Mid City Artists Exhibited at Room & Board; Open Studios Oct. 22-23

From Tom Hay. Send him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @Tomonswann

Four local artists, all members of Mid City Artists, will be part of an exhibition at the Room & Board furniture store at 14th and T Streets NW. Works by Gary Fisher, Glenn Fry, Charlie Gaynor and Charlie Jones will be featured in the exhibition, “A Neighborhood of Art and Home Furnishings,” from October 20-23. Sixteen pieces of artwork, four from each artist, will be displayed throughout the store to compliment furniture groupings on each floor. An opening reception is scheduled at Room & Board on Thursday, October 20 from 6 to 8 pm.

The exhibition coincides with the Mid City Artists Fall Open Studios which runs from 12 to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, October 22-23. There are a total of 21 artists at 15 locations —download the map! The Fall and Spring Open Studios have been a popular weekend event for a number of years.

Artist Charlie Jones explained how the collaboration between the retailer and the artists came about. “I visited the store early on when it first opened and met Scott Jussila, a leadership associate with Room & Board. Scott and I had an instant rapport and as I learned about his role at Room & Board developing local public outreach efforts, I mentioned Mid City Artists… and how cool it would be to combine Room & Board furnishings with our art for an exhibit — especially given how spectacular the space and light is.”

The landmark Room & Board store opened in June 2010 after an extensive renovation of the historic building. Built in 1919, the location was once a showroom for the Ford Motor Company and was known as the R.L. Taylor building. The renovation preserved the open floor plan and large windows of the original building which now give the showroom a loft-like gallery feel.

The artists practice in different mediums, including photography and silk screen on wood. Included in the exhibition are “Indian Head Nickel” by Glenn Fry, “Red Candied Apples” by Gary Fisher, “Monterey” by Charlie Jones and “DeLuxe” by Charlie Gaynor.

Mid City Artists Open Studios This Weekend

The exhibition coincides with the Mid City Artists Fall Open Studios which runs from 12 to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, October 22-23. There are a total of 21 artists at 15 locations. The Fall and Spring Open Studios have been a popular weekend event for a number of years.

Like Borderstan, the Mid City Artists area encompasses several neighborhoods, including Dupont Circle, Logan Circle and U Street. Member artists work have been featured in exhibitions at Borderstan area galleries including gallery plan B on 14th Street NW and Long View Gallery on 9th Street.

Late last year the Mid City neighborhood was in the midst of a branding effort to give a new name and identity to what was officially known as the Uptown Arts District. Funded with D.C. Neighborhood Investment Fund grant money the design and marketing effort saw lots of heated discussion during the public forums over naming of the district. Eventually the process led to the name DC Arts District and the installation of banners on light poles on the major streets in the area.

Mid City Artists Profiled on Borderstan

• Regina Miele: Local Artist, Global Reach
• Gary Fisher: Art Changed My Life
• Mark Parascandola: Abandoned Architecture
• Peter Alexander Romero: Color, Movement and Texture
• Shaw Artist Chuck Baxter: Trash to Treasure
• The Inspiration of Dupont’s Ryan Epp
• French Artist Isabelle Spicer Finds Color in DC
• Robert Wiener: From Accounting to Art Glass
• Thomas Drymon: Showing the Hand in His Paintings
• Dave Peterson’s Brand Mixes Graphics, Captions, Materials
• Joren Lindholm: “Between Abstract and Representation”
• Glenn Fry’s Silkscreens: From the Fed to the Real World House
• No Regrets: Betsy Karasik’s Transition from Lawyer to Painter
• Cole’s Metal Sculptures Part of Dupont-Logan Landscape