Local art aficionados have likely missed visiting the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, which closed to visitors at the end of last year when Covid-19 cases were spiking. The museum did reopen its 230-acre grounds earlier this month so visitors could safely tour its outdoor sculpture collection.
Now Glenstone fans have more to look forward to: When the museum opens its indoor section again this spring, it will feature a major exhibit on the American artist Faith Ringgold. Glenstone will be the only American stop on the two-year tour of Ringgold’s works, which was organized by Serpentine Galleries in London. The exhibit was previously featured at Serpentine and the Bildmuseet museum in Umeå, Sweden. It will be Glenstone’s first time hosting a touring exhibit.
The 90-year-old Ringgold was born in Harlem, and her mediums include painting, soft sculpture, performance art, mixed media, and quilting. A social and political activist, Ringgold has focused much of her work on issues of politics and race. Glenstone’s exhibit of 70-plus pieces will stretch from Ringgold’s early days, when she created political posters during the 1960s civil rights protests, to her later work creating quilts that depict arresting images of the Black-American experience.
Glenstone has previously displayed Ringgold’s work, and the upcoming exhibit will feature nine works from the museum’s collection. While admission to Glenstone is free, all Ringgold-adjacent sales from the museum’s bookstore will go toward the artist’s nonprofit, The Anyone Can Fly Foundation.
Mimi Montgomery joined Washingtonian in 2018. She’s written for The Washington Post, Garden & Gun, Outside Magazine, Washington City Paper, DCist, and PoPVille. Originally from North Carolina, she now lives in Del Ray.
