Commuters traveling through Union Station are about to experience something new. Currently known for its slate of fast food offerings and a handful of shops, it is one of the busiest train stations in the country and it’s about to be the home of D.C.’s third Homme Gallery location. The grand opening takes place on April 12 with its inaugural exhibit: graphic artist Maurice James Jr.’s High-Speed Freedom: The History of the Underground Railroad.
“I want everybody in D.C. to come,” gallery owner Amir Browder tells City Paper. “It’s going to be the opening of something great.”
The Union Station gallery is the latest Homme space as Browder continues to expand his operation. He first opened Homme back in 2014 when it was a clothing boutique inside the Anacostia Arts Center. Over time he connected with all types of local creatives and began offering artists space to show their work. Browder moved the business out of the Anacostia Arts Center in 2015 and into a location on O Street NW in 2016; there, it would eventually become a full-time gallery in 2019 after the artwork slowly replaced the clothing as the identity of Homme. Looking for an opportunity to find a larger space, Browder partnered with Golden Triangle Business Improvement District to open up his second gallery on L Street NW in 2021 as a pop-up meant to last for only three months—now it’s nearing three years at its second location.
Browder’s goal with Homme is to provide a platform for emerging and independent artists and to offer a place where they can feel at home (pun not intended). He invites artists of different backgrounds to showcase their work at his galleries and express themselves in any way they want. “I want Homme to be inclusive, where artists can be unfiltered,” Browder says. “That goes for art collectors and enthusiasts, too. My galleries are welcoming environments where you can feel creative.”
Compared to Homme’s two other locations, the Union Station space is going to blend O and L streets’ best aspects. Browder describes his spacious L Street NW location as the most like a traditional gallery with very high ceilings and white walls, while Homme’s 52 O Street Studios location is a lot more intimate, with a neighborhood feel. The new gallery’s size is somewhere in between the two and will be more retail-oriented: Browder plans to revisit clothing with pop-up shops as well. In fact, he hopes to host all kinds of events in the new space, including movie screenings and wine tastings.
“The space is very inviting,” he says. “I want it to be very intimate as well as regal. I hope it’ll help highlight the already beautiful interior of Union Station.”
Highlighting Union Station is actually one of the reasons why Browder chose the artist he’ll be featuring for the grand opening. Browder and James met back in 2021 at 11:Eleven gallery when James was showing his first ever solo exhibit. Browder became a fan of the artist’s work and they eventually collaborated on the exhibit Homme Away From Home in 2022.
Browder chose James for the grand opening because, in February, James showed him new art that reinterpreted the Underground Railroad with actual images of trains. Browder was immediately captivated and asked James to create a whole exhibit centered around that idea. “The artwork was perfect,” Browder says. “He was showing me all these images about empowering Black people and trains, and I knew at that moment his exhibit would be the best way to make use of the space at Union Station.”
High-Speed Freedom: The History of the Underground Railroad has refined some of the Black liberation themes James has been playing with for years. Previously his art contemplated how modes of transportation can serve as symbolism for escaping oppression; this new work will combine historical fiction and Afrofuturism. He plans to show Homme’s patrons a world where the Underground Railroad continues to exist to help Black people find freedom. One of his notable new pieces blends images of 19th-century trains, the first Black members of Congress, and Harriet Tubman into a depiction of his imagined utopia. “It’s a made-up universe based on actual history but taken further into another realm of possibility,” James tells City Paper. “I want people to realize with this exhibit that Black people have never stopped trying to be free.”
Though he’s taking everything one step at a time, Browder doesn’t plan for the Union Station gallery to be his last new location. “I don’t want to stop [here],” he says. “I want to always be pushing boundaries and moving forward … To see this growth happen is a dream come true.”
Homme Gallery’s Union Station location’s grand opening takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. on April 12. instagram.com/homme_dc. High-Speed Freedom: The History of the Underground Railroad runs from April 12 through April 28 at Homme Gallery’s Union Station.