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 The
AAC was founded in 1976 and is housed in the historic
Maury School.
We
are one of the largest venues for emerging and contemporary
artists in the greater Washington DC area, and have taken
a leadership role in supporing visual arts throughout
the region.
The AAC has become a launching pad for many emerging artistic
careers and has become a significant contributor to the
cultural life of the greater metropolitan area.
The
Arlington Arts Center (AAC) is a private, nonprofit contemporary
visual arts center dedicated to presenting and supporting
new work of regional artists from the Mid-Atlantic States.
Through exhibitions, educational programs, and subsidized
studio spaces, the AAC serves as a bridge between artists
and the public. The goal is to increase awareness, appreciation,
perception, and involvement in the visual arts for the
public in Arlington County, VA and the region.
Staff | Board
| Supporters
Executive
Director: Claire Huschle
 Claire
Huschle became Executive Director of the Arlington
Arts Center in August 2005, after serving as the Program
Director. Prior to joining the AAC, Ms. Huschle was
the Director of Target Gallery, the national exhibition
space in the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria,
VA. There, she worked with established artists, art
critics, and curators from throughout the United States
to coordinate juried exhibitions in all media. Simultaneously,
she worked as the Community Liaison for the 30 year-old
center, coordinating a national conference on starting
community art centers in 2004, developing cross-disciplinary
programs with arts groups and liaising with arts advocacy
organizations. In the late 90s, Ms. Huschle served
as managing curator of Duncan & Miller Gallery
in Washington, D.C., a contemporary art space featuring
the work of emerging artists.
In addition to her work in arts administration, Ms.
Huschle has curated and juried numerous exhibitions
throughout the Washington, D.C. area. She was selected
to be a participating curator in the Visual Arts Initiative
at the District of Columbia Arts Center, a program
funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual
Arts. Her exhibition, "Space of Change",
co-curated with sculptor Margaret Boozer, opened in
September 2006 and was reviewed in Art Papers. In
conjunction with the National Council on Education
in the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) in 2004, she and Boozer
curated the exhibition "Existing to Remain".
Ms. Huschle is a frequent speaker in gallery settings
about contemporary art and often appears on panels
for professional development at various universities.
She served on the Virginia Commission for the Arts
Grants Review Panel (Area 4B) in 2006 and 2007. She
has also reviewed grants for the Arts Council of Fairfax
County in January 2007. She is an adjunct professor
in the Masters in Arts Management program at George
Mason University, where she teaches Gallery Management.
She is an active member of ArtTable, a professional
organization for female executives in the visual arts.
Ms. Huschle received her Masters degree in Art History
from the University of Texas at Austin and her undergraduate
degree in Art History from the University of Michigan.
Director
of Exhibitions: Jeffry Cudlin
Jeffry Cudlin signed on as the
new Director of Exhibitions for the Arlington Arts
Center in August of 2007. Mr. Cudlin is an artist,
critic, educator, and independent curator. He is best
known in the region as the Washington City Paper’s
art critic—since 2004, he has written features
about museum and gallery shows in and around Washington,
D.C. In 2006, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
recognized him with a third place award for arts criticism
in papers with circulations greater than 50,000.
As an artist, Mr. Cudlin has organized
projects in Washington, Baltimore and Richmond. In
2006 he received a grant from the D.C. Commission
on the Arts and Humanities for his project at Flashpoint
Gallery with fellow University of Maryland professors
Jefferson Pinder and Christopher Hoeting. That show
examined gentrification, race, and identity through
collaboration in a variety of media, including painting,
performance, and video. Most recently, Mr. Cudlin’s
mockumentary, Ian and Jan: The Washington Body school,
appeared at DCAC and received accolades in the Washington
Post. For that project, Cudlin and his collaborator,
Meg Mitchell, performed an art-historical intervention
by interviewing local art luminaries—including
artist Sam Gilliam and former Corcoran curator Jonathan
Binstock—and asking them to describe a nonexistent
D.C. art movement.
Mr. Cudlin has also taught painting,
drawing, and art theory since 2003 as an adjunct at
The University Of Maryland, College Park. While teaching
there, he worked closely with the University Union
Gallery on a number of projects, including organizing
and moderating panel discussions in conjunction with
exhibitions, and designing and teaching a theory course
funded by the gallery, Contemporary Art: Theory, Markets
and Collecting.
Mr. Cudlin received his M.F.A.
from the University of Maryland, College Park, and
his B.A. in studio art from the University of Virginia.
Director
of Education : Penelope
Nunes
Penelope Nunes joined
the AAC staff in March of 2006, and has served in a
variety of roles. Starting as the center's administrative
coordinator, she was responsible for database maintenance,
class registrations, membership tracking, and the coordination
of an extensive conversion to a new donor and membership
database. Ms. Nunes also coordinates the AAC's off-site
exhibitions with our corporate sponsors. She has served
as juror for several regional art education programs,
including the well-established PTA Reflections program
and a Latin-American Youth arts initiative.
Ms. Nunes is responsible for the
expansion of many of the AAC's bilingual efforts and
programs, serving not only as a translator for educational
materials and visitors, but also as the primary staff
liaison to the Spanish speaking community in Arlington.
Under her watch, existing AAC programs are being introduced
to new audiences and new programs geared to Spanish
speakers are being developed.
Having worked extensively with
the education department and always welcoming new
challenges, Ms. Nunes was promoted to Director of
Education in fall 2007, where she utilizes her extensive
knowledge of art history and the artistic process
in different mediums to develop an education curriculum
for all ages.
Penelope Nunes has a Bachelor
of Arts degree from the State University of New York
(SUNY) at Purchase with a concentration in Art History
and Fine Arts. Ms. Nunes has an Italian proficiency
and is fluent in Spanish.
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