Entertainment

Per the City of Takoma Park: Sculptures chiseled and carved in stone by artist Michelle Frazier are on display at the Takoma Park Community Center.

Frazier brings faces, bodies and abstract shapes to life through her sculpture of soapstone and alabaster across a range of natural colors. The exhibition, which is part of the City’s Takoma Park Arts cultural series, is on display in glass cases near the library in the Community Center.

Takoma Park’s Arts and Humanities Division has partnered with the Takoma ARTery to promote the work of local artists through a new online artist directory at takomaartery.com. Per the City of Takoma Park: The volunteer-led artist collective was organized during the COVID-19 pandemic to connect local artists and help them share their work with the public. Artwork displays have filled storefront windows in downtown Takoma Park and at the Historic Takoma building at the Takoma Junction. The City’s Arts and Humanities Coordinator Brendan Smith also helped organize a previous grant to support the group’s start-up costs and its first art fair last summer outside the Takoma Park Community Center.

Takoma ARTery artists have reported not only sales but also a broadened sense of connection and support from other artists and residents, according to ARTery co-founder Eleanor Landstreet. “The financial and staff support from the City have helped transform the ARTery from an innovative pandemic-related arts project into a vibrant artist community, which is boosting the creative economy and small businesses run by artists,” Landstreet said.

The Takoma ARTery arts group has launched a new artist directory featuring artwork and info about local artists. The creation of the directory was funded in part by a grant from the City’s Arts and Humanities Division to support the local creative community, their small businesses, and economic development in Takoma Park. “The City of Takoma Park has a long track record of supporting the arts through our Takoma Park Arts events series and a wide range of public art projects,” Arts and Humanities Coordinator Brendan Smith said. “We also work with local arts organizations, and the Takoma ARTery has done a lot of great work in a short time bringing artists together to support their livelihoods.”

A group of volunteers started the Takoma ARTery during the COVID-19 pandemic to feature artwork by local artists in underused storefronts in downtown Takoma Park and at the Takoma Junction. City grants also helped fund the group’s start-up costs and the ARTery’s first art fair that was held last summer outside the Takoma Park Community Center. “The financial and staff support from the City have helped transform the ARTery from an innovative pandemic-related arts project into a vibrant artist community which is boosting the creative economy,” ARTery co-founder Eleanor Landstreet said.