One of Route 1’s smallest art galleries is the size of a small window display case.

Located in Hyattsville on Gallatin Street between the SoHy Arts Building entrance and Gremlins Tattoo Lounge, the Peep Show gallery showcases a single artist for a month or two.

The small hexagonal display window, marked by a bright neon sign, is currently showing collaborative pieces by Katie Aldworth and Francisco Rosario of the Material Things studio in North Brentwood.

The gallery got its start during the pandemic, when Bronwyn King and Krissi Humbard, the co-curators of Studio SoHy, lost access to the small space where they were displaying art inside Vigilante Coffee. The two looked for spaces that could be viewed from outdoors during Covid restrictions and came across the display window.

“We drew inspiration from peep shows of old: the traveling boxes that offered glimpses into the strange, the exotic and the out-of-the-ordinary; and the coin-operated machines that showed beautiful women and forbidden scenes,” Humbard told the Hyattsville Wire. “We wanted to flip what was once seen as exploitative and create a playful space for artists. We thought the window created a perfect environment for that.”

Many artists whose work is displayed come from the closely-knit Route 1 arts community, but they’ve been approached by other artists outside Route 1. And one of the goals with the project is to highlight woman and minority artists.

“The studio’s goal is to reflect the community of artists working and living in the DMV area,” Humbard added.

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