Historic Film Art Lives On at Reston Town Center's ArtInsights Gallery

Leslie Combemale has heard people say "I thought there was an art gallery in this part of Reston Town Center," way too many times. That's because as the owner of the ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery for more than 20 years, she knows better. 

"If you love movies, this is an art gallery," she said. "And really, who doesn't love movies?"

Combemale started her gallery through her connections with studio artists, and started building relationships with some of the biggest names in the film arts. 

"Art can actually be a pretty underhanded business, but as I started meeting these people, they could sense that I had such a love, such a genuine excitement about what they did, that I think they felt I was trustworthy," she said. "This is art that people grew up with, art that brings back emotional experiences of childhood, of growing up, of some of our best memories, memories of experiencing our favorite movies for the first time."

Almost every inch of he shop's walls are covered with striking movie related images, both classic and extremely hard to find pieces. 

For example, the center section contains 18 original paintings by Disney artist Tim Rogerson. The canvasses have everything from classic Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Kermit the Frog and Mary Poppins to more current ones, such as a depiction of Bryan Cranston's character from "Breaking Bad."

Other, harder to find items include a graphite sketches of the art that was used for the iconic "E.T." movie poster as well as original art from films like "Star Trek," "X-Men: First Class" and the Harry Potter series. 

The shop also contains two pencil sketches of promotional posters from a Star Wars movie that technically doesn't exist, 1983's "Revenge of the Jedi," which was eventually retitled "Return of the Jedi."

Another sketch contains several renderings, including the final version, of Pongo from "101 Dalmatians."

"That's one of my favorites, because it's literally the moment Pongo, one of the most beloved Disney characters, came into the world," Combemale said.

Some of the classic memorabilia includes hand-drawn animation cells from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" "The Lady and the Tramp" and more. 

Combemale, who says she "doesn't have anything that's 'meh,'" prides herself on having one-of-a-kind, premium priced pieces alongside more affordable pieces. 

"This is a populist art form, and it's important that it be affordable to the people who have such a connection with it," she said. "As much as you see on our walls, that's usually the higher-priced stuff, I've got drawers fill of high-quality affordable pieces from things like 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama.'"

The gallery also stocks a selection of original Walt Disney Classics Collections, which as of this year, are no longer made. 

ArtInsights is located at 11921 Freedom Drive in Reston Town Center, and can be found on the web, Facebook and Twitter. 


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