BIG NEWS: Torpedo Factory

So, as I told you in April, I was juried into the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria Virginia. When I started this whole process, I realized that even if I DID get juried in, it might be YEARS before I actually got a studio space there (My friend Jenae is there and she gave me the inside poop). First you have to sublease a space for 180 days. This is usually done in spats and spurts (a week here, maybe as long as a month somewhere else) as other artists go on vacation and need someone to open their space while they’re away (every studio is obliged to be open a certain number of hours each week). While subleasing, you get to be at the TF and see what it’s like working there, you get to put up a few of your things; it’s a good way to see if it will work for you (some people don’t like working in public), but it’s all very itinerate and the 180 days can take years.

After you manage to sublease for 180 days, you then (as I understand it) become eligible to be a lease-holding artist (instead of merely an Associate artist) and you get put on a list of eligible artists waiting for studio space. Getting your own space is nearly impossible. Some people have been in the Factory since it opened (over thirty years ago) and don’t plan on leaving until they die. But you can get asked to join someone else’s studio…bladdy bladdie blah. You get the picture. It ain’t easy.

So, what’s amazing to me is that I’m going to be part of the Fiber Works studio, which is one of the founding studios at the TF. It’s right on the main floor, so it’s easy to find and gets lots of traffic. Right now I’ll be sharing with 5 other fiber artists, which means I’ll only have to be there 4 or 5 days a month (doable for me right now), yet my work will be there every day. This situation seems almost perfect in that I get to be at the TF, get a sense of it, start building my 180 days, have my work on display, be a part of the community, etc. It’s only a three month trial at the end of which I’ll decide if it’s working for me. But right now, I’m VERY excited to be getting my foot in the door there and to have my work on display in such a gorgeous space in Alexandria. Right now I’m putting some of my very best work there, stuff that I haven’t put up on-line because it’s really NEW for the FALL. We’ll see how it goes.

Fiber Works information is as follows:
Fiber Works, Studio 14, on the ground floor.
Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm Mon-Sat & 12noon – 5pm Sun.
Telephone: 703.836.5807
Email: fiberworkstf@hotmail.com

My schedule there is variable, so if you want to come when I’m there, shoot me an email beforehand and I can let you know what days I’ll be there.

Hope to see you there!