Tag Archives: Featured

Passages

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 8th 6 – 9 pm | Gallery Talk 7:00 pm

Target Gallery, contemporary exhibition space of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, presents Passages, a group exhibition that explores the lasting effects migration has on cultural identity from the perspective of immigrants and immigrant families from across the global diaspora. This exhibition gives an intimate look in to their individual experiences and how these experiences have shaped who they are today. The juror for this exhibition is Adriana Ospina, Curator of the Permanent Collection and Education at the Art Museum of Americas.

Participating Artist Include: 

WonJung Choi, Richmond, VA
Isabella Cruz-Chong, Brooklyn, NY
Anne Dushanko Dobek, New Providence, NJ
Abiodun Eniyandunni, Washington, DC
Nadia Estela, Montclair, NJ
Samar Hussaini, West Orange, NJ
Bahar Jalehmahmoudi, Adelphi, MD
Gail Morrison-Hall, Wyncote, PA
Sherwin Rio, San Francisco, CA
Rafael Rodriguez, Hyattesville, MD
Kanika Sircar, Washington, DC
Marite Vidales, Washington DC
Aaron Wax, Brooklyn, NY
Jenny Wu, Alexandria, VA
Ju Yun, Chantilly, VA
Helen Zughaib, Washington, DC

Image Credit: Helen Zughaib, Syrian Migration Series #1, 2016. 

RSVP

The Late Shift: Brand New Day

Welcome 2018 with a spirited celebration of art, music, and dance. Warm up with an indoor art market, live performances, and pop-up activities throughout the building. Dance into the night during the silent disco with the City of Alexandria’s Mobile Art Lab.

 

  • Silent Disco in partnership with the city of Alexandria’s Mobile Art Lab, featuring three live DC-based DJs over 3 floors of art
  • Artist Demonstrations in the Grand Hall
  • Hands-on DIY Projects
  • Welcome Reception for new Post Grad Resident – Lyric Prince
  • “Brand New Day” Selfie Station
  • A wide variety of delicious donuts brought to you by Sugar Shack Donuts Alexandria. @sugarshackalexandria
RSVP Here

The DJs:

DJ VicoVibez

He has a DJ residency at Epicure Café in Fairfax, Virginia, called “Play it Forward” that showcases beat-making. He’s also a local affiliate DJ with D.C.-based Words Beats and Life Inc., where he met and later became the official DJ for muralist duo MASPAZ and CHELOVE, aka CHELPAZ. From there, he became a DJ for the D.C. to Standing Rock Movement, a group of graffiti artists who traveled to Standing Rock in South Dakota, making stops in cities to paint “Water Is Life” murals.

DJ Maga

Sparked by a responsibility to maneuver and understand a crowd, DJ MAGA has begun to emerge into the competitive music scene. From an early age, the young turntable enthusiast learned the significance of world diversity and its influence in music while growing up in the United Kingdom, America and St. Lucia. Being submerged in many cultures, himself a brew of Sri Lankan and St. Lucian heritage, MAGA’s interest in experimenting with various sounds is shaped by life experience. He has opened for internationally acclaimed artists Common, Nas, Beenie Man, Morgan Heritage, Kerwin Du Bois and Kes the Band to name a few.

DJ Kalo

Karl-Eric Lerebours was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. As a boy, he used to listen to the local DJs mixing on the radio, he was captivated by their abilities to mash 2-3 songs at the same time. Karl-Eric began his DJ dream as DJ Blaze, he started mixing reggae, hip hop, reggaeton and rap for friends that used to come to his house. He has landed various shows around cities of Port-au-Prince, Washington D.C. & New York City. Aside from DJing at various DC clubs and parties, he also makes bootlegs and launched a monthly podcast on his Soundcloud account.

CC photo by Janusz Kaliszczak

Torpedo Talks: The Art of Memory @ Second Thursday Art Night

The Art of Memory: Looking Beneath the Pictures

Join us for an evening of open studios and artist talks. Every Second Thursday of the month.

 

Ars Memoria in Early Law: Looking Beneath the Picture   
Speaker: Jolande Goldberg, senior law classification specialist at the Library of Congress and artist in Studio 326

8 pm, Main Hall

 

RSVP here

 

Born in Germany, Jolande Goldberg was educated and trained as a lawyer, including the field of legal history/archaeology, and as an artist. Goldberg joined the Library of Congress in 1967, and is today the Library’s Senior Law Classification Specialist. Prepared through her earlier work in Heidelberg/Germany as senior research associate to Law Faculty and as legal editor of the Encyclopedia of German Legal Terminology under the auspices of the Academy of Humanities and Science in Heidelberg, she developed for the Library of Congress (LC) the major part of the LC Law Classification. This system accounts for the laws of all regions of the world, including International, Religious, and Indigenous law. She shares her knowledge of the practice of ars memoria (or the art of memory) in the study of architecture, law, medicine, and the arts, and the Library of Congress’s efforts to preserve this history.

 

 

Presented in collaboration with the Friends of the Torpedo Factory.

 

 

 

About Torpedo Talks

Every Second Thursday of the month, join us at 8pm for a free discussion in the main hall. Created on the belief that the arts is for everyone, we invite a different contemporary artist, curator, or activist in the creative arts world to stop by and share their knowledge in a short power-packed talk. It’s a chance to get inspired while connecting with other open-minded folks in your area. To confirm your free seat, please register on this page. All are welcome (ie: share with your friends!)

 

 

 

Galleries and Receptions

6 – 9 pm: On View: “Interlude: Unfinished Works” – Target Gallery (Studio 2)
Unfinished artwork gives insight into the artist’s hand and methodology. The unresolved and open ended nature of the art gives the viewer new context of the themes and meanings of the works created. Juried by Curator Betsy Johnson, the exhibition creates a dialogue on what it means for art to be “resolved”. Interlude: Unfinished Works features the work of 21 artists from across the globe. It is on view Saturday, December 9, 2017 through Sunday, January 21, 2018.

 

5 – 7:30pm: Opening Reception: “Encaustic Endeavors – The Associates Gallery (Studio 311)

Lesley Clarke and Jamie Fine exhibit an exploration of their encaustic creations from 2017. Clarke, who typically works in acrylic and mixed media, and Fine, who is a ceramist, have been working on creating encaustic work every Thursday for several months. Their year-end show in TAG highlights their individual and collaborative work thus far.

 

7:30 pm: Opening Reception:  January Open Exhibit and Sally Canzoneri’s “Double Takes – The Art League Gallery (Studio 21). Awards will be presented at 7:30 pm.

 

 

All Evening

 

Meet the Artist: Suh Yongsun in the New Project Studio (Studio 8)
Over the course of three months, Korean painter and sculptor Suh Yongsun will transform the New Project Studio into a workshop and community space for discussions and creativity. He will explore public, social, and political issues in present-day Korea while developing a visual discourse of his time creating in Alexandria. Presented in partnership with the Korean Cultural Center in Washington D.C. and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.

On View: Museum Exhibits at The Alexandria Archaeology Museum (Studio 327)
Visit the Alexandria Archaeology Museum to learn how the City’s archaeologists, volunteers and students work with residents and developers to study and manage archaeological resources important to the community’s past.

 

 

Upcoming Events


Friday, January 19: Late Shift – Brand New Day, 7 – 11 pm

Thursday, February 8: Second Thursday/Torpedo Talk: Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell, 6 – 9 pm

The Late Shift: STEAM-Powered December

Science and the arts collide in December. American Geosciences Institute joins the festivities for a night of music, interactive art, artist presentations, and more. Target Gallery celebrates the opening of Interlude: Unfinished Works. Interdisciplinary artist Fumi Amano talks about her work and her experience in the Post-Graduate Residency. The Korean Cultural Center in Washington D.C. and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea host a reception for Korean painter and sculptor Suh Yongsun in the New Project Studio. Presented in collaboration with the American Geosciences Institute.

FREE, please RSVP here

 

Artists Participating in STEAM-Powered Demonstrations:

 

Live Music:

 


Plastic Sky

 

 


DJ VicoVibez

 

Special Art Performances & Workshops:


Three EyEs

 

 


Fumi Amano

 

 


Suh Yongsun

 

Schedule of Activities:

 

Thank you to our event collaborators:

 

Torpedo Talks: Desiree Venn Frederic @ Second Thursday Art Night

Enjoy a special Thursday after-hours event at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Browse open studios and galleries, interact with artists, and enjoy special programming. Check out our monthly lecture series Torpedo Talks at 8pm in the Main Hall, featuring some of the contemporary art world’s best-known artists, art curators, and art professionals. Stop by on your way to dinner and make an evening of it!

This December, join us for a reception in the Art League Gallery and a Pop-Up Shop in the Associates Gallery. At 8pm, join us in the Main Hall for a conversation with Sierra Leonean born immigrant, writer, and installation artist Desiree Venn Frederic as a part of our monthly Torpedo Talks. FREE

Torpedo Talk

Nomadic & Creative: Art and the Immigrant Experience   
Speaker: Desiree Venn Frederic
8 pm, Main Hall

RSVP here

  • Desirée Venn Frederic is a social entrepreneur, installation artist, writer and activist whose work pulls heavily from her transnational experiences. She uses her work to negotiate multiple strata of marginalization being both undocumented yet identifying as an aboriginal indigenous woman. She shares her experiences as an artist, as well as her personal journey as an immigrant and how it has influenced her creative process.

 

About Torpedo Talks

Every Second Thursday of the month, join us at 8pm for a free discussion in the main hall. Created on the belief that the arts is for everyone, we invite a different contemporary artist, curator, or activist in the creative arts world to stop by and share their knowledge in a short power-packed talk. It’s a chance to get inspired while connecting with other open-minded folks in your area. To confirm your free seat, please register on this page. All are welcome (ie: share with your friends!)

 

Galleries and Receptions

 

6 – 8:30pm: Made in Alexandria Pop-up Shop – The Associates Gallery and 3rd Floor Landing

The Pop-up Shop returns for its 3rd year. The shop features art and fine craft from Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association members, all priced under $100. Join us inside the shop for snacks, festive music, and holiday cheer. During the reception, you can make a custom ornament keepsake.

 

7:30 pm: The Art League – Studio 21
Opening reception for December “Petite” exhibit and Open exhibit. Awards will be presented at 7:30 pm.

Interlude: Unfinished Works

Opening Reception: Friday, December 15, 7 – 9 pm | Gallery Talk 7:30 pm

The newest exhibition in Target Gallery, the contemporary exhibition space for the Torpedo Factory Art Center, presents artwork left both intentionally and unintentionally unfinished. Interlude: Unfinished Works features the work of 21 artists from across the globe. It is on view Saturday, December 9, 2017 through Sunday, January 21, 2018.

Unfinished artwork gives insight into the artist’s hand and methodology. The unresolved and open ended nature of the art gives the viewer new context of the themes and meanings of the works created. Juried by Curator Betsy Johnson, the exhibition creates a dialogue on what it means for art to be “resolved”.

“Arguably as daunting as facing a blank canvas, identifying the finished state of an artwork can prove difficult; at times even impossible,” said Johnson. “There are countless stories of artists who have rounded completion only to change their mind, radically alter the work, and start anew. Even after a work is completed, there is nothing forcing it to stay that way. In many ways, due to the very open-endedness of the creative endeavor, artworks are—by their nature—in a perpetual state of unresolved.”

Britt Thomas, Duet: Faithless, 2013. Video still.

These concepts in Interlude: Unfinished Works are represented through a wide diversity of media. Diane Charnov’s Unfinished SAT: Pencils Down is a silkscreen transfer of an incomplete SAT scantron onto unglazed raw clay, encapsulating that feeling of dread at handing in an incomplete test. Gray Matter by Melissa Forkner Lesher is an installation of two piles of packing tape rolled into cylinders covered with remnants of marble dust and charcoal powder. It displays the individual components of a larger project created without assemblage.

Harleen Moon’s Happy Dust is an installation and ‘zine that categorizes evidence of a crime, left intentionally open-ended for the viewer to piece together the clues. Britt Thomas’s video Duets: Faithless captures an intimate moment between a young couple, moving in a slow-motion loop, creating suspended tension that is never resolved.

“I am interested in the concept of art as process,” said Target Gallery Director, Leslie Mounaime. “So much of what sets contemporary artwork apart is due to the process or method in which it’s made. This exhibition allows us to hit pause and capture this state of impermanence.”

Participating artists are:

The public reception for Interlude will be during Torpedo Factory’s Late Shift event, Friday, December 15, 7 – 9 pm, with Johnson’s comments at 7:30 pm. Target Gallery is open daily from 10 – 6 pm and until 9 pm on Thursdays.

About the Juror

Betsy Johnson is a specialist in modern and contemporary art history and theory with expertise in curatorial practice, community engagement, museum education, and public programming. She is currently a curatorial assistant at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. where she has worked on Robert Irwin: All the Rules Will Change, Ragnar Kjartansson, and Markus Lüpertz: Threads of History. She earned a Master of Arts in Art History from The Pennsylvania State University in 2004 and is ABD in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland. She has curated exhibitions for the Arlington Arts Center and The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, College Park and serves on the Arlington County Arts Commission and Public Art Committee.

Image Credit: Melissa Forkner Lesher, “Gray Matter”, 2017. Heavy Duty Packing Tape, Marble Dust, Charcoal Powder. 


Holiday Festival

On Alexandria’s most festive weekend of the year, the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association invites you to the annual Holiday Festival. The Torpedo Factory will be the afternoon destination for visitors after the 47th Annual Scottish Christmas Walk Parade and before the 18th Annual Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights on the Potomac, which floats past the Torpedo Factory’s riverfront entrance.

The afternoon will also feature a children’s scavenger hunt, live music with the Alexandria Choral Society Pro Coro and Silver 5 Brass Quintet, and a visit from Santa. Several giveaways will occur during the festival, including coupons from a number of artists.

Visit studios and galleries to meet hundreds of artists and shop for handmade jewelry, ornaments, original ceramics, family portraits, couture fashions, and other original works of art.

Festivities run 2 – 6 pm, but the doors stay open until 9 pm to welcome visitors in from the waterfront.

 Schedule of Events

  • 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm Children’s art scavenger hunt
  • 2:30 pm: Silver 5 Brass Quintet performance to welcome Santa
  • 3 pm: Santa Claus arrives by City of Alexandria Fire Department Boat
  • 4 pm: Alexandria Choral Society performance I
  • 5:30 pm: Alexandria Choral Society performance II
  • 9 pm: Doors close

The Factory Society presents Holiday Wine Tasting: Focus on Photography

On Friday, December 1st, The Factory Society hosts a wine tasting with the Torpedo Factory Art Center to introduce you to fantastic local photographers while tasting delicious wines from Sonoma Cellar. The ticket includes 4 select wines poured by the Sonoma experts, live jazz, and mingling with art lovers.

Tickets $30 until Nov. 24, $35 after Nov. 24 and at the door.

Purchase Here

 

About the Factory Society

The Factory Society is a non-profit run by volunteer art lovers showing new patrons how to connect with the creative community and how to appreciate the exciting world of the fine arts.

Suh Yongsun in the New Project Studio

Over the course of three months, Korean painter and sculptor Suh Yongsun will transform the New Project Studio into a workshop and community space for discussions and creativity. He will explore public, social, and political issues in present-day Korea while developing a visual discourse of his time creating in Alexandria. Presented in partnership with the Korean Cultural Center in Washington D.C. and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.

Located in Studio 8, the New Project Studio is a community-focused arts incubator offers short-term space for creatives to test new program ideas, spotlight underrepresented voices, and enhance visitor engagement.

Small Business Saturday (Open Late until 8pm)

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.

Enjoy live music, surprises, artist meet-and-greets, and highlights from other small businesses including The Board Bus, Together We Bake, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Sugar Shack Donuts Alexandria and more.

Free Gift Wrapping Station

As part of Alexandria’s Small Business Saturday festivities, Safe Space NOVA and NOVA Pride present a free gift wrapping station in the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Main Hall from 12 pm to 8 pm. Volunteers from Safe Space NOVA and NOVA Pride will be available to wrap all of your holiday gifts at no charge while you “Shop Small” in artist studios.

Donations will go to help support LGBT youth causes.

The gift wrapping station is a partnership of Safe Space NOVA, NOVA Pride, Visit Alexandria and the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

Participating Businesses:

Sugar Shack Donuts and Coffee
Together We Bake
The Board Bus
Red Hook Lobster Pound DC

Participating Organizations:

Visit Alexandria
Safe Space NOVA
NOVA Pride

Live Jazz by:

Project Natale

Hour-long Music Sets all Afternoon, starting at 3 pm, 4:30 pm, and 6:30 pm

 

Schedule of Events:

12 pm – 4 pm: Safe Space NOVA Gift Wrapping

12 pm – 8 pm: The Board Bus parked on Union Street

12 pm – 8pm: Red Hook Lobster Pound DC

12pm – 8pm: Sugar Shack Donuts and Coffee

12pm – 8pm: Small Business Saturday Selfie Station

3 pm – 7 pm: Together We Bake

3 pm – 7:30pm: Hour-long Jazz sets with Project Natale (3pm, 4:30pm, 6:30pm)

4 pm – 8 pm: NOVA Pride Gift Wrapping

5 pm – 7:30 pm: DIY Penguin-Making sculptures with Lisa Schumaier (Studio 16)

 


Sugar Shack Donuts and Coffee

Sugar Shack Donuts opened its first shop in June of 2013 in a small corner building in Richmond, Virginia’s Carver community. We believe that fresh products are the best products. We believe that communities are strongest when tied together. We believe that people are making a shift back to hand crafted products. Community is one of our most valued beliefs here.

 


Red Hook Lobster Pound DC

Each day, Red Hook Lobster Pound, DC serves up lunch to hundreds of Washingtonians providing a taste of Maine that everyone enjoys. Everyone is raving about “The Lobster Truck.”

 

Together We Bake

Together We Bake is a comprehensive workforce training and personal development program for women in need of a second chance. We help women gain self-confidence, transferable workforce skills, and invaluable hands-on experience, which will allow them to find employment and move toward self-sufficiency.

 

 

The Board Bus

The world’s only, fully-stocked, walk-in, mobile skateshop – featuring skateboarding equipment and apparel from local and national brands.

 

 

NOVA Pride

A young, grassroots, 100% volunteer-run organization, NOVA Pride provides a unified voice for, and a local base to, LGBTQ+ Northern Virginians – enhancing our visibility and relevance in the DMV region. NOVA Pride brings a sense of community to families, youth, and people of all scenes and sexualities through its year-round activity, including an annual festival every fall.

 

Safe Space NOVA

Safe Space NOVA is dedicated to providing a safe, accepting, and supportive environment to combat social stigmas, bullying, and other challenges faced by LGBT+ youth.

 

Project Natale

Project Natale is a band of brothers playing brotherly music that has gained world respect as jazz players infusing the old and new to creating a sonafication of their own. Over the subsequent decade, there was a unison struck when legends Carl Cornwell (tenor saxophone) and Bob Butta (piano) found a home as regular performers with the Project. Past performances include the Kennedy Center, Twins Jazz Lounge, Blues Alley, D.C. and Baltimore Art Galleries, Wine Festivals, Jazz Concerts, private affairs, and lounge and restaurant venues.