What if you woke up one day and discovered that that dream is no more? After you had spent long years learning, loving, building and becoming respected it is just … gone? That is exactly what has happened to us.
Please, let me tell you the story
It was a rainy day afternoon of August 2014 and we had been painting at our easels for a while. As always, the conversation was about the few opportunities we had to show our hard work. We recognized that our chances of reaching the community at large were extremely limited. One alternative were the art galleries. Although we knew galleries are very fussy and require highly priced framings and presentations. Moreover, most professional galleries only accept a very narrow selection of art styles and charge very high percentages on any sales. Although our work was good to excellent, our exhibit opportunities were basically none.
We started considering the possibility of founding an organization to benefit the artist community including members or non-members. Our idea was for this organization to become a strong nexus between artists and the community. Our main goal was to reach the community by creating a platform to show our art combined with cultural activities. Our dream was to have our own gallery.
That rainy day gave birth to the Artists Coalition of Fairfax. We founded a Non Stock Corporation and by November 2014 we got our nonprofit certification from the IRS. We started curating the Sherwood Center Rotary Gallery sponsored by the City of Fairfax, VA. Since then we have had many successful shows and receptions there and our group became recognized by the art community. We have exhibited more than 1,400 paintings by 200 artists and reaching an estimated 43,000 community members. From our very beginning our exhibits and activities embraced all the fine artists in the area. Our members had certain benefits and privileges over non-members, but everybody had a chance to exhibit in the places that we curated.
For 6 years our dream of having our own gallery for our small artists nonprofit was still on hold. The lack of having our own venue was preventing us from conducting meetings, have workshops, special exhibits, and cultural events were we could include fellows from the performing arts.
Finally, after six years of hard work our dream came true. In the winter of 2019 we got a call from our biggest supporter, the Executive Director of ArtSpace at Herndon. She was able to negotiate a good deal for us to rent a space from Kimco Realty. On December 27, 2019 we moved into our New Fairfax City Gallery located in the center of Fairfax City. By the middle of January we had 120 paintings in exhibit by 14 local artists. In our first reception we had more than 100 visitors and was showcased in a full page of the Fairfax Times. By the end of January 2020 we were ready for our first art workshop with five participants joining. The future was looking good.
Then February 2020 came and with it the COVID-19 crisis. By the end of February we had to comply with the anti-Pandemic measures and we closed the gallery doors. We reopened on July 1 during the second stage of prevention but nobody was around, any gatherings, workshops, or even hanging a new show where out of the question. Eventually with our funds already depleted, we were no longer able to afford the rent and had no choice but to shut down. The shutdown was not only Artofair’s loss but also a loss for our local artists’ community as well. We had lost our dream…
As a nonprofit fine artists’ organization the Artists Coalition of Fairfax has an excellent record providing needed support and show opportunities to our fellow artists. Now with COVID-19 measures more relaxed we are eager to continue organizing interesting art and cultural activities for our local community to enjoy. Unfortunately, our funds are too low to be able to sponsor new activities, paying rent, permits, and furnish a new place. Our aim is still to create fine art and activities for you to enjoy and relax during these hard times. Please help us continue with our dream by contributing any amount you can afford.
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Thanks for your generosity, stay safe.