About the Gallery

The Artists’ Undertaking Gallery was established in April, 1977, when a group of local artists recognized their need for studio space and the community’s need for an art center. The group set up nine studios at 309 Mill Street, in a building where a funeral home had once been. The 1972 hurricane, Agnes, and the rising waters of the Occoquan River put the funeral home out of business. The building’s basement still contained mud from the floods, but the artists cleaned it out and officially opened April 1, 1977. They displayed their work and taught art classes, instructing 80-100 students per week. The play on words, “The Artists’ Undertaking”, became the name. In 1982, the current first floor gallery was created to display and sell the artists’ work. Stories of floods and ghosts abound from those early years. In 1984, the basement studios and classes were discontinued, but the artists continued the first floor gallery.

Today, 20 established local artists offer original art and staff the gallery daily. Media include watercolor and oil paintings, etchings, photography, drawings, encaustics, block prints, mixed media collage, pottery, fused glass artwork, wood boards and  boxes, cut paper art, color pencil, and pressed flower art. Commissions are welcome in all media—for example, paintings of special places, unique pieces of jewelry, or the creation of unique artworks for display.

Our current co-chairs are:

Patti Durbin: (703) 901-3505, pldurbin@gmail.com
Janet Stoeke: (703) 901-4591, stoekej@verizon.net