Glen Echo Park

7300 Macarthur Blvd, Glen Echo, MD 20812, USA

This quirky, cupcake-looking structure is Feather Tree Hill Yurt, art studio of Alana Maubury Hunter since 1998. The part plastered with bits and pieces of paper is the front door! It’s located on the grounds of Glen Echo Park, and Alana Maubury Hunter is one of the park’s artists in residence. Glen Echo Park is nestled in the woods in the Maryland suburbs, about a half-hour drive from Washington, D.C. Before it became a U.S. national park, Glen Echo was actually an amusement park, but since 1968, it has focused on arts, culture, and entertainment for the entire family. The yurts were brought to Glen Echo in 1972 to be assembled for Humanisphere, an 18-month habitat exhibit on the National Mall that never happened. The yurts were repurposed to serve as art studios and classrooms. Today, the park offers as many as 30 different art classes, from pottery to glass blowing to photography to textiles and mosaics. Many of the original Art Deco–style buildings, built during the amusement park era, are now art galleries that both exhibit and sell original artwork by residents and students. It’s a lot of fun taking classes in the yurts and as I have discovered, there are plenty of one-day workshops available. So even you don’t have a lot of time, you can flex your artistic talents in a very unique setting. Check out the park’s website for a list and schedule of the class and workshop offerings.

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Yurts and Art in the Park

This quirky, cupcake-looking structure is Feather Tree Hill Yurt, art studio of Alana Maubury Hunter since 1998. The part plastered with bits and pieces of paper is the front door! It’s located on the grounds of Glen Echo Park, and Alana Maubury Hunter is one of the park’s artists in residence. Glen Echo Park is nestled in the woods in the Maryland suburbs, about a half-hour drive from Washington, D.C. Before it became a U.S. national park, Glen Echo was actually an amusement park, but since 1968, it has focused on arts, culture, and entertainment for the entire family. The yurts were brought to Glen Echo in 1972 to be assembled for Humanisphere, an 18-month habitat exhibit on the National Mall that never happened. The yurts were repurposed to serve as art studios and classrooms. Today, the park offers as many as 30 different art classes, from pottery to glass blowing to photography to textiles and mosaics. Many of the original Art Deco–style buildings, built during the amusement park era, are now art galleries that both exhibit and sell original artwork by residents and students. It’s a lot of fun taking classes in the yurts and as I have discovered, there are plenty of one-day workshops available. So even you don’t have a lot of time, you can flex your artistic talents in a very unique setting. Check out the park’s website for a list and schedule of the class and workshop offerings.

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