Anyone who has met Shaun van Steyn, the Outreach Director for Falls Church Arts,knows that he’s a consummate ambassador for the now-thriving Falls Church art scene. After only a few minutes with Shaun, you’ll know all about the resonate little organization’s humble beginnings, its next blooming art show, and the wonderous,creative energy it has unleashed on the Little City that could.

Once tapped as lead proselytizer for FCA in 2004, Shaun immediately focused his indefatigably energy on attracting new artists and supporters, advancing the organization’s brand in local media and events, and liaising with other art groups in the region. Yet at the same time, as an artist in his own right – he is a renowned photographer – Shaun actively documentedall of the FCA’sevents from its fledgling roots to its present-day, sizzling stature in the DC-Metro area… and beyond. 

Born in London as Hitler’s bombs fell, and growing up in the nascent State of Israel, Shaun’s life was instantly surrounded by and immersed in the arts. His mother, noted international ice skater and socialite Doorn Van Steyn, was a member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her second husband, and the man who raised Shaun in his early years, was Roger Moore, whose rise to fame as 007 in the James Bond movie franchise would cast an iconic light – and motion picture shadow – across the Van Steyn family.

Unable to hear until the age of nine, product of the German V-1 Buzz-bombs, as a youngster he developed an uncanny sense of visual awareness and appreciation for the observable world. It’s not so much what he saw that was different, but how he interpreted the value of reflection as light in the perception of an entity. And now for last 40 years, after completing his studies at the Corcoran School of Art, he has navigated the commercial and artistic waters as a successful professional photographer. 

Adding to his own family history, photographic assignments introduced Shaun to many luminaries in entertainment, sports, and politics, as well as the regular opportunity to travel to the far corners of the earth. His photographs are known for their bright colors and unusual points of view of what otherwise would be conventional subjects, each image telling a rich, imaginative story, often told quite charismatically by its author. More recently, Shaun has experimented with digital manipulation of his photographs to affect a more interpretive aesthetic.   

Into his second decade with the organization, Shaun is tremendously proud of what FCA has achieved and how far it has come. With its new space in a growing city, and interest in the Falls Church arts scene mushrooming with artists, patrons and visitors alike, the future is as bright and textured as the artwork itself…thanks to the ongoing contributions of all, Shaun Van Steyn prominently amongst them.