McLean Project for the Arts

10/12/2026

Thanks to the Women’s Club of Greater Reston for joining us last week for an ArtReach tour of our (Not) Strictly Painting exhibition with ArtReach Director Sharon Fishel.

It’s always a pleasure to welcome community groups to our galleries, and we were happy to learn that they also enjoyed lunch at Café Monet and visited our new Berlage Arts & Education Center to see our current Fall Solo exhibitions in the three galleries there.

Make a reservation for your group to have a contemporary art day in McLean! For information on scheduling an ArtReach tour, email [email protected].

You can also join us for a Tea & Talk on the exhibition on Wed., Oct 21, at 11am. RSVP here to join us: https://mpaart.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=%2Fportal%2Fevents%2F52612

ArtsFairfax
East City Art
McLean Community Center
Virginia Commission for the Arts
McLean Patch

10/10/2026

10/08/2026

Thank you to all who joined us for last week's Fall Solos Tea & Talk, sponsored by The Mather. It was wonderful to have all three artists with us to share their research and thinking behind the creation of the art in their exhibitions, and to have some really insightful questions and thoughts from those who joined us.

If you couldn't make last week's fabulous event, you have another opportunity to hear from the artists at our upcoming Artist Talk, Thursday evening, Oct. 29, at 7pm, at the Berlage Center for Arts & Education in McLean. RSVP to join us at https://mpaart.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=%2Fportal%2Fevents%2F52615

And a reminder that our three Berlage Center galleries are open from 9am-9pm daily, and until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

10/04/2026

10/04/2026

10/04/2026

MPA Clay is Taking Shape!
This fall marks the opening of MPA Clay, a new ceramics program in the Natasha & Mai Iskander Ceramics Studio at the MPA Berlage Arts & Education Center.

Built for making, learning, and creative community, the new studio features ten pottery wheels, handbuilding tables, a dedicated glaze room, and two large electric kilns.

And this fall, we begin putting it all to work.

MPA Clay Classes
Hands-on, small-group instruction

MPA Clay launches with small-group ceramics classes in wheel throwing and handbuilding, for all levels. Six- and seven-week sessions are limited to 10 students and include clay, glazes, firing, and use of studio tools.

Classes begin October 13. Register for Classes here: https://www.mpaart.org/ceramics-classes-and-workshops

And we’re just getting started!

ArtsFairfax
East City Art
McLean Community Center

10/02/2026

As Saturday's Artist Talk with 22 of our (Not) Strictly Painting artists demonstrated, juror Michael O'Sullivan was correct in seeing that "the most important part of '(Not) Strictly Painting' isn't the word 'painting at all — or the word 'not.' Rather, it's the parentheses themselves, which suggest the element of surprise: an aside, a stage whisper, a secret, containing hidden delights. When empty, parentheses even look like an Easter egg: ()."

Thanks to all of the artists who shared elements of surprise about their work Saturday, and to all who joined us to hear from them!

A reminder that our MPA Emerson and Atrium galleries at the McLean Community Center are open 10am-4pm, Mon-Sat. Stop by and visit . . . and mark your calendars for our Tea & Talk gallery event on Wed., Oct. 21, at 11am.

ArtsFairfax
East City Art
McLean Community Center
Virginia Commission for the Arts