Tag Archives: Featured

Factory Flow Morning Yoga

Find inner peace and creativity in this morning series focused on art, health, and imagination. Led by certified instructor Alejandra O’Connor, sessions are judgement-free for all skill levels.

Please arrive 15 minutes early. Bring a mat, towel, and water bottle.

Pay what you can / suggested donation: $10 at the door.

Reserve Your Slot

 

About the Instructor

Alejandra O’Connor began regularly practicing yoga in 2014 as a way to exercise while joining her Indonesian host family in Ramadan fasting. After Ramadan was over, she was hooked on how the movement and breath combined to allow space for stillness. She earned her 200 hour adult teaching certification from Latitude Yoga Co. in Stafford, VA in May 2017; and her Kidding Around Yoga certification in March 2018. Currently she primarily teaches children. As such, her adult classes are combination of play, dance, and quiet meditation.

24th Annual Art Safari

An Alexandria tradition for almost a quarter-century, Art Safari returns for a day of hands-on activities for kids and families. Dozens of artists lead budding art enthusiasts in exciting and creative projects throughout the building.

Dress to get a little messy. Great for kids ages 5+. Younger children may need some extra help, but will still have a lot of fun!

Please RSVP

 

List of Activities

  • Grand Hall – Papier-Mâché Animal – Led by Lisa Schumaier
    Children use simple paper and paste to transform a wire frame into a wild animal. Arrive early to fill in the wireframe. Stay late to see the finished piece.
  • Grand Hall – Clay Experience – Led by Tracie Griffith Tso
    Children play and experiment with a piece of wet clay to mold and shape into any form they can imagine. Potters will demonstrate their technique for throwing clay on a pottery wheel.
  • Grand Hall – Button Making – Led by Alexandria Library
    Alexandria Library staff help design and create custom buttons.
  • Grand Hall – Doodle Party – Led by Abrakadoodle
    Doodle, scribble, sketch, and draw in this creative drawing project.
  • Grand Hall – Creative Reusables – Led by UpCycle Creative Reuse Center
    Rethink waste and use recycled materials to create new, wearable art.
  • Studio 7 – Group Painting Project – Led by Mina Oka Hanig
    Kids and parents alike paint a large 10’×10’ canvas spread on the studio floor.
  • Studio 21 – Gallery Scavenger Hunt – Led by The Art League Gallery
    Find special things within The Art League Gallery’s current exhibitions. Each completed hunt earns a prize.
  • Studio 25 – Sumi Black-Ink Painting – Led by Jamaliah Morais
    Learn about this East-Asian artform and experiment with the special black ink, brushes, and rice paper.
  • Studio 29 – Fiber Collage – Led by Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery
    Create a dynamic, textural collage using bits of fabric and fiber.
  • 2ndFloor Hall – Easel Stations – Led by Christine Cardellino
    With acrylic paint and paper, children paint anything they can imagine. As the works dry on the balconies, the catwalks burst with color and creativity.
  • All 3 floors and Studio 325 – Silk screen printing – Led by Patrick Sargentof Printmakers, Inc. 
    Visit four different inking stations spread across the building to create a full-color silk-screen image. The final station is in Studio 325.
  • Studio 326 – Macaroni Rigatoni Necklaces – Led by Sissy Cutchen
    Design, decorate, and string pasta together for an original piece of wearable art.
  • Studio 329 – Metallic Leaf Impressions – Led by Nancy Ramsey
    Capture the season’s beauty with leaf rubbings in beautiful metallic colors.
  • Third Floor – Scrap City – Led by AIA Northern Virginia
    Turn cereal boxes into houses and cardboard tubes into trees. Work with professional architects to imagine new buildings and add them to the grid of Old Town Alexandria.
  • Studio 327 – Drawing on the Past – Led by Alexandria Archaeology Museum
    Artifact illustration is still used by archaeologists to reveal details that otherwise might be missed by a photograph. Visitors will choose a real artifact to measure and illustrate on their lab sheet. Artistic representations of other artifacts will also be on display throughout the museum. There will also be a demo going on for part of the day that shows how dendritic mochaware designs were made on ceramics in the late 18th and early 19th century.

The Late Shift: Memento Mori

Second Fridays through October 

The Art Center’s signature evening series features eclectic art and activities. In among three floors of open artists’ studios, find gallery receptions, stimulating artist talks, pop-up performances, hands-on projects, lively music, and more.

In October, we celebrate the opening of Memento Mori in the Target Gallery. Latin for “remember you must die,” Memento Mori explores the concept of death and contemplates how this inevitability impacts us all. Gallery talk is at 8 pm.

Hands-on art projects and visual-striking art installations across the Grand Hall with Lalalu Mexican Art and Events by David Rosa. Body Painting Installation with Rebecca Rose . Interactive project “States of Being Traced” with Claire Brandt. Receptions for Seasonal Art Installations and Site 3. Tarot Readings by Capital Tarot Society. Opening Reception and performance in the Mason Arts Project Studio by Kate Fitzpatrick. Welcome the new Fall 2019 Post-Grad resident Katana Lippart.  In Studio 5, The Omi Collective provides rainbow swirls and hands-on projects. 

Pre-registration Requested 

Register Now

Exhibitions & Receptions  

Target Gallery (Studio 2)

Memento Mori Opening Reception
Juror’s Talk:  8 pm
The newest exhibition in Target Gallery explores death and the way it shapes life. Memento Mori, Latin for “remember that you will die,” confronts this single most inevitable fact of all human existence. Juried by Laura Roulet, an independent curator and writer, specializing in contemporary and Latin American art.

Post-Grad Studio (Studio 319)

Welcome Katana Lippart
Katana Lippart is a collage artist and printmaker working in the DMV. She graduated from George Mason University with her bachelor’s in fine arts in 2018. Katana hopes to be able to share printmaking, book arts, and collage with the surrounding community over the course of this program. These mediums have given her the necessary platform to reflect on both personal and collective narratives relating to home. 

Mason Arts Project Studio (Studio 8)

Welcome Kate Fitzpatrick
Performance: 8:45 pm | Talk: 9 pm 
Kate performs Wyrd Lot, based on the Norns in Norse mythology. Wyrd, Verdandi, and Skuld,  are sisters of fate and caretakers of the tree of life. The three bring order into the human world by weaving the thread of fate for everyone. This performance is a play on the concepts of fate and meaning. Combining language and symbols with the idea of wyrd, points to how language determines identity and forms understanding of the world. 

Site 3

Potomac Photography
Photographer Jo Ann Tooley curates an exhibition of photographs that capture the Potomac River as it curls through our region.


Gallery 311

Back & Forth
Paper art and photography by artists Rosa Leff and Sally Canzoneri.

Grand Hall & 3rd Floor

2019 Fall Art Installations Jean Jinho Kim and Katelyn Wood
Artists Jean Jinho Kim and Katelyn Wood are on view the 2019 Fall Art Installations. Curated by Jenny Wu, a D.C. based artist and curator and former 2015 Torpedo Factory Art Center Post-Graduate Resident. Both artists and the curator will be on hand to answer questions about the work and share about upcoming projects.   

 

Hands-On Activities

The Omi Collective (Studio 5)

Rainbow Swirls
The Omi Collective will create a night of rainbow swirls of sight, smell, and sound. Swirl through curated color, sound, and aroma–luring you through the mystical heart journey down the rainbow path-a dreamscape filled with Naomi Christianson’s Dragons, Unicorns, and Mermaids, Michael Fischerkeller‘s cosmic truths, and Fierce Sonia‘s fractal queens. The studio will also host Essential Botany’s self love potion station and Sanam Emami’s tarot and oracle readings.

Grand Hall Guest Artists

LaLaLu Mexican Art and Events by David Rosa

Inspired by the theme “Memento Mori,” the DC-based arts and event teams of Lalalu Mexican Art and Events by David Rosa have teamed up with the Art Center to provide a series of art installations, activities, and a community discussion around Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead. This annual event celebrated in Latinx communities to honor the memories of loved ones that have passed on.

  • Ofrenda – Installation and Altar-Making Workshop
    An 8 foot altar styled as a traditional ofrenda (offering) will be on display at the base of the spiral staircase in the North Hall. Organizers will lead families in a hands-on project where children and adults are shown how to build their own altars, which they can take home in the tradition of ofrendas offered by families during Dia De Los Muertos.
  • Trajinera Parade Float – Art Installation
    As featured in this year’s DC Funk Parade, the Trajinera Parade Float will be on display for one night only in the Grand Hall. This larger-than-life art piece is a celebration of both the ephemeral nature of life and the importance of treasuring and uplifting the memories of those we love. 
  • Face Painting
    Have your face painted by professional artists. Take a selfie and post using the hashtags #artsALX and #torpedofactory. 
  • Community Coffin Painting Project
    Every year, local DMV artists were invited paint a handcrafted wooden coffin. For this evening, one of these handmade objects will be set up in the Grand Hall for visitors to help paint and leave their mark. The finished work will be showcased at Lalalu Mexican Art’s and Events by David Rosa’s November Festival in DC. 
  • Community Discussion – Riverview Room (Studio 208)
    7:30 pm and 9:30 pm
    Learn a brief history of Dia de los Muertos, as well as the traditions and customs of this holiday as a means to unpack grief, develop safe spaces, and build as a community. Understand a culture that adds to the beautiful tapestry of the Alexandria and DC area, and find out how you can get involved. 

Claire Brandt

States of Being Traced
Model strikes a pose for a minute or two while Claire makes a whole body trace. The portraits layer on top of each other, creating an accumulation of figures and a whole, abstract drawing that captures fleeting form and movement.   

Rebecca Rose and Marcia Furman

Body Painting & Selfie Station
Inspired by La Calavera Catrina of Dia De Los Muertos and the theme of Memento Mori, watch as Rebecca and Marcia transform two models into living calaveras before your very eyes. Pose between the living sculptures for a selfie that you can share with friends! Remember to use the hashtags #artsALX and #torpedofactory. 

The Capital Tarot Society

Tarot Card Readings
Visit the Grand Hall to find tables for a free reading provided by the Capital Tarot Society. 

About the Artists

KATE FITZPATRICK

Kate Fitzpatrick is a painter, MFA candidate, and Graduate Lecturer at George Mason University. Her work challenges the viewer to think about the nature of language, symbols, and meaning. Instead of replicating known letters or rearranging words to make new meaning, she uses marks to simultaneously deny transfer of information and invite the viewer to create new meaning. The viewer observes the “postscript” and becomes the foreigner, experiencing a new language for the first time. The unintelligible calligraphy functions as writing and it is our inability to unlock the information contained in those marks which invites a dialogue about the nature of language and meaning. We can enjoy the formal qualities of the letters and how they’re put together, but cannot fathom their intent. Because of this, we can appreciate the text as a container but are left with letters that don’t function as they should. Fitzpatrick’s postscript invites a dialogue about the relationship between symbols and meaning that viewers can use to create a new reality.  

The Capital Tarot Society (CTS) is a diverse group of Tarot enthusiasts in the Washington DC area whose members include everyone from hobby practitioners to experienced professionals, and individuals from all industries and parts of the world. CTS hosts monthly meetings and additional events where those interested in tarot can come to learn and share, and also provides free tarot readings at community events in order to educate the public about this beneficial and often misunderstood practice.  If you have any questions about CTS or are interested in membership, reach out to [email protected].  

The Omi Collective provides artist-inspired fashion and design products to consumers seeking unique, authentic, and artful items to inspire, and add to, their personal style. They maintain mindful and conscious support for the artists who create them. Stop by Studio 5 for hands-on projects with the artists and see their brand-new mural design on the studio floor. 

Claire Brandt’s work has been shown in Seattle, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Washington D.C.. Brandt has been awarded residencies at the Horse and Art Research Program, Jentel Arts Foundation and the Vermont Studio Center.  She received her A.B. in English and American Literature from Harvard and an MFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. She was raised in Bellingham & Tacoma, Washington. 

Rebecca Rose is a Washington, DC based artist whose focus is on painting both the human body and the traditional canvas. To Rose, body painting is about self love, self acceptance and being comfortable in the skin you are in. It’s a celebration of life. 

Marcia Furman is a Washington, D.C. based artist who has 15 years of experience in making art her job. Marcia graduated with a degree in Graphic Design, but her passion and claim to fame has been her surrealist fine art, predominantly done in acrylic. She has recently branched out into watercolor and other media, often focusing on more realistic themes, proving herself to be well-rounded and skilled in a variety of styles and techniques. 

 

Factory Flow Morning Yoga

Find inner peace and creativity in this morning series focused on art, health, and imagination. Led by certified instructor Alejandra O’Connor, sessions are judgement-free for all skill levels.

Please arrive 15 minutes early. Bring a mat, towel, and water bottle.

Pay what you can / suggested donation: $10 at the door.

Pre-registration Required

 

About the Instructor

Alejandra O’Connor began regularly practicing yoga in 2014 as a way to exercise while joining her Indonesian host family in Ramadan fasting. After Ramadan was over, she was hooked on how the movement and breath combined to allow space for stillness. She earned her 200 hour adult teaching certification from Latitude Yoga Co. in Stafford, VA in May 2017; and her Kidding Around Yoga certification in March 2018. Currently she primarily teaches children. As such, her adult classes are combination of play, dance, and quiet meditation.

Memento Mori

Memento Mori
September 28 – November 3

Opening Reception: Friday, October 11, 7 – 10pm, with juror talk at 8pm

The Gallery will be closed on Monday, October 14 in observance of Indigenous People’s Day.*

 

The newest exhibition in Target Gallery, the contemporary exhibitions space of Torpedo Factory Art Center, explores death and the way it shapes life. Memento Mori, Latin for “remember that you will die,” confronts this single most inevitable fact of all human existence.

“The intention is to create a dialogue about death in a way that every viewer can relate,” said Curator of Exhibitions Leslie Mounaime. “The goal being to facilitate personal connections between the artists in the show and the audience experiencing it.”

Laura Roulet, a D.C.-based independent curator and writer, juried the exhibition. She selected 28 works by artists from across the world, ten of whom are local to the region.

“These artists express fear and sadness, as well as comfort and spiritual faith. Many of these artworks are deeply personal, referring to the artist’s own brush with death or loss of a loved one,” said Roulet. “Whether through figurative, abstract or conceptual language, I believe this exhibition includes artworks that will speak to all.”

The participating artists are:

Deidre Argyle,  Springfield, MO
Brandin Barón,  San Francisco, CA
Irene Clouthier,  Oakton, VA 
Ceci Cole McInturff, Alexandria, VA 
Scott Eagle, Greenville, NC
Madaline Gardner,  Greencastle, PA
Patrick Giblin, Springfield, VA 
Tom Greaves, Washington, DC 
Kerry Hentges, Fairfax, VA 
Kym Hepworth, Springfield, GA
M.A. Kleen, Lorton, VA 
Angela Kleis, Fairfax, VA 
Scott Ludwig, Boone, NC
Robyn Moore, Wellington, KY
Julie Ann Nagle, Jersey City, NJ
Julianne Nash, Brooklyn, NY
Sebastian Perinotti, New York, NY
Aziz Raad, Montgomery Village, MD
Jon-Joseph Russo, Washington, DC 
Claire Schmalzried, Dallas, TX
Robert Schultz, Salem, VA 
Henrik Sundqvist, Arlington, VA
Adam Swart, Montclair, NJ
Caterina Tedeschini, Rome, Italy
David Terrar, Gaithersburg, MD
Kristine Thompson, Baton Rouge, LA
MJ Tyson, Hoboken, NJ
Patrick Vincent, Nashville, TN

Madaline Gardner’s Diamond Wave II serves as the center piece for this exhibition, this large diamond shaped work has a monochromatic palette and hypnotic silver-lined formations that create a void, making the viewer question the concept of permanence in life.

Claire Schmalzried’s Game of Whispers, depict Tarot symbols to signify obstacles of the subconscious. Death as transformation and change, temperance as harmony, and the Devil as self-destructive desire.

M.J. Tyson’s 35 Norman Avenue explores the reincarnation of personal objects. Tyson took objects of deceased residents from 35 Norman Avenue in an estate sale and brought them together, by literally melding them into one sculpture, giving new life to them, considering the cycle of life and death.

Memento Mori runs Saturday, September 28, through Sunday, November 3, 2019. The opening reception will be Friday, October 11, 7 – 10 pm, with a Gallery Talk featuring artist comments at 8 pm. Target Gallery is open daily from 10 – 6 pm and until 9 pm on Thursdays.

 

About the Juror

Laura Roulet is an independent curator and writer, specializing in contemporary and Latin American art. She was one of five international curators chosen for the citywide public art project, 5 x 5, a major initiative sponsored by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities in 2012. She has organized exhibitions in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. including at the OAS Art Museum of the Americas, American University Museum, Mexican Cultural Institute, Hillyer Art Space, WPA, Arlington Arts Center, VisArts, and the DC Art Center. She was a mentoring curator for DCAC and the first mentoring curator for VisArts in Rockville, MD in 2015. Roulet has written for Sculpture magazine, American Art, Art Journal, and Art Nexus, as well as many catalogue essays, encyclopedia entries, and the book Contemporary Puerto Rican Installation Art, the Guagua Aerea, the Trojan Horse and the Termite. She worked on the Ana Mendieta retrospective, organized by the Hirshhorn Museum in 2004, and contributed to that catalogue.

 

Target Gallery

 Target Gallery is the contemporary exhibition space for the Torpedo Factory Art Center. We host eight exhibitions annually featuring a variety of themes, artists, and media focused on the latest trends in contemporary art.
*  Target Gallery is closed on all City holidays

Visit Target Gallery on Pinterest

Explore past exhibitions, staff favorites, exhibition inspiration and more!

Visit Target Gallery’s profile on Pinterest.

 

2nd Annual Beer & Wine Torpedo Garden

A trip to the King Street Art Festival isn’t complete without a visit to the Art Center. Enjoy a glass of craft beer or wine while exploring all three floors of artists’ studios. Meet the artists and find original art created on-site. Recharge and refresh with exhibitions, games, and music.

Thanks to our vendors: Port City Brewing, Sonoma Cellar, LostBoy Cider, and America’s Favorite Gourmet Popcorn.

 

 

 

 

RSVP Here

All Weekend in the Grand Hall

Saturday

  • 12:30–1 p.m. Studio 33: Chris Erney
    Fins & Feathers: Grinding Details in Stainless Steel
  • 1:30–2 p.m. Studio 337: Alvena McCormick
    Acrylic Paint Layering Techniques
  • 2–2:30 p.m. Studio 25: Jamaliah Morais
    Asian Calligraphic Landscape Painting
  • 2:30–3 p.m. Studio 226: Dana Lehrer Danze
    Pottery Wheel
  • 3:30–4 p.m. Studio 328: Sermin Ciddi
    Contemporary Miniature Painting
  • 4–4:30 p.m. Studio 329: Nancy Ramsey
    Oil & Cold Wax Painting

Sunday

  • 12:30–1 p.m. Studio 224: Rosemary Covey
    Woodblock Printing without a Press
  • 1–2 p.m. Studio 337: Guy Jones
    Activity: Drawing with Imagination
  • 2–3 p.m. Studio 3: Vita Sims
    Activity: Stencil Painting
  • 3–3:30 p.m. Studio 223: Natalie Abrams
    Mold Making
  • 3:30–4 p.m. Studio 4: Tsolmon Damba
    Contemporary Mongolian Painting
  • 4–4:30 p.m. Studio 313: Christine Cardellino
    Transferring Photographic Images to a Painting

 

Photo by Matthieu Joannon on Unsplash

Post-Grad Artist Talk: Kim Sandara

As her three-month post-grad residency comes to a close, Kim Sandara talks with moderator Leslie Mounaime, Curator of Exhibitions at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, about her experiences during her time at the Torpedo Factory. Hear her speak about how her residency inspired her work and process, what she’s done during her time, and what she will be doing next.

Join us in the main hall of the Art Center for her talk and then a mingle in the Post-Grad studio #319 after the talk is over.

RSVP on Eventbrite

About Kim

Kim Sandara is a queer, Laotian/Vietnamese, artist based in Northern Virginia. In 2016, she graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art, with a BFA in General Fine Arts. Accessibility to art is a key part of her creative process. Her overall focus is to encourage empathy, wonder, self-reflection, and connection. During the residency, she will continue documenting her coming out story. She will create a stop-motion animation promoting her graphic novel aimed at helping parents of color to understand and accept their queer children. She hopes contribute proceeds from sales to National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance and True Colors Fund.

Kim has worked at the Hirshhorn Gallery and the Phillips Collection, observing how art is presented and digested by its audience. She is presently a guide at Glenstone Museum’s Emerging Professionals Program, where she facilitates discussions about contemporary art. She has shown work at 7Drum City, Uptown Arthouse, SAMASAMA, Womxn Fuck Shit Up, and Arts x Action.

45th Anniversary Salute

On this date in 1974, Torpedo Factory Art Center officially opened its doors to the public. Join us for an afternoon honoring 45 years of history and toast to the founding artists of the Art Center.

Several special guests will honor the sapphire anniversary, with remarks starting at 3:30 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Donald Beyer and Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson will both present proclamations. Marian Van Landingham, the Art Center’s foundress, will speak and meet with visitors.

To commemorate the anniversary, guests can create a silkscreen print to take home, visit select studios for artist demonstrations and craft hands-on projects. Light refreshments will be provided.

In 1974, Van Landingham, through her role in Alexandria’s Bicentennial Committee, proposed to renovate the derelict plant into usable studio spaces. The City agreed and hired her as director in what was expected to be a three-year experiment.

Almost a half-century later, the Art Center is a cultural destination in Alexandria with 165 visual artists, 82 studios, and seven galleries, including Target Gallery, the Art Center’s contemporary exhibition space. It is managed by Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities through the Office of the Arts.

This year also marks the building’s centennial year on the waterfront. To mark the combined anniversaries, the Art Center will host an Anniversary Ball on Saturday, November 16, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Pictured: Marian Van Landingham speaking at the Art Center Dedication during Alexandria’s Bicentennial Celebration, July 13, 1974.

The Late Shift: Autumn Evenings

Second Fridays through October 

The Art Center’s signature evening series features eclectic art and activities. In among three floors of open artists’ studios, find gallery receptions, stimulating artist talks, pop-up performances, hands-on projects, lively music, and more. 

Celebrate the start of autumn with the Late Shift’s “Autumn Evenings.” Artist Alice Fornari provides origami-inspired projects in partnership with Target Gallery’s “Habitats” exhibition. Reception for Zia Palmer’s “Las Orillas del Mundo” in the Mason Arts Project Studio. DC Zine Fest artists show their zine-making process and talk about the local zine scene. Kim Sandara concludes her residency in the Post Graduate Studio and collects queer and LGBTQI ally stories from visitors for her “You’re Not Alone” project.

Pre-registration Requested 

Register Now

Target Gallery

Exhibition: Habitats

Target Gallery‘s current group exhibition explores the relationship between humans and nature creating a dialogue on the impact that we make on the earth and our environments.

North Hall

Artist Project: Alice Fornari (IG: alicefolds)

Alice Fornari, one of the artists in Target Gallery’s Habitats, invites visitors to fold individual modules from recycled paper which will be attached together to create one large completed piece by the end of the event. Stop by her table to hear more about her process and contribute to the artwork.

South Hall

Hands-On Project: Kim Sandara, Summer Post-Grad Resident (IG: kimthediamond)
You’re Not Alone: Queer Stories of the DMV Community
Come share queer stories with artist Kim Sandara! Anonymous stories will be collected to circulate in the community. Descriptions can take on any tone/mood the storyteller wants to convey. All are welcome to share, queer and ally stories alike.

Meet the Artists: DC Zine Fest (IG: dczinefest)
The DC Zinefest is an independent event designed to provide a space for zine-makers, self-published artists, and writers to share their work with each other and the Washington, D.C., community. Meet some of the contributing artists, see their works, talk about the Fest, and learn how to join this growing network. Organized by Katana Lippart.

Grand Hall   

Demonstration and Artist Talk: Deirdra Hazeley (IG: artbydeehaze)
July 2019 Visiting Artist Deirdra Hazeley returns to the Art Center for one night to provide an art demonstration and answer questions about her summer experiences as an artist-in-residence.

Hands-On Project: Autumn Evenings Mural
Take part in an interactive mural project. Highlight your favorite autumn moments with friends and family.

Mason Arts Project Studio

Reception: Zia Palmer: Orillas del Mundo (IG: _ziapalmer)
Las Orillas Del Mundo is a photography installation that investigates the longing for a place that once was. The work explores emotional ties to a homeland by capturing the desolate landscape that defines an ancestral history. The motivation in creating this series is driven by the shifting landscape of identity and how a sense of place can be abstracted or distorted over time. The abstraction of history, time, and identity is explored through photography, genealogy, family photos, and found objects. The question of what makes us who we are becomes the lens for re creating a sense of belonging and identity.

Studio 5

Hands-On Project: The Omi Collective (IG: theomicollective)
Rainbow Swirls
Stop by Studio 5 for hands-on projects with the artists and see their brand-new mural design on the studio floor. Swirl through curated color, sound, and aroma–luring you through the mystical heart’s journey down the rainbow path- a dreamscape filled with Naomi Christianson’s Unicorns, Michael Fischerkeller’s cosmic truths, and Fierce Sonia’s fractal queens. There will be lounge with squishy cushions where you can try on love adornments from Naomi’s upscaled art denim, deep dive into your hearts path with a tarot reading with Chantel R. Bennett, or swirl into healing your inner rainbow with creatrix Cierra Ross’s reiki consultation.

 

About the Artists

Alice Fornari is a self-taught modular origamist from Brooklyn, NY, currently based in Washington, DC. She is especially interested in integrating sustainability into her work, and does this by utilizing the patterns found in recycled paper and plastic. Alice’s background is in evolutionary biology and natural history collection preservation. She has a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and an MA in Museum Studies and currently works as a Museum Technician at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. A critical dimension of Alice’s work: social and environmental justice. Alice has showcased her planar modules at the American Museum of Natural History’s annual Holiday Tree for the past three years, constructing flora and fauna inspired by modular origami forms, as well as in Target Gallery’s current “Habitats” show.

Kim Sandara is a queer, Laotian/Vietnamese artist based in Northern Virginia. A graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, Sandara’s narrative and abstract works encourage empathy, wonder and self-reflection. Sandara’s work has been featured in many D.C. community events including a recent workshop at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is currently working on a graphic novel on her coming out story.

Deirdra Hazeley is from Brooklyn, NY, and resides in Washington, DC.  She creates realistic and abstract portraits of Black men and women. Hazeley explores beauty and dignity in her portraits while including decorative elements of West and East African mark making.  She uses acrylic, oil and watercolor paint. Hazeley is a graduate of Cornell University, Florida International University and Columbia University. She studied abroad in Spain with the School of Visual Arts. She was a resident artist at the Art Students League Residency at Vytlacil and the Vermont Studio Center. She was a participant artist in the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition Iggy Pop Life Class: A Project by Jeremy Deller, which traveled to the Royal Academy of Arts in London, UK. Her drawings from the aforementioned shows are in the Brooklyn Museum’s collection. Hazeley’s art has been shown at Brooklyn College, ARTs East New York and DC Arts Center. She was a participant in Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Visiting Artist Program and is a resident artist at Palette 22.

During her residency in M.A.P.S., Katana Lippart will concentrate on a series that will help resolve the broken ties between self and home. This has held a significant amount of weight in her life and continues to shape how she perceives the world. Katana hopes to be able to share printmaking, book arts, and collage with the surrounding community over the course of this program. These mediums have given her the necessary platform to reflect on both personal and collective narratives relating to home.

The DC Zinefest, occurring annually, features self-published zinesters from DC and surrounding areas. The Fest is a one-day independent event designed to provide a space for zine-makers, self-published artists, and writers to share their work with each other and the Washington, D.C., community. It is always FREE & Open to the Public! All Ages! The DC Zinefest is also a designated safer space, which means that it is intended to be a welcoming, engaging and supportive environment free of oppressive actions, behaviors, and language. Stay tuned on our social media for more upcoming ZineLabs and events!

The Omi Collective provides artist-inspired fashion and design products to consumers seeking unique, authentic, and artful items to inspire, and add to, their personal style. They maintain mindful and conscious support for the artists who create them.

Factory Flow Morning Yoga – September

Find inner peace and creativity in this morning series focused on art, health, and imagination. Led by certified instructor Alejandra O’Connor, sessions are judgement-free for all skill levels.

Please arrive 15 minutes early. Bring a mat, towel, and water bottle.

Suggested donation: $10 at the door.

Reserve your spot

About the Instructor

Alejandra O’Connor began regularly practicing yoga in 2014 as a way to exercise while joining her Indonesian host family in Ramadan fasting. After Ramadan was over, she was hooked on how the movement and breath combined to allow space for stillness. She earned her 200 hour adult teaching certification from Latitude Yoga Co. in Stafford, VA in May 2017; and her Kidding Around Yoga certification in March 2018. Currently she primarily teaches children. As such, her adult classes are combination of play, dance, and quiet meditation.