Inside are three main gallery areas where, over the years, the Arts Center has mounted over 250 exhibits, roughly half of them solos, and the Center also contains rare, affordable, beautiful studio spaces, with high ceilings, great light, and rent a fraction of the commercial rate. A block from a major subway stop in the center of Arlington, the Center is nestled between convenience stores and used car lots in a two-acre park that would be perfect to draw in homecoming commuters for a cozy twilight concert or performance. Arlington County lets the Arts Center use the school rent-free, but until last year took on no responsibility for maintenance costs on the crumbling building. The beautiful historic portico is rotting away. There is no air conditioning, often no heat, severely inadequate wiring, shorted out phone lines.
Handicapped access is minimal.
The tiny toilets remind visitors of the elementary school it used to be. The Arts Center was born as a compromise. In the early 1970s, Arlington County formed a task force to examine overall cultural facilities in the County. In the aftermath, the task force and a group of visual artists formed the Community Arts Council of Arlington, and leased the recently-closed Maury School as a private, nonprofit community visual arts center. Initially, the Arts Center primarily provided studio space.