Fifty years since its founding, the Torpedo Factory Art Center, which houses the largest collection of open studios of working artists in one location, continues to give artists a home for their work and a place to showcase it to roughly half a million visitors annually. Located inside a converted, 100-year-old naval munitions plant along the Potomac River in Old Town Alexandria, it’s a treasured architectural and cultural landmark in NoVA.
The fact that it still exists is an enormous feat for a project of its kind, says Diane Ruggiero, Alexandria’s deputy director of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities at the Office of the Arts.
“It played such a large role in turning the waterfront around. And, you know, so often when you have examples like that, they get priced out of the areas that they help to revitalize, in the areas that they helped create,” Ruggiero says. “I think it’s a testament to the city’s commitment to the arts, as well as to the commitment to all of the artists in the art center, that it’s still here and it’s still thriving after 50 years.”
One factor that sets the center apart is that it’s open to the public 360 days a year, Ruggiero says. “Most other art centers don’t have just like that ready access to the artists’ studios.” Some artists, including Marian Van Landingham, who led the transformation of the space in the 1970s, have been there for the entire 50 years.
“The city understands that it’s a real benefit to the city as an attraction, and the artists realize that it’s an unusual opportunity — they really don’t have many other places that can give them that kind of contact with the public,” says Van Landingham.
The revenue that the center brings in from events such as weddings helps keep studio rent subsidized for artists — it’s currently $16.88 per square foot, per year for a three-year lease.
Ruggiero says that while the center lends itself to visual art, specifically painting, she’s seeing other types of artists like fashion designers and graphic artists coming in. There are 85 studios and about 115 artists in the space, she says, with some artists sharing studios.
The center is now in a “transitional phase” as it looks for a new managing entity, Ruggiero says. The city, which managed the facility for its first 22 years, took over again after the Torpedo Factory Art Center Board dissolved in 2016.
A weekend of 50-year anniversary festivities is in the works for September 13 to 15 to coincide with when the center officially opened, on September 15, 1974.
A 1970s-themed celebration featuring a DJ on Friday, September 13, will be free and open to the public (period attire encouraged). There will be a ticketed gala, catered with a live band, on Saturday and family-friendly festivities on Sunday.
105 N. Union St., Alexandria, torpedofactory.org
Feature image of Torpedo Factory courtesy City of Alexandria Office of the Arts
This story originally ran in our August issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
