Material Matters: Works by Residency Alumni

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Material Matters celebrates the fifty-year legacy of MoCA Arlington’s Artist Studio Program and its role as a launch pad for artists in the Washington, DC region and beyond. Bringing together select residency alumni whose studios at MoCA Arlington date back as early as the 1980s, the exhibition highlights the wide range of artistic practices that have emerged from the program. 

Since 1976, the museum’s Artist Studio Program has been a vibrant center for artistic experimentation in the Washington, DC region. Residency alumni have gone on to exhibit in prominent national and international institutions, participate in prestigious residencies, and contribute significantly to the cultural life of the metropolitan DC region and beyond through their work as educators and mentors to subsequent generations of artists.

Material Matters explores materiality in art-making, from the recent past to the present day. Working across installation, sculpture, painting, and mixed-media, the artists in Material Matters reflect the experimentation that has long defined MoCA Arlington’s studio residency program. Many of the artists in the exhibition underwent a significant shift in their artistic practice during their tenures as resident artists, as evidenced by the material explorations that are on display. 

The range of material practices presented in this selection of MoCA Arlington’s studio alumni chart artists’ responses to some of the defining historical, economic, and social events in the United States over the past fifty years. Feminist issues, political events, displacement, and environmental concerns are expressed through the materials and processes on view. The works in Material Matters delight in the “how” and “what” they are made of, lending themselves to an experience of close looking, engagement, and discovery.

Presented during a milestone moment for the organization, Material Matters celebrates both the history of the residency program and its continued role in supporting artists and strengthening the region’s creative community.

Material Matters is organized by Amanda Jirón-Murphy, Curator and Residency Program Manager.

Material Matters includes work by Negar Ahkami, Shahla Arbabi, Roxana Geffen, Sarah Hardesty, Marissa Long, Danielle Mysliwiec, Ryan McCoy, Foon Sham, and Rachel Schmidt.

Material Matters is generously supported by an Anonymous Donor, the 15th Street Foundation, Pamela Doty, the Georges Family Foundation, Penne and Brian Nelson, and Marsha Semmel. Additional support is provided by Stefanie Fedor, Martha and David Foster, Marlene and Michael Harrison, and Holly Koons.

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