Columbia Pike Library Exhibit, 2025. Arlington VA.
Residents and former residents
of Columbia Pike told their stories through their art, and shared them at Studio PAUSE.
Now, see the art at the library!
During the first year of our Columbia Pike location in 2023, we applied for and were awarded two Arlington County grants. Through those grant projects we explored the theme of “Me, Here,” and how we tell stories of people and place.
Artists, poets, weavers, photographers, and others in the Studio PAUSE community were invited to share their stories at the inaugural community art exhibit. The Columbia Pike Documentary Project photos and interviews were also exhibited. We worked with residents of Barcroft Apartments, where our new Studio is located, inviting them to visit and encouraging them to express their own stories through their creations. We displayed their work in an exhibit in 2024. Eight residents also shared oral histories through video.
Mixing stories is a big part of our work. Since those exhibits, we have taken many of the artworks out of the Studio and into the community. We curated the exhibit “Me, Here” Stories of People & Place as told at Studio PAUSE, Columbia Pike, taking the work shared by our Latino community to the Festival Latinoamericano held at the Arlington Mill Community Center, Columbia Pike. Through our book Abundance is Bright: Celebrating Goddess Lakshmi & Diwali, we took stories of our Asian community to the National Museum of Asian Art, in Washington, D.C.
In this exhibit we share the creations of residents or former residents of the Pike whose work we haven’t taken to the community as yet. We know that as we learn about each other, we become a more understanding and accepting Arlington.
~ Sushmita Mazumdar, curator, Studio PAUSE
Participants and creations:
Kenneth Krafchek, Columbia Pike Boogie Woogie
Ronald J. Smith, At Ease and Black History to Me
Nazneen Akter, Childhood Home, village Ashwadiya, Bangladesh
Delores Fischer-Jenkins, A Tribute to my Great Grandmother, Mamie Green
Girasol O’Neill, Gender Euphoria
Sushmita Mazumdar, Kanyadaan, Again
Regmi Family, Good Wishes for a Happy New Year
Dewey Tron, “We Are Barcroft”: A 60-Acre History of People & Place
Location in the Library
The exhibit is on the left back wall where the laptop counter is. Please enjoy the details in the brochure provided at the exhibit.
EVENTS at the Library
Please join us for the following events designed in conjunction with the exhibit:
JULY: We Are Barcroft Documentary Viewing & Art Reception
Date: Saturday July 12, 2025
Location: Drew Meeting Room, Columbia Pike Branch Library
Time:
2-3 pm: Please join us for a viewing of the documentary film “We Are Barcroft”- a 60-Acre History of People & Place (45 mins) which shares the oral history videos of 8 people who belong to the Barcroft Apartment community. This was part of a project by Sushmita Mazumdar which was partly funded by an Arlington County Historic Preservation Grant FY 2024. There will be a Q/A with the director, the project team, and participants after the viewing.
3-4 pm: An artists’ talk with the rest of the artists will start after the film viewing. Light refreshments will be served.
AUGUST: Art PAUSE
The Incubator at Arlington Public Library invites you to join us for two workshops led by artists whose work is on view in the current Columbia Pike Library exhibit. APS art teacher Girasol O’Neill will explore watercolors and ink with elementary school age children and their caregivers, and retired art professor Ken Krafchek will do a monoprinting workshop for teens and adults. This program is free, and all supplies are provided.
Make time to explore creativity with people whose work is on display in the exhibit.
Date: Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Location: Drew Meeting Room, Columbia Pike Branch Library
Time:
5-6 pm: Exploring Watercolors & Ink with Mr. Sol (kids and families)
6:30-7:30 pm: Monoprinting with Ken Krafchek (teens and adults)
Kathy helps Sush with installation
Two artworks just barely fit in the space
Thanks so much to Ripley from the Columbia Pike Library for all the help
Opening poster, Ken's artwork, and RJ's two poems
Photos by Delores and Nazneen's first artwork made at the Studio. Then Girasol's artwork.
Next is Sush's mixed media artwork with a poem sewed onto canvas and next to that is the Regmi family's collage. At the end is the poster with the We Are Barcroft oral history videos by Dewey. It has a QR code so you can watch the videos on your phone at your time.
So thoughtful of Ripley to include a bonefolder in the bag with the printouts. I folded a bunch of brochures at the library and added them to the exhibit.
Brochures have all the details about the artists, their creations, photos, and bios.
Local Stories
One day at Café Sazon I met Scott Caffrey who writes for ArlNow. Arlington County Board member Takis Karantonis was there and he introduced us, telling Scott I ran an experimental art space next door and he should check us out. So I invited Scott to our screening of the documentary. I told him it was directed by Dewey Tron. Scott said he knew Dewey since he was a kid and had watched him grow up. This is what I love the Pike!
You can read the story here:
Check out photos from our reception below.
Sushmita welcomes guests and thanks Ripley of Arlington Public Library (left) for helping with the exhibit and event, and Dewey Tron (center) for directing the documentary.
The documentary begins. We had about 30 people join us!
The A/C was out at the library and people found spots where they were comfortable ;)
Dewey watches
Q/A with the narrators who are featured in the doc and the director. From left, Nazneen, Sarah, Dewey, and Ruben.
Sushmita introduces the exhibit she curated.
Then we visited the exhibit outside. Ken shares about his artwork, Columbia Pike Boogie Woogie.
Girasol talks about his artwork, Gender Euphoria.
Sushmita talks about her artwork Kanyadaan, Again.
Group shot of all those involved. From left, Jorge Rogachevsky (interviewer and translator), Ruben Sira, Ken Krafchek, Nazneen Akter, Sarah Manrique Chiriboga, Girasol O'Neill, and Fredy Meija (Barcroft Resident Resources Manager). Sitting, Sushmita, LouLou Marino, and Dewey.
Ken and his wife Debbie (left) share how this is the Arlington they miss so much after moving to Fairfax after living on the Pike for 35 years.
Ruben's friends came from Maryland. Some shared how diversity is such an asset to the lives we live.
Nazneen and Tanya share a laugh.