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The Artists’ Undertaking Gallery was established in June, 1977, when a group of local artists recognized their need for studio space and the community’s need for an art center. The group set up nine studios at 309 Mill Street, in a building where a funeral home had once been. The 1972 hurricane, Agnes, and the rising waters of the Occoquan River put the funeral home out of business. The building’s basement still contained mud from the floods, but the artists cleaned it out and officially opened August 1, 1977. They displayed their work and taught art classes, instructing 80-100 students per week. The play on words, “The Artists’ Undertaking”, became the name. In 1982, the current first floor gallery was created to display and sell the artists’ work. Stories of floods and ghosts abound from those early years. In 1984, the basement studios and classes were discontinued, but the artists continued the first floor gallery. Today, 17 established local artists offer original art and crafts and staff the gallery daily. Media include watercolor and oil paintings, etchings, photography, drawings, mixed media collage, pottery, basketry, fused artglass, turned wood, and bead-woven jewelry. Commissions are welcome in all media—for example, paintings of special places, unique pieces of jewelry, digital restoration of old photographs, or the creation of unique objects for display. The gallery is open seven days a week from 11 AM to 5 PM, and its artists enjoy meeting visitors and answering questions. The Artists’ Undertaking Gallery offers quality original works at reasonable prices directly from the artists themselves.
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