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Touchstone Contemporary Art Gallery

901 New York Avenue NW
Washington D.C 20001
202-682-4125

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Touchstone Contemporary Art Gallery

  • Exhibitions
  • Artists
  • Events
  • Learn More
  • Rentals
  • Contact
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Charles E. Meissner: Flights of Imagination

December 12, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Weekend-Plans_by-Charles-E.-Meissner

Weekend-Plans_by-Charles-E.-Meissner

During the month of December at Touchstone, Art Enables artist Charles Meissner displays delightful and intricate artworks, mapping moments from his own life as well those of "The Fresnos," a time-traveling couple from the 28th century who observe our present day activities.  His prodigious visual memory for landscapes and events of historical and personal significance are depicted in great detail along with textual narratives. Flying cars rove over the rooftops and tall buildings overlap toward the horizon.  Figures, drawn with pen, look past the viewer from indoors and out. All of his work is engaging, completely honest and fantastical, not unlike the work of some artists in Baltimore's American Visionary Museum (AVAM).  "A breath of fresh air," commented one of Touchstone's regular artists.

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In Featured Artist Tags 28th century, American Visionary Museum, Art Enables, fantasy, flying cars, imagination, landscapes, mapping, narrative, symbols, text, Touchstone Foundation for the Arts, touchstone gallery, visual memories
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Tré: Photographer of Dreams and Visions

November 15, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Possibilities by Tré

Possibilities by Tré

Tré may not have been born with a silver spoon, but she did come into the world clutching a golden paint brush. Certainly, her creative eye was astute from the get go. At age two, after pondering the elaborate wall paper in her parent’s bedroom with a critical eye, Tré decided to make it better. She found her father's pen and drew balloons with long wavy strings directly on the wallpaper. Rather than scolding her, Tré 's mother recognized her daughter's precocious bent and spirited her to the art store where she picked out her own art supplies. 

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In Featured Artist, Uncategorized Tags balloons, computer enhancement, dreams, fantasy stories, fiction and fact, gardens, golden paint brush, human archetypes, intense coloration, lucid dreams, mass media, mind altering juxtaposition, Museum for Massurrealist Art, photography, psychology of color, shifted meanilngs, touchstone gallery, tré, Tré Inc-, Trémotion Pictures, visions, wallpaper
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Betsy Forster: The Call and the Creative Response

November 8, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Betsy Forster

Betsy Forster

Responding to the call of big skies and far horizons, Betsy Forster stuffs her back pack with art supplies and camera before heading into the countryside - Wyoming and Montana in the summertime and Virginia in the cooler months.  Drawing and sketching with oils, she works diligently several days a week no matter what landscape lies before her.  "I need the countryside," she states emphatically, "I need a window that faces toward a distant horizon."

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In Featured Artist Tags Betsy Forster, California, Call, countryside, emotional expression, gesture, harmony, horizon, landscape, Montana landscapes, morning mists, nature, painting, pastel landscapes, pastels, response, supernatural presence, Texas, touchstone gallery, Virginia landscapes, window, Wyoming landscapes
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John Edmonds Award Winner

November 4, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
965405_10151609106346589_181310477_o

965405_10151609106346589_181310477_o

Fine Art Photographer John Edmond is the recipient of two awards.  In October his  work was curated by Margaret Heiner of Heiner Contemporary and George Hemphill of Hemphill Fine Arts to be exhibited along with six other photographers for Fotoweek DC's Uncover/Discover 2013 at the National Geographic Museum.  This exhibition will be up from Nov. 1st- Nov. 10th as part of Fotoweek DC's festive photography fair filled with exciting portfolio reviews and workshops.

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In Featured Artist Tags award winner, fine art photographer, Fotoweek DC, John Edmonds, National Geographic Museum, Touchstone Foundation for the Arts, Touchstone Gallery DC
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The Privileged Series: Pests By Anthony Dortch

October 12, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Anthony Dortch

Anthony Dortch

A fine artist and graphic designer, Anthony Dortch's realm is one of precision and grace. Do not allow the lovely colors and silken textures to distract you. Take care not to be taken in by the golden flesh and blue body's charms. Dortch does not create pretty pictures, he constructs a meaningful experience. Layers upon layers of seductive details, revealing societies clandestine verity. When standing before his pieces, one cannot help but feel, imagine, and reflect. Cleverly wrapped in bold and daring colors are elegant motifs whispering of struggle and hope. Veins of beauty and yearning reach out to captivate, to beg questions of ourselves, and break down the facades of our seemingly structured world.

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In Featured Artist Tags anthony dortch, art, art openings, artist, dc, dc art, painting, performance art, sculpture, the priviledged series, touchstone, touchstone gallery, Touchstone Gallery DC, washington art, washington art opening, washington dc
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Mary Trent Scott: Storytelling with a Brush

October 7, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Mary Trent Scott

Mary Trent Scott

Today and in eons past, storytelling is a way for humans to convey events in words, and images; to improvise or embellish, to educate, entertain,  preserve culture and instill moral values.

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In Featured Artist Tags art, art openings, artist, creativity, dc, dc art, mary trent scott, painting, tea party, touchstone gallery, Touchstone Gallery DC, washington art opening
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Janathel Shaw: Ceramic Portraits

September 16, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Janathel Shaw

Janathel Shaw

"There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud," Carl Sandburg once said--words that clay sculptor Janathel Shaw can relate to. Her recent clay works can be seen at Touchstone Gallery from Sept. 6-29, 2013. As a teen, Jan was inspired by teachers at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett (who she was fortunate to meet). She relished in half day-studio classes staying late into the evenings to hone her art skills. Over time, attended Howard University, Prince Georges Community College and George Washington University. Jan received her Bachelors and Masters from George Washington University.

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In Featured Artist Tags art, art openings, artist, dc, dc art, janathel shaw, opening reception, rebirth, sculpture, touchstone, touchstone gallery, Touchstone Gallery DC, washington art, washington art opening, washington dc
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Linda Bankerd "Va•ri•e•ty is the Spice of Life"

September 9, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Linda Bankerd

Linda Bankerd

There must be something in the New York state water. Everyone I know who grew up there became an artist. Linda Bankerd is no exception. As a child she loved to draw concentrating on detail and laying the groundwork for later studies. During her four years at the College of mount saint Vincent in New York City, Linda broadened her outlook, studying as many art processes as she could. Then, as often happens, her art took a back seat to jobs in far flung places. Linda and her husband Paul first put in a stint in the Peace Corps in Cali Columbia which was interrupted by a call to military service. He joined the Navy and took the family to North Carolina where Linda was able to attend graduate school, obtaining an MAT.

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In Featured Artist Tags art, art openings, artist, dc, dc art, flowers, garden, garden variety, gardens, landscapes, linda bankerd, opening reception, painting, touchstone gallery, washington art, washington art opening
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The EYE of Pete McCutchen

July 7, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Pete_3578

Pete_3578

Nothing escapes the eye of Pete McCutchen. From dilapidated sheds to scrap yards, to expansive Midwestern Wind Farms to soaring roller coasters, his subjects vary, but his unique vision touches them all. His most recent show, GEOMETRICS, features a dozen bold images. Shot within a 72 hour period in a three block area, the GEOMETRICS series is a tour de force of lush color and precise composition.

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In Featured Artist Tags ambient light, angular, archival papers, archival pigment inks, Canson high gloss paper, chameleon, color gamut, eye, face-mounted, futuristic, geometrics, glass, HP z3200, lawyer, lush color, metal, Pete McCutchen, philosophy, photography, Plexiglas, precise compositons, precision, pure color, purple sky, reality, roller coaster, technological, touchstone gallery, vision, wind farms
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Mary Ott: The Precision of Asymmetry

June 28, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Mary at Bryce Canyon blog

Mary at Bryce Canyon blog

If you know Mary Ott, you know that attention to detail, pattern and organization are three of her strong suits. This was true when she was  a youngster, too.  Science and math were significant ingredients in her "recipe" of life. Added to that were  a little pinch of violin, the freedom to roam the fields just outside her Cleveland, Ohio suburban home and stirring companionship of one brother and two sisters.

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In Featured Artist
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Harvey Kupferberg: Photographer Ex•tra•or•di•naire

May 31, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Harvey copy

Harvey copy

When Harvey started his photographic endeavors more than thirty years ago, he specialized in black and white images. His chemistry background served him well as he explored and experimented with exposure and development techniques in the darkroom. After the advent of digital photography, his challenges were just as complex and involved a variety of different technologies, the digital camera, the computer and its software, and the printer. Being an inquisitive person, Harvey was up for the challenge.

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In Featured Artist Tags changing light, chemistry, color photos, composition, Coos Bay, crystal clear air, darkroom, digital photogrtaphy, extraordinair, fast moving storms, fresh light, Gold Beach, Harvey Kupferberg, high cliffs, inquisitive person, lines and curves, luminosity, Oregon Cliffs, Oregon Coast, photographer, plack & white photos, tidal rhythms, touchstone gallery, western panoramas
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Aina Nergaard-Nammack: The Language of Music and Color

May 30, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Aina in studio

Aina in studio

A child of a Norwegian father and a Spanish mother, Aina spent her early years toggling between school in the frigid north to hot summers in the heart of Spain -- a life that was bound to teach her many languages. Five to be exact. Add to that sum Aina's study of various "languages" in the visual arts. First with her mother on painting excursions to the "White Villages" in the south of Spain, practicing in her mother's studio in Seville, and then being instructed formally in art school where she was required to copy the Old Masters, including Velasquez, Vermeer and Goya.

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In Featured Artist Tags abstract, acrylic painting, Aina Nergaard-Nammack, American pilot, classical music, compositions, contemporary art, Edvard Munch, Flamenco music, fragments, Fragments of Classical Music, Goya, intuitive color, languages, Matisse, Modigliani, Norwegian, ocean, red, Seville, Spain, studio, touchstone gallery, translator, Valasquez, Vermeer, warm hues, White Villages
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Marcia Coppel Figures of Speech

May 5, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Marcia Coppel 1

Marcia Coppel 1

You might not have guessed it, but the quiet  artist we know as Marcia Coppel spent many years as a speech pathologist in the Montgomery County Public Schools.  As a child she was drawn to the visual arts, graduating high school with a major in art.  After that her studies at George Washington University took her in the direction of speech therapy, which became her major and her field of expertise after securing a post-graduate degree from the University of Maryland.

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In Featured Artist Tags abstract painting, amusing figures, cafe table, classroom, color, communication, Corcoran Gallery of Art, creating art, DC art museums, drawing, figure, Greece, happy, humor, Italy, laugh, Marcia Coppel, Mexico, non-verbal, San Miguel de allende, sketching model, speech, speech terapist, Touchstone Gallery DC, travels, verbal, visual arts
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Leslie Johnston Journeys to Sacred Spaces and Places

April 22, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Head shot 2 copy

Head shot 2 copy

Growing up in the Mile High City with the mountains at her back Leslie Johnston developed an affinity for high places and the beauty of the mountains. As a kid she spent a lot of time out of doors observing wildlife and the colors in a world that would call her again and again to seek out natural wonders in high places.

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In Featured Artist Tags abstract acrylic paintings, analytiacal skills, arid valleys, balance, beauty, blue sky, canions, colors, creativity, intuition, invisible, journey, Leslie Johnston, memories, Mile High City, monasteries, mountains, natural wonders, Nepal, Nepal's Forbidden Kingdom, prayer flag, prayer wheels, sacred spaces, Sherpa, trekking, visible, wildlife
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Janet Wheeler: Dreaming the Circle of Life

April 3, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Janet Wheeler

Janet Wheeler

Janet Wheeler grew up in Dutchess County, New York, a place once inhabited by native Wappinger peoples before the Anglo-Dutch settled there in the 1600's. Although Janet had no contact with those indigenous peoples, the wildness of the area and perhaps some Native dreams eventually worked their way into her psyche to be expressed in sculptural form. As a kid Janet loved exploring the forest and making art. As an adult, after obtaining her art degree from Stanford, she and her husband moved to Switzerland and then to Ithaca, New York. Home again she again "went wild" exploring the 30 foot waterfalls, pools and lakes in the natural world that called to her.

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In Featured Artist Tags ancient rhythms, balance, bamboo, boxes, collective unconscious, color, composition, cultural artifacts, dreams, Dutchess county NY, forests, Janet Wheeler, masks, mythological motifs, natural forms, nature, seed pods, sense of the sacred, touchstone gallery, wilderness, wood, wood totems
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Steve Alderton's ICONS

March 20, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Icon No. 4 By Steve Alderton

Icon No. 4 By Steve Alderton

Vibrant colors, free flowing brushstrokes, enticing textures, and layers of interconnected geometry anchored amongst elegant shapes, this is the alluring realm of Steve Alderton. A true expressionist, Alderton, prefers for his paintings to speak for themselves. Figuratively, he lays out a colorful and emotive walkway, asks and demands nothing of the viewer, except to experience your own journey along his beautifully painted path.

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In Featured Artist, Openings Tags art, art openings, artist, dc, dc art, icons, opening reception, painting, paintings, steve alderton, touchstone gallery, washington art, washington art opening, washington dc
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Timothy Johnson's Single Figure Narratives

March 5, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Tim paints a friend in the company of Mondrion and Wyeth

Tim paints a friend in the company of Mondrion and Wyeth

Tim could be your ordinary picture framer during the day, or a master of disguise at night--or maybe both. You never know with Tim Johnson. He's a painter of human complexities using friends for models or capturing himself in mirrors and lenses.  What transpires in his imagination as he stands before a blank canvas and opens tubes of paint is anybody's guess.

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In Featured Artist Tags canvas, caps and gowns, contemporary, disguise, Greco-Roman myths, heartbreak, humor, imagination, irony, It's Greek to Me, models, naratives, Narcissus, painting demonstration, picture framing, portrait, Rembrandt, road less traveled, Sargent, small town, storytelling, symbolism, Tim Johnson, Titian, toaster, Touchstone Gallery DC, tubes of paint
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“UNFILTERED” by Leslie M. Nolan

January 31, 2013 Touchstone Gallery
Unfiltered By Leslie Nolan

Unfiltered By Leslie Nolan

Within each brush-stroke, a poetic tinge of mystery, a sophisticated flick of intrigue, a provocative expedition of color and form playing along the canvas: welcome to the painted world of Leslie M. Nolan.

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In Featured Artist, Openings Tags art, art openings, art studio, artist, dc, dc art, leslie nolan, opening reception, painting, paintings, touchstone, touchstone gallery, unfiltered, visual art, washington art, washington art opening, washington dc, wine tasting
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901 New York Ave NW, Washington DC 20001 • Open WEDNESDAY - Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm