Alexandria, VA – Feeling as if vacation Your July or August vacation can’t come soon enough? Why not take a staycay in June to tide you over until you can hit the beach? Tour the diverting exhibits on view at Alexandria’s galleries and art spaces?
Top of the June must-see order is the final week of “More Moments of Art” at River Farm. Nepenthe Gallery and Robert Murray of The Von Brahler Ltd. Gallery present a curated collection of floral-theme artwork. The exhibit, on view in the manor house of the magnificent Potomac riverside property, closes June 12. A closing reception will be held on June 5 from 5-7:30pm. Come for the party. Stay for the gardens and view.
Nepenthe Gallery turns the first month of this summer’s ART + WINE+ CHEESE Thursdays into ar-tastic gallery nights. Following the More Moments of Art event at River Farm, Nepenthe Nights returns to the Fort Hunt Road gallery June 12 at 6pm for a Plein Air Painting Showcase featuring 40 works of art from the Alexandria Plein Air Society.
June 19th kicks off Summer Solstice: Five Local Artists, an annual Nepenthe exhibition this year spotlights Saya Behnam, Mary Bockenek, Lucy Goddin, Margot Hanff, and Kelly St. Clair. Summer Solstice will be on exhibit until July 16, 2025.
Mark Nepenthe onto your late June calendar as well. The gallery is hosting Movie Night Friday, June 20. They’ll be screening “Dorothy Gillespie: Courage, Independence & Color”, a documentary about the American abstract metal sculptor from Virginia. Her son, Gary Israel, will speak about his famous artist mother.
You won’t want to miss D-E-G-A-S Bingo, back at Nepenthe’s ART+WINE+CHEESE on June 26 from 6-8 p.m. with local bingo caller Kim Gilliam selecting numbers beginning at 6:30pm. Prizes and Nepenthe Dollars will be awarded for each round.
Over in Del Ray it’s Helm’s Allee! Sail away at Del Ray Artisans Gallery with a nautical theme exhibit. Sing Me a Sea Shanty, curated by T.J. Feeley and Tiara Safic Martin, is on view from May 30 – June 29. The opening reception is Friday, June 6 from 7-9 p.m..
Tiara Safic-Martin has also been selected as one of two Alexandria artists to do a commission for the HomeGrown daytime eatery opening in Old Town this summer. The new kitchen, serving locally-sourced breakfast fare, took over Brabo’s space at 1600 King Street. Tiara is a Bosnian-American artist and Alexandrian who creates colorful watercolors, acrylic and intricate pen landscapes. Stacey Lewis is the other local artist commissioned by HomeGrown for their new location. Stacey is an academically trained artist and educator who encourages her students to expand their personal expression through the creative process.
Across town the Mark Center Alexandria Hilton, in partnership with the Alexandria Office of the Arts, presents Experiencing Color: Perspectives from Del Ray Artisans on exhibit in the lobby gallery through September 21. Seven member artists’ diverse expositions of color – demonstrating a variety of mediums – are on view.
Artist Nancy McCarthy is another prodigious painter currently exhibiting at ten different art spaces in Virginia. McCarthy. who took up painting not long ago, exhibits regularly at the Art League, Falls Church Art Center, Green Spring Farm, and Del Ray Artisans where she has work in the June exhibit. Her explorations of the natural world through painting are on display at River Farm with a solo art show from June 19-August 17. Opening and closing receptions are June 29 and August 24 from 2-4 p.m.
There’s no shortage of staycation diversions in Alexandria this summer. Be sure to check out the hip happenings at Galactic Panther– the place to be for contemporary culture shock.
For fabulous fine art realism there’s the Principle Gallery with a last call for Geoffrey Johnson’s urbanscapes closing June 9, followed by perennial favorite GC Myers’ opening with a reception June 13, 6-8:30 p.m. Myers’ exhibit closes July 7, 2025.
Whether exploring art spaces along Upper and Lower King Street, in Old Town North or South, on the Avenue in Del Ray, the West End, or Downtown DC at the marvelous and free art museums, it’s all about artful escapes this summer. Find your art. Find yourself, and send us a postcard!
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