Tag Archives: Featured

RITUALISMS

Reception: Friday, February 8, 2018 | 7-10 pm

Target Gallery presents RITUALISMS, a group exhibition that explores how rituals are an intrinsic part of the human experience. Whether it be through personal rituals, such as daily habits or quirks, or through a larger cultural context, such as religious or cultural ceremonies, the work in this exhibition will address the universality of rituals and how they foster connection or isolation.


Participating Artists

Gail Borowski, Shelby Township, MI
Paula Brett, Roswell, GA
Elizabeth M. Claffey, Bloomington, IN
Mark Harrington, Brooklyn, NY
Megan Hildebrandt, Interlochen, MI
Sarah Hull, Washington, D.C.
Ali Hval, Iowa City, IA
Tunni Kraus, Melbourne, Australia
Savannah Loebig, Silver Spring, MD
Clare Nicholls, Baltimore, MD
re:mark, Philadelphia, PA
Kate Testa, Philadelphia, PA


About the Juror

Katy Scarlett is an Adjunct Professor of Art History and an independent curator based in Philadelphia, PA. She is interested in how contemporary artists dissect the construction of history and create awareness around historical omission. Katy has worked in accessibility, education, and public programming at several non-profit institutions including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Delaware Contemporary. She earned her MA in Art History from Hunter College, City University of New York.

 

Image Credit: Paula Brett, “Full/Fill in Red,” 2016. Limited Edition Photograph, Lambda Print between Aluminum Di-bond and Acrylic.

 

The Late Shift: Art in Motion

Every Second Friday
7 – 10 pm, FREE
Enjoy gallery talks, artist receptions, music, live performances, hands-on artmaking, and three floors of open artists’ studios.

Shake off the frost and get moving this winter. Celebrate the art of motion with kinetic activities and performances by artists and local vendors. Bring your friends and start the year off creatively.

FREE, ALL AGES

RSVP

 

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

 

ON VIEW: TARGET GALLERY: 2018 POST GRAD RESIDENTS SHOW

Target Gallery presents the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s 2018 Post-Graduation Residents: Alexis Gomez, Kelly Johnston, Lyric Prince, and Sara Roberts. These four artists have each had three months in our Residency studio, developing new work and interacting with the public. For this culminating exhibition, each artist displays some of their best work they made during their time here.

 

OPENING RECEPTION: MASON ART PROJECT SPACE

The Torpedo Factory Art Center welcomes George Mason University’s School of Art MFA Program as they embark on a 6-month project space at the Art Center. Through faculty led discussions and assignments, the program will encourage students to explore and experiment with topics that emphasize new technologies, increased sustainability efforts, improved accessibility to marginalized members of societies, and other socially relevant topics. In doing so, faculty and students will experiment with ideas and potential solutions that invite cross collaboration amongst disciplines as a means of creating art and design that addresses and promotes awareness of such topics. The studio will serve as the exhibition space for these finalized works.

 

The MFA Candidates:

Andi Benge, Jorge Banales, Jayne Matricardi Burke, Brigitte Caramanna, Sam Fedorova, Kate Fitzpatrick, Emily Fussner, Erica Hopkins, Jennifer Lillis, Matt Nolan, Kevin Wallace, Michael Walton

 

Currently On View:

 “Welcome to Andiland”

Installation & Performance Piece by Andi Benge

@andilandart

 

Opening Reception: Friday January 11 (Late Shift: Art in Motion)
On view through February 2019

Artist’s Project Statement

 

“Working in several media, I use a variety of campy materials to create a whimsical plastic wonderland of immersive installations. Through performance I embody my alter ego Bunni who invites viewers into a dreamworld otherwise known as Andiland. Here, vulnerable female nudes are surrounded by playful objects and bright colors drawn from a tumultuous adolescence. Beyond the sweet surface lies a critical attempt to confront the taboos surrounding female sexuality and celebrate it’s dangerous archetypal allure.”

 

About Andi Benge

Andi Benge is a first year Graduate student at George Mason University. She received her BFA in Painting and Drawing from Kansas State University, where she was awarded several grants and scholarships, including the Dale Weary Clore Scholarship. Her work has been featured in many national exhibitions including THE LITTLE BIG ART SHOW at La Bodega Gallery in San Diego, CA, INK ’n’ IRON KULTURE KLASH ART SHOW on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, a FIRST FRIDAY solo show at Bailiwick in Anchorage, AK, and has work in many international private collections.

 

About George Mason University’s School of Art MFA Program

George Mason University’s School of Art MFA Program seeks to develop in students a self-directed studio practice, derived simultaneously from an earnest personal search and an engagement with contemporary discourses and practices. Housed in a small community of studios, the MFA program offers an environment that fosters the deepening of a student’s individual practice in the context of shared experience and dialogue with peers. Daily studio practice is supplemented by courses in research, writing, and contemporary critical theory. Regular formal critiques with peers and faculty track student progress, while training them to articulate ideas relevant to the production of their work. Visiting artists, monthly trips to galleries, and suggested supplementary lectures at local venues contribute to the student’s ability to contextualize his or her own work and process within the larger conversation of contemporary studio practices.

 

OPENING RECEPTION: POST GRAD STUDIO (319): WINTER 2019 POST GRAD STUDIO RESIDENT – MICHAELA JAPEC

 

Welcome the first Post Grad Resident of 2019 to the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Michaela Japec recently graduated from George Mason University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Art Degree. She is the first of 4 artists selected for this residency program. Stop by her studio from 7-10 pm to meet the artist and see her work in person.

Artist’s Statement

Michaela Japec struggles, as many other people do, with body image. In recent years, Michaela has begun to use her insecurities as fuel for her artistic work. She now explores her own perceived physical flaws in her creative process, revealing and highlighting these “flaws” in her work. Michaela finds that exposing her anxieties, which have haunted her since a young age, is healing for both herself and the viewer.  Creating art featuring her physical imperfections allows others to see their own flaws in a more accepting, tangible, and beautiful way.

About Michaela Japec

Michaela Japec was born in Alexandria VA.  Although being born in the States, she grew up in a small village in Sweden, named Forssjö and didn’t move back to VA until 2008.  Michaela graduated from George Mason University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Art Degree.  She has exhibited in Virginia with Art League Gallery in 2013, Delray Artisan Gallery in Spring of 2013 and 2014, Richard J. Ernst Community Cultural Center in Spring of 2016, and she participated in the all female Inner Demons exhibition at Epicure Cafe gallery in Summer 2018. Outside of school Michaela teaches an Art’s Foundation course to to kids through George Mason Arts Academy on Saturdays, she also takes portrait commissions to help finance her schooling.

 

OPENING RECEPTION: PRINTMAKERS INC (325): “8 TONES” EXHIBITION – SAMANTHA SHELTON

Printmakers Inc presents a new exhibition in the gallery space of their co-op studio. Artist Samantha Shelton will have a selection of etchings with aquatint and softground techniques created over the last 5 years at Discover Graphics on exhibit from 2 – 21 Jan 2018. Her artist style is both graphic and illustrative with a flare of magic realism. Called “8 Tones”, this exhibition features prints etched on zinc plate using aquatint – which gives a maximum tonal range of 8 shades ranging from the lightest grey to black.

 

 

About Samantha Shelton

Many of my adolescent summers were spent apprenticing in my uncle’s tile company in Arizona, where I learned to glaze ceramic tiles and compose wall murals and mosaics.  These mosaics heavily influenced my work with geometric patterns.  My artistic influences include Art Deco printmaker Louis Icart and Art Nouveau lithographers Alphonse Mucha and Raphael Kirchner.

 

“ART IN MOTION” HIGHIGHTS

 

PRANA VISUALIZED:  Sound, Light, and Movement Alchemy

 

All night in our main space, visitors will be invited to experience a fully-immersive art project through high-vibrational sound, projection art, and intentional movement.

 

There will be performance presentation at 7 pm, followed by a yoga movement class and interactive free form later in the evening.

 

Presentation: 7PM

Yoga Class: 8PM

Interactive Free Form: 8:45 – 10PM

To sign up for the FREE yoga class at 8 pm, RSVP here

About Prana Visualized

Prana Visualized is an interactive performance art piece that alchemizes sound, visual, and movement to allow participants to interact with Prana – the universal energy that regulates the entire universe and our lives.

Projections and Production by: Jake New

Sound by: Jake Filderman

Choreographed Movement: Sanam Emami

Yoga led by: Jess Geeoh

Graphic Design by: Sanam Emami

 

 

PK MOVE: THE ART OF PARKOUR

Learn the art of parkour at the Art Center! In this indoor hands-on activity, you’ll try some of the basics of parkour in a safe, supportive environment while hearing more about PK Move’s mission to empower all body types. Free and fun for all ages.

 

 

 

 

About PK Move

PK Move shares the transformative power of parkour. A unique “gym without walls,” PK Move comes to you. We provide parkour training that’s specifically designed to meet the needs of people who may feel uncomfortable in a gym. We serve senior citizens, cancer survivors, Title I school students, veterans, those with learning differences and others.

 

 

LOCAL MOTION STUDIO: AERIAL HAMMOCK DEMONSTRATIONS

Aerial hammocks are used in a form of yoga designed to strengthen and balance your body while also offering a fun and safe acrobatic approach to fitness. Try out one of the hammocks in our Grand Hall under the watchful eye of an instructor. Components include basic stretching, sitting, standing, conditioning and inversion poses on the hammock.

 

Benefits include but not limited to:

  • spinal decompression
  • builds strength & core stability
  • increased flexibility
  • increased joint rotation and mobility


About Local Motion Studio

Local Motion Studio is a beautiful, eco-friendly space dedicated to the art of movement. We offer a variety of classes to encourage people to move every day, and to have fun doing it. Our instructors provide creative and effective classes that are open to students at all levels, and they can help you amplify or modify as needed. We offer aerial, barre, yoga, Pilates, cardio, ballet, modern dance and more.

 

 

LOCAL MOTION PROJECT:

Learn more about this exciting non-profit focused on empowering communities through the language of dance. Whether it is their family-friendly workshops and classes or their school outreach dance integration program, there are many opportunities for you and your loved ones to get motivated and start your 2019 on the right foot.


About Local Motion Project

Local Motion Project’s mission is to bring meaningful experiences to people’s lives through the art of dance and other movement arts.

 

  • Offering a progressive dance curriculum that emphasizes the creative and collaborative processes.
  • Providing increased opportunities for children to participate in dance through our dance integration residencies and by offering tuition assistance for our dance school.
  • Facilitating professional development workshops for educators.
  • Presenting meaningful showcases and performances that strive to make authentic connections with audiences and participants.

 

 

MIND THE MAT: FACTORY FLOW

Stop by Mind the Mat’s table in the Grand Hall to learn more about this Alexandria-based yoga studio, and sign up for their class at the Art Center at next month’s Factory Flow yoga class on  Saturday February 2.

 

 

About Mind the Mat

Mind the Mat Pilates & Yoga was founded in 2008 by Megan Brown and Sara VanderGoot.

Mind the Mat is committed to hiring instructors with excellent teaching skills and credentials. All of our instructors hold certifications in Pilates and/or yoga and many of them have additional training in physical therapy, nutrition, nursing, massage therapy, prenatal and/or postpartum fitness, therapeutics (yoga/Pilates for rehabilitation), and more!

Mind the Mat was created to spotlight individual teaching styles and to celebrate unique backgrounds and expertise. Our instructors and clients make Mind the Mat feel like home. Every teaching style is unique.

About Factory Flow

On the first Saturday of every month, find inner peace and creativity with this early-morning series. It’s a lovely way to start the day, focused on art, health, and imagination. Sessions feature sound artists, yoga teachers, dance instructors, and more.

 

 

HANDS-ON WORKSHOP WITH THE MOBILE ART LAB

Join Alexandria’s very own Mobile Art Lab for a hands-on art workshop celebrating Art in Motion. Free and fun for all ages!

This month, they are collaborating with FutureMakers – Coaches, creative tech & pop-up labs for young makers, educators & schools. DC, MD and VA.

Make a Drawbot!

Engineer a machine that can move and draw!  Participants activate the engineering design process to transform vibrating motors, batteries, and art materials into a personalized, take-home machine that can move and draw! Watch how all participants become highly engaged, focused, and work with their peers to problem solve. Everybody gets to show off their Drawbot’s moves on the paper “dance floor” and educators learn how this activity can be leveraged into future exploration of creative technology and problem solving.

 

 

WINTER SEASONAL ART INSTALLATIONS

The Torpedo Factory Art Center presents the work of artists Edgar Endress and Marly McFly for our Winter Seasonal Art Installations on view throughout the Art Center from December 9, 2018 – February 25, 2019. The Winter Seasonal Art Installations exhibition was curated by Jaynelle C. Hazard, who is the Director of Exhibitions at the Workhouse Art Center. Check them out in the Grand Hall and on the smokestack on the 3rd floor.

Torpedo Talks: 100 Years of History

Torpedo Talks is the Art Center’s monthly conversation series highlighting the unique voices that make the Torpedo Factory Art Center such a dynamic institution.

FREE, ALL AGES

RSVP

 

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the groundbreaking for the building, the Torpedo Factory Art Center hosts a special Torpedo Talk with Art Center founder Marian Van Landingham and historian David F. Winkler from the Naval Historical Foundation. Join us for a unique conversation focused on both the history of the building as a naval ordnance plant during the first part of the 20th century and its transformation into the vibrant arts space that has thrived at the Alexandria Waterfront for nearly 45 years.

About Marian Van Landingham

Marian Van Landingham is the founder of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, which opened on the waterfront in 1974. She also represented the 45th District in the Virginia House of Delegates for 24 years, from 1982 to 2006. During all that time she was also a working artist with a studio in the Art Center.

 

 

About the Naval Historical Foundation

The Naval Historical Foundation is dedicated to preserving and honoring the legacy of those who came before us. Working closely with the U.S. Navy, the Naval Historical Foundation ensures that naval history remains in the forefront of American thought.

 

 

 

The Late Shift: Connect the Dots

The region is bursting with fresh talent and new artists from Virginia, D.C., and Maryland. We’re partnering with The HRCHY for a lively night of music and art. Target Gallery honors the 2018 Post-Grad Residents and announces the 2019 artists. Enjoy gallery talks, artist receptions, music, live performances, hands-on artmaking, and three floors of open artists’ studios.

 

FREE, ALL AGES

RSVP

 

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

 

TARGET GALLERY: 2018 POST GRAD RESIDENTS SHOW

Target Gallery presents the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s 2018 Post-Graduation Residents: Alexis Gomez, Kelly Johnston, Lyric Prince, and Sara Roberts. These four artists have each had three months in our Residency studio, developing new work and interacting with the public. For this culminating exhibition, each artist displays some of their best work they made during their time here.

Artist Talk: 8pm

 

CLOSING RECEPTION: CONNECT THE DOTS – “DOT’S BEAUTY SALON”

CONNECT THE DOTS is an ongoing exhibition dedicated to highlighting urban artists from unique backgrounds living in the DC, MD, and VA metropolitan area presented by The HRCHY, an all-women DC event group,

  • The current exhibition in the New Project Studio (Studio 8) is called “Dot’s Beauty Salon,” a show inspired by Gentrification, “The Culture of Black Beauty,” and how the first affects the second in regards to the dynamics of unity, confidence, and pride in its communities. Developed by the HRCHY and curated by artist Jamilla Okubo.
  • The purpose of this year’s exhibition is to encourage and promote a strong sense of culture, pride, and confidence to young girls of color as well as promoting entrepreneurship, business, ownership, and financial well-being at a young age.

 

The Exhibiting Artists

  • Jamilla Okubo
  • Dani Smith
  • Cita “Miss Chelove” Sadeli
  • Jermaine “Jet” Carter
  • Darius Moreno
  • Gabriel “Filthy Felloff”
  • Kayla “Gold Lemons” Myers
  • Haleigh Nickerson
  • Asha Hannah
  • Sam Lindenfeld
  • Asha Hannah
  • Nia Keturah
  • Jordan Ross
  • Lionel White
  • Lloyd Foster
  • Conrado Muluc
  • Jamon Jackson
  • Ania Siniuk
  • Kiery Benitez
  • Julie Sheah

 

About the HRCHY

THE HRCHY C.I.A is a start-up creative intelligence agency that specializes in branding and campaigning. They offer many creative solutions and services that enable clients to promote their brand and/or product in new and innovative ways. These services include, but are not limited to, conceptions, event planning, web and graphics design, commercial filming, & product seeding.

 

About Jamilla Okubo

Jamilla Okubo is a mixed-media artist. Washington, D.C. raised, Okubo earned her BFA in Integrated Design at Parsons School of Design. Her work has a consistent theme of exploring the intricacy of belonging to an American, Kenyan, and Trinidadian identity and aims to use her interdisciplinary concentration as a medium to address topics within her culture. Rotating between collage, painting, fashion design, and printmaking her work is heavily inspired by the art of storytelling through textiles and fashion.

Her work has been exhibited at Milk Gallery, Calabar Gallery,  Weeksville Heritage Center, and the Dray Walk Gallery.

 

 

HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS

 

 

  • COPPER WORKSHOP WITH THE ART LEAGUE GALLERY

The Art League Gallery (21) will host a mini-workshop on creating art on copper. Instead of using paintbrushes and canvases, a candle will be used to infuse colorful patinas into a small sheet of copper. Texture is then engraved into to the surface to create a petite masterpiece.

About the Art League Gallery

The Art League gallery is a non-profit membership organization that provides exhibiting artist members with the opportunity to have their work judged by esteemed local arts professionals, and to compete to exhibit their work in one of Washington’s largest art galleries. The gallery hosts monthly juried shows, solo artist exhibits, student/faculty shows, and special exhibitions and fundraisers. Exhibiting artist membership is open to all.

 

 

  • WATERCOLOR MONOTYPE WORKSHOP WITH ELIZABETH PEAK AND DISCOVER GRAPHICS ATELIERJoin artist Elizabeth Peak inside Discover Graphics Atelier (Studio 202) on the second floor for a free hands-on workshop on watercolor monotypes. This is a preview of a full two-day workshop that she will host on January 5 and 6, 2019.

 

About Elizabeth Peak

 

Elizabeth Peak is primarily a print maker working on copper plates making etchings much like they were made in the 17th Century. She frequently make studies in monotype or in watercolor.

“I’m not looking for things that are inherently beautiful. Gas stations, city streets, rural or forested places are all equally compelling. I’m not looking for a specific place like a hometown or famous monument. First, I’m looking for an interesting composition and how that places the viewer in a particular relationship to the subject. This is the essence of Formalism: to care for all the abstract variables that make up the picture. Secondarily, I look at the literal subject and what may be taking place in terms of light or atmosphere. Finally, I work with realism to resonate with the viewer’s experience of landscape.”

 

About Discover Graphics Atelier

Discover Graphics Atelier, located in the Torpedo Factory Art Center, offers printmaking courses and workshops in collaboration with the Art League. It also provides facilities in which advanced students and proven printmakers can pursue their art in a supportive environment. Incorporated as a 501(C) 3 non-profit educational institution, Discover Graphics is the brainchild of two experienced printmakers and teachers, Penny Barringer and Allen Kaneshiro. Drawing on their experience at the National Museum of American Art and on the generosity of friends, they opened the printshop in the Torpedo Factory in 1983. Since then numerous printmakers in various media have used it as their choice of studio.

 

 

  • HANDS-ON WORKSHOP WITH SHARMILA KARAMCHANDANI AND THE MOBILE ART LAB

 

The Mobile Art Lab arrives at the Art Center with a hands-on art workshop with artist and graphic designer Sharmila Karamchandani.

About Sharmila Karamchandani

Sharmila Karamchandani, a graphic designer, art educator, and an entrepreneur coach has a passion for design and working in arts education and community non-profits. Sharmila acquired her MFA in Graphic Design from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and has been teaching graphic design for more than a decade in several local colleges and universities. Sharmila teaches Graphic Design at George Mason University and is a Lead Entrepreneur Coach at Empowered Women International (EWI).

 

 

 

 

“THE STUDIO” BY KELLY R JOHNSTON

 

As her Winter 2018 Studio residency comes to a close, Kelly R Johnston transforms the Post Grad Studio (319) into a replica of the inner workings of her creative mind. Experience the artistic process from the inside out.

 

SECRET WINTER WONDERLAND

Art Center Studio Artists Lisa Schumaier (16) and Marcel Deolazo (332) have created a Winter Wonderland installation in the Art League Classroom (213) in partnership with the Art League. Stop by and revel in the magic with penguins and unicorns.

 

WINTER SEASONAL ART INSTALLATIONS

 

The Torpedo Factory Art Center presents the work of artists Edgar Endress and Marly McFly for our Winter Seasonal Art Installations on view throughout the Art Center from December 9, 2018 – February 25, 2019. The Winter Seasonal Art Installations exhibition was curated by Jaynelle C. Hazard, who is the Director of Exhibitions at the Workhouse Art Center. Check them out in the Grand Hall and on the smokestack on the 3rd floor.

 

 

 

 

TORPEDO ROW –CELEBRATING PROJECTS & IDEAS FROM THE GREATER D/M/V ARTS COMMUNITY

December Edition Curated by the HRCHY

  • White Durag: Barbershop Pop Up and Performance Piece
  • Nappy Head Club: Meet & Greet + “Make DC Nappy Again” Vendor Table
  • Chanae Badu (w/the HRCHY): #SeeArtStyled Photo Booth Installation
  • Merima Repesa: Color & Cool It w/Merima Repesa – Coloring Workshop
  • Hilltop High: Chromotherapy w/Hilltop High – Painting with Crayons
  • Autumn Labella Experience and the Omi Collective: The Therapy Theatre – Aromatherapy, Music and Sound Therapy, Sound Baths

 

LATE SHIFT MUSIC

  • Joy Club Radio: DJ Marauder + GVIJIN: 7 – 10 pm

 

 

 

 

 

SPECIAL AFTER HOURS DJ SET (10 pm – Midnight)

 

Stay past 10pm for a special addition to our December Late Shift. The Art Center transitions into a free flow party produced by the HRCHY, featuring the music of Manesqueeze + Mista Selecta (Jungle Fever). Celebrate the end of the groundbreaking “Dots Beauty Salon” exhibition with the artists and creatives that made it all happen.

 

About Mane Squeeze + Mista Selecta
(from On Tap Magazine)

Avanti Fernandez and Tommy Smolka’s epic warehouse parties were just the beginning of a much bigger project. When a mutual friend introduced the likeminded DJs in 2013, the pair had instant chemistry. Fernandez (Mane Squeeze) and Smolka (Mista Selecta) quickly discovered that they shared numerous traits, including a penchant for drawing inspiration from musical genres heard around the world and an affinity for dancehall and trap music. Even their DJ monikers share the same initials. Not to mention, they’re both Geminis.

The pair joined forces as Jungle Fever, curating and hosting DJ parties around the city and performing together at a range of local venues including U Street Music Hall. They’ve picked up momentum in the past five years, making waves in the DC scene that have rippled toward New York and Philadelphia where they’re now building a base.

 

 

 

2018 Post-Grad Residents

Reception: Friday, December 14, 2018 | 7-9 pm

Target Gallery presents the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s 2018 Post-Graduation Residents: Alexis Gomez, Kelly Johnston, Lyric Prince, and Sara Roberts. These four artists have each had three months in our Residency studio, developing new work and interacting with the public. For this culminating exhibition, each artist displays some of their best work they made during their time here.

 

Holiday Festival

Enjoy the 2018 Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights from the riverfront, then warm up inside the Art Center for more festive programming and after-hours art.

On Alexandria’s most festive weekend of the year, the Torpedo Factory Art Center invites you to the annual Holiday Festival. The Art Center will be the afternoon destination for visitors after the 48th Annual Scottish Christmas Walk Parade and before the 19th Annual Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights on the Potomac, which floats past the Art Center’s riverfront entrance.

The afternoon will also feature open studios, gallery exhibitions, hands-on art projects, live music with the Alexandria Choral Society Pro Coro and Silver 5 Brass Quintet, and, of course, a visit from Santa Claus himself!

Visit all 3 floors of the Art Center and meet hundreds of artists up close and in person. Shop for handmade jewelry, ornaments, original ceramics, family portraits, couture fashions, and other original works of art.

Stop by our newly-opened cafe, Bread and Water Company, and enjoy a cup of coffee or a hot chocolate during your visit.

Festivities run from 2 – 8 pm to welcome visitors in from the waterfront both before and after the Boat Parade.

FREE, ALL AGES

 Schedule of Signature Events

  • 2:30 pm: Silver 5 Brass Quintet outdoor performance to welcome Santa Claus
  • 3 pm: Santa Claus arrives by City of Alexandria Fire Department Boat at the Art Center docks
  • 4:30 pm: Alexandria Choral Society performance inside the Art Center
  • 5:30 pm: Holiday Boat Parade of Lights at the Art Center docks
  • 6 pm: Start of extended Holiday Hours at the Art Center
  • 8 pm: Doors close

Small Business Saturday

After Black Friday and before Cyber Monday, there’s Small Business Saturday. All artists in the Art Center are also small, independent business owners and they help shape the distinctive and creative personality of Old Town Alexandria.

Give creatively this year and give art. Torpedo Factory Art Center is the region’s best place to find unique gifts, from handmade jewelry and ceramics to paintings and custom ornaments. Shop small and buy local from nearly 200 artists on all three floors. Hours are extended until 8 pm.

  • 2- 6pm: “Build Santa’s Chair!” Community Workshop with UpCycle: Visitors are invited to help staff from UpCycle Creative Reuse Center and participating artists design Santa Claus’ Holiday Festival chair using reused materials and other items. The finished work will be on display in front of the spiral staircase for the entire week before Santa’s visit to the Art Center at the Holiday Festival, Saturday December 1.
  • 12 – 4pm: Free Gift-Wrapping Station with Safe Space NOVA: After purchasing holiday gifts from artists studios and galleries, visitors are encouraged to have their items gift-wrapped for free by volunteers from Safe Space NOVA, an organization dedicated to providing a safe, accepting, and supportive environment to combat social stigmas, bullying, and other challenges faced by LGBT+ youth.
  • 2 – 4pm: Interactive Art-Making with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: Be inspired; create a mask that reminds you of your community while listening to Congolese music. Provided by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, this traveling pop-up art space is in support of their current exhibition, Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa on view now through February 24, 2019 at the Richmond-based art museum.
  • 10 – 8pm: DIY Art-Making Tables and Additional Seating: Need a break from exploring? Hands-on drawing projects will be available for visitors on the 1st and 3rd floors. Pull up a seat and get creative!
  • 10 – 8pm: Coffee and Snacks with Bread and Water Company: Visitors can stop and take a break from their holiday shopping to visit our newly-opened cafe, Bread and Water Company, located on the first floor. Recharge with a bite to eat or a cup of coffee as you visit all the wonders our three floors of art has to offer.
  • Vendor Stations by Board Bus and Living Threads: Popular local small businesses Board Bus and Living Threads Co. will be present inside the Art Center and out front on Union Street. Learn more about their community-focused missions while shopping local.
  • Live Music: Enjoy music selections throughout the day to liven up your Art Center adventures.
  • Special Offers in Select Studios: All throughout the day, select artist studios will offer specials and other exciting incentives. A full list will be available to pick up at the Art Center to help you explore.

POSTPONED: Torpedo Talk with Marian Van Landingham

POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER. New date coming soon.

Torpedo Talks is the Art Center’s monthly conversation series highlighting the unique voices that make the Torpedo Factory Art Center such a dynamic institution.

FREE, ALL AGES

 

RSVP Now

 

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the groundbreaking for the building, the Torpedo Factory Art Center hosts a special Torpedo Talk with Art Center founder Marian Van Landingham and historian David F. Winkler from the Naval Historical Foundation. Join us for a unique conversation focused on both the history of the building as a naval ordnance plant during the first part of the 20th century and its transformation into the vibrant arts space that has thrived at the Alexandria Waterfront for nearly 45 years.

About Marian Van Landingham

Marian Van Landingham is the founder of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, which opened on the waterfront in 1974. She also represented the 45th District in the Virginia House of Delegates for 24 years, from 1982 to 2006. During all that time she was also a working artist with a studio in the Art Center.

 

 

About the Naval Historical Foundation

The Naval Historical Foundation is dedicated to preserving and honoring the legacy of those who came before us. Working closely with the U.S. Navy, the Naval Historical Foundation ensures that naval history remains in the forefront of American thought.

 

 

 

The Late Shift: 100

Celebrate 100 years since the groundbreaking of the building that made the Alexandria Waterfront.

November 12, 1918–the day after Armistice Day ended WWI–was the official groundbreaking for the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station in Alexandria. With an eye toward our future, we’re celebrating our past and our military history.

FREE, ALL AGES

RSVP Now

Full Schedule

Target Gallery

Target Gallery presents the Opening Reception for Art of Armistice, a group exhibition that explores the after effects of war. This exhibition will focus on the physical, mental, and cultural effects war has on the world through the perspective of both civilians and veterans alike. This exhibition will be paired with different public programs in honor of the 100th year anniversary of the ground breaking of the former munitions plant that the Torpedo Factory Art Center now calls home. Reception, 7-10 pm, Artist and Juror Talk, 8 pm.

Live Performance

Performance artist Erin Devine debuts a new work in response to the 100th anniversary of the groundbreaking of the Torpedo Factory. Titled Contrab®and, this piece focuses on the tragic story of slavery and capitalism during the age of war.

Beginning at 1 pm, the artist drags a crate for a total of 4500 yards — the launch range of the torpedoes made at the factory. Viewers are invited to assist the artist in the completion of this memorializing act. The performance will continue through to the close of The Late Shift at 10 pm.

Excerpts from Erin Devine’s Contrab®and statement:

The site of the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria has a long and complex story. This performance reflects on Alexandria’s intersecting histories of slavery and the manufacturing of weapons, both of which are arguably unified by the objectives of capitalism … The lives lost as a result of slavery, and those who were killed at sea by the torpedoes made here, are inestimable and ultimately the casualties of man’s insatiable desire for dominance and resources. To mark a memoriam, for a total of 4500 yards the artist drags a crate of rock and detritus — suggestive of the scuttled ships and “fill in” (wooden crates filled with debris) that make the framework of banked out land where the factory sits.

Read the full artist statement here.

Waterfront and Factory History

The Office of Historic Alexandria brings their Portside History to the Late Shift. Visit various tables featuring projects and activities focused on the Waterfront history and torpedo factory history.

Grand Hall

Healing the Body leads micro hands-on workshops. They aim to promote painting as a mental wellness tool accessible to everyone. Participants are encouraged to use movement, art-making, body-centered mindfulness practices, and women’s community as the main healing modalities. After, stop by Healing the Body in Site 2 Community Gallery.

Torpedo Row returns featuring artists from across the DC/Maryland/Virginia area.

 

Be sure to also explore three floors of open artist studios and galleries all night!

Art of Armistice

Reception: Friday, November 9, 2018 | 7-9 pm

Target Gallery presents Art of Armistice, a group exhibition that explores the after effects of war. This exhibition will focus on the physical, mental, and cultural effects war has on the world through the perspective of both civilians and veterans alike. This exhibition will be paired with different public programs in honor of the 100th year anniversary of the ground breaking of the former munitions plant that the Torpedo Factory Art Center now calls home.


Participating Artists

Katherine Akey
Jason Bly
Mikhail Bolkhovitinov
Martin Cervantez
Irene Clouthier
Roy Comiskey
Michael Fischerkeller
Rachel Garcia-Palmer
Kay Gordon
Tom Greaves
Lucy Julia Hale
Lee Halvorsen
Amy Helminiak
Everett Kane
Jeff Lassahn
Colin McMullan
Chris Revelle
Justin Sadegh
Elin Slavick
Onnie Strother
Henrik Sundqvist
Ron Testa
Patricia Anderson Turner


About the Juror

Spencer Dormitzer attended the school of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1986 and has been a working artist for over twenty-five years. Dormitzer has also worked as Studio Manager for New York abstractionist David Reed and as an Executive Producer for the New York Cosmos.

Dormitzer has had over 50 solo and group shows in his career, from such places as Chicago, Illinois; Antwerp, Belgium; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and New York City. His work also belongs in over 100 private and museum collections. Spencer’s work has been featured in the new art examiner, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Enquirer, Chicago Reader and New City Chicago Magazine.

Dormitzer currently resides in Washington D.C, with his wife and two sons.

 

Image Credit: Roy Comiskey, Reconstruction, Mixed-Media Collage on Wood Panel, 2018