Last weekend, ten art enthusiasts left their rain boots and umbrellas at the door, shaking off rain drops to soak in the art.

Hurricane Irene caused train stations and airports to close, but the Irvine Contemporary braved the storm to keep its doors open for a block party commemorating the closing of the art gallery’s 14th Street location.

“The show must go on, we’re moving out next week so this is actually our last weekend,” director and curator Michael Irvine said.

The Dupont Circle gallery’s directors only saw the hurricane as an added attraction, nothing to impede upon the celebration.

“If you have a lot of history with Irvine Contemporary, you know that we are not scared of natural disasters,” co-director Lauren Gentile said.

Gentile recalls an opening occurring during snowstorms in 2009, when half the art pieces slated to appear in the show did not arrive.

The storm kept the event-goers indoors, as local DJs Will Eastmen and Yoko K performed. Flying Dog Brewery, who believes in creative works, sponsored the evening.

The gallery taped pictures of the missing artwork to the wall, created snow forts outside and still managed to sell some artwork.

“We’re not scared of the storms,” Gentile said.

The closing of Irvine Contemporary – high rent is forcing the gallery to shut its doors – also marks the end of an artist tribute collection, “Tribute 2,” a series featuring artists previously shown by Irvine Contemporary.

Featured artists include Shepard Fairey, who was first brought to Washington by Irvine himself, Gaia, Melissa Ichiuji, Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi, Akemi Maegawa, Sebastian Martorana, Alexa Meade, Susana Raab, Kerry Skarbakka and Oliver Vernon.

Fairey, a street-artist, is best known for his “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign and his Barack Obama “Hope” poster. He is also featured in the cult-hit documentary, “Exit Through the Gift Shop.”

To honor street artists like Fairey and Gaia, Irvine Contemporary bought the gallery’s outdoor back wall from the building’s owner, Jim Alpo, to showcase street art.

“Street art is about public space, it cannot move,” Irvine said.

While Irvine could not disclose the new location of Irvine Contemporary, the gallery will continue to showcase work by the D.C. art community. This September, Irvine Contemporary will have a booth at the Emerge Art Fair, where it will exhibit an extension of the artist’s works that are currently on display.

“We hope that people look back at our presence in this space as a place where they always have friendly people to talk to, where they have access to international and national artists that they would never have been able to see if we hadn’t gone out of our way to introduce these artists that we brought from so many different states and cities to Washington,” Gentile said.

The doors of Irvine Contemporary will officially close Aug. 30.