Arts & Entertainment

RCC Features Two New Art Exhibits in August

Works by US Arts Center students and painter Kevin Michael Earley will be on display until the end of the month.

Two new art exhibitions expressing spiritual struggle are on display this month at and locations.

The Hunters Woods gallery will feature The Beauty of the World, composed of works by students at the US Arts Center in Chantilly. The Jo Ann Rose Gallery at Lake Anne features Resilient, a collection of paintings by Kevin Michael Earley.

The Beauty of the World, on display until Aug. 31, includes 50 created by US Arts Center students ages 4-15. Each piece demonstrates the creative understanding and appreciation for individual art expression that is encouraged by the teachers at US Arts Center.  

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“US Arts Center is on a mission to provide art education to all children beginning at an early age,” says Janet Zhao, a US Arts Center founder.

Zhao says the instructors strive to encourage artistic creativity in youth, provide professional training to help develop talent, and help build problem-solving and critical thinking skills through art.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Center, which also has three branches in California, combines Eastern and Western teaching methods to encourage creativity and help its students enhance their talents.   

Resilient will be on display at Lake Anne through Aug. 30. There will be a public opening reception with light refreshments in the gallery on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.

Resilient is a collection of paintings by  Earley depicting journeys of spiritual struggle through religious stories, renditions of personal experience and portraiture.

Earley is a 2005 graduate of Pratt Institute, where he earned a BFA in fine art with a concentration in painting. This is his frist solo show.

This collection includes a series of Biblical paintings that deal with great spiritual questions as well as drawings that document his time spent in mental hospitals and struggling with bipolar disorder.

“Faith is a subject I wrestle with in such paintings as Daniel in the Lion’s Den, which was inspired by a Peter Paul Rubens painting,” said Earley.

Paintings such as Priscilla capture his love of portraiture and suggest the influence of Buddhist philosophy on the artist, as the sitter is posed in a lotus position.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here