Mission + Vision
VisArts’ mission is to transform individuals and communities through the visual arts.
A hub for artistic exploration and social impact since 1987, VisArts brings people together through shared creative experiences, including:
- Award-winning art classes, camps, and art parties for children and adults
- Critically acclaimed contemporary art exhibitions, programs + events
- Studio Artist and Emerging Curator programs
- VisAbility Art Lab and Accessible Arts Classes for artists with disabilities
- Community art workshops
- Art and wellness programs
- Volunteer and internship opportunities
- The Rockville Arts Festival
These inspire new ideas, encourage self-expression, embrace diverse perspectives, and celebrate the visual arts as fundamental to a connected community.
VisArts is the lighthouse of my life. Staff, instructors, and fellow students inspire me. VisArts is my shelter, my village, it’s a center of good creative energy.
VisArts’ Beliefs
The Arts are Essential
The arts are a vital element of a healthy ecosystem connecting people, creative spaces, and ideas within our bubble of life. Research shows that the arts support health and wellness through easing stress, healing trauma, and providing comfort to individuals in need.
Radiating outward, art drives economic growth and engages and empowers individuals to build community, respond to social forces, and change our world. Through creating or experiencing art – in our galleries, classrooms, and community – VisArts’ programs enable people to express their ideas, develop their talents, connect with others, enrich their lives, and improve our community.
The Arts are Transformative
Viewing, creating, and interacting with the visual arts changes lives. These are some of the many individuals who’ve been transformed by VisArts:
- A teenage student who made a new friend at VisArts’ Summer Camp after a year of pandemic isolation
- An emerging artist who had their first solo exhibition in one of our four galleries
- A retired schoolteacher who found fellowship and a new passion for ceramics, one of VisArts’ largest communities
- An artist with autism learned how to market and sell his artwork in VisAbility Art Lab
- A resident artist received free studio space and a stipend to realize her artistic vision
The Arts are Universal
Throughout history and across cultures, humans have expressed their ideas through visual creations, music, and movement. Whether doodling in our notebooks, singing a lullaby to a child, or swaying to a familiar rhythm, art is part of our shared human experience.
While we believe that art is a basic human need, too often access to creative opportunities is limited by income, location, ability, health, or other barriers. VisArts seeks to make the arts accessible to all through scholarships, artist stipends, free classes, and outreach programs so that all individuals in our community can experience the transformative power of the visual arts.
VisArts is more than just a place to take art classes – it’s a one-stop shop where individuals can experience art in multiple ways, from creation through exhibition and sale. That’s inspirational for aspiring artists of all ages.
VISARTS’ VALUES
Connectivity
We see art and arts programming as a catalyst to building empathy and individual empowerment, bridging divides between people, and providing a way for individuals and communities to connect to other perspectives.
Collaboration
We actively work with external partners to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes and tap into the expertise of those who are providing direct services to address social issues.
Equity
We recognize that there are barriers to participation in the arts, and we’re committed to ensuring access to opportunities and resources for underserved communities within our creative practices, programs, and organizational structure.
Relevance
Guided by the needs of our community, we’re an organization that promotes dialogue around timely, present-day issues.
Join Our Creative Community
Support VisArts
Help VisArts continue to bring people together through visual art.