A pair of open garage doors on Eighth St. NW reveal unique, colorful, artistic creations at Shaw’s Foundry Gallery (2118 Eighth St. NW). Not only a place to view and purchase art, the gallery has provided a home to up-and-coming artists hailing from across the region since its founding in Georgetown in 1971.
Unlike other galleries, Foundry is an artist-run cooperative, which gives members a great deal of control over the display and sale of their work. New exhibitions, unveiled monthly, feature a variety of styles, media and price points.
The gallery is also an educational space and resource for members. “We want to take what our artists have to offer and we want to help them,” says Director Erik Holden.
“We help them learn how to write, respond to calls, how to work with clients and how to set up contracts,” says Holden. We don’t want them to just be good so we can sell their work.”
The gallery’s educational programming is expansive. It offers lectures, demonstrations, performances and workshops to the general public.
The current gallery location opened in 2015, after a number of years in Dupont Circle. Foundry was a runner-up in the Best New Shaw Business of 2015 competition conducted by Shaw Main Streets.
Foundry Gallery is open to the public Fridays through Sundays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Visit foundrygallery.org to preview current installations, view membership information and learn more about their educational offerings.
Sarah Payne is a reporter for Capital Community News. She can be reached at sarahp@hillrag.com.
