“It was kind of isolating being an illustrator,” remembers Marsha Lederman, who used to work solely out of her Arlington Forest home. Then Lederman found the Lee Arts Center, a cooperative workspace where artists can think big and get messy. The studio gave her the room she needed to make large ceramic sculptures, plus the camaraderie of other working artists. “I love the creative synergy,” she says. “We help each other with techniques.”
Run by Arlington County and housed in the Lee Community Center, a former school on Lee Highway with walls of windows providing ample natural light, the art hub is also equipped with pottery wheels, kilns and a printmaking studio. New artists must apply and be accepted to join the space. Studio fees range from about $200 to $280 per quarter.
Most of the resident artists sell their work at local galleries, but art lovers should also mark their calendars for the center’s annual show and sale, which takes place this year on Nov. 11 and 12. www.arlingtonarts.org/venues/lee-arts-center.aspx