This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.
Few things are more comforting in cold weather than steaming hot cocoa or mulled cider. For a unique mug to sip from, and other locally made art pieces, consider the creations by the resident artists at The Studios at Arlington Arts. Located at 3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr., Arlington, Virginia.
Located in the Arlington Arts campus in the Four Mile Run area, the Studios serve as a new home for the professional resident artists of the former LAC Studios on Langston Boulevard. Their creations encompass not only mugs, but all manners of ceramics, prints, paintings and even jewelry. Artists celebrated the holiday season in their new space with the annual Holiday Sale in December. Follow the Studios on Arlington Arts’ social media and watch this space for info about their Spring Sale on May 2.
Meanwhile, it’s still too cold for a long walk or bike ride, so consider warming up inside of Arlington’s art galleries. Here’s a look at what’s happening in a gallery near you.
The Prescription is HOME: A Manifesto
Mason Exhibitions Arlington
through March 1, Virginia Square
Anchored by a symbolic house frame and a shared kitchen table, the exhibition blurs the boundaries between personal and collective space. The Prescription is HOME positions home as both sanctuary and catalyst — where connection, care and transformation begin. Created by artist Melani N. Douglass in collaboration with community members, the exhibition reimagines the home as a site of healing, cultural memory and collective care. Through participatory installations, visitors are invited to contribute personal stories, photographs and recipes, shaping an evolving communal archive.
Studio Pause
Interactive Art Activations, Columbia Pike
Thursday PAUSE: A Word to the Wise with Jorge Rogachevsky
Thursday, Feb. 5, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Dictionaries and news organizations look back over the past year and come up with lists of words that identify the zeitgeist. Here are five that came up on various lists for 2025: slop, rage bait, aura farming, agentic, delulu. Bring four or five words that you identify, we’ll mix them together and see what poetry we can generate.
Reception for “Un/tethering by MaryLouise Marino”
Saturday, Feb. 7, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
LouLou returns to mark-making in this new body of work created over the past year and a half, with a bolder exploration of marks and materials, collage and color, books and banners. The work traces themes of chaos, change and identity
Strength Through Stories
Arlington Artists Alliance
through Feb. 28, Alliance Gallery, Clarendon
The Arlington Artists Alliance is proud to celebrate the creativity and service of our local veteran artists. In honor of America 250, the Alliance will kick off 2026 by spotlighting artists who have both served in the military and engage in the arts to express their unique experiences. With no set theme, the show invites open artistic expression — reflecting the individuality, resilience and imagination of those who have served. As a community initiative, the Alliance will give 100% of art sales directly to the artist.
JD Deardourff: Artist in Residence
Innovation Studio + Store
through Feb. 6, National Landing
Operated by the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, the Innovation Studio + Store hosts a series of six- to eight-week Artist Residencies. The artist develops and creates work, interacts with the public and shares about their artistic practice and process. Drop in to meet the artist, learn more and even engage in making art alongside them.
JD Deardourff creates bold, graphic, bittersweet compositions that riff on traditional genres of landscape, still-life and portraiture. He employs innovative rhythms and his signature blazing palette to his screenprints, murals, paintings and collages; drawing inspiration from the vocabulary of comic books; exaggeration, energy, movement, contour line, the interplay of sequential images and, most importantly, artificial color.
Tim Davis: Conversations
Fred Schnider Gallery
Artist Talk: Saturday, Feb. 7, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Exhibition: through Feb. 28, Ballston
Davis is the founder of International Visions Gallery and Consultancy, where he encourages cross-cultural engagement with diverse collections of artists from the Washington, D.C. area and underrepresented parts of the global community. As an artist, educator and curator, Davis believes art can be used to make statements, engage, inspire and take action for the growth of, history and identity of people everywhere. Enjoy an “Artist Talk” with Tim Davis and curator David Carlson on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Mac Cosgrove-Davies: Essential Arlington
Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington
through March 1, MoCA Arlington, Virginia Square
In Essential Arlington, photographer Mac Cosgrove-Davies captures portraits of people whose labor, care and expertise keep the community of Arlington running. They support the infrastructure and services that allow everyone who lives, works or just visits Arlington to go about their daily lives.
The project highlights workers in Arlington County departments such as Environmental Services, Fire, Police, and Parks and Recreation, as well as private sector workers providing core services such as food supply, medicine and funeral services. This selection of workers is meant to be representative of the broad range of essential workers employed in the County. With this project Cosgrove-Davies seeks to honor “those whose jobs are essential for what makes Arlington tick, but who are rarely given credit for their contribution.”
