Business & Tech

Falls Church Home Doubles as Fine Arts Gallery

Mary O'Donnell hopes to bring appreciation of the fine arts to Northern Virginia.

While many people venture into Washington, D.C. to visit art museums and see extensive, colorful exhibits, Mary O’Donnell just goes downstairs in her home.

Since 2004, O’Donnell has run Mod Arts out of her City of Falls Church home, displaying pieces from her old and new friends in the art world. The walls throughout the first floor of the home are decorated with paintings, photographs and mixed media pieces, most of which are for sale.

“Each of them have different styles and mediums,” said O’Donnell, executive director of the art gallery. “They’re so great to look at over and over again.”

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O’Donnell represents eight artists whom all showcase their pieces in one of the many first-floor rooms in her home. Other artists have asked her to showcase their pieces and represent them as well, she said. Mod Arts is open by appointment unless there is an art exhibition, O’Donnell said.

There’s no one piece that stands out to O’Donnell. As classical music quietly provided a backdrop to an impromptu tour of the fine arts gallery on Wednesday, O’Donnell shared stories of just about every piece that graced the walls. From mixed media to pop pointillism pieces, O’Donnell knew the history behind each one.

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Each room on the first level of the home has a different feel and mood, all of them to O’Donnell’s liking.

“I like sitting in them all,” O’Donnell said. “My kids ask why they have to live in an art gallery.”

O’Donnell is certain she can play a part in garnering more appreciation for art in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area through her exhibits. As the art world keeps pulling O’Donnell back, she feels more obligated to introduce others to the experience. She said not everyone gets to wake up in his or her own art gallery but she wants to share hers with everyone.

“I believe in these artists and I want to help them,” O’Donnell said. “This gallery started on pure faith and it has turned into a business.”


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