Every 2nd Friday of the month through October 2026, the Torpedo Factory Art Center is open late, offering free activities, live music, art workshops, and open artist studios. This month, we’re celebrating Handwork2026, and featuring the diversity of the crafts that define America, bringing compelling stories and underrepresented art and artists into the spotlight.
One Love Collab | Grand Hall | 7-10 pm
One Love Collab blends neo-soul, jazz, folk, and world music into a soulful, genre-bending performance. Featuring the vibrant percussion and expressive vocals of Ayanna Gallant alongside the raw and hypnotic grooves of guitar and vocals of Sol Roots, the duo creates an intimate yet powerful soundscape that uplifts and inspires connection across cultures and communities.
Making Marbled Postcards | Grand Hall | 7-9 pm
Join printmaker Samantha Shelton in a drop-in workshop on paper marbling, a technique used for creating beautiful and complex patterns on paper and make a postcard for yourself to take home!
Mobile Art Lab | Grand Hall | 7-10 pm
Stop by the Mobile Art Lab for some fun crafting!
Weaving Demonstration | Studio 6 | 7-9 pm
Join artist Heasoon Rhee in her studio as she demonstrates weaving techniques and shares her artistic process with visitors.
Wheel Throwing Demo | Studio 16 | 7-9 pm
Join artist Lisa Schumaier out front of Studio 16 as she demonstrates wheel throwing!
From Clay to Surface: Forming and Surface Techniques Demonstrated | Scope Gallery – Studio 19 | 7-9 pm
Scope artists Ji Shin, Peggy Reichard, Barbara Nowak, and Jennifer Coffin will be demonstrating various forming and surface design techniques.
- Peggy Reichard – Coiling and Pinching: Ancient Technique and Contemporary Use | Peggy will share small examples of pots from various cultures, along with a selection of her own hand-pinched work. Earthenware clay and bisque-fired pukis—small, shallow molds used to support and shape clay—will be provided. Participants will use terracotta clay to form small disks inside the pukis. Peggy will demonstrate how to roll a coil and attach it to the rim of a base, introducing traditional handbuilding techniques.
- Ji Shin – Carving and Sgraffito | Sgraffito and freehand carving will be demonstrated, with a focus on both pattern-making and expressive mark-making. She will provide small tiles for participants to leave their own messages—literally “scratching” into the surface as a reflection of their daily social narratives.
- Barbara Nowak – Painting Pottery with Mason Stains | Barbara applies an underpainting of slip—liquid clay mixed with ceramic stains designed to withstand high firing temperatures (up to 2200°F)—to her leather-hard forms. Working with complementary colors inspired by ocean sunsets, she may add texture either before or after the slip is applied. Techniques include brushing directly onto the clay as well as transferring designs from newspaper onto the surface. The process is experimental and expressive, producing richly layered color effects.
- Jennifer Coffin – Brushes and Brushwork | Using her handmade brushes, Jennifer will demonstrate brushwork with slip to decorate and enhance the clay surface. She will also display her brushes and discuss the different natural hairs used, ranging from bear and goat to deer and rabbit.
Chinese Brushpainting on Pottery Demonstration | Fire On – Studio 22 | 7-9 pm
See how to apply brushwork with a traditional Asian technique and stroking to pottery with Tracie Griffith Tso of Fire On, Studio 22. Griffith Tso will be using underglazes on bisque forms and participants can experiment with natural-hair, bamboo-handled brushes firsthand.
Fiber Arts Demonstration | Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery – Studio 29 | 7-10 pm
Join the artists of the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery as they demonstrate the processes of spinning, crochet, and hand-stitching. They will also have fiber crafts on display!
How is Fine Jewelry Handmade? | Studio 205 | 7-10 pm
Zachary Androus of Androus Jewelry will present an ongoing demonstration of the processes by which fine jewelry is handmade in silver and gold. The artist will be at his workbench with pieces in various stages of manufacture, demonstrating the tools and techniques necessary to transform raw metal into finished jewelry.
Adorn Studio | Studio 226 | 7-9:30 pm
Join us at Adorn, Studio 226, for stories and participatory demonstrations.
Studio Visit with Lori Katz | Studio 334 | 7-8 pm
Join artist and ceramicist Lori Katz in her studio as she talks about the processes she uses to develop her work.
Sculpting with Salvaged Glass | Studio 335 | 7-9pm
Artist Alison Sigethy of Fantastical Glass will be in her studio, working on a large glass sculpture made of salvaged glass. She’ll be coloring it with glass enamel and is share in her process with visitors.
