Learning Local: campers follow up time at National Gallery with visit to DC Arts Center

Edgar, eating the art-- I mean, bacon.

Written by Meredith Daniel
Communications Intern

As camp came to a close last week, Marie Reed wrapped up the summer with a visit to the Annual Wallmountables Exhibit at District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC) in Adams Morgan, a gallery that provides space for local emerging artists to showcase their work.

This visit to DCAC strategically piggybacked off of a previous field trip: the scavenger hunt at the National Gallery of Art.  

“We visited DCAC this week because I wanted to show the kids that good art isn’t only in a gallery, protected by guards, and worth millions of dollars,” said Nikki Allinson, Community Outreach Coordinator. “Their community, family members, and friends are also capable of creating impressive art. Sometimes, art can be really intimidating to create-- I wanted to help them shatter that illusion this summer.”

If campers’ reactions to DCAC mixed media pieces were any indication, they appreciated the contrast between the two types of galleries. Campers not only oohed and ahhed over eye-catching neon colors and $300 price tags, but also realized that DCAC’s approachable nature gave them a chance to interact with gallery art in new ways.

One camper, Edgar, discovered the power of forced perspective when he posed with a mounted photograph of a plate of bacon, a piece by Rebecca Gordon. His creativity generated a wave of laughter among other campers once they realized it looked like Edgar was actually eating the bacon strips right off the yellow plate!

Want to see the Wallmountables Exhibit for yourself? You still have time-- it runs until August 25.