Art Exhibits

Washington at Night

On exhibit at the Cherrydale Branch Library, Feb. 2 – May 1 2017

Titanic Memorial

Greg Embree Artist statement:

Washington in the depths of night, especially in the rain or snow, has a visual appeal that few experience. These photographs aim to convey that appeal to a broader audience.

Why did I shoot in black and white? I took my first night photographs of Washington in color. I realized early on that shooting gray buildings at night, often with snow in the scene, provided few traces of color, and that these traces added nothing to each picture except distraction. I also realized that black and white shots of Washington at night conveyed a purer expression of a scene’s composition and a crisper evocation of the monumental dimension of our city’s visual allure. The nation’s capital at night, to my eye, is a setting made for black and white photography.

I have noted on the wall plaques the date I took each photograph. I did so because these scenes-­like all things-­exist in the dimension of time, the slippery element that photography tries to stop. In a certain sense, it succeeds. As long as my photographs exist, the ice skaters next to the National Art Gallery will be forever young, enjoying each other’s company on a damp January evening in 2013. The Avalon Theater, whatever its future, will remain a thriving neighborhood enterprise on a bitterly cold evening in 2015. My photograph of the White House in 2014 will forever depict the home of a first family living in the building with monumental grace.

With these images, I hope to have captured a few places and moments of Washington in the early 21st century-­some monumental, some modest, but each reflecting its own grasp at eternity.

Want to buy something you see on our walls? Artists contribute 20% of sales made during their exhibit to the Friends of the Arlington County Public Library, to help support Library programming.

Recycled Art

On exhibit at Central Library, February 2017.

A Project of the Afterschool Alliance, these chandeliers were created from recycled plastic bottles, by students in afterschool programs at Arlington County’s Department of Parks and Recreation, Arlington Public Schools Extended Day, the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families, Care for a Change, Kids in Action, Aspire Afterschool, YMCA and AHC.inc.

Thanks to the Out of School Time Advisory Council for sharing the exhibit with the Library.

Yorktown HS Artist of the Month

On exhibit at the Westover Branch Library, Jan. 23 – Feb. 28, 2017.

Artist Statement:

Hello. I am Adam Dunham. I was born in Arlington, Virginia and have lived here ever since. Photography is my favorite activity as it allows me to exercise the creative element of my mind. Before I owned a camera, I would pester my parents to allow me to use theirs. Now, four years since I got my first camera, I have won a silver key award in the Scholastics competition for Art and Writing and was accepted into the Montpelier Art Center show. You can often times find me sitting by the Potomac River with my bike photographing the elegant skyline of D.C. I have also photographed around the globe, most notably in China, England, and France. I do not only see photos as a way of documentation but as a method of seeing a scene through the perspective of someone else. My favorite things to photograph are airplanes, the Potomac River, and various types of architecture.

The Yorktown High School’s Artist of the Month competition is held throughout the school year. Student’s taking an art class at Yorktown are encouraged to enter, and their work is judged by a rotating committee of teachers, students, parents and guest judges. The winning artists then have their artwork displayed in the school library, the Westover Branch Library, and the Westover Wells Fargo Bank for a month in each location. They also receive a $15 gift certificate from Deli Italiano! 

“Doodling Becomes Ritual”

On exhibit at the Columbia Pike Branch Library, December 2016 – January 2017

Aselin Lands, originally from Baton Rouge, LA, is currently an arts educator in the DC Metropolitan Area.

She is dedicated to teaching art as well as creating art. She earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching and Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the Corcoran College of Art and Design. She explores themes of identity, abstract thoughts, and emotions. Her works have been exhibited work in Washington Dc, Maryland, North Carolina, Mexico, and Greece.

Artist Statement:

I have found myself involved in repetitive processes. In some of my works, the same patterns are repeated over and over again until it comes to the feeling of being a chore. I have yet to exhaust these patterns. The act of doodling becomes a ritual. As I am reaching a subconscious state during this ritual, my doodles began to form a persona of their own. They become alive and shape into their own beings. The colors in the background create an environment where they are allowed to vibrate across the surface.

Paintings in the Style of Latin American Expressionism and Universal Constructivism

On exhibit at the Shirlington Branch Library, November – December 2016

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Gustavo Forselledo spent most of his life working as a psychologist and program manager with international organizations. He always loved to draw and paint and when he moved to Honduras in 2006, he started to dedicate more time to painting in the styles of Latin American expressionism and universal constructivism.

Forselledo takes images from real life and transforms them into his personal vision. The results he looks for are new and harmonious images. Sometimes they are nonfigurative; sometimes they are abstract versions of the natural world. He uses sharp colors in his paintings and black and white in his drawings to highlight the brightness of nature or emphasize shapes and forms. He works mainly with acrylic and ink on solid bleached board or canvas.

Want to buy something you see on our walls? Artists contribute 20% of sales made during their exhibit to the Friends of the Arlington County Public Library, to help support Library programming.