If home should be a place that inspires and revives you, why not fill it with work that actually does? Decorating your walls with artwork has many benefits — from decreasing stress levels to creating conversation to showcasing your unique style to supporting local artists. But how (and where) to start curating your collection today?

Keep reading for a round-up of top DC art galleries that’ve been inspiring local collectors for years.

#1 Hemphill Artworks: H E M P H I L L opened as a commercial gallery in September of 1993. The exhibition schedule features contemporary art ranging in media from emerging to mid-career and established artists. In addition to these shows, the gallery mounts exhibitions of historically significant artwork and socially relevant subjects. The diversity of this schedule is designed to showcase important talent and provide artwork appealing to a broad range of interests.

#2 Addison / Ripley Fine Art: This gallery features changing exhibitions of work by leading local, national and internationally recognized artists as well as work by younger, emerging artists. Work in all media is represented in the gallery and styles range from traditional landscape to overall abstraction. The gallery displays work in large scale: painting, photography, drawing and sculpture, as well as more modest scale pieces in the same mediums.

Among the services available through the gallery for private clients, art consultants, interior decorators, and corporate entities are art acquisition, placement, lighting, framing and appraisals. They buy and sell at auction on behalf of clients and offer professional advice in this area. In addition, Addison / Ripley Fine Art works extensively with colleagues throughout the United States and the world, extending their reach and ability to offer the finest work available.

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#3 The Phillips Collection: Founded by art collector and philanthropist Duncan Phillips in 1921, The Phillips Collection has been collecting modern and contemporary art for one hundred years. Phillips’ former home in Washington’s historic Dupont Circle neighborhood provides a unique setting for the growing collection of over 5,000 works. Following Phillips’s unconventional approach to exhibitions, The Phillips Collection galleries are frequently rearranged to facilitate new conversations between artworks and fresh experiences for visitors.

In addition to presenting selections from the permanent collection and special exhibitions, The Phillips Collection also offers award-winning education and community engagement programs for audiences of all ages and backgrounds, including initiatives at its satellite campus Phillips@THEARC.

#4 Long View Gallery: Long View Gallery concurrently highlights the talent of unique artists and operates as a premiere venue for private functions. The gallery represents both mid-career and emerging artists whose diverse portfolios run the gamut from abstract expressionism to photo-realism. Additionally, relationships with other galleries and artists outside of our representation list provide endless options for procurement. With clients such as the Boston Consulting Group, Leaf Clean Energy, ACTEC, BMW, Vanity Fair, JCrew, Acura, Sony Music, Madewell, Bloomingdales, Allen and Overy and Dorothy Lichtenstein, Long View has positioned itself at the top of the gallery and events world in Washington, DC and beyond.

#5 Touchstone: Founded in 1976, Touchstone Gallery is an award-winning contemporary art gallery located in downtown Washington, near CityCenterDC. Touchstone Gallery was named “Best of DC” by Washington City Paper readers over several consecutive years (including 2021), and has received recognition for enriching the community through the arts from District government.

With new exhibitions every month, visitors experience a constantly-changing display of original artwork. Member-owners are local, juried professional artists working across a variety of mediums. Visitors will find a range of abstract and figurative paintings, mixed-media pieces, photographs, drawings, and sculpture available for purchase. Everyone from an avid collector to a first-time art buyer is sure to find something they love.