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Del Ray Artisans are helping kids Celebrate the Art of Making with classes and camps

InkandescentKids.com is thrilled to welcome a new sponsor, Del Ray Artisans, which just finished up its 2026 summer camp program at its gallery and studio at the Nicholas A. Colasanto Center, 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue, in Alexandria, VA.

Del Ray Artisans supports the development of artists at all levels. It serves as a center for thriving artistic activity in the Del Ray community. Through effective leadership and wise management of its resources, DRA continues to expand the scope of its services to artists and its outreach to the greater community.

Current programs for students include: STEAM-tastic! These interactive classes about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) are taught by professionals from each field. Geared toward kids and teens, each lesson has a short talk or demonstration and a hands-on craft project. Family members are welcome to attend, listen, and learn. Register in advance to ensure your child’s spot, but drop-ins are welcome space permitting. Del Ray Artisans’ STEAM-tastic workshops are made possible with support from the City of Alexandria through the FY2026 Annual Arts Program Grant and through a generous donation from Genesis Inspiration Foundation.

First Thursday: The gallery also hosts activities are designed for children, families, and all ages. Drop in on the First Thursday of April, May, and June from 6:30 pm- 8 pm for our FREE family-friendly activity.

Coming soon: There will be more art classes for students! Check out the website for details:

Art History: 30 Years of Creating Opportunity

Founded in 1992, the nonprofit organization is on a mission to promote art for the benefit of artists and the community.

“We support new and emerging artists and artisans, develop and foster community-based arts activities, events and organizations, and develop and promote the arts as a resource for community outreach to make it more available and accessible to the general public the full range of creative expression and artistic endeavors in the visual, performing and applied arts,” explains the organization’s president Dawn Wyse Hurto.

Sixteen founding members (including 23 individuals, 1 business sponsor and 2 public organizational sponsors) began Del Ray Artisans after Peter Smirniotopoulos had an epiphany to join the artists and craftspeople living in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria into a collective. The dogs belonging to founding members were central to getting to know the Del Ray neighborhood, and the Arts Resource Foundation (ARF) was formed in 1992 and incorporated in November of that year. Del Ray Artisans (DRA) became the “doing business as” name for the Arts Resource Foundation, Inc. in 1997. As stated in Peter’s 2017 treatise on “The Meaning of Place”:

During the first five years, DRA hosted exhibits, classes, workshops, and receptions while introducing Del Ray to fine and functional art, in 5 different locations on Mt Vernon Avenue. In 1997, the Colasanto Center at 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue, owned by the City of Alexandria, became available upon the expansion of the Mount Vernon Recreation Center by the City. The organization continues to be a presence on Mount Vernon Avenue that provides not just changing gallery exhibits 10 months of the year, but workshops open to the public, two weekly youth art camps in the summer, and December holiday markets, as well as social occasions for the public with receptions for the opening of each exhibit.

The Power of Creating an Inclusive Thriving Art Community: Offers came to move out of Del Ray or to locations not on Mount Vernon Avenue, but the group believed that it had a commitment to this neighborhood. Del Ray Artisans has been instrumental in the rebuilding of the Avenue—part of the “economic engine” that made Mount Vernon Avenue and Del Ray the enviable commercial and residential neighborhood that it is today.

Former Mayor Bill Euille said: “The beneficial economic and cultural impact of the arts on our community, cannot be overstated. Organizations like Del Ray Artisans that seek to make art more accessible to the community-at-large and that provide exhibition space to student and emerging artists have my particular support. The arts help to qualify the vibrancy, diversity and culture contained in Alexandria, and in a broader sense in cities all across our Nation. The arts bestow an identity to communities; one that is truly and meaningful to their respective residents.”

As the organization has continued to grow and prosper, so has the Del Ray neighborhood.

Building Confidence and Inspiring Greatness: DRA emphasizes support for emerging artists. Its focus on inclusiveness has attracted artisans with many skills, and the Del Ray neighborhood has gained a reputation of being highly supportive of the arts. DRA is committed to the development of the local commercial district. Show patrons and visitors to the gallery frequent the many area restaurants and shops. DRA, both as an organization and as represented by its individual members, is a strong presence at Art on the Avenue (founded in 1995), one of Alexandria’s biggest annual festivals dedicated to the arts. The event typically attracts over 50,000 art lovers to the Del Ray neighborhood in early October each year.

Co-founder Kathryn Brown says, “DRA early on became an art space and then gallery where many local artists both displayed and sold their art for the very first time! I have had so many conversations with artists who were elated by the encouragement and opportunity to take the bold steps needed to share their art with the public.”

Encouraging Collaboration and Volunteerism: DRA has collaborated with well-known art organizations, businesses, and local schools to reach common goals. Among these are Washington Woodworkers Guild, Virginia Tech’s Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, The Art League, The Choreographers Collaboration Project, City of Alexandria Public Schools, Mount Vernon Recreation Center, the Live Poets Society, Quilters Unlimited, and the City of Alexandria Office on Women, as well as a not-so-local organization in Mississippi called The Arts, Hancock County, hosting a Show for their artists post-Hurricane Katrina.

With only part-time paid staff, DRA’s activities are primarily designed, developed, and implemented with thousands of hours of volunteer time.