Originally Published by: WTOP on 01/18/2022
Written by: Jason Fraley

Have you ever visited BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Maryland?

If the answer is “no,” now is the perfect time to start with a really cool installation.

“You are missing out if you’ve never been to BlackRock,” chief program officer Katie Hecklinger told WTOP. “We are on the verge of our 20th anniversary. The space was designed as a multi-purpose cultural arts center. We are the only thing like it in up-county. We have three stages, classrooms, two art galleries, a gorgeous rooftop terrace.”

Their new mixed-media exhibit “Juxtapositions” is on display now through Feb. 26.

No tickets are necessary as the installation is free and open to the public.

“The juxtaposition found between gritty, harsh materials that reflect harsh, complicated, complex, challenging, dark times, and the juxtaposition of the beauty that’s found in that where in life you find resounding strength, comfort, joy, resilience — for us it reflects the [pandemic] chapter we’re still in, but that we’ve coped with,” Hecklinger said.

The installation features sculptures and mixed media by D.C.-area artist Tory Cowles.

“I’m trying to create a huge installation that you walk into, you can interact with and become part of,” Cowles told WTOP, stressing the exhibit’s immersive interactivity.

The first side of “Juxtapositions” consists of raw and gritty materials.

Read the full article at www.wtop.com