Gateway keeps the door open to the arts

Heliport Gallery, an emerging A&E destination, helps south Silver Spring in its transition to a residential area

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007

Click here to enlarge this photo Naomi Brookner⁄The Gazette David Fogel of Gateway’s Heliport Gallery in Silver Spring talks about the gallery’s current exhibits.

Those numbers are good, said Gateway project manager David Fogel, but he’d like to see even more community members and is hoping the number of gallery visitors increases as south Silver Spring continues to become a residential hub.

Heliport Gallery is managed by the nonprofit organization Gateway Georgia Avenue Community Development Corporation and sponsored by Montgomery County through the Silver Spring Regional Services Center. The Gateway organization has been using Silver Spring’s arts and entertainment district designation to revitalize south Silver Spring, starting with walks that take arts enthusiasts to different stops in the neighborhood, and then opening the Heliport Gallery.

‘‘We advocated for a community art space here that would help better serve the arts and entertainment district,” Fogel said. ‘‘... There’s obviously a need.”

Art has helped provide an identity for south Silver Spring as it has transitioned from an industrial to residential neighborhood, Fogel said, and the Heliport Gallery has added to that identity.

‘‘The Heliport really does add to the sense of excitement that is here. There’s no pressure to buy, there’s no pressure to do anything, period. Come in, look around, stay for two seconds, stay for 10 minutes,” Fogel said.

Fogel said Silver Spring has one of the largest communities of visual artists in the county. Several local artists have shown their work at the gallery; however, Fogel has also displayed the work of artists across the region.

Currently on display is ‘‘Age of Discovery,” which features senior artists Patti Iglarsh, Elizabeth Zeisler and Barbara March Smith. The artists in the show did not start painting until they were older, and their work focuses on growth and discovery.

Shows usually include an opening reception, as well as discussions and activities for community members. Later this month, there will be a series of poetry workshops. An upcoming exhibit, called ‘‘Convergences,” explores the intertwined traditions in the Jewish and Muslim religions.

Recently, Friendship Heights resident Kyi May Kaung showed some of her work at an exhibit at the Heliport Gallery called ‘‘Freedom,” which featured the work of refugee artists and artists seeking asylum. Kaung has also showed her work at Kefa Café’s gallery in Silver Spring, which was where she learned about the Heliport Gallery.

‘‘I think it’s lovely and it’s a beautiful space,” Kaung said of Heliport. ‘‘I think it’s a good idea and I know there are a lot of artists in the Silver Spring area.”

However, Kaung said, she has some concern for Heliport’s future. Because of its location at the edge of south Silver Spring, she said, it doesn’t get the number of visitors it deserves.

Silver Spring resident and artist Tom Block agreed.

‘‘It, like Pyramid Atlantic, is a unique arts venue. I don’t know that either of those spaces get the respect they’re due,” he said. However, he added, the immediate community is very supportive of both galleries. Opening events at the Heliport, he said, are packed.

Block, who has shown his artwork for more than a decade, was in a show that Heliport did in collaboration with nearby Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, and is in February’s ‘‘Convergences” exhibit.

Heliport, Block said, is high-quality and shows work with a national interest.

‘‘It is something unique and it’s something a lot of other communities would love to have,” he said.

‘‘It’s been important to us to bring as many different people into the gallery as possible,” Fogel said, adding the gallery also has collaborated with the Paul Peck Institute for American Culture and Civic Engagement at Montgomery College, as well as Pyramid Atlantic and other arts organizations.

‘‘We do work with the local community as much as possible,” Fogel said. ‘‘We wanted this to be a place for the community. We want the space to be alive and vibrant and used.”