While my colleagueJonathan L. Fischer attended the Burst! party at Artisphere on Saturday, I attended yesterday’s less exclusive open house at the new cultural center in Rosslyn. It took me an inordinately long time to get there, thanks to the Metro station closures at Metro Center and McPherson Square, which are also in effect today. (Hint: If you plan to check out Artisphere this evening and you need to transfer from the green or yellow lines, take the yellow line to Pentagon and transfer to the blue line there rather than transferring at L’Enfant.)

The highlight of my visit yesterday was the “Skateboard Side Effects” exhibit in the Terrace Gallery. The abstract ramp sculpture by Richard Vosseller dominates the space, which also features work by Tim Bearse, Mickael Elliot Broth, and Lia Halloran, as well as a film in the theater next door chronicling the New York skating scene by Rick Charnoski and Coan Buddy Nichols. And the trio of bright, abstract paintings by Sean Greene—meant to mimic the lines a board creates on a ramp—were the brightest spot—both literally and figuratively—in the exhibit.

I found the Artisphere confusing to navigate at first: Though I could look down on the black box theater from a terrace on the second floor, I had trouble finding it once I made my way down to the first floor. Once a volunteer escorted my through the ballroom to the passageway I sought, I was impressed by the theater’s soundproofing. As the Washington Shakespeare Company performed scenes from Richard III, I could hear none of the the loud blues, courtesy of Memphis Gold & the All Stars, emitting from the ballroom next door. But the thing I was most pleased about over the course of my visit yesterday was the lack of crowds. Hopefully the same low-key atmosphere will await you should you attend “The Structure of Salsa” program tonight, or any of the other free events at day two of Artisphere’s open house.