"People have traditionally identified Washington as a city of politicians and lawyers uninterested in anything but politics," says Sarah Finlay, co-director of Fusebox (1412 14th St., NW; 202/299-9220; www.fuseboxdc.com). "But I believe people are beginning to realize there is a diversity of interests here—in music, theater, the visual arts—and we now have a caliber of [contemporary arts] programming that one would find in other major art centers."

Though they're not solely responsible for reviving D.C.'s modern arts scene—the District is home to notable art spaces such as the Hirshhorn, not to mention other inventive gallerists—Finlay and her husband, Patrick Murcia, can at least take credit for launching a hotbed for visual arts that has transformed the Logan Circle neighborhood.

"We knew we had to be on 14th Street—that was the critical part of the plan," says Finlay, citing the area's strong theater presence and new business development. Once home to Washington's black elite (and so many automotive showrooms the street was known as "Automobile Row"), 14th Street was declared an arts district in the 1980s, sparking such innovative theaters as the Studio, Woolly Mammoth and Source to relocate there.

The gallery generated a buzz before it opened: Finlay and Murcia took a group of collectors to Manhattan for the Armory Show, a major international art fair, and hosted a cocktail party so Washington's art set could mingle with New York artists. "This was the beginning of our mission to educate our collectors, so they would see that Fusebox is not a provincial gallery, but part of the international art scene, showing artists that are part of the current dialogue." When the former wholesale jewelry store reopened as Fusebox in September 2001, nearly 600 guests packed into the 1,700-square-foot space.

"Fusebox had a very good group of shows very early on," remembers Leonard Roberge, arts editor for Washington City Paper. "Right out of the gate, the gallery showed works by Susan Smith-Pinelo, Jason Gubbiotti and Kendall Buster. None of these folks was merely making paintings or prints or drawings or sculptures—all of them were engaging with contemporary culture outside of the art world. And, all of them made very striking imagery, to boot. So, Fusebox caught folks' attention right off."

The buzz was not lost on other gallerists, nor was the potential of 14th Street as a thriving arts community. "This neighborhood has the profile and character of the neighborhoods we find worldwide where artists carve out their district—it is architecturally rich [with] spaces that are not traditional stylistically, and forgotten commercial spaces," says Annie Gawlak, director of G Fine Art (1515 14th St., NW; 202/462-1601; www.gfineartdc.com).

Attracted to developer Giorgio Furioso's plans to create a space devoted to the arts, Gawlak relocated her gallery from Georgetown to 14th Street in September 2004. Gawlak's foresight paid off: Furioso's new building at 1515 14th Street—which also houses Hemphill Fine Arts (202/234-5601; www.hemphillfinearts.com), Adamson Gallery (202/232-0707; www.adamsoneditions.com), Curator's Office (202/387-1008; www.curatorsoffice.com) and the newly launched restaurant Viridian—has given the area's art community another huge boost.

"With the new 1515 space open, the momentum really seems to be growing," says emerging artist Jason Zimmerman, who will hold a mixed-media show at the nonprofit Transformer (1404 P St., NW; 202/483-1102; www.transformergallery.org) this fall. Adds D.C. art veteran George Hemphill, who relocated from Georgetown to the 1515 space in November 2004, "Since moving to 14th Street, we've experienced remarkable explosion in public participation in gallery events."

"One big difference between the 14th Street galleries and the other galleries in the city is the fantastic spaces that the 14th Streeters have," says Tyler Green, art critic for Bloomberg News. "There is also a marked difference in programming between G Fine Art, Curator's Office, Fusebox and Adamson, and the nice-stuff-for-above-your-couch that is in many of the other galleries around town. That's not to say that there isn't moderately interesting stuff in other parts of town, but everywhere not on 14th Street suffers for their space."

Gallery plan b (1530 14th St., NW; 202/234-2711; www.galleryplanb.com) has such a space; its storefront-style windows and high ceilings beautifully showcase both emerging and established artists.

On Sept. 10, the 14th Street galleries will celebrate the start of the fall season with simultaneous openings, including Fusebox, which will show Kendall Buster's architecturally minded Model City, a site-specific construction of undulating blue tent fabric. G Fine Art will spotlight New World Construction, a collection of drawings by several artists. Installations, drawings and photographs by Renee Stout, and photographs by Joseph Mills will be unveiled at Hemphill Fine Arts, while Curator's Office will present Symbioland, featuring works on paper by artist Jiha Moon. At Transformer, Zimmerman will pre-sent a mixed-media exhibition in which he explores themes relating to fantasy. And, Gallery plan b will show the abstract paintings of Rod Glover.