Castle Gallery, a new space for contemporary and local art, will open this weekend in Middleburg. The opening is perfectly timed with the beloved Christmas parade and the town’s busiest weekend of the year.
The gallery is the brainchild of Catherine Dolaher, an Old Town–based art advisor and artist representative. Her Georgetown pop-up earlier this year attracted an enthusiastic following. Castle Gallery marks Dolaher’s first permanent art space. She hopes it will add a new layer to Middleburg’s increasingly vibrant downtown.
The Backstory
Dolaher cut her teeth in storied institutions including the Hirshhorn Museum, Gallery Neptune & Brown, The Torpedo Factory, as well as with private collectors. Four years ago she opened her own arts management practice, CD Arts Management. She serves as an art advisor and studio manager, representing contemporary emerging to mid-career artists in Virginia and beyond.
After the success of her Georgetown pop-up last spring, she began searching for a permanent space. She toured locations in Old Town, but it was Middleburg, the charming Loudoun Country town where she grew up visiting with her family, that ultimately felt right. “I just really fell in love with the small business community here,” she says. The space on East Federal Street offered room for both a permanent collection and rotating exhibitions, an essential part of her vision.
A Welcoming Space
From the beginning, Dolaher wanted Castle Gallery to feel less like a traditional, white-walled gallery and more like a welcoming home. For the opening, she’s partnered with The Paradise Antiques, a local favorite, to furnish the space with furniture (that will also be for sale) and create a warm, lived-in atmosphere. “[I wanted] something that feels like someone’s home, that helps the client connect the dots between their own space and the art on the walls,” she says. The gallery will also carry prints and small, giftable items to broaden access to the work on display.
For its opening, Castle Gallery will feature a pop-up show of local fine art photographer Caroline Jean Gray and local painter Lydia Marie Elizabeth. There will also be an exhibition of two painters with roots in the region, including Megan Elizabeth, originally from Kensington, Maryland and now based in the United Kingdom, and Tara Andris, also from Kensington.
Works will range from originals on paper to large-scale canvases. They vary in price from the under $200 mark upwards to $10,000, with most pieces falling between $2,500 and $5,000.
Local Artists
In late January, Dolaher plans to unveil a larger group exhibition featuring contemporary artists from the DMV and the broader Southeast. “I’m making a concerted effort to bring in artists who are beloved in this area but haven’t had a platform to be shown in person,” she says.
While she is committed to representing local talent, Dolaher is also looking outward. “There will always be a mix of what’s hyper-local and what’s from across the country,” she says. “The art scene here is currently very focused on what’s native to Middleburg, which is great, and I’m excited to join that scene while bringing something a little bit different. Not necessarily just what’s in Hunt Country, but also beyond.”
Though there may be some equestrian-inspired works, the focus will be on broader contemporary expression, Dolaher says.
10 East Federal St., Middleburg
Feature image courtesy Caroline Jean Gray Photography
