<ro>New Exhibits
<lst>Visit the “House of Cards 2” exhibit and look at cards that local artists have created. There will be items to purchase. Show and sale will run from Feb. 2-18 at the Del Ray Artisans Gallery, 2704 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria. “House of Cards 2” will have items on sale ranging from $5-$50. Free. www.TheDelRayArtisans.org or 703-838-4827.
"Slave Quarters and Other African American Sites" opens on Friday Feb. 2 at the Athenaeum Gallery located at 201 Prince St. in Old Town Alexandria. As part of the celebration of Black History Month, the Athenaeum is proud to feature works of Sherry Zvares Sanabria, an artist whose depictions of Slave Quarters are both luminous and haunting. The works illustrate the living spaces of African Americans at the time of slavery as well during as the Jim Crow era. There will be an opening reception from 6-8 p.m. on Friday Feb. 2. The exhibit will run through March 3.
<ro>Closing: Last Chance
<lst>The Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association presents "Photography In Motion," an exhibit by photographer Katsuyoshi Tanaka, photographer for the American Ballet Theatre. These works are a display of behind-the-scenes photographs of the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. The pieces include portraits of well-known dancers, including Julie Kent. Many of the pictures were taken during rehearsals and backstage. Call 703-548-0035 or visit www.nvfaa.org for more.
Carolyn Witschonke's solo-artist exhibit, "Passages," will be featured at The Art League Gallery, through Feb. 4. Witschonke's three-dimensional paintings represent the many paths people take in life and how choice affects who we become. The Art League is a non-profit organization located in the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town Alexandria. Exhibitions and events are free and open to the public. 703-683-1780.
"New Perspectives" featuring Dennis Crayon, Suzanne Farrell, Darlene Kaplan, Chrystyna Kinal, Elizabeth Richter, and Charles Weaver. Exhibiting oils, watercolors, photographs, and oriental brush paintings through Feb. 4 at Gallery West, 1213 King St., Alexandria. Free. Visit www.gallery-west.com for more information.
"Ebb & Flow: Coastal Life" is on display through Feb. 5 at The Art League, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. Free. See works by Lee A. Boynton, an impressionist and watercolorist from Annapolis, who has loaned The Art League two of his own works to display along with this show. Free. 703-519-1741.
<ro>Ongoing Exhibits
<lst>The Lyceum opened an exhibit "Early Images of Virginia Indians" on view in the Coldsmith Gallery. The exhibit features period engravings produced from 1590 to the 1800s. The exhibit is open now and will be on exhibit until Feb. 11. The Lyceum is located at 201 S. Washington St. in Old Town Alexandria. The museum is open seven days a week, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. on Sundays.
"Cats are Cats" distinctive paintings by Ed Young is on display through Feb. 18 at Elizabeth Stone Gallery, 1127 King St., Suite 201, Alexandria. Young is a Caldecott Medal and Honor children's book illustrator. 703-706-0025 or visit www.elizabethstonegallery.com for more.
Art in the gardens at Green Spring Gardens Park, Historic Manor House, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria. "Inspired by Nature" solo exhibit of landscapes, seascapes and gardens by Karen K. Ching through Feb. 25. Visit www.greenspring.org for more.
"Trading Spaces: An Art Center Exchange" runs through Feb. 25 at Target Gallery, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. Visit www.torpedofactory.org or e-mail targetgallery@torpedofactory.org for more information.
Ceramic Guild "Some Like It Hot" features teapots, tea bowls, soup bowls, soup tureens and other items for hot food and beverages through Feb. 25 at Scope Gallery at the Torpedo Factory, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. Free. Visit www.torpedofactory.org or call 703-548-6288 for more information.
The Torpedo Factory Art Center presents "Across Malta", paintings by Marian Van Landingham from Feb. 4-25. Working from notes taken with her camera, Van Landingham translates the scenes of eroded seaside cliffs, 5,500 year old temples, 16th century fortifications, and a land shaped by the winds. The show opens with a reception from 2-5 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 4 in Studio 321, in the art center located on the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria.
The Torpedo Factory Art Center's Target Gallery presents "Trading Spaces: An Art Center Exchange." The exhibition is part one of a two-part art center exchange between Artspace Artists' Association from Raleigh, North Carolina, and The Torpedo Factory Artists' Association in Alexandria. The exhibition runs through Feb. 25 with a reception to meet the artists on Saturday, Jan. 20, from 2-4 p.m. The Artspace artists included in the exhibition for Trading Spaces have been chosen through a panel of jurors selected from within the Torpedo Factory Art Center; Tanya Davis, President of the Torpedo Factory Artists' Association, Beverly Ryan, former Target Gallery Committee Chair, and Rosemary Luckett, artist and teacher with The Art League. For more information visit www.torpedofactory.org, e-mail targetgallery@torpedofactory.org, or call 703-838-4565 x4.
Enjoy "Nature's Journey" presented by Friends of Green Spring Gardens Park. This exhibit, by Darlene Kaplan, has a horticultural theme. The exhibit runs through Feb. 26. Hours are Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sundays from noon-4:30 p.m. Exhibit at Witch Hazel Lane, Annandale. Call 703-642-5175 for more information. Visit www.darlenekaplan.com for information about her art and classes.
The artwork of Alexandria Elementary school students will be on display at the Dr. Oswald Durant Memorial Center, 1605 Cameron St., Alexandria, through Feb. 28. The juried exhibition displays the students’ interpretation of the 2007 Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday theme, "Continuing the Dream in the Next Generations." The contest serves as a means of recognizing the life and accomplishments of Dr. King while encouraging the students to express their artistic talents. An awards program will be held at the Dr. Oswald Durant Memorial Center, Jan. 15 from 1-3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Museum at 703-838-4356.
Art in City Hall, a bi-annual juried exhibition, Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and second Saturday of each month, 9 a.m.-noon through March 23, at Alexandria's City Hall, 301 King St.
On Jan. 11, the Alexandria Black History Museum will open a new exhibit, "From Morning to Night: Domestic Service in the Gilded Age South." This traveling exhibit, examines the role of African Americans in domestic service in the South. "From Morning to Night: Domestic Service in the Gilded Age South," looks at the lives of the men and women who worked from morning to night, to make a better life for themselves and their families. The free exhibit will be on view from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays – Saturdays, through June 1. The museum is located at 902 Wythe St. in Alexandria. For more information, call the Museum at 703-838-4356.
The F.M. Kirby Foundation Gallery in the newly opened Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center at Mount Vernon is inaugurated by the traveling exhibition "A Son and His Adoptive Father: The Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington." The exhibition commemorates the upcoming 250th anniversary of Lafayette's birth and features more than 125 artifacts drawn from some 20 museums and private collections. The exhibition, showing at Mount Vernon through Aug. 5, is accompanied by an illustrated publication with a foreword by the French Ambassador to the United States. Admission fees, which include access to the entire estate, are $13 for adults; $12 for seniors; $6 for youth ages 6-11; and free for children ages five and younger.