Where are the galleries and museums for artists? Where are places where young artists with mature tastes can admire unique works of art after a busy day at school or on a casual weekend with friends? There are a variety of options for galleries and museums near Annandale One nearby gallery called the Emerson in the Mclean Community center offers a lot of pros along with some cons.
The Emerson not only holds unique pieces of art through different exhibits it also has a unique, powerful history. It was originally founded by a small group of female artists in 1962. The Emerson is funded by the Mclean Project For The Arts, a non profit organization. Part of their mission is to showcase the work of established and up and coming artists.
This review will investigate whether or not the Mclean Project For The Arts actually live up to their mission statement, inspiring history, and whether or not this would be a recommended gallery for students and teachers.
Now the first question to get out of the way is how easy is it to get there? Transportation is one of the most important parts of any trip since it’s difficult to go anywhere without a car or a bus. Unfortunately a bus ride from Annadale to the Mclean Community center is an hour away so a trip to Mclean Community Center would be extremely inconvenient especially if there are any delays or weather issues.
As for parking it was thankfully extremely easy to find. That wasn’t the only thing that made entering the gallery a breeze. There was actually a sign pointing exactly where you need to go and staff inside were very helpful pointing people in the right direction. All of this started the trip off on an easy, relaxing foot. There were also vending machines with a large variety of actually good snacks for cheap.
Now upon first entering the gallery one of the first things you would notice is how small and quiet the gallery is. This is the day after the artists were put into the gallery which is part of the reason why there weren’t many people. The small space mixed with the lack of people made for a very relaxing walk through the gallery. The quiet made focusing on the art a lot easier.
Even though the simplicity of the space adds to a peaceful experience I found that it didn’t add anything for the actual pieces. Even though the main job of a gallery is to feature art for artists it can add something to the pieces being shown. Unfortunately the gallery left things to be desired in that area.
Now as for the actual pieces Emerson gallery picked really unique choices for artists. The theme for this exhibition was “Pieced together we are whole” and featured a variety of quilting artists. The artists in question being Megan Keoeppel, Russ Little, Susan J. Lapham, Dominie Nash, John Paradiso, Iamani W. Russell.
I really enjoyed the variety of artists showcased during the exhibition. I feel like the exhibition did a great job showing a mix of new and more established artists and getting their work out there which is extremely respectable.
Overall the Emerson gallery was a quaint, peaceful experience. The Emerson gallery has plenty of pros and a couple of cons. Some of the pros being: clear signs and directions that made it easier to find, a variety of delicious snacks in vending machines you can eat as you look at pieces, genuinely unique pieces of art from a variety of artists, being completely free and more things I highlighted throughout the article.
However, even with many pros there are still some cons like: difficult to travel to by bus, a relatively boring space that didn’t take away but also didn’t add to the pieces on display, lack of ambiance and atmosphere from the gallery space, opening times of inconvenient for students and teachers who would want to visit during the week, and some other things I highlighted throughout the article. This gallery is for someone who has a particular interest in unique pieces from up and coming and established artists in quiet galleries with few guests.