In case you're wondering why I haven't posted since February, the reason is my full-time job. I started working full-time last July, and while I do have every other Friday off, I finally decided that I needed to use that day to tend to projects closer to home. So I am taking a break from copying for awhile, maybe even until I retire from working for Fairfax County Public Library.
I do miss my copying days, going in to DC, but I do plan on picking it up again in the future. The nice thing about being a copyist at the National Gallery is that you can come back without having to reapply.
Feel free to leave a comment, look over my older posts, and ask any questions you have about copying or my work.
Oh, and by the way! There will be an exhibit of copyists' work in January 2018 at the Arts Club of Washington, in which I will have a painting. I will post the details on this blog when they become available. Thank you for following this blog, and I hope to talk to you again soon.
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copying at the National Gallery
A friend turned me on to the Copyist Program at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. in the fall of 2000. Since I live in Northern Virginia, it is pretty convenient (about 45 minutes travel time) to get there. I called the Registrar of the museum to say I was interested in becoming a copyist, and she said she would mail me a packet of information and requirements. I received the packet in the next day's mail! I read through all the rules and regulations of being a copyist, and saw that I would need to come up with four letters of recommendation: two from people who knew me as an artist, and two character references. I immediately contacted four people who could serve as references, and asked them to mail in letters for me. I was also required to write my own letter, stating why I was interested in the copyist program. Finally, I had an interview with the Registrar and showed her two of my paintings. I was accepted into the program that day, and within a month of that first phone call, I was standing in the National Gallery copying my first painting.
Copyists are given a locker in a locked room in the museum. I keep my current painting there, in the painting rack. I have to ask a guard to unlock the copyists' room whenever I want to access my locker. The museum provides a large easel, stool, and dropcloth, which are in position in the gallery I am copying in. A permit must be obtained for each painting I copy, and I'm only allowed to work on one at a time. I have to have my permit on me or with the painting all the time, and show it to the guards on request. Only one copyist is allowed in a room on a given day, and some of the rooms are off limits because they are too small. Only works in the West Building are available for copying. There are other restrictions, such as not being able to sell your copy while on National Gallery property, and having to size your copy at least two inches smaller or larger than the original.
Copyists are given a locker in a locked room in the museum. I keep my current painting there, in the painting rack. I have to ask a guard to unlock the copyists' room whenever I want to access my locker. The museum provides a large easel, stool, and dropcloth, which are in position in the gallery I am copying in. A permit must be obtained for each painting I copy, and I'm only allowed to work on one at a time. I have to have my permit on me or with the painting all the time, and show it to the guards on request. Only one copyist is allowed in a room on a given day, and some of the rooms are off limits because they are too small. Only works in the West Building are available for copying. There are other restrictions, such as not being able to sell your copy while on National Gallery property, and having to size your copy at least two inches smaller or larger than the original.
About Me
- Amy Mann
- I went to Philadelphia College of Art and earned a bachelor's degree in painting. In 1999 I founded the Centreville Regional Art Guild, and was its president from 1999-2002. I’m a registered Copyist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. I’m a plein-air landscape painter, and have studied in New Brunswick, Canada with painter Sharon Yates. I have also studied with painter Janet Fish.
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