COLUMNS

Savior for women artists recognized

  • The Washington Examiner
  • |
  • August 05, 2005

by Karen Feld

buzz

Georgetowner Wilhelmina “Billie” Cole Holladay, founder of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, has been tapped to receive the much-deserved Moore College of Art & Design’s Third Annual Visionary Woman Award to be presented on Sept. 14. Holladay founded the museum to showcase female artists in 1981 after becoming frustrated in her search for artwork by women. Moore, located in Philadelphia, is as unique as Holladay herself: It is the only women’s college for the visual arts in the country.

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From left, National Museum of Women in the Arts founder Wilhelmina Holladay, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, Elisabeth Kasser and Janice Adams, ceremony organizer, cut the ribbon during a dedication ceremony in Washington

No blue eye shadow

Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., a candidate for U.S. Senate in the state, wants to ensure that during her next campaign, newspapers don’t “colorize” or alter her photos to make her look more extreme. She accused them of doing just that when she became a GOP hero as Florida’s secretary of state – her decisions affected the presidential ballot recount in the Sunshine State in 2000. Harris insists: “I haven’t worn blue eye shadow since the seventh grade when I was in the Girl Scouts.” Not sure what that says for the Girl Scouts, but blue shadow or not, she’s thrilled that Florida House Speaker Allan Bense has decided not to oppose her in the 2006 U.S. senatorial primary despite the fact that the speaker was urged on by both the White House and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. But Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., is still uncertain whether he’ll jump into the primary race for the opportunity to challenge incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

Hanoi Jane, son ready to roll

Troy Garrity, 32, plans to accompany his mom, Jane Fonda – his dad is Tom Hayden – on her upcoming cross-country anti-war bus tour (Fonda says the bus will run on vegetable oil) next March to call for an end to U.S. military operations in Iraq. We guess she needs his backing this time around in her anti-war efforts. In her memoir, “My Life So Far,” Jane writes that she turns to Troy when she needs support. Fonda made a speedy recovery from hip replacement surgery in June. Meanwhile, Garrity has exec produced a new docu-drama, “Off the Chain,” about pit bulls, and is filming “Sunshine,” a sci-fi psychological futuristic film in which he plays an astronaut. He also has plans to co-star in the upcoming “Lake City” with Sissy Spacek.

Confessions of a gay gov?

Why let his side of the story go untold? Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, whose claim to fame is that he was the nation’s first governor to admit to being gay, is negotiating a mid-six-figure book deal with publisher Judith Regan, we hear. We’ll be able to read all about the gay sex scandal and how it led to his political demise.

Bush family values

Sharon Bush, the president’s former sister-in-law – she’s divorced from first brother Neil and once talked about writing a tell-all book – has been approached to do a half-hour talk show on motherhood (she has three kids) and its problems. At least this one isn’t on her marriage and its problems. Her daughter Lauren, a model, is now in Africa working with the U.N. World Food Program; son ,Pierce, attends college; and daughter Ashley, 16, is a Wilhelmina model.

Texas version of “Dynasty”

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Andy Roddick

Sharon’s ex-hubby, Neil, married Houston socialite Maria Andrews, whose ex-husband, Thomas Andrews, filed a lawsuit against Sharon for claiming that Maria’s 2-year-old son was fathered by Neil. Still with me? President Bush 41 refused Sharon’s request for a $467,000 loan so that she could keep her Houston mansion, which she bought from then-estranged husband, Neil, for $800,000. The former president advised her to get a job. That sounds like the good old American work ethic.

But keep it in the family

But Sharon just can’t seem to stay away from the Bush family and its connections. Her current romantic interest is a former Bush family pal, Chinese billionaire Gerry Tsai. Tsai and his then-wife, Nancy, helped Sharon out financially when she split with Neil. Naturally, Sharon’s pals say that she and Gerry didn’t get involved until after Nancy filed for divorce.

Coming, going & set

Sightings: MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson in the Hertz rental line at the Portland, Maine, airport last Saturday morning chatting animatedly with former Defense Secretary Bill Cohen and his wife, Janet Langhart, as they waited for their respective cars. Tucker had just arrived from New York to join his wife, Susie, and four kids on their island for the weekend. The Cohens were on their way to Buckfield to celebrate Bill’s son’s 40th birthday. … Back in D.C.: Tennis champ Andy Roddick, whom we’re all expecting to snag the Legg Mason following Andre Agassi’s departure, dined at Morton’s in Georgetown on Monday evening.

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