Artists of Rappahannock Studio & Gallery Tour

SOHO of the South: Rappahannock Fall Art Tour. At first glance there is nothing similar about New York City’s famed Soho Art District and rural Rappahannock County, Virginia. Yet this tiny bucolic county, which is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, turns into a mecca for art lovers when it hosts the Rappahannock Fall Art Tour on the first weekend in November. Now in its 14th year, this event has become a peak autumn experience in the Piedmont region, occurring when the mountains are ablaze with color. The county’s normal 7,000+ population is swelled by over a 1,000 art lovers from the Mid Atlantic region for this one weekend a year , These art aficionado’s come in search of quality art, while also visiting the working environments of the county’s talented art community. Scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3-4, the tour will highlight the diversity of the community’s artists, who work in a variety of media ranging from painting to pottery, and sculpting to stain glass. Many of these artists have shown nationally and internationally; most enjoy the stunning Virginia Blue Ridge foothills as an environment in which to create. The two-day juried event, which features 11 galleries and 34 private studios hosting more than 100 artists. The tour begins in the county seat of Washington, Va. “Little Washington,” as it is known, which is within a two hour drive of Washington, DC, Richmond, and Charlottesville. Visitors view a sampling of works at the Tour Headquarters (the historic Washington School), and receive a map which will take them on a veritable “scavenger hunt” to each of the tour locations. A fee of $10 admits visitors to all of the sites for both days. The funds raised by the event are used to provide grants to local artists by the Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community (RAAC.org), the tour’s host organization. And art is not the only attraction on the weekend. Local participating B&Bs, restaurants, food trucks, wineries and breweries all participate to offer superb lodging packages, drawings for free passes, discounted tastings and To Go meals for tour visitors. To see a sampling of the art works, get directions to the Tour headquarters, learn more about the Tour and plan your Rappahannock County experience, please visit www.FallArtTour.org. #FallArtTour.org