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Best new place where everyone can be creative
There’s a different creative thing happening on every floor of Compass Art Center in Kensington. Adults paint in classes, teens sketch anime drawings, professionals give talks in a gallery exhibition.
Founder and director Glen Kessler, 48, of North Potomac, opened the center in April to expand a master level painting program he started in 2013. Kessler, a professional artist and university level art teacher for more than 20 years, was drawn to the artistic community in Kensington, which is home to several other art studios and holds the annual Paint the Town Labor Day Show.
Compass Art Center fills a three-story building and is home to Young Masters Art Studio, which offers art classes for kids ages 5-13; the Stone Branch Art Program, which teaches art classes for teens; the Compass Atelier, which teaches adult painting classes; the Compass Gallery, which features monthly art shows; the Wheaton Arts Parade Gallery 2, which features exhibits that run for two months; Compass Art Studios, which provide space for working artists; and Kensington Art Therapy, which offers art therapy for kids and adults. The center is open to the public seven days a week; check the website for hours.
10335 Kensington Parkway, Kensington, thecompassatelier.com
Best acoustics for coworking
Once a month, The Music Center at Strathmore hosts Work From Strathmore, a free opportunity to work remotely in the airy cafe seating area of its lobby. Coffee, pastries and Wi-Fi are also free, and Strathmore books musicians who have graduated from its 10-month Artist in Residence professional development program to perform from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. In October, the sound of sitar strings by Baltimore musician Snehesh Nag melded with the click-clack of computer keys.
Tables that accommodate six or eight metal chairs encourage coworking. The atrium also has tables tucked away for more privacy. Banks of outlets are available via extension cords.
The events started in April 2024 and are intended to help people connect to Strathmore and to other remote workers, says Lauren Campbell, Strathmore’s vice president of education and community engagement. The harmonious remote-work experiences take place on the first Monday of each month from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Remote workers can bring lunch or order delivery; Strathmore’s cafe does not sell food during the events. Registration on Strathmore’s website is requested but not required.
5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, strathmore.org
Best immersive local history experience
You can see chickens and hogs, along with clotheslines hung with wet laundry in the yard of the historic Oakley Cabin in Olney—but only if you use your smartphone. Last spring, Montgomery County launched the Oakley Cabin Augmented Reality (AR) Experience, a pilot project that allows visitors to learn about the historic site. Once part of the Oakley plantation, the cabin first housed enslaved laborers, and after emancipation it was home to African American tenant families. The house dates back to the 1830s or ’40s and was inhabited as a private residence until the 1970s. The cabin is open to the public and staffed with docents only about 14 days a year, so the AR experience is meant to give visitors a peek inside the structure and teach about the lives of the people who lived there, even when the cabin is closed or unstaffed.
Visitors can use a smart device to scan a series of QR codes posted around the site to see digital 3D objects overlaid with the actual environment. For some of the codes, a virtual tour guide explains the history of the cabin. Others launch images of animals you can virtually place around the yard, or even a virtual model of the cabin that enables you to look inside. The AR experience, created through a collaboration of the county’s parks and technology departments and the University of Maryland, is available in seven languages and could be expanded to other historic sites in the county.
3610 Brookeville Road, Olney, montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/oakley-cabin-african-american-museum-park