Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association

Glenn Kessler, Glen Kessler is an internationally collected and awarded artist as well as the founder of The Compass Atelier in Rockville, MD, Compass Art Center in Kensington, MD, and inventor of The Painters Compass Color Wheel. Kessler has a MFA from New York Academy of Art and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

His works have graced the cover of ‘Professional Artist Magazine’ and in ‘The Artists' Magazine’ among other publications. He has work in the public collections of King Charles III, Amazon Web Services, Ford's Theater, Capital One Bank, Dominion Bank, as well as hundreds of private collections around the world. He is a 2-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant for Outstanding Figurative Art, a Prince of Wales Fellow, and a Maryland State Arts Council Grant awardee.

He is also a life-long teacher, having taught at Maryland Institute College of Art, George Washington University, George Mason University, and others. In 2013 he founded The Compass Atelier in Rockville, MD in order to teach a cohesive curriculum of artistic study of his own design. The school and its unique curriculum are proving to be a game-changer taking students, many of whom had little to no prior experience, to a professional practice in just 3 years of part-time study. Recent graduates have gone on to earn top prizes, regularly sell their work, and gain gallery representation.

Then in 2024 to better suit the ever-growing needs of the local art community The Compass Atelier expanded into a full-fledged art center, Compass Art Center located in Kensington, MD, with 5 classrooms for children and adults, 2 galleries, and 16 artist studios.