Temporary Art Space Counts Down to Demolition

Jackie Hoysted wanted to give her fellow artists more space to exhibit their work, so she took action.

The multimedia artist decided to turn her 1930s home in downtown Bethesda into a gallery before its demolition. Since December, she has staged four exhibits in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk, which is open every second Friday of the month. The current and final exhibit, “Construct::Destruct” will be destroyed as part of the “implosion.”

Hoysted said she had already planned to rebuild the home and wanted to make use of the space before it was torn down. She was inspired by the Pop-Up Movement, the Occupy Movement and  the loss of many of Bethesda’s commercial galleries, she said.

“So many galleries have closed down, so I thought I had this resource, let’s use it," she said. "With the Pop-Up Movement, you can start something very easily and informally without being official about it—you create something overnight.

"And Occupy in the sense that, regardless of your political bent, it was the students that inspired me—they were on the right path, got good grades—then end up in unpaid internships, with huge loans to pay off.”

She drew parallels with the economy and the arts, where artists usually have to pay application fees just to be considered for inclusion in exhibits.

“I just invited artists I idolized, no fee involved,” she said.

Hoysted and her husband will open the space again from 6 to 8:30 p.m. for the April 13 art walk at their home at 4526 Cheltenham Drive in Bethesda. The demolition was originally set for April but has been pushed back to May or June, she said.

The "Construct::Destruct" exhibit is primarily installations and sculptural work.  It features the work of Thomas Drymon of Washington D.C., Scottie Fleming of McLean, Va., Mei Mei Chang of Takoma Park, and Jessica van Brakle of Olney. December’s show was “Presence,”  January’s was “Disfigure,” February’s was “Exquisite: It’s the Nature of Things,” and March was “Connect::Disconnect.”

Those interested may view "Construct::Destruct" by appointment only through April 12. Contact Jackie Hoysted at jackiehoysted@aol.com for more information.

About Jackie Hoysted: “Girls—Nice Doesn’t Cut It” is an exhibit of Hoysted’s own work, female figures in acrylic on canvas, currently at Gallery 555dc in Washington, D.C. Past projects include one started in 2007 called "Ashes to Ashes Visual Art Project: The Psychology of Smoking and Quitting."