A historic building with an ostentatious name which has somehow eluded my attention until now. It houses a free (!) art gallery, which is just a big room with a little add-on at street level. The basement is open and is also visibly historic, but doesn't have much in the way of art. It does have cool air and a restroom. The scope of the art gallery clearly isn't large (bearing in mind that a free art gallery the size of a mansion is ho-hum by DC standards), but I enjoyed what they had and it was a perfect use of the time I had to spend on it. Surprisingly enough, they seem to allow people to bring their dogs inside. read more

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All of the Athenaeum staff was excellent to work with. During the initial planning stages, Veronica and Richard were my main points of contact, both of whom were very helpful answering questions. They were happy to entertain our questions both via email and during the various trips to check out the space. The contract process was fairly straight forward and fortunately renting out the space includes both the art gallery and the outside garden (it rained on our wedding day and the ceremony was initially going to take place in the garden). A few days before the wedding, we were informed that Amanda would be the staffer on hand on the actual wedding day. I sent Amanda my proposed timeline and we reviewed it over the phone. She was willing to assist with flow of show and confirming chair and floral deliveries/set up. She advised us of some renovations that were taking place in the alley behind the garden, which is where the ceremony was originally going to take place. While the staff had not previously informed us of the planned renovation, it all worked out in the end. Amanda emailed me photos of the renovations, offered alternate solutions to ensure the scaffolding wouldn't be as visible, emailed the contractor to ensure they would be done with the renovations for the day prior to our scheduled photo time and ceremony start time, and offered to be at the venue early to ensure that everything was clean. When I realized it was likely going to rain on the wedding day, I emailed Amanda asking for a quick discussion on a rain plan. She contacted me right away to confirm a time and we spoke the morning of the wedding to come up with a rain plan. She handled the new set up with both the chair rental company and the florist. The set up came out beautifully. Also, one of the photographers left a water behind and Amanda emailed me about the item so I was able to retrieve it the next day. I would definitely rent this space again! read more

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The Athenaeum is definitely worth visiting. The Athenaeum has new gallery exhibits every month. They always have something going on. Been there for many events, from opening and closing nights for new exhibits to fire dancing performance and lecture, where I got to me the performers and ask various questions. The staff at the Anthenauem are warm and inviting and always happy to answer any questions I may have. Whenever you are in Old Town Alexandria, the Athenaeum should be on your list of cool things to check out. read more

Athenaeum - Performing Arts Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Not sure if I went through the entire building but I only saw a very small gallery of work. Very open space with lots of light helps showcase the beautiful art in this building. The outside has preserved the historic feeling and the new modern art inside gives a wonderful contrast and compliment. I appreciated that the art inside showcased local artists. I think it's very important to support local especially in the arts. There were two different rooms showcasing two different modern artists who highlighted abstract vibrant art. I can absolutely see this being an event venue, it would be a beautiful backdrop and has the space for quiet a few tables inside! read more

The Athenaeum is one of those great gems of old time Alexandria. My wife and I were scouting wedding locations when we wound up at the Athenaeum then she told me our search was done. Once we got everything booked though their Events Coordinator Richard richard@nvfaa.org everything fell into place. Perks: Depending on your size (ours was less than 40) they can provide chairs, tables, and beautiful coverings, which is included in your reservation. Your reservation includes the entire art museum and the beautiful back gardens. Our octave mandolin player didn't need an amp because the acoustics in the main entrance made the music sounds crystal clear no matter where you were. The Personnel: This is where the Athenaeum really shines. For our wedding we had both Richard and Laura helping out. Their knowledge of the venue and of weddings helped provide some last minute modifications to our setup that added great details to our wedding. I truly felt like they cared about our wedding as much as we did and having them there was like having close friends helping out. They helped set up chairs, tables, received the flower delivery, and helped coordinate the entry of the wedding party. read more

Athenaeum - Main Entrance Wedding - Performing Arts Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

A piece of history, right in Old Town. The Athenaeum , a historical landmark was originally built in the 1850's as a bank. The "Athen(s)" part of the name refers to the Greek Revival style of the building. Inside the ceilings are high and inlet. You can also see the other 18th century homes from inside the large windows. The vibe here makes you feel like you traveled through time. Today, the Athenaeum belongs to Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association. Its galleries exhibit all kinds of contemporary art -- from paintings, to photographs to rugs. Currently the Anthenaeum is hosting an exhibit called "Peace Pieces," which is abstract art using mixed media pieces. There is also a small sculpture garden outside to take a saunter through on a nice day. read more

Athenaeum - Performing Arts Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

The boo and I got engaged in October. During a trip to my beautiful home state, I thought it would be a good idea to look at some venues to host a small ceremony and reception. We visited the Athenaeum on a rainy Friday afternoon. We were greeted by two very helpful volunteers. One of them showed us around the facility when I indicated that we were interesting in renting it out. She also gave me the card of their event coordinator and noted that a lot of their funding comes from renting the facility since the NVFAA is a non-profit, volunteer organization. The art work was mostly contemporary and tastefully selected. As a gallery, it's a lovely space. As a wedding venue, please see the following: Pros - Large, bright, open space with tall ceilings in a historic setting - Tasteful art = fewer decorations to rent/buy/craft - The main level has narrow room in the back befitting of a bar or buffet table - A large basement with room for a caterer and a couple bathrooms - Gorgeous courtyard with 12-foot-high walls and greenery (perfect for a ceremony) - Reasonable rental fee - No required caterers - Located close to DCA for out-of-state guests Cons - No parking (all street or paid garages) - No caterer kitchen (if I remember correctly) - Poor communication As you might have noticed, the pro list is much longer than the con list. I quite liked this venue and would honestly say that it was at the top of my list. Why I rated them stars: I emailed the main rental address listed on their website to ask about availability and creative parking solutions other folks had used. 3 days, no response. I had misplaced the event coordinator's card, but found it. Emailed him directly. 4 days, no response. I emailed him again on Nov 8th. Today is November 29th and I have yet to receive a response. Perhaps they prefer phone communication. Other venues that I have contacted respond within 1-2 business days. read more

We rented this space for a corporate event a while back. The space was fine but the staff was very difficult to work with. I've worked with countless venues for events and never experienced such poor customer service. I had to show up to the venue 3+ times because no one would answer my emails. It's challenging to plan a successful event when you can't get answers to your questions. Not to mention, the room only had one table in it (before our vendor came to furnish it) and we were charged over $200 for them to "clear the room" of this one table. I asked if we could move it ourselves to avoid the fee and was told no. Their staff member assigned to our event (first time we met this person was 10 minutes before our event started) was rude to our staff in front of leadership and dressed very unprofessionally. She handed a coworker a broom at the end of the evening and told him it's not her job to sweep up our mess. While that may be the case, I'm not sure this was the right approach. Save yourself the stress and pay a little extra for a more experienced and professional venue (especially if you are planning an important event). read more

A jewel in Old Town! It's a visual arts space open to the public free of charge. They have performing arts there from time to time that are free or low cost. I recently got to see the full ensemble of the USAF Band there for free. The building has a noteworthy historical past dating back to before and during the Civil War. If you write to them at admin@nvfaa.org they will place you on their email list for monthly quality arts program announcements. (They don't spam you.) read more

It used to be a bank, then an armory, then a bank, then a church, then a bank, and now it's a big open space that lends itself out to Corporate Team Building functions. I don't know why I capitalized all that, but it made sense to do it. For what it offers, namely a big expanse of space for you and your group to run around in, paint pictures, eat sandwiches and other neat things... it's quite the space to do it. I hear it also hosts art exhibits. When we were there, there were several photographs up of the Potomac during a 70s blizzard. That was boring. So, I went outside into the courtyard area. It was very nice. And then I went back to work and that was that. read more

I've been to several shows at the Athenaeum, the most recent one being the 3rd Invitational Show that featured the theme "Glow." I found the theme quite inspiring but did not feel inspired by how it was handled in this particular show. In fact, I did not see how many of the paintings pertained to the theme at all. The first invitational show was much more thorough in making thematic connections and included a booklet with the artist statements addressing this point. The space at the gallery is nice and well-lit, but the paintings could have been hung better. I also wondered about the distinction that was made between "invited artists" and "the open call," and it was not apparent to which category the artists belonged. read more

Cool! Don't go to Alexandria often and randomly stumbled upon this one sunny after noon. Glad I did, it is neat inside. When I went they were displaying about two dozen works of art from local artists for a contest in regards to flowers and various artists interpretation of the flower via art. read more

The Athenaeum is a treasure in Old Town. A gorgeous Greek Revival temple, open to the public, and filled with local art. The Athenaeum is not run by the city and is totally funded by grants, individual donations and memberships - is totally worthy of support! read more

The Athenaeum has outstanding fine arts programming. The Gallery is housed in a Classical Revival building constructed in the mid 19th century. With 24 foot ceilings and gorgeous windows overlooking Captain's Row, the Athenaeum and its front portico are the perfect place for a photo op. The gallery is open to the public free of charge Thursday-Sunday afternoons. read more