Grand Opening of the Gateway Arts Center

The long-awaited grand opening of the shiny new Gateway Arts Center took place last week and quite a shindig it was. First the political kissy-face where all the relevant Prince Georges County pols showed up to christen the ship, followed by open studios for the dozen or so lucky artists who have found new homes here and a reception for the public and the artists represented in the inaugural juried show featuring artists who live and/or work in the Gateway district, including moi (Ellyn Weiss).

The Gateway District comprises the waiting-to-be-gentrified swath along Rhode Island Ave/ Rte 1 north from Mt. Ranier through Brentwood to Hyattsville. The Gateway Arts Center itself is at 3901 Rhode Island, Brentwood, about half a mile north of the little bitty traffic circlette in Mt. Ranier. In addition to studios, education facilities and galleries, the center is also the new home of the Prince Georges County African American museum.

I confess to being just a little surprised at how impressed I was by the strength of the work. My studio is in Mt. Rainier and I know many of the artists here but there is much new to me. I just loved the big ceramic wallpieces by John Hicks, all beat up, pock-marked and decaying like abandoned buildings. And I have always been a fan of Ani Kasten, whose rough/refined vessels seem to be expanding in her high-ceilinged new studio space. Lindsey Sherman’s evocative small figures – ceramic covered with wax then stippled with red thread – are new to me and most welcome. Leila Holtsman has a strong metal and ink piece, a good example of her talent for using metal in unexpected ways. Erwin Timmers’ glass wall pieces have an industrial context and great luminosity and Michael Janis’s glass "paintings" are deep and luscious, as always. And there’s lots more.

This is a great new resource for local artists and for the community. The large gallery is expansive and airy, with high ceilings and grest spaces. The galleries are directed by our own Alec Simpson who is an artist and a veteran of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. The center as a whole is run by the Gateway Arts district, led by Cheryl Dericotte, who gets a huge shout-out for bringing a project that had a somewhat tortured history to a very happy point. And you all should think about getting out to see it.