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Art in the ’burbs For some, the notion of art in the suburbs conjures up images of watercolor barns. Michael O’Sullivan found 10 Maryland and Virginia exhibition spaces that belie that stereotype.
BlackRock Center for the Arts
The main gallery of this 10-year-old arts center, which also houses two theaters, classrooms and a small exhibition space in an upstairs lounge area, is striking for its soaring windows and high ceiling, among the tallest in the region. Despite a frequent emphasis on craft, BlackRock also displays paintings, sculpture, photography and, on occasion, video.
BlackRock Center for the Arts
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BlackRock Center for the Arts
Gallery director Kimberly Marshall says BlackRock doesn’t shy away from art that might make some viewers uncomfortable, noting that Lebanese-born painter Chawky Frenn — whose work often deals with sectarian violence in the Middle East — showed here a year ago. Marshall wants the space to be unpredictable. "You can't really tell what our gallery exhibits," she says. (Pictured: Sculptor Joyce Zipperer's "Thirteen Inch Lure," from an upcoming exhibition on the theme of feminine stereotypes.)
Joyce Zipperer
King Street Gallery
Located in a renovated bakery, the King Street Gallery at Montgomery College’s Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus supports the school’s art department. But non-students who have discovered this sleek art venue in downtown Silver Spring, which celebrates everything from painting, photography and sculpture to graphic design and craft, also are the beneficiaries.
King Street Gallery
King Street Gallery
In February, the gallery will open an exhibition of Jeffrey Abt's work, featuring sculptural installation on the theme of museum interiors and exhibition spaces.
Jeffrey Abt
39th Street Gallery
Located in the Gateway Arts Center, this 450-square-foot micro-gallery is the more freewheeling neighbor to the Brentwood Arts Exchange and the Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center. The 39th Street Gallery is known for tightly focused shows that are sometimes more conceptually, politically and sexually adventurous than one might expect to see in the suburbs.
39th Street Gallery
39th Street Gallery
On view through Feb. 23, "No Strings Attached" features work by Delusions of Grandeur, a collective of five emerging African American artists. (Pictured, left to right: Work by Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Wesley Clark and Shaunte Gates.)
Thomas M. Cardarella
39th Street Gallery
Painter Neil Riley's "Guemene sur Scorff" will be featured in the exhibition "Real and Remembrance,” opening March 9.
Neil Riley
VisArts
Located in Rockville's bustling Town Square, VisArts features three exhibition spaces, including its flagship Kaplan Gallery. (Pictured: 2012's "Review – Renew: An Exhibition in Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of VisArts," with paintings by the late Manon Cleary.)
VisArts
VisArts
The Gibbs Street Gallery is VisArts's street-front exhibition space, often given over to more experimental work, such as artist Mei Mei Chang's "Mnemonic Fragmentation."
VisArts
VisArts
Sculptor Kenneth Martin's funiture-like wooden structures are on view in the Kaplan Gallery through Feb. 16.
Kenneth Martin
VisArts
"Trebled Conveyance," by sculptor John R.G. Roth, is part of "Polymorphic Conveyance," on view through Feb. 23 in VisArts's Gibbs Street Gallery.
John Roth
The Art Gallery, University of Maryland
What does it mean to be creative? That question is central to the mission of the University of Maryland’s main art gallery , says director John Shipman, who notes that the most recent show was dedicated to the art of the music video. (pictured)
The Art Gallery/UMD
The Art Gallery, University of Maryland
Opening Jan. 30, "Network of Mutuality: 50 Years Post-Birmingham" examines the history and legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. It includes artist Ken Gonzales-Day's "Untitled III Antico [Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi], 'Bust of a Young Man' and Francis Harwood, 'Bust of a Man.'"
Ken Gonzales-Day
McLean Project for the Arts
Located in the McLean Community Center, and featuring three exhibition spaces, MPA celebrated its 50th birthday in 2012. (Pictured: The main Emerson Gallery, with the work of sculptors Leigh Taylor Mickelson and Judit Varga.)
Greg Staley
McLean Project for the Arts
Matthew Mann's "Argument at the Reauchambeaux" is part of "Small Stories," an exhibition of modest-sized narrative paintings by Mann, Nora Sturges and Gregory Ferrand, on view through March 2.
Matthew Mann
Athenaeum
Alexandria's Athenaeum is a beautiful, if unorthodox space. (Pictured: Artist Ruth Trevarrow's 2011 exhibition "Bare Bones.")
Athenaeum
Athenaeum
Fronted by Doric columns, the distinctive, pink stucco building began life in 1852, as a bank.
Athenaeum
Athenaeum
Opening in March, "Process Photography" is a survey of various photographic techniques, including microscopy. "Dirty Heads" is by Andrew Seeds, who studies grooming behavior in Drosophila (fruit flies) at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn.
Andrew Seeds
Adam Lister Gallery
Artist Adam Lister opened his eponymous gallery in 2009 because he wanted studio space. Well, that and a venue to show work he "connected" with. With paint spatters on the floor, and typically handwritten wall labels, the Fairfax gallery — which actually serves as studio and classroom space — has the unpolished feel of an alternative urban art space. (Pictured: Works by Lori Ellison, Remmi Brant and Bobby Coleman, from "Slow Dance With the Concept of Infinity," opening Feb. 9.)
Adam Lister Gallery
Adam Lister Gallery
The gallery is open only seven hours a week, but it's worth seeking out for Lister's eye, which mixes edgy pop art with colorful abstraction that connects, unsentimentally, to the tradition of the Washington Color School. In February, painter Greg Minah's "The Exact Limits" will be part of the group exhibition "Slow Dance With the Concept of Infinity."
Greg Minah
Workhouse Arts Center
The Washington Society of Landscape Painters' 2012 exhibition "Eve of the Centennial" fills the McGuireWoods gallery of the Workhouse . The former prison in Lorton shows everything from craft to street art.
Workhouse Arts Center
Workhouse Arts Center
Nelson Gutierrez's drawing "Fear of Death" is part of "Collectors Showcase 2013," on view through Feb. 23.
Nelson Gutierrez
Greater Reston Arts Center
It's easy to miss GRACE, as the Greater Reston Arts Center is known, but the unassuming gallery in Reston's Town Center is worth a visit.
Greater Reston Arts Center
Greater Reston Arts Center
GRACE is known for provocative contemporary work. (Pictured: "Cairns: Works by Pam Rogers" from 2012.)
Greater Reston Arts Center
Greater Reston Arts Center
Photographer George Smyth specializes in pinhole, infrared and alternative photographic processes. Smyth's work is on view through Feb. 23 and includes "Braddock #18," from a series of images of distressed architecture in Braddock, Pa.
George Smith
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![Opening Jan. 30, 'Network of Mutuality: 50 Years Post-Birmingham' examines the history and legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. It includes artist Ken Gonzales-Day's 'Untitled III Antico [Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi], 'Bust of a Young Man' and Francis Harwood, 'Bust of a Man.''](/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/01/17/Weekend/Images/Ken Gonzales-Day--UNTITLED III (300dpi).jpg)
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