About Arts Herndon

Past

Arts Herndon is the product of the merger of two separate Herndon arts organizations, the Council for the Arts of Herndon and the Herndon Foundation for the Cultural Arts. As The Council for the Arts, we supported, and continue to support artists and the arts, and have provided over $140,000 in arts scholarships to local students, the 5 public murals visible in the Town of Herndon, and arts outreach in public schools, senior centers, festivals, and public spaces. In 2008, the Herndon Foundation for the Cultural Arts created ArtSpace Herndon as a project to show the value of a visual and performing arts center in our town. The experiment has proven to be wildly successful. Along with monthly exhibits, Arts Herndon hosts performances, Theatre, Improv, Sound Series, Poetry, Prose and Open Mic, and art classes and workshops.

After 30 years of operation, the Council for the Arts of Herndon has joined together with the Foundation for the Cultural Arts of Herndon as one organization called Arts Herndon. The merger of the two organizations created a unique opportunity to increase the quality of arts programming in the greater Herndon area.

Today

While Arts Herndon continues to invite emerging artists to show their artwork and perform their music, Arts Herndon supports our entire community of artists through scholarships, grants, professional development programming, and public art. Our murals decorate and inspire the town of Herndon, while music wafts from our businesses and outdoor spaces.

Our goals remain:

• To increase and improve opportunities for artists to perform and exhibit.

• To improve arts education programs

• To improve access to the arts for special populations

• To support high-quality community arts programs

• To increase awareness of the arts

• To maintain careful stewardship of Arts Herndon's resources for the purpose of serving the local community

Arts Herndon is a Community Arts Centre, a gallery and performance venue created and supported by art lovers in the greater Herndon area providing opportunities for local artists and photographers to exhibit their art, teach classes, and offer workshops. As a gathering place celebrating the arts, Arts Herndon is also a showcase for performers. Arts Herndon is attracting artists and performers at local, national, and international levels.

Arts Herndon, located in historic downtown Herndon, features a 1,700 square foot Post Gallery where eight to ten new visual art shows exhibit each year. A reception held during each exhibit provides the public with an opportunity to meet the artists. Each year ArtSpace Herndon hosts several art competitions: Fine Art Photography, Portraits, and Herndon Town Calendar. Technology and the Arts (for Fairfax County High School Students proficient in the digital arts).

We currently have studio and classroom space where artists are invited to teach classes and workshops for adults, teens, and children. Classes in watercolors, oil, acrylics, and sketching are held regularly. Gallery and studio space is available for rental for private and business meetings, receptions, family parties, and as a beautiful surrounding for weddings.

In addition to the exhibits, art, and entertainment events held at Arts Herndon throughout the year, we also continue to take the arts into the Community and do Arts Outreach projects—Hands-on Art at the popular Annual Herndon Festival, giving Children, and their parents, a chance to enjoy being creative together. Fall Arts Week throughout the town. the Children's International Festival at Frying Pan Park and Arts Kits for Kids with our partners InMed Partnerships for Children

Our Gallery Shop, expands Arts Herndon's ability to serve the community. Vetted artists and artisans offer handcrafted items for sale.

The Future

As Herndon's population increases, Arts Herndon also continues to grow and expand its scope with new kinds of programming, including the intimate concerts that befit our tiny gem of a location, as well as creative and surprising new exhibits, scholarships, children's programs, arts classes and more. A creative burst of energy in the mid-1980's inspired theatre, arts organizations, and plans for Herndon's civic life that now are coming to fruition. We have outgrown our venue, with over 15,000 visits per year, and are looking forward to the town's new arts center, an 18,000 sq foot building comprising a theatre, gallery, performance space, classrooms, and studios. The date for the new arts center will be in 2019 or 2020 according to current calculations. Arts Herndon's gallery, ArtSpace Herndon, continues to operate as the interim Arts Center while work towards a permanent Arts Center in downtown Herndon continues.