If you’re working on a project that could use a $500 influx, please check out Idea Capital’s new initiative below:

In an innovative pilot project, Idea Capital will grant a Metropolitan Atlanta artist $500 to encourage an experimental and investigative art project. We seek to foster a new tone of experimentation and support in the Atlanta art world, as well as encourage a larger framework of support.

Idea Capital is investigating a support structure to encourage new ideas in art production across all genres of the arts; including visual, dance, literary, performance, new media, music, critical writing, film, and video. The grant is to encourage experimentation and investigation with funds designed to give artists permission to pursue new ideas.

As funding for individual artists from private and government sources has declined, Idea Capital seeks to reassert the role of the artist and to establish a new model for support outside of typical institutional models.

Emerging artists, as well as established artists and cultural workers, are encouraged to apply for these funds. We are seeking exciting ideas that foster a culture of change and create dialogue.

How does your idea need a small yet important boost?

Entries must be postmarked by Friday, May 9, 2008. For more information, please email atlartgrant@gmail.com.

For details, email Joeff Davis or photo-assistant Tara-Lynne Pixley for more information. And quickly! Apps are due before April 21st.

The photography intern works with Staff Photographer Joeff Davis and shoots weekly photography assignments that are published in Creative Loafing. Along with this responsibility, the intern works to organize and compile our image archive, assists the staff photographer on location, edits photos, and helps prepare images for publication. Experience using Adobe Photoshop and digital photography equipment is required. Personal SLR photo digital equipment and newsroom experience is a plus. Must have a reliable vehicle and be available to shoot assignments on most weekends. The photography internship is for students who are serious about photography and would like to learn how to work in a professional environment. This internship is unpaid.

ACP 8 Public Artist Matt Haffner was one of three artists selected this weekend as a recepient for MOCA GA’s “Working Artist” grant. Congratulations, Matt!

Pace Academy had a reception for their 17th Annual Pace Photography Competion yesterday, judged by Jane Jackson, which features photography from area high school students. There was a great turnout, and ACP’s happy to have been involved again this year. Here’s what the installation (over 200 photos!) looked like:

Pace Academy / ACP Photography Competition

Tonight (April 14th) marks the first night of Atlanta Tornado Relief at area restaurants. Have a bite and help Cabbagetown recover from the storm.

“Another Country” from McCallum/Tarry at Kiang Gallery has now been extended through June 7th.

For those of you interested in Public Art in Atlanta, the Beltline has their Quarterly Briefing this Thursday night.

For photographers here in the South, BECA Gallery in New Orleans has a call to artists for a show called “Hybrids and Other Sorts”. The winner will receive a solo show in New Orleans. More information here (pdf).

If you haven’t already subscribed to the ACP E-Newsletter, please do, and here’s the message that went out today: ACP 10: Festival Guide Submission In a Few Short Weeks.

It’s rare to see a new idea in calls for entries, but this project, “Pause, to Begin” sounds exciting. Plus, if you’re starting this spring on the slow side, they’ve extended their deadline until April 7th, 11:59pm. Have a look at their site for the details.

Ethan and David, the founders of Pause, to Begin, will hit the road in May, 2008 with a documentary filmmaker to visit the selected finalists and record the time they experience together. By traveling to meet the selected finalists in-person, Pause, to Begin becomes a publication that reflects not only the visited photographers and their process for creating, but also the journey of making Pause, to Begin.

* Lumiere Gallery is having a film screening at the Atlanta History Center of “My Eyes Were Fresh: The Life and Photographs of John Gutmann” this Sunday, April 6th, at 3pm. There will be a panel discussion following the film with Ellen Fleurov and Sylvia Naguib. The screening compliments Lumiere’s exhibition of Guttman’s work, which is up until April 26th.

* A participant in last year’s ACP 9 Portfolio Review, Ellen Susan’s ambrotype portrait of PFC William Burnett won an Honorable Mention in Santa Fe’s Center for Photography Singular Image competition. It’s great to see Ellen’s work getting attention. Congrats!

© Ellen Susan

* Davis | Waldron is having a reception for Vicki Ragan this Thursday, April 3rd, at 6 pm. Ragan’s retrospective will be on view until April 25th.

* Javaology on Edgewood, a participating venue in ACP 9, is closing today, which is a big loss to the Edgewood community. Stop in and get your last Mocha Freezie.

* Task Force for the Homeless has a great photography program, where residents learn the ins-and-outs in a darkroom at their space on Peachtree and Pine. ACP has collected cameras for them, and a recent post on craigslist shows they’re in need of camcorders, too. The contact person is Tony Thomas.

* A longtime favorite for local photographers, the Oakland Cemetery was heavily damaged by the tornado. Please see their site to learn how you can help.

* Our friends at the New Orleans Photo Alliance have a call-to-artists for a juried show of animal photos called “Critters“, judged by Keith Carter.

* And Callanwolde has an opening on Friday, April 4th at 7 pm of Amy Arrington’s night photography. The show is called “The Colors of Dreams”.

© Amy Arrington

* And if you missed Fereydoon Family’s show at Whitespace, localephemera has an excellent post about Fereydoon’s artist lecture. Even better is his coverage (localephemera aka Jonathan Bouknight) of McCallum/Tarry’s show at Kiang Gallery, which is up through April 19th.

If you participated in ACP 9 as a venue or an artist, feel free to send your show notices or news to info@acpinfo.org, or snail mail them to Atlanta Celebrates Photography, 1135 Sheridan Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30324

Slow Exposures, the rural photography festival in Georgia, has posted their Call for Entries for 2008. ACP’s hoping to make it to a few of their events this September, before ACP10 opens.

Slow Exposures has a plethora of events this year in addition to the juried show, including a Collector’s Workshop, a salon, and a Ball. Can’t wait!

The Moving Walls 15 Documentary Photography Exhibition at Open Society (part of George Soros’ Foundation Network) has an open call to artists. Previous winners include Edward Burtynsky and Carl De Keyzer. Deadline is March 28th. Check out the guidelines for more information and a list of previous winners.

Giving USA is having a photo contest, and submissions are due by April 15th. Here’s their application (.doc), and here’s what they’re looking for:

“We are seeking images of people providing direct assistance through a charitable organization or volunteer effort that represents the spirit of giving. Activities could include fundraising, delivery of services, or other types of help.”

If you’re a working artist in Georgia, you’ll want to submit work for MOCA GA’s Working Artists Project Award, via The Charles Loridans Foundation. If you’ve been exhibiting for five years, have had a recent solo show, and reside in the Atlanta metropolitan area, you should check the requirements for application (.doc).

Applications for this generous award are due by March 14th.

The annual photo competition Slow Exposures has an open call to artists for its 2008 edition. This year’s deadline is June 15th, and this year’s judges will be Jamie Allen (George Eastman House, Rochester, NY) and Mike Smith (East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN). There are two categories this year, one for photographs from the Southeast, and another for photographs of West Georgia, in particular.

The exhibition, which has been a part of ACP in the past, will take place in Concord, Georgia in September. Check out the Slow Exposures site for more info - they’ll be updating it soon with all the particulars.

Updated: Slow Exposures now has a pdf call to entries.