Construction is progressing at a promising clip on the McLean Project for the Arts’ (MPA) new Berlage Arts & Education Center.
The walls were still bare and some internal building systems, including lights and HVAC units, remained exposed when FFXnow took a preview tour on April 2, but it didn’t require a huge leap of imagination to picture the community destination anticipated by the nonprofit’s leaders.
Since then, MPA has passed all of its necessary electrical, plumbing, structural and mechanical inspections, with a final review by Fairfax County authorities expected this week, according to Executive Director Lori Carbonneau.
If everything goes smoothly, MPA hopes to open its new location with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the end of April.
“We’re thrilled about the contribution adding three new galleries will make to the region’s artistic community,” Carbonneau said. “It’s a magnificent statement to be able to make that we will have five contemporary galleries showing the work of Mid-Atlantic artists working today … And then from a community metric, we are just thrilled about the idea of increasing foot traffic, of being able to serve the local residents.”
Located on the ground floor of The Signet, a residential condominium building at 6910 Fleetwood Road, the nearly 6,000-square-foot arts center will supplement MPA’s two existing galleries and office space in the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue).
While MCC has been a critical partner, the McLean Project for the Arts has struggled at times to separate its identity from that of the community center, Carbonneau says. Some visitors assume that the annual MPAartfest, typically held at McLean Central Park, is an MCC event, for example.
The nonprofit was also increasingly eager for a larger space that could be customized to the unique needs of art exhibitions and programs.
Initially, it explored the possibility of an arts center at Clemyjontri Park, leading the Fairfax County Park Authority to revise its master plan in 2022 to allow that as a future development option. However, The Signet’s space turned out to be an ideal fit.
Originally intended for a restaurant or retail tenant but never occupied, the commercial condo offered a blank canvas that MPA could remake to its specifications as well as a more central location in the heart of downtown McLean.
“The Park Authority remains a valued partner in connecting art and community,” Carbonneau said. “At the same time, it became increasingly important to our board to invest significant capital in a space we own, ensuring long-term stability and the ability to fully realize our program.”
Officially purchased on Sept. 13, 2024, the $6.25 million Berlage center will feature three art galleries, including a black box-style installation gallery that can host digital and media displays, movie screenings and even concerts. A folding screen separating it from the roughly 900-square-foot main gallery — which is designed for solo and two-artist shows — can be pulled back to create a larger combined space.
The facility also has classrooms, offices, a meeting room that could be used for conferences or private dining and events, a ceramics studio dubbed MPA Clay with glazing and kiln rooms, and a cafe that will include a full-service bar.
Cafe Monet is being developed by James Beard-nominated Knead Hospitality and Design, a D.C.-based group whose restaurants have included Mi Vida, Succotash, Gatsby, Bistro Du Jour and more. While the menu is still being finalized, a pop-up notice on Knead’s website describes the concept as “pan-European,” and Carbonneau confirmed it will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Intentionally built out with local vendors, who provided everything from chairs to the light sconces, the cafe will have 46 seats inside and another 48 seats on a 1,700-square-foot outdoor patio that’s also accessible from the ceramics room.
In addition to expanding the kinds of art it can display with the new galleries, MPA hopes to take advantage of the cafe and Elm Street Park’s proximity across the street to give community members more reasons to visit and linger, energizing an area that currently doesn’t draw a ton of foot traffic despite its central location.
Ideas bandied about so far have included outdoor exhibitions and concerts as well as “movie boxes” of snacks that Cafe Monet could serve with wine for film screenings in the center’s galleries.
“This whole space is, how do we engage with the community in a larger way?” MPA Community Engagement Director Elizabeth Murphy said. “We have a lot of families in the neighborhood, so we want to make sure there’s programming that suits families and people who are lovers of art and food, frankly.”
Tasked with overseeing programming for the installation gallery, Murphy added that the team will welcome suggestions from the community, which will be able to reach out through MPA’s website.
According to MPA’s leaders, community involvement and support have been critical through every step of the process, from the Signet residents who’ve tolerated months of construction and county staff who’ve assisted the nonprofit and its contractors with permitting to the many donors to the fundraising campaign launched in 2023 for the new facility.
Among those donors were MPA board member and the center’s namesake, Bruce L. Berlage; the McLean Community Center, and Fairfax County, which contributed $500,000 in the hopes that the site will further its vision for a revitalized downtown McLean.
As of early April, the nonprofit had secured more than 90% of the funding it needs for the center, Carbonneau said. With MPA’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the annual Spring Benefit, coming up around the corner on May 7, the private and local support has been particularly gratifying at a time when the federal government has pulled back on its investment in the arts.
“We are so grateful to our community that has supported us,” Carbonneau said. “… Over the course of this process, we’ve watched all of those sources dry up, and we’ve had some of our grants cut, and we’re just thankful and thrilled and strategically fulfilled that we have this opportunity to build operating revenue at a time when granting revenue is down so much.”
