WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARCH WITH FALL ART TOUR VENUES AND ARTISTS!
Spring is coming to Rappahannock County! As the varied shades of Spring creep up the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Redbuds begin their gorgeous celebration, it’s an amazing time to be in Rappahannock County. We love to meander through the shops and galleries in Sperryville and Washington, and stop into one of our locally-owned restaurants for a treat or meal. Come on out to the County for the day or the weekend for a relaxing escape from the city!
Shop for unique and special items from artists and locally-owned small businesses, see new and continuing exhibits, and enjoy our galleries and shops, award-winning wines and micro-breweries, amazing restaurants, and overnight accomodations.
Here’s what’s happening this month:
Click all images to open them in lightbox.
COTTAGE CURATOR
After ten years, Cottage Curator is closing its doors and will be open for one final weekend on March 1 – March 2, 2025
It is with deep gratitude and heartfelt appreciation that we announce that, after ten years, Cottage Curator is closing its doors. Thank you to the artists and art patrons who have supported us through the years.
The gallery will be open for one final weekend, and then available by appointment, or by chance, for the remainder of March.
12018A Lee Highway
Sperryville, VA 22740
(202) 345-1733
Hours: Saturday – Sunday, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm or by appointment (202) 345-1733
Email Jackie Bailey Labovitz at jackie@cottagecurator.com
GAY STREET GALLERY
New work by Jason Goldman, Gaston Lacombe, and Phyllis Northup
March 22 – May 20, 2025
Artist Reception: March 22, 2025 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Featuring new work from Rappahannock County, VA artists Phyllis Northrup and Jason Goldman, and Gaston Lacombe, who used to live in the DC area but now lives and paints full-time in Provincetown, MA.
337 Gay Street
Washington, VA 22747
(540) 227-5100
Hours: Friday – Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm or by appointment (540) 316-8898
Gay Street Gallery is also happy to help you by phone (540) 227-5100 or email office@gaystreetgallery.com.
Top Image: Jason Goldman
Middle Image: Gaston Lacombe
Bottom Image: Phyllis Northup
MIDDLE STREET GALLERY
Thomas Spande Exhibit,”Sketchbook Adventures”
attractively framed in montages and affordably priced
March 28 – May 4, 2025
Artist Reception: Saturday, March 29, 2025 from 2:00 – 5:00 PM
311 Gay Street, Lower Level,
facing Main Street & across from Ballard’s
Washington, VA 22747
(540) 227-5066
Hours: Friday – Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm
Thomas Spande’s new show of finely detailed watercolors and drawings is a retrospective of Virginia scenes and travel drawings, made sketchbook in hand. Many of these lively and finely framed assemblages are reasonably priced at a few hundred dollars.
Animals, a farmer’s market, and special destinations here and abroad – from Cape May to Venice, from aquariums to zoos, make for attractive works framed with a sense of novelty and narrative.
The freshness of the works paper made “on scene” and the variety of approaches make for a compelling journey, and these include brand-new works from today and smaller works stretching back to the artist’s childhood.
Influences on Thomas Spande include David Hockney (a lively contemporary realist known for detailed drawings and paintings), and Albrecht Durer, a historical inspiration too.
WINNER OF THE 2024 FALL ART TOUR RAFFLE!
We’re happy to announce that Lisa Hudson is the winner of the 2024 Fall Art Tour raffle of a dinner-for-two at the Inn at Little Washington – the only 3 star Michelin restaurant in the DC metropolitan area. Congratulations, Lisa!
We had a fun chat with Lisa. A Capitol Hill resident for more than 30 years, Lisa recently retired from the U.S. Department of Education’s Statistics Office and is currently writing children’s picture books.
Since 2015, Lisa, her husband, and their dog, Melly, have been coming to Rappahannock County several times a year to visit friends. During one of Lisa’s early visits, her friends introduced her to RAAC’s Fall Art Tour. She has been to many of the Tour studios and galleries and especially enjoys visiting home studios as a way to meet the artists and further explore the County. Last year was Lisa’s third Art Tour visit — and as we know, the third time’s the charm!
Lisa used her Inn at Little Washington gift certificate earlier this year. She described the dinner as “amazing,” and her husband said the orchestrated service was “like going to the theater.” Lisa enjoyed the tuna tartar and a lobster dish, but the highlight was the “Apparently a Pear” dessert, a delicious pear cheesecake that looked like a work of art!
We’re happy you enjoyed dinner at the Inn, Lisa, and we look forward to meeting you at next year’s Fall Art Tour!
We hope to offer this raffle again for the 2025 Fall Art Tour! Subscribe to our newsletter to get all the news about the Tour, including information on the raffle and other special events and notices.
Top Image: Melly Enjoys Her Visits to Rappahannock County!
Bottom Image: The Inn’s “Apparently a Pear” Dessert
CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
FRANCIE SCHROEDER
Middle Street Gallery artist Francie Schroeder has a piece in the “Surface” Exhibit at d’Art Center in Norfolk, VA
February 15 – March 8, 2025
A Juried National Exhibition of Artworks Unique in Texture and Pattern
d’Art Center
740 Boush Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-625-4211
Hours: Tues-Wed 10am – 5pm, Thurs 10am – 7pm, Fri – Sat 10am – 5pm
GAY STREET GALLERY
New work by Nedra Smith and Robert Bouquet, with work from the archives of Kevin H. Adams
January 18 – March 18, 2025
Featuring new work by two local artists — paintings by Nedra Smith and sculptures by Robert Bouquet. In addition, the gallery continues to show work from the archives of Kevin H. Adams and will also be showing for the first time some works by other artists from Kevin’s and Jay’s personal collection.
337 Gay Street
Washington, VA 22747
(540) 227-5100
Hours: Friday – Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm or by appointment (540) 316-8898
Gay Street Gallery is also happy to help you by phone (540) 227-5100 or email office@gaystreetgallery.com.
Top Image: Nedra Smith
Bottom Image: Robert Bouquet
MIDDLE STREET GALLERY
Members & Friends Show
January 10 – March 23, 2025
311 Gay Street, Lower Level,
facing Main Street & across from Ballard’s
Washington, VA 22747
(540) 227-5066
Hours: Friday – Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm
Join Middle Street Gallery’s members and their friends for a beautiful new exhibition of local art!
Top Image: Elaine Langerman, friend of member Wayne Paige
Bottom Image: Nora Harrington, friend of member Nedra Smith
SPERRYVILLE ARTIST COOPERATIVE & SPAC GALLERY
Charles Tompkins Exhibit
February 1 – March 31, 2025
Outside the SPAC Gallery
Sperryville Marketplace
3 River Lane
Sperryville, VA 22740
SPAC Gallery is adding a new gallery wall outside their space, featuring a rotating exhibit of work from local artists.
All of our galleries are open and are full of amazing local art, crafts and gifts – be sure to visit Artful Friends and Sperryville ARTist Cooperative and Gallery at the Sperryville Marketplace, R.H. Ballard Gallery & Shop, Cottage Curator, Gay Street Gallery, Haley Fine Art, Middle Street Gallery, and Thornton River Art.