Classes at the Art League of Alexandria will be on the move next summer.
The art league is leaving its 20,000-square-foot space at 808 N. Fairfax St., known as The Madison Annex, communications director Ariane D’Souza says. The lease has been extended, but expires June 30, 2024.
The building is being razed as part of the massive Montgomery Center redevelopment in the northern end of Old Town, around Madison, Montgomery, North Royal, and North Fairfax streets.
Administrative offices for the art league, as well as its school offices, gallery space, supplies store, and three of its classroom spaces, are all based at the Torpedo Factory at Alexandria’s waterfront.
“Those are going to continue on,” D’Souza says.
The league filed a request for a special use permit with the city for the former ABC Imaging spot at 800 Slaters Ln. “We’re excited to find a space that meets so many of our needs, so close to our existing space,” D’Souza says.
“It’s a bit smaller, but there should be some efficiencies with the new layout,” D’Souza says. “We’re hoping that it will meet most of our needs.”
She added that the art league should know the status of the request in early September.
D’Souza says that, thanks to the lease extension, summer 2024 classes will be the first round that will need to be held in a new spot. And while the art league will work as quickly as possible, “That’s a heavy lift,” D’Souza says: Construction delays are always a possibility, so the league may look for an interim space.
Feature image courtesy Torpedo Factory Art Center
For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine’s News newsletter.
