Tag Archives: Featured

Fundred Dollar Bill Project

Activating across the U.S. for nearly a decade, the Fundred Dollar Bill Project will be in residence at the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s New Project Studio (Studio 8) through June 30. Fundred will be workshoping new ideas and strategies to help end childhood lead poisoning. Visitors will be invited to learn about the project, share their thoughts, and create their own unique Fundred, a currency of imagination.

Started by artist Mel Chin, the Fundred team has been engaging in a national effort to represent the people against lead toxicity in the environment. They’ve gathered more than 450,000 hand-drawn $100 bills from across the country, educating people about the dangers of lead poisoning, particularly in children. The interactive presentation seeks to engage teachers, parents, students, politicians, health and housing agencies, and community members to know that anyone who donates their individual expressions in this collective effort can take steps against the lead poisoning of children.

Since 2006, Fundred has evolved into a national collective project between Mel Chin Studio, MIT Co-Lab, several universities, museums, nonprofits, lead-poisoning prevention organizations and thousands of schools throughout the U.S. The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University hosted the project headquarters in 2016/2017, as engagement campaigns develop in Washington, D.C., and Flint, MI.

Teachers, access the resource guide to create bills with students.

Public Reception
Thursday, May 25 @ 7 pm

Hear Fundred founder Mel Chin talk about how the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina inspired this project and how it has evolved over the last 11 years. Co-producer and artist Maps Glover also performs. The New Project Studio will be open late for guests to make their own Fundred Dollar Bills.

 About the Fundred Dollar Bill Project

A Fundred is an individual’s drawing in the form of currency. It represents the value of a person’s expression against the invisible threat of lead poisoning that undermines health, intelligence, and behavior, particularly in children. The Fundred Dollar Bill Project was initiated to offer the population most affected, the young, a means to respond. This purposeful collection has grown into a massive reserve of individual drawings inspired by a single focus. As of May 2017, there are 453,168 unique, hand-made Fundred drawings.

For more information, visit fundred.org or follow the Torpedo Factory on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Meet the Team

Every single Fundred artist is part of the Fundred Network.

Mel Chin, Founding Artist & Director

Amanda Wiles, National Coordinator

Pat Clifford, LSW, MIT CoLab Fundred Project Coordinator

Dawne Langford, DC Production Coordinator 

Amy Hughes Braden, DC Engagement Coordinator

Elijah Williamson, DC Designer & Production

Maps Glover, DC Fundred Fun Coordinator

Friends Mentorship Program

Visit the New Project Studio from April 17-May 1 for a special two-week exhibition of works created by high school art students during their mentorship with professional artists from the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

The Friends of the Torpedo Factory Mentorship Program gives a selection of high school art students the opportunity to be mentored by a professional Torpedo Factory artist. The mentors answer the students’ questions on all that is involved in being a professional artist: education, finding and maintaining a studio, and marketing your artwork. They also give advice and consultation on the students’ artwork. At the end of the program, there is an exhibit of the students’ artwork in the Torpedo Factory and a reception.

This unique experience can help a student decide if they want to go on to study art in college and pursue a career in art, and provide a valuable addition to their college application.

Reception
Sunday, April 23
2pm-4pm

Parents, teachers, and art enthusiasts are encouraged to stop by the New Project Studio for refreshments and talks with mentors and students.

Second Thursday Art Night

Enjoy an special after-hours event at the Torpedo Factory Art Center every month. Browse open studios and galleries, interact with artists, grab a bronut, and enjoy special programming.

In April, we celebrate National Poetry Month with The Art of Poetry. This month’s line-up features receptions for Ephemera in Target Gallery, Newly Juried Artists in The Associates Gallery, and Open Exhibit in The Art League. Write a poem in the Alexandria Archaeology Museum (Studio 327) that’s inspired by the 18th-century ship found on the Alexandria waterfront. Welcome Samantha Sethi, the spring post-graduate resident, as she starts her three months in Studio 12. Write letters to the President with performance artist Sheryl Oring’s I Wish to Say project. The Northern Virginia chapter of the American Institute of Architects celebrates National Architecture Week with hands-on art projects. As always, EatsPlace has the beer and victuals.

Full Schedule

  • All Evening
    • Local architects from AIA Northern Virginia invite visitors to explore their exhibition and take part in a series of DIY projects, including a matching game, a drawing project, and Scrap City.
    • Sheryl Oring’s I Wish to Say gives people a chance to write postcards to the President. Starting in 2004, this project has sent more than 3,200 postcards to the White House over the past 13 years. Oring sets up a portable public office – complete with a manual typewriter – and invites people to write postcards to the President.
    • Be it a haiku or an ode, write a poem in honor of the historic ship that crews discovered just a few blocks away. Learn about the ship and efforts to preserve it in the Alexandria Archaeology Museum.
    • The Associates Gallery (Studio 311) features the work of the Newly Juried Artists.
  • 7 pm: Target Gallery – Studio 2
    Ephemera reception with Juror’s Talk
    The newest exhibition in Target Gallery features the work of 22 national and international artists who contemplate themes of nature, time, memory, and brevity.
  • 7:30 pm: The Art League – Studio 21
    Open Exhibit reception with awards

Save the Date

Thursday, May 11
Join us as we celebrate “Everyone Has a Story”

Sheryl Oring: I Wish to Say

As part of National Poetry Month, the Torpedo Factory Art Center hosts Sheryl Oring’s I Wish to Say in the New Project Studio.

I Wish to Say grew out of Sheryl Oring‘s concern that not enough voices were being heard about the state-of-affairs in this country and her belief in the value of free expression that is guaranteed under our Constitution.

For this project, Oring sets up a portable public office – complete with a manual typewriter – and invites people to write postcards to the President.

This ongoing project began in 2004. To date, more than 3,200 postcards have been sent to the White House as part of this project.

A complete archive of the project is hosted by the UNCG Library.

RSVP

 


I Wish to Say: 2016 from Sheryl Oring on Vimeo.

Sculpting Spaces: Where Art Meets Architecture

AIA Northern Virginia and the Torpedo Factory Art Center kick off National Architecture Week with a talk on the ways that Art and Architecture converge, featuring Matt McConnell, a sculptor and designer with degrees in Architecture and Industrial Design and commissioned works for residential, commercial, and public art projects. Part of the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Community Partnership Program.

6:30 Reception, 7:00 Talk
Main Hall of the Torpedo Factory Art Center
Parking is free on Sundays
RSVP

 

Matt McConnell

Matt McConnell is a sculptor and designer with degrees in Architecture and Industrial Design from NC State University. After working as a studio manager with sculptor Thomas Sayre and Clearscapes architecture for five years, he founded McConnell Studios and for 16 years has been producing sculpture, lighting, architectural installations, furniture, and much more at all scales.

 

 


The American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects Northern Virginia Chapter, a professional organization representing more than 1200 Northern Virginia members, is dedicated to advancing the knowledge of architecture among professionals and expanding the awareness and appreciation of architecture among the general public.

Sponsored by Lauren Bishop, McEnearney Associates, Inc. -Realtor.

Post-Graduate Resident Samantha Sethi

Samantha Sethi sees our world as a landscape that is both inhabited and studied by humankind, altered even as it is observed. It’s both the location and the material of our pursuit of meaning. She blends the physical with the digital in her work. In using natural materials like ice, tar, and sediment, and processes like melting and erosion, she creates works that are both action and images. She records the work in video and also draws or traces it to represent it through time.

During her residency, Sethi plans to pursue the further potential of this work through drawing, digital works, and physical installation.

Sethi is currently based in Washington, D.C. She completed her master’s of fine art at American University in May 2016. She is currently teaching art as an adjunct at AU and will teach at George Washington University in Spring 2017. Sethi completed her bachelor’s of fine art at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her work has shown in New York, Washington, and Berlin and has appeared in publications including The Washington Post, Time Out New York, and Studio Visit magazine. Sethi was awarded a Mellon grant in 2015 as well as the Elizabeth Van Swinderen Award in 2016.

Post-Graduate Artist Talk
Thursday, June 15 @ 7 pm

Sethi’s been creating a sculpture for Baltimore’s new CHM Sculpture Park. Hear her talk about this work and her next steps.

RSVP here

 

Save Our Ship Lecture

North Hall (near the spiral staircase)

10 – 11 a.m.

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

Recommended Donation $10

Special lecture on new discoveries on Alexandria’s 18th-century ship by Benjamin Skolnik, Alexandria Archaeology. Find out the latest news about the ship excavated last year on the Alexandria Waterfront. Reservations are required and available while supplies last from www.shop.alexandriava.gov. Select Save our Ship Lecture to make your reservation.

Once completed, please make a minimum donation of $10 to Save Our Ship through www.spring2action.razoo.com/story/Archaeologysos. All proceeds benefit the Ship Conservation Fund.

Space is limited. Book today and take full advantage of this unique opportunity to meet Alexandria Archaeologists and hear the latest research on the historic ship.

Early Alexandrians sunk the ship in the Potomac mudflats over 200 years ago. Archaeologists unearthed it, temporarily saving it from destruction.  The ship is currently stabilized and awaiting conservation. Now, we need your help to preserve this fragile vessel for future generations!

For more information about the ship’s excavation, stabilization, and media coverage, visit www.alexandriava.gov/87317

Help us SAVE OUR SHIP!

Ephemera

Public Reception: Thursday, April 13, 6 – 8 pm; Juror’s Talk at 7 pm

The newest exhibition in Target Gallery, the contemporary exhibition space for the Torpedo Factory Art Center, presents work that is fleeting and impermanent. Ephemera features the work of 22 national and international artists who contemplate themes of nature, time, memory, and brevity. Painter/sculptor Pam Rogers juried the exhibition.

“There are multitudes of ways an individual can perceive this transitory existence, making the concept of ephemerality a relative one,” said Rogers. “I was drawn to work that seemed to have risen from the artists’ true feelings of something being precious because it would soon no longer exist; art that embodied materials that spoke to a temporary life.”

Of the 108 submissions, only 22 artists were invited to participate. Work by local artists will be in conversation with pieces that will be traveling from as far as Alaska and France for a truly transnational exploration of ephemerality.

“I am interested in how artists capture impermanence,” said Leslie Mounaime, director of Target Gallery. “This body of work explores the idea of art as a natural and evanescent object, meant to represent a memory or reflect a specific moment in time. In this show, we strive not only to show work that introduces new trends and themes in contemporary art, but also reflects the broader conversation in our community around these diverse and relevant issues.”

Ephmera represents a wide diversity of media. Maxime Girardin plays with the photosensitive nature of chlorophyll to imprint intricate, yet delicate images on leaves in Origin 1 and Origin 2. In Lilach Schrag’s video loop Brown Golem, she documents her process and laborious ritual as she deconstructs and reconstructs a man from the earth. Holly Anne Brooks’ watercolor painting My Grandmother’s Knitting Pattern from 1948 preserves a family heirloom, the degrading paper her grandmother referenced to make Christmas stocking for every member of her family. Brent Dedas’ cyanotype X No. 29 captures the ghostly and fragile silhouettes of bees as they feed on honey and salt.

 

The participating artists are:

Scott Andresen New Orleans, LA
Susan Benarcik Wilmington, DE
Madison Bolls Washington, DC
Holly Anne Brooks Nyack, NY
Rae Broyles Roswell, GA
Anne Cherubim Gaithersburg, MD
Katie Ione Craney Haines, AK
Brent Dedas Louisville, KY
Maxime Girardin Paris, France
Ian Gwinn Catharpin, VA
Soomin Ham Alexandria, VA
Kelly Johnston Chapel Hill, NC
Dawn Lee Sayville, NY
Dave Magyar Middletown, DE
Bryanna Millis Washington, DC
Caroline Minchew Washington, DC
Lauren Rago Old Greenwich, CT
Gretchen Schermerhorn Silver Spring, MD
Lilach Schrag Highland Park, IL
Qin Tan Tacoma, WA
Hannah Vogel New Bedford, MA
Angela White Bethesda, MD

About the Juror

Pam Rogers is a painter/sculptor whose work explores the territory between the nature and the role of the artist as they engage with nature. She received her MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design and her BA in Art History from Wellesley College. Her work has been exhibited nationally including recent solo shows include the Greater Reston Arts Center in Reston VA, and Hillyer Art Space in Washington DC, and upcoming solo show at the Arlington Arts Center in VA. Pam has worked on numerous curatorial projects and was selected to receive a fellowship with the DCAC Curator/Mentor Program, as well as Strathmore Mentor in the Fine AIRS program and is completing her six-year fellowship at the Arlington Arts Center. She has received fellowships at multiple artist residency programs including the Ucross Foundation, Hambidge, I-Park, Ragdale Art Center and Virginia Center for Creative Arts and Mass MoCA. Pam currently works as an independent illustrator on various projects for the Anthropology Department of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

Jay Hendrick: Post-Graduate Resident Talk

Jay Hendrick (George Mason University MFA ’15) completes his three-month post-MFA residency at the end of March. Hear about the art projects, artist collaborations, and workshops he developed during his time at the Torpedo Factory. Moderated by artist and 2016 Post-Graduate Resident, Anne Smith.

7:00 Reception, 8:00 Talk

RSVP here

Jay Hendrick questions the value of value in his work. He creates paintings, then analyzes their importance, worth, and merit by exposing his work to different methods, such as digitization, duplication, and performance. His visual vocabulary is based on grids, a stable and reliable form, and color to assess the form’s value. His sundry palette draws from high and low culture, bringing together pop-music pink with cave-born ochers.

During his residency, Hendrick emulated the processes of other contemporary artists in the greater Washington, D.C. region in an effort to understand why other painters do what they do. He also conducted a series of visitor-focused workshops and dialogues in his studio, walking the line between education and performance art, titled “Skills Exchange,” “Joke Workshop,” and “How to Build a Boat When No One Knows How to Build a Boat.”

Jay Hendrick

Jay Hendrick (born Lubbock, TX 1977) lives and works in Fairfax, VA. His work has been shown in the USA, England, and Japan. He was featured in New American Painting 106. He received a Bachelors of Applied Studies and Bachelors of Fine Art from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX in 2011 and 2012. Hendrick received a Masters of Fine Art from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA in 2015. He teaches at Northern Virginia Community College in Woodbridge, VA.

 

Anne Smith

Anne Smith is a visual artist in Washington, DC. Her art practice spans disciplines of drawing, sculpture and printmaking to study elastic boundaries, paths, and divisions of space. Her subject matter has included her childhood home, the side of the road, and other spaces entirely made up or imagined.

Smith is also a teaching artist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and works in the studio of printmaker Lou Stovall.

Smith received her MFA from George Mason in 2015. She has also studied woodworking at the Penland School of Crafts in Baskersville, NC, and received a BA in Studio Art from Williams College, Williamstown, MA, in 2007.

7th Annual March150 Art Party

#March150

Target Gallery’s popular annual exhibition and art sale, March150, returns. Proceeds benefit future special exhibitions and programs. During the March150 Art Party on Friday, March 24, all of the work is discounted for $100. Join us for a lively evening featuring live performances by darlingdance, music, a photo booth, artist awards, and more.

Tickets are $20 in advance/$25 at the door. For an extra $15, you can enjoy the freshest local fare from EatsPlace, too. See special menu below!

Purchase tickets at the gift shop, online, or at the door. (pre-sale tickets end on Thursday, March 23rd)

Note: Tickets are transferable, but not refundable.

EatsPlace March150 Menu