Falls Church Arts: 'Full Circle' Launches Jan. 11, Runs Through Feb. 23

With 2025 upon us, many are "circling back" to their stressful pre-New Year's office discussions. Yikes!

Have no fear, however, because here's a chance to center one's self anew by contemplating the notion, form and essence of circularity.

Fittingly, a circle is defined from its center as a "round plane figure whose boundary – the circumference – consists of points equidistant from a fixed point – the center." But, a "circle" has a secondary social meaning as well, as it's also defined as a "group of people with shared professions, interests, or acquantances."

Hence this circle of creatives...

Forty-two artists will explore "the circle" or the "concept of 'coming full circle'" when Falls Church Arts hosts Full Circle, a mixed-media exposition, on view from Jan. 11 to Feb. 23.

Meet-the-Artists Reception

Free and open to the public, the forty-five piece exhibit will launch with a meet-the-artists reception from 7 - 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11.

During the program, the Juror’s Choice Award will be announced.

Juror Sharon Malley

Sharon Malley, juror for the show, is an Arlington, Virginia-based artist at the Columbia Pike Artist Studios, an FCA press release said. "Her work is on display in juried shows in the greater D.C. metropolitan area and the mid-Atlantic states. Sharon’s professional career focuses on arts and disabilities. She served as a national leader in arts education and special education at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts."

And what sort of art is Malley known for? "Sharon’s paintings in oil and mixed media evoke a subconscious or dreamlike feeling through her choice of colors and subject matter," Malley's artist CV says. "Painting in both narrative and abstract styles in a variety of sizes, she draws upon her childhood memories and her spiritual concerns of the impacts of climate change."

For the Full Circle show, Malley commented on the jurying process. “Jurying the Full Circle show for Falls Church Arts was a delight. The entries included a rich variety of media, both two and three dimensions, from oil, watercolor, acrylic, and mixed media paintings to digital and traditional photography, glass, and metal sculptures," she said.

"An unusual number of works were excellently crafted in black and white or neutral colors, which I found appealing," Malley continued. "In many cases, responses to the circle theme depicted the concept or visual representation of circles in graphic images, using clean lines, which makes sense, as circles symbolically evoke a perception of completeness. Hence, there is a cohesiveness in the overall selection of work that I hope will delight gallery visitors.”

Malley's Teasers for the Full Circle Show

Notice the calming and centering effects of these highlighted show works?

Full Circle will be on view at the Falls Church Arts gallery at 700-B West Broad St. (Route 7), Falls Church. Admission is free and the gallery is open Tuesdays-Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays-Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Artworks can also be viewed online at https://www.fallschurcharts.org. Art pieces can be purchased at the gallery or on the website. 

Highlights of this exhibit include the Juror's Choice Award and People's Choice Award. To vote for the People's Choice Award, please visit the gallery before Feb. 7 to cast your ballot.

For more information, please email info@fallschurcharts.org.

Full Circle Participating Artists

Cathy Abbott

John Ballou

Noreen Brunini

Joyce Ann Burton-Sousa

Donna Byrne

Bonn Carpenter

Bonnie B. Collier

Michael Crossett

Marina DiCarlo

Kimia Foroughi

Graciela Granek

Dan Hildt

Susan Hillson

Pamela Huffman

Barbara Januszkiewicz

Steve Jennings

Susanne Kamalieh

Mary Kane

Martha Kaplan

Michael Lindsay

Nicole Mahoney

McKaid McConnel

Isabella Merlos

Gini Moore

Sally Myers

Miisha Nash

Eileen O'Brien

Sandi Parker

Michael Potashnik

Margaret Raymond

Elise Ritter-Clough

Renée Nicole Ruggles

Andrea Salzman

Susan Sanders

Deborah Schindler

Cynthia Schoeppel

Meghanne Sennott

Tom Updike

Suzanne Updike

Nancy Walsh

Elin Whitney-Smith

Amy Woodhouse

By Christopher Jones