McLean Project For The Arts To Host 'Inspires' Event For Art Lovers

MCLEAN, VA — The McLean Project for the Arts is hosting a weekend celebration of the arts on Nov. 18-19 that will serve as the inaugural MPA Inspires: A Weekend of Collecting and Connecting.

This weekend celebration will take place at MPA Downtown, the organization's hoped-for new supplemental space located in The Signet building at 6910 Fleetwood Road in McLean. The event will include an alumni art exhibition, a jazz brunch and a Collectors' Drawing.

The alumni art exhibition showcase will feature work by more than 60 MPA alumni artists.

“We are thrilled this weekend will bring such a group of dynamic artists, each esteemed alumni of MPA's exhibition program, together with our warm and engaged community of supporters," MPA Executive Director Lori Carbonneau said in a statement. "This moment stands as one of the most remarkable milestones in MPA's 61-year history, and a celebration of our continued leadership in McLean and the wider regional arts scene."

The MPA Inspires festivities begin on Saturday, Nov. 18 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. with the Art Insights | Panel Discussion and Reception. The event will begin with a panel discussion featuring collectors Michael Abrams and Sandra Stewart, art advocate Nancy Hirshbein, and Eric Key, Arts Program Director at the University of Maryland University College.

A “Meet the Artists” session and gallery tour will follow the panel discussion.

On Sunday, Nov. 19, the celebration continues from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with Art + Soul | Jazz Brunch where guests will enjoy live music by saxophonist Langston Hughes II, who will be accompanied by Chris Hon on the upright bass and Jan Knutson on guitar.

In addition to the brunch and jazz performance, Art + Soul will include an exhibition of more than 60 works contributed for the event by generations of alumni artists who represent MPA's artistic legacy. All artists featured in the MPA Inspires Alumni Art Exhibition have donated their works in support of the development of a new MPA Art and Education Center.

A preview of the donated artwork is available on the MPA website.

There is no cost to attend Saturday’s Art Insights event, but reservations are required. Art + Soul Jazz Brunch tickets are available for $150 a person, and tickets for the Collectors’ Drawing on Nov. 19 are an additional $600. Ticket sales are limited to the first 60 collectors.