Unapologetically, One Woman is Fueling Rockville's Art Scene

As the founder and only current employee of Rockville’s Artists and Makers Studios, Judith HeartSong has earned “mama duck” status among her Washington, D.C. metro area artists.

In contrast with the simplicity of five, small potted plants on the window sill, HeartSong’s entire office wall is composed of an organized chaos of art, spanning from political pieces to colorfully abstract animal paintings. In the corner – facing HeartSong’s desk chair – sits a life-size skeleton. HeartSong’s office is unapologetic, and so is she.

“If I don't fit the picture that you have in your brain, you need to adjust the picture, as I'm just me,” HeartSong said. “I'm the same person everywhere.” When she established Artists and Makers in 2014, she said it wasn't part of her original life plan. While she did art throughout her life, she realized after 20 years as a homemaker, she wanted something else.

“I finally realized that everybody else that was married was living a very different life than I was living, and it became clear to me,” HeartSong said. “And I realized that my life could be different, and that's when some changes started to happen.”

Not knowing exactly what that “else” was, HeartSong said she got divorced, left Florida and came to Maryland. After working at Art Matters – a Washington, D.C., art consulting firm – for over eight years, HeartSong’s two now-business partners approached her about starting their own studio, with her at the helm.

Now five years after that initial conversation, Artists and Makers is host to 65 resident artists in a 13,000-square-foot studio made up of individual spaces, and there is currently a waitlist to be accepted for a lease, HeartSong said.

“I know that her experience in the art world and her position at A&M makes her more of a den mother to most resident artists. It takes a lot to run a successful art center – much more than people would think,” Glen Kessler, a studio longtime resident artist, said. “The ‘vibe’ of A&M is one of its best assets – a positive and creative place that starts with ‘mama duck’ Judith HeartSong.”

To get a studio, artists need to go through a vetting process by filling out an application, completing an interview and providing a portfolio of their art.

“Artists and Makers offers the best studio environment around,” Kessler said. “Most studios are either cheaply thrown together spaces where artists work but visitors are afraid to go or they're over-commercialized showrooms where visitors are encouraged to buy art but rarely see it being made.”

Because leasing studio space can be an extra expense that only privilege can account for, as Americans for the Arts points out, these spaces can lack diversity of race, political identity and background. HeartSong said to address this, she tries to keep her prices as low as possible so “no matter their background or their heritage” they can have a chance to work in the space.
“Artists and Makers perfectly strikes the balance between affordable artist studio and visitor-friendly showplace,” Kessler said.

The studio is a for-profit organization – which HeartSong says allows her to avoid depending on donations and an executive board to operate – and she said the money comes from both gallery sale commissions and classes held by artists in the studio. The gallery’s cut of an artist’s gallery sales has long been a point of contention in the art community.

Typically, a gallery will take from 25% to 50% of an artist’s gallery sale, according to The Artists Forum, and HeartSong said she takes the former. So while artists don't make full profit, all the money goes directly to them first and when classes are held, the artists have control over registration and fees. “I will never be rich doing this job,” HeartSong said.

After the second location – A&M2 – failed to draw the same success as the original studio, it closed earlier this year. But HeartSong said there will be a new location soon, and in the meantime, their primary studio will still host First Fridays – a monthly cocktail event to draw in gallery-goers.

“Judith is constantly working behind the scenes to book and promote monthly exhibitions, build public awareness of the art center and manage the ever-changing studio environment” Kessler said of Artists and Makers’ events.

In addition to coordinating events, HeartSong also works with her artists to grow their careers.
“She suggests next steps for our careers such as shows or galleries and is always willing to write a letter of introduction or recommendation,” Kristina Penhoet, another studio resident artist, said. “She welcomes all who stop by for a quick chat, a hug and just to vent. She is kind and helpful in every way.”

Penhoet elaborated, saying her experience at Artists and Makers contrasts with that of other studios, with 24-hour access, and working electricity and heat, she said.

HeartSong said the studio has had recent inquiries about projects both in Arizona and California for their first remote-location projects – and with national projects will come a busy time for the studio, one which HeartSong welcomes.