d’Art Center

My daughter took an art camp here this summer. It had a theme and the age ranges are broken up well each week. They offer a drop off and pick up on Plume St since it’s surrounded by construction. I carpooled with another family, so only experienced pick up and got right outside 4 days. One day I did go round and round the block until finding a spot. But overall, it was easy to get to, has plenty of parking on street or garages.
The camp space seemed small, but they got to walk through the artists areas and get outside daily for lunch. They did a lot of projects and the end of week art show was nice to see everyone’s work.
She had a great time. We enjoyed stopping by the artists booths that week as well. Will be back to see more and perhaps do a class. Fun place.

The d’Art Center is a cultural gem in Downtown Norfolk that provides the public open access to local art and artists. Where else in the city can you literally see and interact with dozens of different artists at work? The Selden Arcade, where it is located, is a very pretty, breezy walkway that features art hanging from the walls and ceiling as well as interactive art projects that encourage passersby to stop and contribute.
It’s home to a very diverse mix of talent. The artists are friendly and encourage people to browse their spaces and ask questions while they work. I particularly love that there are experienced jewelers there who are able to create new pieces from old ones as well as fix broken pieces.
The center operates as a non-​profit to support and foster local artistry, so they feature dozens of special events throughout the year including wine & paint classes with resident artists, art shows, gallery openings, cocktail parties, auctions, family events, and an annual gala (all of which are open to the public).
They recently did a really fun happy hour event called Mix & Mingle that featured an interactive art demo by Clayton Singleton, mixed drinks made by Josh Wright (formerly of The Boot), and live music by Matt Miller. It was a great way to spend a Friday evening.
The d’Art Center is simply a fantastic, interesting place and one of the area’s best kept secrets.

If you’re familiar with the Torpedo Factory in Northern Virgina, you’ll have a good idea of what the d’Art Center concept is.
It’s a studio for working artists where visitors can come in an actually see the artists in the creative process – like a fish bowl for painters, sculptors and jewelry and pottery makers.
It’s a very cool concept and d’Art does it well.
My only gripe with d’Art is that most of the art is, how shall we put this, safe. You are not going to find a whole lot of boundary pushing in terms of content or style. It would be nice if there were a little more variety.
The place moved — as noted by another reviewer — from a very old building a few blocks away to Selden Arcade a few years ago. It was controversial because the old building (beloved by some of the artists) was razed to make way for construction of Granby Tower, which ironically has been mired in financial troubles and political red tape and STILL isn’t built.
But I digress. The Selden Arcade that houses the new d’Art is open and airy set up like a long breezeway. It’s nice for receptions and events (except for the bouncy sound… they need some acoustic dampeners or something).
They have rotating exhibits in a meandering gallery space. Usually when I walk through I see very few people inside and I’m not sure why.
The fact that there is a perpetual state of construction all around it probably doesn’t help.

First of all, this center has moved and I am not sure what ts the new address.
If you are boring and you want to see many different arts by the local artists, visit this center. It has many independent studios and you can buy the arts from them at the center. I have bought a few myself and I love it. The D’Art has the art classes you can take for fun or to improve your art skills. I have yet take a class, but I have seen a couple classes and these seemed fun.
EDITED — the new address:
208 East Main Street
Norfolk, VA 23 510