A Colorful Installation at the Mobile Art Gallery

The Parks is thrilled to host a multidisciplinary installation and a series of arts events by acclaimed visual artist Maya Freelon in partnership with CulturalDC. CulturalDC has commissioned Maya Freelon for an evolving multidisciplinary installation of her large-scale, colorful, tissue paper sculptures, which are collaged together like a quilt and rooted in family tradition. The kinetic quilts resemble organic shapes which respond to viewers’ movement throughout the space. Peace by Piece is both a work of art and an invitation for viewers to engage with their own history.

This spring, Freelon will create a site-specific installation in CulturalDC’s Mobile Art Gallery, a shipping container turned movable artspace that will be located on the Arts Plaza at The Parks from April 8 to May 15. The sculpture will be collaboratively constructed during a series of workshops with Maya and communities in D.C. Over the course of the exhibition, audiences can witness the art growing and changing as people contribute to the quilt. Later in the year, the living sculpture will become part of an immersive and interactive exhibition featuring music, sound, and touch. The final work will feature a monumental sculpture composed of hundreds of thousands of pieces of tissue paper joined together by hand.

The gallery will be open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 5 pm each weekend of the exhibit (closed Easter Sunday, April 17). Details on the opening and closing events, as well as participatory workshops, are below. 

Mobile Art Gallery Details

• Installation Dates: Friday, April 8 — extended to Sunday, May 22, 2022
• Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays from 12-5 pm (closed April 17 for Easter)
  • Gallery Admission: Free
• Location: Arts Plaza at The Parks at Walter Reed, 6310 Cameron Drive NW (Get Directions)
• Closing Celebration: Sunday, May 15 from 3-5 pm: RSVP here
• Community Workshops: RSVP here
  • #1: Friday May 13, 5-7 pm
  • #2: Saturday May 14, 12-2 pm
  • #3: Sunday May 15, 12-2 pm

About Maya Freelon: 

Maya Freelon is an award-winning visual artist whose work was described by the late poet Maya Angelou as “visualizing the truth about the vulnerability and power of the human being.” She was selected by Modern Luxury Magazine as Best of the City; by Huffington Post as ” Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know “; and by Complex Magazine as ” 15 Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Art World .” Maya completed residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, the Korobitey Institute in Ghana, and the Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia. She earned a BA from Lafayette College and an MFA from the School of Museum of Fine Arts , Boston.

Learn more about CulturalDC or RSVP for the events here.