, Robles-Gordon was selected to present for the Under the Influence competition as part of the 30 Americans Exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
Additionally, she has been commissioned by the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum, Luther College, WETA Television, Al Jazeera, The Kojo Nnamdi Show, Montgomery College, David C. Driskell Center and the Phillips Collection to teach workshops, give commentary, and or present about her artwork. Most recently, Robles-Gordon has been selected for the Centro Cultural Costarricense-Norteamericano, Back the Roots Residency in Limon, Costa Rica.
August
Luis Peralta Del Valle
Born in Nicaragua in 1980 and migrated to the U.S. in 1985. At the age of 13 he started painting graffiti murals in the District, Maryland and Virginia. A few years later at Bell Multicultural High School he began his formal artistic education, continuing his studies at the Corcoran College of Art and Design.
In 2013 Luis was selected as the winner of the East of the River Distinguished Artist Award. That year he was also a finalist for the District of Columbia 28th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards. These accomplishments preceded the presentation of the National Museum of Catholic Art and Library National Artist Award by Prince Lorenzo Maria De Medici in 2014, and his selection as the artist commissioned for the 2015 Beijing / District of Columbia Sister Cities Project. Del Valle is also the recipient of the 2015 National Museum of Catholic Art and Library Portrait Award.