The Lens Stares Back

"When I want to agitate him, I tell him he's my hero and he hates that," Joyce says. "He absolutely hates that. What he wants is for you to respect him for his work and not for 'overcoming his challenges' (and I put that in air quotes)."

VSA arts brought "The Rolling Exhibition" to the Kennedy Center. Stephanie Moore, the organization's director of visual arts, heard about Connolly after he was featured on ABC's "20/20" in January. The exhibition debuted last fall in Bozeman.

"I think his work comes from a place of empowerment," Moore says. "It's a great first-person narrative of a person with disability, but he's a talented photographer in his own right."

The Rolling Exhibition is on display through July 20 at 2700 F St. NW. Daily, 10 a.m. to 30 minutes after final performance. Free. 202-628-2800.

Le Papier, Prêt-à-Porter?

Artists Maria Barbosa and Gretchen Schermerhorn admit that their paper fashions have some problems -- "things like movement and sweat and rain," Schermerhorn says.

The two women have transformed a vault at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Spring into a mock clothing boutique where "shoppers" can try on vests, skirts and dresses made of paper. The installation is called "Fanciful Cravings," based on the idea that the garments are attractive yet impractical.

The boutique includes handbags and two hanging racks of clothes, all in earth tones, and two full-length mirrors. On the back wall of the store, a projector flashes images of patterns based on body-paint designs from people native to the Amazon. Schermerhorn, who oversees papermaking at Pyramid, says she and Barbosa, a Brazilian native, are playing with the idea of culture as commodity.

"We're asking some questions," Schermerhorn says. "Is fashion art, or should there be a difference between art and fashion?"

Paper clothing won't be for sale (yet, anyway), but the new Pyramid Atlantic retail store at 924 Ellsworth Dr. in Silver Spring will peddle prints, art books, handmade paper and other crafts. The shop opens July 11 at 5 p.m.

Fanciful Cravings will be on display through Aug. 26 at 8230 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., except July 5. Free. 301-608-9101.