By LILLIAN REESE — Art studios, galleries and small businesses across the Gateway Arts District are gearing up for the 15th Annual Gateway Open Studio Tour on Saturday, May 11, and more than 30 Hyattsville artists and galleries will be participating in the event and showcasing their work.

From Brentwood to Mount Rainier to downtown Hyattsville, the Gateway Arts District Open Studio Tour will host about 200 artists, galleries and studios during the self-guided tour on Saturday, a drastic increase from last year’s 120 participants. The 2019 Spring Open Studios is the region’s most prominent visual arts event. 

This year, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center is teaming up with the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council and the Gateway Community Development Corporation to make the 15th annual tour special.

Pyramid Atlantic’s Executive Director Kate Taylor Davis said this year, artists and businesses in the Gateway Arts District have dedicated themselves to providing a behind the scenes experience of their personal studios, something typically not accessible to the public.

“Everyone is committed,” Davis said. “[Saturday] is the day we want people to come and explore. You’ll really be able to get into the nooks-and-crannies of these organizations and then the individual art studios in the Gateway.”

 

Davis said the Gateway Arts District has the highest concentration of artists and, according to the official website for the tour, the event has become the largest one-day visual and media arts festival in the Washington, D.C. region. Co-founder and curator of Studio SoHy Bronwyn King said the organizational skill of Davis played a major role in assembling Hyattsville artists and studios featured in the tour.

“We just jumped in because the open studio tour is really well organized,” King said. “We are more of an art gallery but we wanted to be a part of this in such a happening arts community.”

Davis couldn’t take all of the credit, however, relaying the acknowledgements to the growing community of artists and small businesses along the 2-mile stretch of Baltimore Avenue that is the Gateway Arts District.   

“What we’re seeing is a combination of growth and participation of artists who are in the arts district, but also more artists coming into the arts district,” Davis said. “It’s because this is a wonderful arts community and people want to have their studios here.”

In addition to exhibits by Studio SoHy, artists from Pyramid Atlantic and the Hyattsville Community Arts Alliance will display their works. Hyattsville’s businesses and galleries aren’t missing out on the event either: Art Works Now, DC GlassWorks, Green Owl Design, Maryland Meadworks, Maryland Milestones Heritage Center, Shortcake Bakery and Tanglewood Works are welcoming the public to come inside and check out their studios. City of Hyattsville employee Joe Brewer will also be opening up his basement arcade in Mount Rainier to show off his vintage arcade and pinball machines — which visitors can play for free during the tour!