Current Exhibitions
WENDY PLOTKIN-MATES: SHAPE, TEXTURE AND COLOR
July 19, 2010 - September 26, 2010
Wendy Plotkin-Mates, a mixed media artist, from New York, Plotkin-Mates has made Washington, DC her home, where she creates canvases that capture the sensations of color, texture and shape that reflect her perception of the world.
She looks at the canvas the way she looks at life… as a multi-layered and complex journey where anything is possible. Her approach to canvas and paper reflects her love of color, texture, and shape. As an abstractionist, she uses strong hues such as blue, green, yellow, and red in her work to parallel the improvisation of a rainbow in nature.
Ms. Plotkin-Mates was exhibited her work in several galleries in Washington DC including the Parish Gallery, Anne C. Fisher Gallery, Touchstone Gallery, Watergate Gallery, Asnan Gallery and many other galleries and institutions in Washington DC an around the country.
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EAST OF THE RIVER: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
February, 2010 - January, 2011
A traveling exhibition curated by the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum and presented in partnership with the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
East of the River insightfully explores the development of Washington communities east of the Anacostia River from a provocative yet universal perspective: the struggle over land, who owns it, who controls it, who profits from it, and how residents determine their own destiny. The timeline covers the region’s Native Americans’ beginning through the present and into the future.
The exhibition begins with a discussion of the early habitation of the far Southeast region and its people. It focuses on the Nacotchtank people from whom the name “Anacostia” was derived and their interaction with such Europeans as explorer and mapmaker Captain John Smith and beaver fur trader Captain Henry Fleet. Through warfare with other Native Americans and Europeans, the Nacotchtank subsequently lost power and land.
The next three sections—“Early Settlers,” “The Village of Good Hope” and “Anacostia”—cover the resettlement of the area by Europeans; the acquisition of large tracts of land for individual ownership; investment and development; and the introduction ?of the African slave trade.
The final section, “Today and Tomorrow,” highlights the rapid change currently underway in far southeast Washington as high housing costs in the rest of the Washington region makes it one of the most affordable areas in the District.
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JEWISH WASHINGTON: SCRAPBOOK OF AN AMERICAN COMMUNITY
March, 2010 - August 28, 2010
A traveling exhibition curated by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington and presented in partnership with the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
In 1795, shortly after the site of the nation’s capital was selected, the first Jewish resident, Isaac Polock arrived in the new federal district of Washington. Over the next two centuries, he was followed by tens of thousands of Jews, all of whom have become a part of the history that this exhibition chronicles. Their lives and deeds tell a unique story of both a hometown and a capital city.
2010 STUDENT ART SHOW
June 4, 2010 - August 28, 2010
DC Public School and DC Public Charter School student artwork will be on display at a citywide art exhibition featuring 42 works of art. The work includes prints, drawings, mixed media, paintings, photographs, sculpture, and ceramics. The student work ranging in grades Pre-K through grade 12.
A panel of jurors will select 10 works to be added the Commission's Art Bank
Collection, a collection of over 2000 works placed in public corridors of
District Government agencies. This collection supports the local artist community while preserving the city's rich art legacy for future generations.
FRANKLIN SCHOOL: A MODEL OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
July 18, 2010 - September 26, 2010
An exhibition about architect Adolf Cluss, education, and the Historic Franklin School. The exhibition was organized by the Coalition for Franklin School.and explains the role the Franklin School at 13th and K Streets NW played in the educational revolution of the post-Civil War period in the nation’s capital. The Franklin School, the Charles Sumner School, and other schools designed by Adolf Cluss transformed the city’s public educational system and put the District of Columbia on the international map as a home to model public schools for the nation.
AMERICA'S SUBWAY: 40 YEARS OF METRO
April, 2010 - August 28, 2010
The story of Metro reveals much about the neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. and how they relate to each other. The exhibit uses the story of this mass transit system as a ‘vehicle’ to talk about the changing character of neighborhoods from Georgetown to U Street. It explores how local businesses and residents have been affected by Metro’s construction or by the lack of Metro, and shows how the creation of this transit system has both reflected and changed the nature of Washington D.C.