Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery Ushers in New Era for Georgetown Visual Arts
August 23, 2018 — Georgetown University is proud to announce the dedication of the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery. Funded by gifts from generous alumni and other donors, the Gallery will present world-class art exhibitions and engagement programs to members of the campus community, the Georgetown neighborhood, and the Washington, D.C. region.
The Gallery, which is housed in the Walsh Building at 3535 Prospect Street Northwest, has been under construction since February 2017. It is the product of years of careful planning and execution by former College Dean Chester Gillis and current dean Christopher Celenza, Art & Art History Department faculty, and lead donors Maria (C’87, P’17, P’22) and Alberto de la Cruz (B’89, P’17, P’22), members of the College Board of Advisors, alumni, parents, and others.
Al Miner, who joined Georgetown in 2017 as Founding Director/Chief Curator of Georgetown University Art Galleries and Associate Professor of the Practice in the Department of Art and Art History, will provide the strategic vision and much of the curatorial content for the new gallery.
The Mario & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery will launch its performance art and public engagement series with Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market, an event that unites the creative and the commercial in an interactive experience.
Flea Market allows a select group of vendors — including local artists and Georgetown University student clubs, performers, and entrepreneurs — to sell their goods in a market-like environment. Vendors set the rules of their transactions and retain 100% of the proceeds.
A D.C.-area native, Pruitt has worked extensively in New York and internationally. Flea Market, which has occurred in many different locales since its inception in 1999, is one of his more notable projects. The Mario & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery iteration of Flea Market marks the first time it will be staged on a college campus.
In partnership with the de la Cruz Collection, the University has sponsored a special installation of one of Pruitt’s most memorable painting installations, Us (2013). The 66 panel piece is on view through September 12 and will serve as a dramatic backdrop to Flea Market.
Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on August 29 and 30 in both the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Gallery and the adjoining Nora Cooney Marra Memorial Atrium of the Walsh Building.