The Torpedo Factory Art Center, The Art League, and Multiple Exposures Gallery are partnering with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) to kick off their national campaign “Keys From the Crisis.” Through a variety of art related activities, the art center will help the NCRC tell the story of the foreclosure crisis to the public in a very visual way. The barrage of statistics, audible and written information about the foreclosure crisis have made it difficult for the average American to digest what is truly happening to families and neighborhoods. This exhibit humanizes an abstraction, presenting a visual explanation for what has become a national crisis. This powerful approach expresses the reality that so many Americans are facing today.

Please donate your spare keys

The NCRC will be collecting keys and the stories of affected families throughout their campaign, and we will assist them throughout the month of September in collecting as many keys as possible. These keys are physical symbols that represent every family that has lost a home to foreclosure due to unfair lending practices.


Calendar of Events:

August 21- September 26: Systems Failure exhibition in the Target Gallery

September 1- September 30:
• David H. Wells’ photo-essay, “Foreclosed Dreams,” that explores the empty homes littering the American landscape in the wake of the housing crisis on exhibit in the Site 3 Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, and a large scale projection at The Art League Gallery/National Harbor Location
• “House of String”: Large Scale installation located on the main floor of the Torpedo Factory, created by Torpedo Factory Artists serving on the Target Gallery Committee

September 9, 6-9pm : Second Thursday Art Night
• Target Gallery’s Systems Failure “Meet the Artists" Reception – 6-8pm
• National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), Special Presentation at 7pm by John Taylor, President and CEO of the NCRC
• David H. Wells, artist talk, in the Multiple Exposures Gallery at 8pm

September 11, 12-4: Art Activated
• 1:30pm -Target Gallery hosts SPARK: art from writing, writing from art – a spoken word event, along with a hands-on writing activity for the public. Focus is on the Systems Failure exhibit and the Keys from the Crisis campaign

September 23, 7pm: Target Gallery hosts a Curator Discussion with juror Sarah Tanguy for Systems Failure Exhibition. Sarah Tanguy is an independent curator, arts writer, and critic, as well as a curator for the Art in Embassies Program, based in Washington, DC.

Systems Failure
Exhibition Dates: August 21- September 26
Reception: September 9, 6-8pm

Special Programming: Sept. 23, 7pm
Juror Discussion with Sarah Tanguy



Target Gallery will be presenting an all media juried exhibition, Systems Failure. The exhibition will run from August 21 through September 26 with two special events. The first ‘meet the artists’ reception will be during our Second Thursday Art Night, September 9 from 6-8pm and the closing reception will be with our juror Sarah Tanguy for a Juror’s Discussion of the exhibition on September 23 beginning at 7pm.

This exhibition examines the current crises facing our country and the world and the plight of the people who must suffer from the failures. Our juror for this exhibition is Sarah Tanguy, an independent curator, arts writer and critic, as well as, a curator for the Art in Embassies Program based in Washington DC. The submitted works explored subjects that ranged from financial and housing crises, botched environmental policies and government responses to Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill, failed healthcare systems, and the fall of the church to questionable military policy. Rather than narrow the focus, Tanguy chose 39 works for the exhibition that poetically express the human cost of these breakdowns.

The artists in the exhibition are from around the country with 5 local DC Metro area artists included in the exhibition. The work on exhibit encompasses a variety of media and themes. The juror remarks in her statement that with the artists she chose, a few emphasized the personal and existential or would use surrogates to convey their message. Some of the artists borrowed from art history to make haunting 21st Century updates while a few endowed new life through recycling. By turns witty and serious, the artists in Systems Failure share a deep concern for the current state of the world, while maintaining their individual emotional and conceptual perspectives.

http://dancersindialogue.blogspot.com/2010/07/on-view-last-night.html#more

Excerpt: Karen Reedy has a sophisticated way of building relationships through choreography and developing these images over time and space. Nothing feels forced or imposed or gimmicky, yet the images are stunning and the dancers are exquisitely trained. She excels at savoring the human qualities of a dancer while revealing their artistry, and this is both rare and beautiful.

She is an artist who honors craft and communication. I think the image of a finely-tuned instrument best captures this sense of grace: not too loose, not too tight.

It was an ideal evening: a sliver of time that was dry in between the rains offering a moment for us to enjoy an impeccable collaboration. I have never seen a kayaker/artist, choreographer, dancers and musician come together to create such a harmonious and exquisite interlude.

WHO: Alison Sigethy, artist and professional kayaker and Karen Reedy Dance

WHAT: A kayak and dance performance inspired by the "Art in Balance" Exhibition

WHEN: July 29th at 6pm

WHERE: on the Waterfront side of the Torpedo Factory; performance begins with Alison Sigethy in her kayak on the Potomac and then the dancers lead the audience into the Torpedo Factory ending in the Target Gallery

Description: On July 29th a special performance by modern dance group, Karen Reedy Dance (KRD), and artist, Alison Sigethy will begin at 6pm at the Torpedo Factory. Alison Sigethy, sculptor and professional kayaker, will begin the performance with a solo kayak performance on the Potomac River right outside of the Torpedo Factory with musical accompaniment by musician/percussionist Jeff Franca.

The artistic "play" will be passed to the dancers outside in the spirit of improvisation. Eventually, the audience will be invited to follow the music and dancers into the Torpedo Factory. The journey will continue inside with performers of KRD to include a dance inspired by water called "Undertow," danced by New York artists J. Alexis Thury and Rachael Venner. Other dance works will travel through the space towards the Target Gallery, where Karen Reedy finds choreographic inspiration for the evening in the exhibition Art in Balance: Rhythm and Repetition by Marsha Staiger and Alison Sigethy. Other performers will include Karen Reedy and Constance Dinapoli.


Alison Sigethy, professional kayaker:
After 20 years in marketing and print production, Alison left the corporate world to pursue her love of paddling and art. She stays busy making kayaks and other environment-inspired sculptures in her glass studio and paddles whenever she can. Alison competed in the 2006 Greenland National Kayak Championships, was the first international woman to compete in all nine events, and medaled in eight of them. She set records for her class in Rope Gymnastics and Distance Harpoon.

Karen Reedy Dance:
Karen Reedy Dance is a professional modern dance company committed to strengthening the presence and integrity of dance in the Washington DC metropolitan area, particularly in Alexandria, VA, and beyond. KRD is devoted to nurturing artists through the exploration of new work and collaboration with other art forms, in both traditional live performance and site-specific venues, as well as looking towards future possibilities for the evolution of performance. In the community, KRD provides opportunities for education, awareness, and appreciation of contemporary dance through live performance and educational programming. Believing that dance should not be an exclusive art form, KRD pursues opportunities to reach all members of the community.


Marsha Staiger and Alison Sigethy:
These two artists present Art in Balance: Rhythm and Repetition, an exhibit that investigates the paradox of balance, the nature of rhythm, and the beauty and order created by repetition. Staiger's and Sigethy's works are very different but have in common a clean, contemporary aesthetic. The works play well off each other and reveal a fresh aspect of each artist's work that would be missed without the counterpoint provided by the other. Staiger's vibrant color palette is calmed and soothed by Sigethy's soft monochrome tones. Sigethy's tranquil round forms are energized by Staiger's horizontal bands that pulse and vibrate with energy. The result is a dynamic interplay that sings in perfect harmony. The exhibit runs through August 15. Visit our website to view the artwork at www.torpedofactory.org.