Projects
Arlington Arts Individual Artist’s Grant 2023-24:
Curating 4 Community Art Exhibits
by Sushmita Mazumdar
“It will be a continuation of my work of making voices visible, of sharing stories of Home.
But who have we heard from?
And who have we not asked?” ~ Sushmita
I am so happy to share that my project Curating 4 Community Art Exhibits has won an FY 2024 Individual Artists Grant from Arlington Arts. I wanted to continue my work with curating, as I learned a lot while working on the year-long exhibit We PAUSED! Unbound, which I was commissioned to create by Arlington Cultural Affairs to show at their Gallery 3700. I was ready to take that experience to a brand new community and space.
That space is our new, second Studio PAUSE location. Located in the Barcroft Shopping Center on Columbia Pike, it is part of the historic Barcroft Apartment community. These exhibits will be designed to specifically connect with the residents of that 60-acre, 1300+ unit affordable housing community. We will invite the residents to come to the space to see the exhibits and meet the featured artists, project partners, and guests at the events. I want the exhibits there to inspire them to see how local creatives like the PAUSErs and the Columbia Pike Documentary Project team tell stories of “Me, Here:” Stories of People and Place in so many different ways. I will be inviting the residents to do the same—share their stories of people & place through their creative work—through our larger “We Are Barcroft: A 60-Acre History of People & Place” project.
Working with residents of Barcroft Apartments gives me a chance to work with a whole new multicultural community in Arlington. How cool is that? Join us to see how I do this along with the Studio PAUSE community and the Documentary Project team, and all our partners! Thank you.
You will find details of each exhibit below. Enjoy some photos from our Grand Opening on October 7, 2023, as well:
The brochure about the 2 inaugural exhibits. Photo, Andrea Avendano
Outside, at the ribbon cutting
Kim Klingler (left), executive director of our partner Columbia Pike Partnership,
with David Hilde, Vice President of Development for Jair Lynch Real Estate PartnersArlington’s inaugural poet laureate, Katherine E. Young, reads her poem Columbia Pike Blues
Kara Billings shares about her mixed media artwork Connect.
Founders of the Columbia Pike Documentary Project, Paula Endo, Todd Endo, Lloyd Wolf, with Sushmita (front, left)
Guests
Friends and Supporters
Event team and families
Click here to Join us for our Grand Opening and Community PAUSE: Saturday October 7, 5-7 pm
This program is supported in part by Arlington County through the Arlington Cultural Affairs division of Arlington Economic Development and the Arlington Commission for the Arts.
Exhibit 1:
“Me, Here:” Stories of People & Place as told by the Studio PAUSE Community
October 2023 - March 2024
Enjoy photos of visitors to the exhibit below. You may also order the exhibit catalog, a handmade book, “Me, Here:” Stories of People & Place here ($30 each)
Photos:
Guests at our November Studio Tour. Photo, Kathy P.
October Family Art PAUSE where Sharmila teaches children about henna designs to make cards and Sush helps
After seeing the art of his friend Delores Fisher-Jenkins in the exhibit, Sheriff Jose Quiroz wanted to bring his team in to PAUSE! They came in February 2024 for a 2-hour Art PAUSE. He said their work was tough work and here they could do art, explore their vulnerable side
Students from Northern Virginia Community College’s Asian American Pacific Islander Center (Annandale campus) came for a Studio tour and bookmaking workshop in March 2024, as part of their book arts project, “Me, Here (at NOVA) and Elsewhere.” It was cool to have the exhibit catalog work as a text book where they could see many examples of how we tell stories of People & Place.
Photos:
Lloyd Wolf documents the renovation
Fall CPDP Walking Tour
Cassiel sees her mother and grandmother is the photos of Cafe Sazon and Cassiel’s Salon
Sarah Manrique Chiriboga visits with a friend and shows here her portrait
Carlos said he knew when this photo by Dewey Tron was taken. It was his birthday in 2009.
Exhibit 2:
“Me, Here:” Stories of Barcroft Apartments as told by the Columbia Pike Documentary Project
October 2023 - September 2024
Enjoy photos of visitors to the exhibit below. Lloyd Wolf, director of the Columbia Pike Documentary Project, and Dewey Tron, one of the photographers on the team, both live near the new Studio and have stopped by to photograph renovations, events, and more. Many visitors also engage with the exhibit, recognizing people and places, sharing memories and stories.
You can order the exhibit catalog, a handmade book, “Me, Here:” Stories of People & Place here ($30 each)
Exhibit 3:
“Me, Here:” Stories of People & Place as Told by the Barcroft Community
May 2024 - July 2024
It is very exciting to see how the residents of Barcroft Apartments, the business owners in the shopping strip, employees, and Barcroft staff have been interacting with the new studio and the Exhibits 1 & 2 on view.
Artworks, poems, and objects they want to share as their stories of people & Place have started to come in. In April we will assemble, frame, drape, print, and more as we install Exhibit 3.
Stay tuned for the opening in May 2024!
