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Art Exhibits

Naomi Lipsky: Quilling, gilding and Judaic Art

Post Published: April 30, 2025

Cherrydale Library, May 2 - August 2025

a photo with flowers surrounding a gold background.

Naomi Lipsky:

Ever since she was a little fairy princess girl, Naomi loved to make things, with paper, scissors, and glue, or fabric, or paint or clay, or whatever hands could do. However, she also wanted to save the world. To that end, she earned a PhD in biochemistry and embarked on a satisfying career in research. At the same time, she continued to develop her skills in decorative and needle arts. When the creation of her artwork became more meaningful to her than her research, she made the decision to retire from science and become a professional decorative artist. ​
​
She is best known for her work with quilling, an antique art in which paper strips are shaped and applied as ornaments, but she works with gold leaf, collage, and gouache, as well. Her main body of work consists of Judaic ritual art and liturgical illustrations. She does all her own matting and framing. Naomi’s award-winning work has been exhibited in a variety of museums and galleries, and featured in art books and other publications. 

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

April 30, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Lea Go: BOhK: It’s more than just good fortune

Post Published: April 29, 2025

Glencarlyn Library, May 5 - June 5, 2025

a recycled bag with a korean word and colors on it.

Lea Go:

KOREAN BOHK (복) and BOHK JUMEONI (복주머니)​

The Korean word Bohk is frequently translated in English as good fortune or good luck, but it has a much more complex meaning: it means positive energy of the universe. It is anything and everything that positive energy could bring you - good luck, good fortune, happiness, good health, blessings, you name it.  So, although it can be used anytime of a year, you will hear every Korean saying it around the lunar new year day in a new year’s wish to each other "Sae-Hae- Bohk- Mahni-Ba-Deu-Se-Yo," meaning "I wish you a year full of lots of Bohk (which will help all your wishes come true).” People also carry with them or gift others a Bohk Jumeoni - a drawstring pouch with the word Bohk embroidered on it - wishing for a good year ahead.​

When I started working on my Bohk series, my family and I were going through some hard times. The work was my way of affirmation, meditation, self-care, and support seeking. Art is healing. My work heals me. And I hope for a chance to share my work with others and to help heal them. 

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

April 29, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Jose Quinonez: Acrylic Paintings

Post Published: April 29, 2025

Aurora Hills Library, May 5 - August 23, 2025

Various Patterns and colors in a painting.

Jose Quinonez

Jose Quinonez, with no formal training in art, states that he “started my creations as a therapy to recover from an accident that required eleven surgeries to rebuild his left jawbone. I found that getting immersed in these creations kept my mind free of the pain and gave joy to continue my journey”. He only uses acrylic as my medium for expressing his creations. He often paints on stretched canvas, but from time to time, he has been known to upcycle abandoned materials as "canvases" for new creations -- from abandoned pieces of plywood to an old butcher's board (and even his wife's old metal filing cabinet!)

Jose describes himself - with some accuracy - as a primitive cubista painter. Through his paintings, he tries to capture both the vitality and images of traditional Guatemalan life as well as the tragic reality of the past day nation. Their straight lines, geometric patterns, and brilliant colors are inspired by the patterns used in traditional Mayan textiles. The juxtaposition of colors in my paintings creates an almost textured quality so that at times one is tempted to reach out and feel the woven pattern I am creating. His creations with the feature-less faces cry out for both an end to the suffering and for justice for the indigenous peoples of Latin America.

He paints to give expression to the joys, rhythms, and meanings he finds in life, in community, and in nature. He weaves in the colors, patterns, textures, and symbols of Latin American indigenous communities to honor their experiences of joy and of horror, of connection and of fragmentation, of exploitation and of belonging.

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

April 29, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Keeley Rae: Prismatic Motion

Post Published: April 29, 2025

Central Library, May 6 - August 28, 2025

a woman in an orange dress who twirled around.

Keeley Rae:

In Keeley Rae’s exhibit, “Prismatic Motion,” she diverges from the subdued stillness and soft palettes of figure models by capturing the vibrant and celebratory motions of life. The subjects of her paintings twist, tumble, and float through space with elegance and strength. Keeley hopes her exhibit will serve as a joyous gathering space, where viewers can share in the wonder of life’s exuberant motions.

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

April 29, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Studio Pause Artist’s Collective: Columbia Pike’s Community

Post Published: April 29, 2025

Columbia Pike Library, May 13 - August 2025

A woman who is painted in green, yellow and blue smiling with bright colors in the background.

Studio Pause 

This is a collection of art showcasing the local and diverse stories and experiences unique Columbia Pike residents. It presents the richness of culture, experience, and talent that our community has to offer.

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

April 29, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Lena Baker: Canyon Lights

Post Published: April 29, 2025

Westover Library, May - August 2025

A painting with orange, pink and dark red colors representing a cannon.

Lena Baker

Lena Baker, a self-taught oil painter based in Alexandria, Virginia, explores the quiet complexity of natural surfaces in her Textures series. Featuring three paintings of Antelope Canyon and one of a weathered wood slab, the series captures the intricate patterns shaped by time, erosion, and organic decay. These works reflect Baker’s fascination with the intersection of realism and abstraction, where recognizable forms give way to deeper meditations on impermanence and resilience. ​

​Born in 1986 in the former Soviet Union, Baker draws on a diverse artistic background that includes animal studies, portraits, and landscapes. Her evolution as an artist is marked by a growing focus on materiality and detail. In Textures, she invites viewers to pause and look closely—at the delicate grain of wood, the undulating sandstone, the marks left by nature’s slow transformation. Through layered color and meticulous brushwork, Baker gives voice to surfaces that often go unnoticed. The Texture series stands as a quiet tribute to the natural world’s ability to tell stories—not through words, but through form, pattern, and texture. ​

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

April 29, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Jon Milstein: Life Into Art

Post Published: April 29, 2025

Courthouse Library, May 6 - August 2025

a painting of a parked car with snow on the street with a clear sidewalk.

Jon Milstein

I'm increasingly aware of the pace of change in our world and I'm interested in using watercolor to capture the look and feel of today. The Teslas, strip malls, and smart phones that populate our day to day lives will one day seem quaint. I think I'm trying to document this place and time in a way that acknowledges that things are moving so quickly but I want to hold on and do it in traditional medium.

Artistically, I've always needed (and found) one outlet or another and enjoyed drawing while growing up in Northern Virginia in the 80s and 90s. For several years I mostly scratched my creative itch doing improv comedy, but I've made the executive decision to pivot back to the visual arts. What I think improv and watercolor have in common is that both work best when you let go and stop trying to control the scene-I can only try to react.

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

April 29, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Heather McMordie: Providence Community Herbarium

Post Published: April 29, 2025

Shirlington Library, May 7 - August 12, 2025

blue and black background with flowers on the left and on the right, a poem titled Queen Anne's Lace.

Heather McMordie:

This exhibition includes a selection of prints from the The Providence Community Herbarium, a collaborative project conducted by Heather McMordie and twelve Providence, Rhode Island residents. While a traditional herbarium is a collection of dried, labeled, and organized plant specimens collected for scientific and academic use, this collection uses printmaking to create a creative, relational, and accessible record of the plants that fill our lives.

These prints were completed in March 2024, just a few months before McMordie relocated to Arlington, Virginia, and over the past six months, McMordie has frequently looked for—and found—evidence of these plant species in her new home. This exhibition invites residents of Arlington to explore the stories of plant species from a state 350 miles away that can also be found in their own parks and backyards. From native plants like Skunk Cabbage, to non-native plants such as Queen Anne’s Lace, these prints map out the stories of plants we encounter in the city around us, and the spaces and purposes they occupy in our lives.

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

April 29, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Sally Slifkin: Colorful places

Post Published: January 10, 2025

Cherrydale Library, January - April 2025

a painting of a road with houses along both sides.

Artist Statement:

I have been painting for most of my life. I draw inspiration for my acrylic landscapes from photographs that I have taken both locally in Arlington and on my travels both in and out of the country. Recently one of my paintings was purchased by the Arlington County Board to be gifted to Aachen, Germany, Arlington's sister city. I am a member of the Arlington Artists Alliance and show my paintings in shows and venues all around Arlington. I paint in acrylic on canvas or board and have artwork in many homes and businesses.

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

January 10, 2025 by Shaun Howard

Nicole Espy: Letterpress Print

Post Published: January 7, 2025

Courthouse Library, January 7 - April 29, 2025

a screenprint poster that says, "this is for me."
a screenprint poster that says, "this is for us."

Nicole Espy:

I am an amateur printmaker from Atlanta, GA, who trained in screen-printing and letterpress in Seattle, WA. My artistic interests are in understanding the way figure and landscape are rendered by different medias and I currently try to make landscapes that have been simplified in various ways but made more complex by color. The message my work hopes to convey is the texture of an individuality and inner life of black women like me.

This series of prints depict black women in nature - such as national parks, forests, and imagined landscapes - framed by assertive text - mission statements, wishes, and desires. I hope this series is a call to action for all people to care for and give respect to the people and places that surround them.

​

Learn More About Art Exhibits at the Library

January 7, 2025 by Shaun Howard

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