Art events in the DMV
Art across the DMV: gallery openings, art festivals, exhibitions, public art and maker markets. DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia.
Fri, Oct 16 to Sun, Oct 18
SaturdaySat SunWomen Artists of the DMV: The Thank You Show at BlackRock10aChalkFest 202610aMason District Art Festival, Annandale11aPotomac Music Fall Fest at Workhouse Arts Center2pGallery Talk: Observer, The Street Photographs of Norman S. Carr3pThe Next Chapter: Art from Vietnam at CreeMos Gallery2 more4 more
Fri, Oct 23 to Sun, Oct 25
Fri, Oct 30 to Sun, Nov 1
Fri, Nov 6 to Sun, Nov 8
Open all season (Not) Strictly Painting 15 at McLean Project for the Arts, Ahn Chang-Hong: noon-mool, Assembly 2026: Dusk in the Dawnland at MoCA Arlington, Assembly 2026: New South, Ground Truth at MoCA Arlington, Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea, Beyond Words: The Sacred Art of Ayesha Kamal
and 15 more
, Carlotta Corpron: Light Is a Plastic Medium, Carnival of Curiosities at Del Ray Artisans, Dean Kessmann: if not obviously, then potentially, Four Seasons in the Piedmont at Artists in Middleburg, IT HAPPENED HERE: REMEMBERING THREE LYNCHINGS, Janet Echelman: Radical Softness at Tephra ICA, Magical Places and Creatures: Donnalynne Lefever at Workhouse, Out of Bounds, Outlaw Printmakers MMXXVI at Pyramid Atlantic, Remember Me: Picturing African Americans in Early Photography, Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, TRANSFORMATIONS: Lloyd Wolf's Lorton Reformatory Photos, Workhouse, Washington Glass School: 25 Years of Glass & Community, Wayson R. Jones: Color/Slash/Field, Yoshitomo Nara: Sentinels of StillnessSaturday, October 17
10am to 5pmFree
Reston Town CenterAnnual street-painting festival turning Market Street into an outdoor canvas with professional and amateur chalk artists, plus live music and free face painting. Chalking starts at 10am, judging at 4pm, winners announced at 5pm. Free to attend as a spectator.
10am to 3pmFree
AnnandaleSecond annual community art festival in downtown Annandale with more than 50 local and regional artists, hands-on artmaking booths, and a performance stage with music, dance, comedy, and theater. Free, rain or shine.
10am to 5pm, through Oct 18Free
Great FallsAnnual self-guided driving tour of private artist studios across Great Falls. Visit painters, potters, photographers, jewelers, and sculptors in their own workspaces, from converted barns to home studios. Free and open to the public.
10am to 6pm, through Oct 18
Pyramid Atlantic Art CenterExhibition by the Outlaw Printmakers collective, opening during Print-O-Rama weekend (reception Friday, October 16, 7 to 9 pm). Print work on view in Pyramid Atlantic's Helen C. Frederick Gallery in Hyattsville. Gallery open Wednesdays and Thursdays 10 to 8, Fridays through Sundays 10 to 6.
11am to 6pmFree
Workhouse Arts CenterFamily festival on the Workhouse campus with live music, food trucks, local small business and craft vendors, a pumpkin patch, hayrides, glassblowing demos, and field games. Free admission, raising funds for the Lorton Community Action Center.
11am to 4pm, through Oct 18Free
American University Museum at the Katzen Arts CenterSolo exhibition of Islamic calligraphy by Ayesha Kamal, part of the museum's fall 2026 season on life, beauty, faith, and sorrow. Runs alongside shows by Ahn Chang-Hong, Norman S. Carr, and Mary Garrard. Free admission.
11am to 4pm, through Oct 18Free
American University Museum at the Katzen Arts CenterMajor solo show by one of South Korea's leading contemporary artists, filling two floors of the museum. The centerpiece Taxidermy series layers paint over large photographs of taxidermied animals, probing memory, mortality, and violence. Free admission.
12 to 5pm, through Oct 18
Pyramid Atlantic Art CenterFour-day printmaking festival at Pyramid Atlantic in Hyattsville: screenprinting and woodcut demos, the Outlaw Printmakers MMXXVI exhibition opening with live rock and roll, a free Saturday print fair with 15 printmakers, and hands-on printmaking demos. Thursday evening workshops are ticketed; the Friday reception and Saturday fair are free.
1 to 6pm, through Oct 18
Waverly Street GallerySolo paintings by Pat Silbert celebrating the Potomac River and the sacred value of the natural world. The work responds to Robert Macfarlane's book Is a River Alive with an emphatic yes. At the member-run Waverly Street Gallery in downtown Bethesda; reception Friday, October 2. Gallery open Thursday through Sunday, 1 to 6 pm.
2 to 3pmFree
American University Museum at the Katzen Arts CenterOne-time gallery talk on Norman S. Carr's fall exhibition of urban street photographs, part of the AU Museum's fall 2026 season. Free; galleries open 11am-4pm.
3 to 6pm
CreeMos GalleryOne-evening event at CreeMos Gallery in Takoma Park pairing The Next Chapter: Art from Vietnam, an exhibition of Vietnamese art and culture, with a meditative sound bath and a Vietnamese dinner. Saturday, October 17, 3 to 6 pm. Ages 18 and up.
All day, through Oct 18
BlackRock Center for the ArtsFinal stop of the first survey of women visual artists from the DC metro region, curated by Florencio Lennox Campello. A greatest-hits selection of more than 20 artists closes a year-long run that spanned 20 art spaces. On view at BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown through October 18.
All day, through Oct 31Free
Del Ray Artisans GalleryCarnival and circus themed group exhibition at Del Ray Artisans, from fun foods and games to haunted oddities. Opens with a reception on October 2 and closes with a masquerade party and People's Choice award on October 30. Free, donations appreciated.
All day, through Oct 31
Brentwood Arts ExchangeAnniversary exhibition celebrating 25 years of the Washington Glass School: founders, resident artists, instructors and alumni showing sculpture, installation, public art and architectural glass. On view at the Brentwood Arts Exchange in the Gateway Arts District through October 31.
All day, through Oct 31
Brentwood Arts ExchangeSolo exhibition by Wayson R. Jones of paintings built from pumice gel and Flashe on wood panel. Color-driven abstract work by the DC-area artist, on view at the Brentwood Arts Exchange in the Gateway Arts District through October 31.
All day, through Nov 7
McLean Community CenterThe 15th iteration of MPA's juried biennial celebrating painting and works related to painting, featuring dozens of mid-Atlantic artists across media. On view in the Emerson and Atrium Galleries at the McLean Community Center, with a Tea and Talk on October 21.
All day, through Nov 7Free
Workhouse Arts CenterDocumentary photographs by Lloyd Wolf record a pioneering drug rehabilitation program inside the Lorton Reformatory from 1989 to 1991. Shown where the events took place, the images trace recovery and resilience among incarcerated men. On view in the McGuireWoods Gallery with an artist reception on October 3.
All day, through Nov 8
Arches GallerySolo exhibition of mythical creatures and magical places by Donnalynne Lefever at the Arches Gallery in the Workhouse. Layered paintings inspired by mythology and dreams, with an artist reception on October 10.
All day, through Nov 8
The Artists in MiddleburgJuried group exhibition at The Artists in Middleburg gallery celebrating the seasons of Virginia's Piedmont region. Opening reception on October 3.
10am to 5:30pm, through Dec 24Free
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenA long-overdue survey of American abstract photographer Carlotta Corpron (1901-1988), whose experiments with light, form, and photographic technology helped establish photography as fine art. The show traces six bodies of work made in Texas from the late 1930s to the early 1950s, from nature studies to light drawings, anchored by 48 recent gifts from collector Herbert Lust.
All day, through Dec 31Free
The Kreeger MuseumSeven Hamiltonian Artists alumni show painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation at the Kreeger Museum, alongside boundary-pushing works from the museum's permanent collection by Sam Gilliam, Frank Stella, Simmie Knox, and William Christenberry. Curated by Anisa Olufemi and presented under The Collaborative, the Kreeger's program supporting Washington-area artists.
All day, through Jan 17
National Museum of Women in the ArtsThe East Coast debut of a touring exhibition of twentieth-century African American quilts made in California, tracing how migration west shaped a distinct quilting tradition. An NMWA presentation that opened September 18 and runs into the new year.
All day, through Jan 24
Museum of Contemporary Art ArlingtonFive artists with deep ties to Maine's Penobscot Bay coast work across sculpture, textiles, video, and photography. The show traces environmental change and creative resourcefulness along the rugged shoreline. Part of MoCA Arlington's Assembly 2026 biennial.
All day, through Jan 24
Museum of Contemporary Art ArlingtonFour Atlanta-based artists (Sheila Pree Bright, Michi Meko, Paul Stephen Benjamin, Shanequa Gay) examine the Southern landscape as a site of memory, power, and unresolved history. Part of MoCA Arlington's Assembly 2026 biennial marking the nation's 250th anniversary.
All day, through Jan 31Free
Tephra Institute of Contemporary ArtMid-career retrospective of sculptor Janet Echelman spanning four decades, from early drawings and maquettes to full-scale net sculptures. The show presents softness as both material and philosophy, with works shaped by wind, light, and engineered fiber. Free admission.
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