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All the D.C.-regional galleries have bounteous fall exhibits planned

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Many galleries have new exhibits opening this fall season including Touchstone Gallery’s ‘Color Grids’ featuring works by Charlie Dale such as ‘Chesapeake Waterman.’ (Photo courtesy Touchstone)

There are a lot of galleries all over the D.C. area and they all have new shows starting this fall season.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art (500 17th St., N.W.) has many events coming up. On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., performer, choreographer and filmmaker Maida Withers will be giving an interactive performance with improvisation and a temporary installation. On Sep. 27 at 7 p.m. for Cosmo Couture 2012, the gallery will be holding “Fashion, Identity and Interiors: The Cosmo Couture Creative Process.” Tickets to this event are $15 for the public and $12 for members.

The gallery is having the first of what is planned to be an annual community day on Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This event is free and for all ages. There will also be an exhibit entitled “Decades: 100 Years of Style and Fashion” on display on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.

For more information on Corcoran and its upcoming events and exhibits, visit corcoran.org.

The Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler Gallery (105 Independence Ave., S.W.) has a variety of exhibits coming up this season.

On Sep. 28, the gallery will be hosting “Asia After Dark: Asian Soundscape with DJ Spooky” at 7 p.m. The event will feature music set against Asian silent films. Attendees will be able to make their own eco-friendly drum and learn how to play rhythms from Asia. Tickets are $25 in advance,$30 at the door and $15 for Silk Road Society members.

“Nomads and Networks: The Art and Culture of Ancient Kazakhstan” featuring gold objects and gilded horns will be on display through Nov. 12.

“Road of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” opens Nov. 17. It will feature recently discovered archaeological material never seen in the U.S. including alabaster bowls, glassware, earrings and more. The exhibit will be on display through Feb. 24.

The Peacock Room will be on display, restored for the first time to its appearance in 1908. The room will be open through spring.

For more information, visit asia.si.edu.

Touchstone Gallery’s (901 New York Ave., N.W.) exhibits “Color Grids,” featuring paintings by Charlie Dale and “Seen/Unseen” featuring works by Rosemary Luckett, have already opened, but there will be an event on Sep. 20 from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

They gallery also has a few exhibits opening in October including a members show, Photoweek show and exhibits featuring work by Ai-Wen Wu Krats, Rhona Schonwald and Michael Lant. In November, a show featuring works by Gale Wallar opens.

For more information on Touchstone and the upcoming shows, visit touchstonegallery.com.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (200 North Blvd.) has multiple exhibits this season.

“Gesture: Judith Godwin and Abstract Expressionism” features 25 paintings by Godwin exploring a critical period in the artist’s development, will run through Jan. 27. “Fine Arts and Flowers” will feature work from more than 75 garden clubs through Virginia interpreting masterworks in VMFA’s collection with floral arrangements and will run through Oct. 28.

“Photography and Abstraction in the 1950s and ‘60s” will open Nov. 17 featuring work by photographers such as Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, Minor White and Gita Lenz. The exhibit will be on display through July.

For more information, visit vmfa.museum/exhibitions.

Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington) is celebrating its second anniversary weekend in October with several exhibits. Opening Oct. 4 is “Craig Colorusso: Sun Boxes” at Freedom Park and Waterview Plaza at Le Meridien Hotel. “Forro in the Dark and Alma Tropicalia,” a party featuring Brazilian music and more is Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. in the Ballroom. Tickets are $20. On Oct. 7, there will be a free family day open house from 1 to 4 p.m.

Artisphere will also be holding Yarn Bomb meet-ups and stitch sessions on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. starting Oct. 17.

There are a few exhibits currently on view that will run throughout the fall including “Beyond the Parking Lot: The Change and Re-Assesment of Our Modern Landscape” will run through Nov. 4 and was inspired by the Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi” and features contemporary landscapes by artists who are observing these changes, exposing the use of the environment in compromising ways and instigates the discussion of “where do we go from here?”

For more information, visit artisphere.com.

Torpedo Factory (105 North Union St.) is having a free event during the Alexandria King Street Art Festival. The sixth annual Art Activated will give festival attendees not only a place to cool down, but also several hands-on activities. Visitors can do screen-printing, bubble gum art, create their own button and more. There will also be a Q-Art Code Scavenger Hunt with a chance to win a $150 gift certificate to the Torpedo Factory.

For more information, visit torpedofactory.org/artactivated.

Other galleries that always have interesting exhibits and are worth checking out include Aaron Gallery at 2101 L Street NW (aarongallerydc.com), The Art League in Alexandria at 105 North Union Street (theartleague.org), Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens at 4155 Linnean Ave., N.W. (hillwoodmuseum.org), the Fridge D.C. at 516 8th Street, S.E. (thefridgedc.com) the Kreeger Museum at 2401 Foxhall Road, N.W. (kreegermuseum.org), the National Gallery of Art at 4th and Constitution Ave., N.W. (nga.gov) and the brand new Northern Virginia Art Center at 2120-A Crystal Plaza Arcade in Arlington (novaartcenter.org).

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Photos

PHOTOS: Denali at Pitchers

‘Drag Race’ alum performs at Thirst Trap

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Denali performs at the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show at Pitchers DC on April 9. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Arts & Entertainment

In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI

‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’

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Last year, Baltimore Center Stage refused to give up its DEI focus in the face of losing federal funding. They've tripled down. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz of the Baltimore Banner)

By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.

Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.

“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Books

Susan Lucci on love, loss, and ‘All My Children’

New book chronicles life of iconic soap star

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(Book cover image courtesy of Blackstone Publishing)

‘La Lucci’
By Susan Lucci with Laura Morton
c.2026, Blackstone Publishing
$29.99/196 pages

They’re among the world’s greatest love stories.

You know them well: Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Abelard and Heloise. Phoebe and Langley. Cliff and Nina. Jesse and Angie, Opal and Palmer, Palmer and Daisy, Tad and Dixie. Now read “La Lucci” by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton, and you might also think of Susan and Helmut.

When she was a very small girl, Susan Lucci loved to perform. Also when she was young, she learned that words have power. She vowed to use them for good for the rest of her life.

Her parents, she says, were supportive and her family, loving. Because of her Italian heritage, she was “ethnic looking” but Lucci’s mother was careful to point out dark-haired beauties on TV and elsewhere, giving Lucci a foundation of confidence.

That’s just one of the things for which Lucci says she’s grateful. In fact, she says, “Prayers of gratitude are how I begin and end each day.”

She is particularly grateful for becoming a mother to her two adult children, and to the doctors who saved her son’s life when he was a newborn.

Lucci writes about gratitude for her long career. She was a keystone character on TV’s “All My Children,” and she learned a lot from older actors on the show, and from Agnes Nixon, the creator of it. She says she still keeps in touch with many of her former costars.

She is thankful for her mother’s caretakers, who stepped in when dementia struck. Grateful for more doctors, who did heart-saving work when Lucci had a clogged artery. Grateful for friends, opportunities, life, grandchildren, and a career that continues.

And she’s grateful for the love she shared with her husband, Helmut Huber, who died nearly four years ago. Grateful for the chance to grieve, to heal, and to continue.

And yet, she says of her husband: “He was never timid, but I know he was afraid at the end, and that kills me down to my soul.”

“It’s been 15 years since Erica Kane and I parted ways,” says author Susan Lucci (with Laura Morton), and she says that people still approach her to confirm or deny rumors of the show’s resurrection. There’s still no answer to that here (sorry, fans), but what you’ll find inside “La Lucci” is still exceptionally generous.

If this book were just filled with stories, you’d like it just fine. If it was only about Lucci’s faith and her gratitude – words that happen to appear very frequently here – you’d still like reading it. But Lucci tells her stories of family, children and “All My Children,” while also offering help to couples who’ve endured miscarriage, women who’ve had heart problems, and widow(ers) who are spinning and need the kindness of someone who’s lived loss, too.

These are the other things you’ll find in “La Lucci,” in a voice you’ll hear in your head, if you spent your lunch hours glued to the TV back in the day. It’s a comfortable, fun read for fans. It’s a story you’ll love.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

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