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 Grand Hall, featuring some of the contemporary art world’s best-known artists, art curators, and art professionals.
This February, join us for a reception in the Target Gallery and Associates Gallery, as well as art demonstrations and open studios. At 8pm, join us in the Main Hall for a conversation with Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell to discuss the effects and influence of diaspora in African-American art, as a part of our monthly Torpedo Talks. FREE
Torpedo Talk
Diaspora in African-American Art
Speaker: Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell
8 pm, Grand Hall
RSVP Here
In collaboration with Target Gallery’s Passages exhibition, Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell, discusses the effects and influence of diaspora in African-American art. Torpedo Talks feature some of the region’s best-known artists, curators, and creatives. Find them every month at 8 pm during Second Thursday Art Nights.
About Kayleigh-Bryant Greenwell
Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell, is a Washington, D.C. native and an award-winning cultural programmer with over 10 years of GLAM experience [Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums] , devoted to exploring ways to engage with marginalized audiences through art, museum, and social justice practice.
She is a contributing author to the recently published Museum As Site for Social Action [MASS Action] toolkit produced by the Minneapolis Institute of Art. In 2017 she joins the Empathetic Museum initiative in their efforts to increase empathy inside the museum profession. She lends her expertise in equity initiatives and transformational change to these social change programs.
In her new role as Education Specialist with the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture, she curates participatory public programs focusing on social justice issues, which empower museum audiences to share their own ideas and strategies towards equity.
Before coming to NMAAHC, she contributed to the launch of the Women, Arts, and Social Change initiative at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, as the public programs coordinator. There she advanced feminism advocacy and brokered diverse and creative collaborations between the museum and local activist and arts leaders. Before that she served as an adjunct professor with P.G. College, and as a community organizer with P.G. County Arts and Cultural Heritage. Previously, she served as the visual arts coordinator at Strathmore, where she was responsible for an expansive portfolio of exhibition-based educational programming and a professional residency for emerging artists. Prior to that role, she served as operations manager at the David C. Driskell Center, where she wore many hats in programming, management, and collaborative projects.
As a curator, she has produced several contemporary art exhibitions exploring race, gender, politics, and social issues. She is a frequent juror of national and international art exhibitions and initiatives. She has served in the leadership of the DC Chapter of ArtTable, Inc. since 2014, and currently serves as Chapter Co-Chair.
Her writing has been featured with Americans for the Arts, the American Alliance of Museums, The Washington Times, CBS, and Brightest Young Things, among others. She earned her bachelor of arts in art history from the University of Maryland, College Park and her master of arts in museum studies from the George Washington University.
Gallery Receptions, Open Studios, and Special Activities
7 pm: Passages Opening Reception and Juror Talk – Target Gallery (Studio 2)
Opening reception for 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, Adriana Ospina (Curator of the Permanent Collection and Education at the Art Museum of Americas) will speak at 7 pm.
6 – 9pm: POUR: Reception and Demos – The Associates Gallery (Studio 311) and 3rd Floor Landing
Jennifer Brewer Stone (@sobrightart) will demonstrate poured resin on panels, including a gold leaf application, mixing dyes on the spot, and doing a dirty pour and a striped pour. She also uses molds of resin created in prior pours and layers them into her finished works, and she will show how these are created. A gold leaf demonstration will begin the demo session, starting with applying the gold adhesive, and after adhesive is set, applying the gold leaf and brushing it off at the end of the entire demo session.
Whitney Staiger (@udopjewelry) will showcase how to cast into cuttlefish bones, one of the oldest ways of casting metal. The demo will include the carving and instant gratification of casting, as she pours the metal directly into the cuttlefish bone, producing the almost finished end result.
Demo times (all demos will take place on the 3rd floor landing):
- Whitney Staiger’s cuttlefish demo: 6:30 – 6:50 pm
- Jennifer Brewer Stone’s poured resin demo: 7:30 – 8:30 pm
6 – 9pm: Re-use and Recycle love: Upcycled valentine making – South Hall in front of Studio 16
Create unusual cards and love tokens with Torpedo factory Artist Lisa Schumaier (@lisaschumaier) and Upcycle Creative Reuse Center. Make magical messages using Recycled stuff and cool art supplies. All ages are encouraged to participate. Come and play!
