Frances Gallardo: Meteorology

What: Frances Gallardo: Meteorology
When: Saturday, January 18th – Sunday, March 2^nd, 2014  
Opening & Performance: Saturday, January 18^th from 2-4pm
Reception: Thursday, February 13th, 6-8pm; Curator Talk with Laura Roulet at 7pm
Where: Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA
www.torpedofactory.org/target

Description: Target Gallery presents it’s first curated show of 2014, Frances Gallardo: Meteorology. The exhibition will run from Saturday, January 18^th through Sunday, March 2^nd, 2014 and will feature large-scale cut-paper installations, sculpture, and conceptual performance art. There will be an opening reception and performance on Saturday, January 18^th from 2-4pm. There will be an additional reception on Thursday, February 13^th from 6-8pm, which will include a curator talk by Laura Roulet at 7pm.  

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(Alexandria, VA) The deceptive beauty of Frances Gallardo’s cut-paper hurricane series belies the urgent underlying theme of climate change, which is a particular threat for her native island of Puerto Rico in the Tropics. Gallardo’s work combines exquisitely crafted cut-paper installations with conceptual performance art. Delving beneath the surface, paper serves as a metaphor for human skin and vulnerability. Based on satellite imagery appropriated from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website, Meteorology includes large-scale cut-paper installations and sculpture. The public opening on Saturday, January 18 will include a site-responsive performance by the artist. 

About Frances Gallardo
Frances Gallardo (b. 1984 San Juan, Puerto Rico) lives and works in San Juan and New York. She graduated in 2008 from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. She has held residencies at the Center for Book Arts (NYC) and Beta Local (San Juan). In 2012, she was awarded the Lexus Prize and was featured in a solo exhibit at the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture in San Juan. This is her first exhibition in the DMV region.

Curator Information – About Laura Roulet
Laura Roulet is an independent curator and writer, specializing in contemporary and Latin American art. She was one of five international curators chosen for the citywide public art project, 5 x 5, a major initiative sponsored by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in 2012. She has organized exhibitions in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Washington DC including at the Art Museum of the Americas, the Mexican Cultural Institute, Artisphere, Hillyer Art Space, Project 4, Fusebox and the DC Art Center. Recent exhibits include Sculpting Outside the Lines, an outdoor sculpture exhibit in Foggy Bottom and Medios y ambientes in Mexico City.  Her publications include many catalogue essays, encyclopedia entries, articles in American Art, Art Journal, Art Nexus, Sculpture, and the book Contemporary Puerto Rican Installation Art, the Guagua Aerea, the Trojan Horse and the Termite. She worked on the Ana Mendieta retrospective, organized by the Hirshhorn Museum in 2004, and contributed to that catalogue.

The entire exhibition will be online beginning January 18^th, 2014 at www.torpedofactory.org/target.

Look in to the "Void" with Radio Sebastian - Opening August 3rd!

What: Radio Sebastian: You, Me, and the Void
When: Saturday, August 3^rd – Sunday, September 1^st, 2013
Reception: Thursday, August 8^th, 6-8pm; Artist Talk at 7pm, FREE
Where: Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA
www.torpedofactory.org/target

“Radio Sebastian looks into the subject of the “Void” and creates a new way of expressing and presenting it to the viewer…they are a true testament to the quality of Washington DC artists.”  - Samantha May, Juror, and Gallery Director of Hillyer Art Space

Description: Target Gallery presents You, Me, and the Void, a solo exhibition by Radio Sebastian, a collaborative between Corwin Levi and Yumiko Blackwell. The exhibition will include a site-specific installation, a series of mixed-media collages, and an interactive video piece. Join us for a reception on Thursday, August 8^th from 6-8pm to meet the artists and hear them speak about their work.

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(Alexandria, VA) The Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Target Gallery presents You, Me, and the Void, a solo exhibition by DC-based artists Radio Sebastian, which opens on August 3^rd and runs through September 1^st, 2013. Each year the Target Gallery hosts “Open Exhibition,” an open call for proposals for a solo exhibition. Three arts experts from the DC-area made up this year’s jury panel; Samantha May, Director of Hillyer Art Space, Foon Sham, noted sculptor and professor, and Morgan Hungerford West, founder and writer of the arts and lifestyle blog Pandahead. They reviewed close to 50 proposals individually, and then gathered for a group review of their top ten selections before naming Radio Sebastian the 2013 winners.

Radio Sebastian is a husband and wife collaborative between artists Corwin Levi and Yumi Blackwell. The title for the exhibition, You, Me, and the Void, comes from the artists’ examination of “the void," which they state in their proposal, has always existed. Yves Klein famously leapt into it. Anish Kapoor noted "the void is not silent" and described it as "that very first moment of creativity where everything is possible and nothing has actually happened."

To Radio Sebastian, they do not see “the void” as containing nothing, rather “a space where everything is possible and has already happened, but we most often access only sparks of creation and must work out the actual creating ourselves. It is the space in which everyone's creativity and power exist and from which we can glimpse moments of what is possible.”

The exhibition will consist of the manifestation of Corwin's void, a selection of poets' voids, and a selection of people at large's voids. Corwin's void is based in the word shine and the six-sided symbol he equates with it. He sees this word and this symbol as representing everything that an individual is capable of achieving and his void is full of them, for everyone. They will include in the show drawings of networks of this symbol, both abstractly and on top of photographs. The centerpiece of the exhibition will be a site-specific installation where they will write public domain poems on pieces of paper, tie them into floating bundles, and hang them from the ceiling with fishing line over stacks of poetry books and a tape drawing on the floor.

In addition, they will include video pieces where they have asked, and videotaped, many people saying the word "shine" for as long as they can, their personal shine, and their descriptions of the Void--and have edited these together. They will also encourage Target Gallery viewers to submit video clips (via email) for inclusion in their future exhibitions and to add to the videos in the gallery as the show progresses.

The entire exhibition will be online beginning August 3rd at www.torpedofactory.org/target.

Juror Information:
Samantha May is the Gallery Director of Hillyer Art Space, a non-profit D.C. art gallery dedicated to assisting local and international artists make their entrance, or re-entrance in to the DC art scene.  At Hillyer Art Space she oversees all exhibiting artists, mounts the monthly gallery exhibits, and chairs the Artists' Advisory Committee made up of well-established local artists; with Emeritus members including: Bill Christenberry, Sam Gilliam, and Manon Cleary. While at Hillyer Art Space she has simultaneously worked on her Master's Degree in Art History from American University, where her thesis on John Singer Sargent is now under review.
 
Sculptor Foon Sham received a BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts, and a MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is professor of Art at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has had 30 solo exhibitions in the Washington Metropolitan region and in New York, Ohio, Delaware, New Mexico, Canada, Norway, Mexico, Australia and most recently in Hong Kong. His work have been included group exhibitions at Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington DC and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. His public collections include the Nayatad Sculpture Park in Hungary, United World College in Norway, Universidid De Palermo in Argentina, the MacQuarie University in Sydney, Australia, the Sculpture Park at OMI International Arts Center in Ghent, New York, the Museum of Contemporary Arts of Yucatan, Merida, Mexico, the large scale sculpture at the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metrorail Station, the Convention Center in Washington DC and recently the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. He has also received many awards including a Residency Grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, and the Franz and Virginia Bader Fund from Washington DC and Strauss Fellowship from Fairfax County, Virginia. In Washington, DC he is represented by Project 4.

Morgan Hungerford West writes art and lifestyle blog Panda Head, and works in the realms of art direction and art production in Washington, DC. Her installations have been featured at the French Embassy and the Textile Museum; her line of handmade, vintage lace teepees have garnered mention in the New York Times, and are currently sold exclusively, and on a made-to-order basis, by BHLDN, the wedding branch of Anthropologie. Her various projects have been featured on Refinery29, Apartment Therapy, and LuckyMag.com, as well as in the Washington Post, Washingtonian Magazine, and Nylon Magazine.

Food: Friend or Foe - Reception postponed

Due to severe weather forecast (which we actually never got any of besides a little wind and rain) we had to reschedule our reception for Food: Friend or Foe. The new reception date is Sunday, June 30th, 2-4pm. Hope everyone can still make it and come meet some of the artists for this awesome exhibition!

One Million Bones

On May 6th, the One Million Bones project will come to the Torpedo Factory. Raising awareness about genocide that is happening all over the world today, this installation is made from over 1,000 ceramic bones created by different groups in the Northern Virginia area, including George Washington Middle School, Bishop McNamara High School, local recreation centers, churches, and more. This powerful installation will be on display through Friday, May 10th before it will be packed up to make its way across the river to join bones made from groups all of the country.

On June 8th and 9th, one million handmade bones crafted by students, artists and activists from around the world will be laid on the National Mall in Washington, DC. A striking symbol of our common humanity, these bones were made to honor those lost to genocide and mass atrocities and those still fighting to survive them in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma and Somalia.

Special Thanks to Torpedo Factory Artists Lisa Schumaier, Robert Rosselle, and Jennifer Hatfield.

Beyond Funtion Opens on May 4th!

What: Beyond Function
When: Saturday, May 4th – Sunday, June 2nd, 2013
Reception: Thursday, May 9th, 6-8pm; juror talk with Novie Trump at 7pm, FREE

Target Gallery presents Beyond Function. From precariously stacked bowls to “inflatable” dinosaur sculptures, the exhibition features ceramic works that go beyond utility, seeking to be valued for their aesthetic quality over their usefulness. In addition, juror Novie Trump and Laurel Lukaszewski will create a site-specific ceramic installation outside of the gallery. Join us for a reception on Thursday, May 9th from 6-8pm to meet some of the artists and hear a juror talk at 7pm.

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(Alexandria, VA) The Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Target Gallery presents Beyond Function, which opens on May 4th and runs through June 2nd, 2013. Throughout time ceramics has been an important part of our daily lives. When one hears the word ceramics, their first thought often goes to items such as tableware, tiles, vases, etc. While it can be appreciated for its aesthetics, this work is most likely regarded first for functional quality over artistic merit. This exhibition examines how artists today are using this ancient medium and going beyond utilitarian connotations, creating work that seeks to be valued as pure form.

Beyond Function will feature a wide range of work by thirteen artists from across the United States, and one from Turin, Italy. Artist David Bogus, from Laredo Texas, will show his piece Optimist Luggage 1. Bogus uses the slip-cast method, which is traditionally used in the mass-production of pottery, using molds made from both found and rendered objects to achieve a sense of scale and repetition. He applies principles of graphic design and color to achieve a superficial attractiveness while their contents have purposely been obscured offering both psychological and nostalgic metaphors.

Brooklyn-based artist Phoenix Lindsey-Hall presents Extinguish, part of the larger body of work After Kempf, an exploration into lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender hate crimes. Using mixed media, including ceramic, concrete, and found materials, Lindsey-Hall transforms everyday objects that have been used as weapons in specific hate crime cases. “Clay becomes skin as I press into the surface, leaving the trace of my hand and simultaneously representing the act of violence. Here the twisting, mutilation and ultimate undoing of the body is transferred to the objects. The disturbance of everyday objects calls into question the very system in which they exist.”

Selected artists include: David Bogus (TX), Jackie Brown (PA), Angela Carbone (TX), Mary K Cloonan (MD), Stephen Gian Mangione (CA), Clara Graziolino (Italy), Anita Holt (VA), Brett Kern (WV),  Phoenix Lindsey-Hall (NY), Shalya Marsh (PA), Lori Mills (NY), Tybre Newcomer (MI), Amanda Small (NC), Mary Sweeney (NY)

Juror Information – About Novie Trump
Novie Trump is a sculptor and installation artist working primarily in ceramic and mixed media. Formally trained in classical archaeology at the University of North Carolina, her work has been selected for juried and invitational exhibitions in the US and Europe and has been featured in numerous publications. Winner of the 2009 Strauss Fellowship, she has been awarded grants and commissions for several public art works, the most recent at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC. Trump is the founder and director of Flux Studios, a contemporary art space in Mt. Rainier, MD.

Friends Mentor Program

Exhibition Dates: April 3rd – 7th, 2013
Reception: Sunday, April 7th; 2-4pm

Target Gallery presents an exhibition of the works created by participants in the Friends of the Torpedo Factory’s annual Mentorship Program for Alexandria high school students. Students are partnered with a Torpedo Factory artist and work with them through out the year to create the work that is then showcased in this exhibition.

Welcome Newly Juried Artists

Join us on March 30th from 3-5pm for a

reception to meet the artists! 

     

Exhibition Dates: March 23rd - 30th, 2013 

We are thrilled to welcomes the eighteen new artists of the Torpedo Factory Artists' Association (TFAA). These artists were selected through the TFAA's Annual Jury process, where an outside panel of art experts made the selections from among 80 applicants.

Click here to learn more!

March150 Fundraiser Returns!

March150 - 3rd Annual Exhibition Fundraiser
Saturday March 9th  -  Sunday, March 17th, 2013

The Target Gallery and the March of Dimes are teaming up to raise money for both organizations with our 3rd annual exhibition fundraiser March150 (formerly titled "March Madness"). The show includes 200 panels of artwork created by local artists, each only $150 (and only $100 the night of the Art Party on March 15th), and a free kids art activity on Sunday, March 10th.

Art Party Details: March 15th, 7-10pm / $15 advance or $20 at the door
Taking over the first floor of the Art Center, tickets to this festive event include:

*Artwork - only $100 each: over 200 panels created by local artists, each only $100, regularly $150

*Prizes & Raffle: Hidden behind select panels and also available for raffle are tickets to an exclusive dinner party where guests will enjoy each course in a different studio at the Torpedo Factory where they can meet the artists and learn more about their work.

*DIY and other Art Activities: The popular “Gum Art” painting is back, make your own wearable mini-collage at our button making station, and smile pretty in our custom photo-booth.

*Wing-Off Competition: Sample wings by Foster's Grill, Chadwicks, and Austin's Grille - then and vote for your favorite!

*Food & Drinks: Pizza provided by Bugsy’s, Cash Bar with beer by Port City Brewery, snacks and more!

Art, Fashion, or Both?

Fabricated: An Exhibition of Wearable Art
Opens Saturday, February 2 - March 3, 2013

Special Reception on Thursday, February 14th, 6-8pm

Stay for a gallery talk by our juror Rachel Timmins at 7pm.

Fabricated is an all-media exhibition featuring wearable art – individually designed pieces of handmade clothing and jewelry that are each unique artistic creations. Our juror was Rachel Timmins, whose wearable and sculptural works have been featured at the Design Museum in London, UK, The Masur Museum of Art, the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art.

Gallery Talk with Between the Lines juror Linn Meyers

On January 10th, our juror Linn Meyers gave a wonderful gallery talk during the reception for Between the Lines. She spoke her process an reasoning behind her selections for the exhibition, specifically how "Drawing has long been understood to be a preparatory medium – artists have made drawings in preparation for making works in other mediums such as painting, printmaking or sculpture. Drawing has been for some artists and viewers synonymous with “sketching.”...The distinction long made between drawing, painting, and sculpture continues to become less and less important to both viewers and artists. The works in this exhibition explore, through both imagery and materials, the way artists are using drawing as a primary mode of expression in the 21st century."

Give the gift of Art!

5x5x5 purchasers can take the artworks with them at time of purchase - makes for the perfect holiday gifts - like this one, "Blue Chandelier" by Ann Dinwiddie Madden for only $75.

5x5(x5) Is Back - December 8th - 30th

Back by popular demand, Target Gallery presents our small works exhibition 5x5x(5). This show examines work on a very intimate scale with all of the work measuring at five inches or less. The show will consist of all media, from painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, jewelry, fiber and more. With close to 112 art works created by 68 artists from around the country, there is definitely something for everyone.

Please join us for a special reception on
Thursday, December 13th, 6-8pm
Our juror Stefanie Fedor will give a gallery talk at 7pm. 

Selected Artists: Susanna Speirs Ali (CA), Fabiano Amin (DC), Robin Arnold (NY), Roger Bisbing (NY), Adam Bradley (VA), Therese Brown (CA), Susan Callahan (MD), Susan Cohen (VA), Danny Conant (MD), Theresa Devine (AZ), Jackson Echols (TX), Kirbi Eckerty (IL), Barbara Januszkiewicz (VA), Susan Field (CA), Dave Fischer (MI), Jeanne Garant (VA), Annette Giaco (SC), Jeanne Goodman (VA), Amy Gross (FL), Joni Gruber (AL), Max Heller (NC), Gail Higginbotham (MD), Harrison Higgs (WA), Jamie M. Jamison (OH), Leslie Johnston (DC), Michael Kalish (LA), Hugh Jones (VA), Jordanna Kalman (NY), Sally Kauffman (DC), Joo Kim (FL), Erika Kissinger (VA), Richard Lapham (NY), Nancy E. Lohmiller (WI), Ann Dinwiddie Madden (MS), Chalda Maloff (TX), James Mai (IL), Diana Manchak (MD), Anne Marchand (DC), Sue Marrazzo (PA), Ceci Cole Mcinturff (DC), Elizabeth Meggs (NY), Karen Mullarkey (VA), Larissa Norman (UT), Charles Norton (MD), Amy Ordoveza (VA), Elizabeth Palovick (PA), Domingo Parada (IL), Kate Patsch (VA), Dan Perkins (DC), Jane Pettit (MD), Casey Scharling (NC), Richard Sele (VA), Donna Sinclair (VA), John O. Smith (WI), Janos Somogyi (VA), Denise Stewart-Sanabria (TN), B. Avery Syrig (NY), Laura Tabakman (PA), Carol Talkov (VA), Hester Thomas (NY), Guillermo Ubilla (VA), Paul Valadez (TX), Susan  Walen (MD), Jane Walker (UK), Patricia Sarrafian Ward (MA), Karen Watson (VA), Steve Whitfield (OK), Melissa Woodburn (CA)

Upheaval opens Saturday, November 3rd in Celebration of Fotoweek DC

 

What: Upheaval – Part of Fotoweek DC
When: November 3^rd – December 2^nd, 2012
Reception: Thursday, November 8^th, 6-8pm; juror talk with Brie Castell at 7pm
 
In celebration of Fotoweek DC, the Target Gallery hosts a juried exhibition that examines how photographers interpret the theme of Upheaval – whether in their personal lives dealing with illness, divorce, death of a parent – or on a more global level with subjects such as climate change, political unrest, and natural disasters.

The exhibition will showcase 16 works by 9 artists from across the country, including two local artists, Sascha Hughes-Caley (Great Falls) and Angela Kleis (Arlington). Other selected artists are Therese Brown (CA), Lisa DiLillo (NY), Jodie Mim Goodnough (MA), Annie Hogan (NJ), Matthew Moore (MD), Brandon Pilcher (NY), and Allison Rufrano (NY)

Juror Information
Our juror for this exhibition is Brie Castell, owner and chief curator of Castell Photography in Asheville, North Carolina, one of the south's finest galleries specializing in contemporary photo-based media. Castell works with established and emerging artists from around the globe for exhibition and representation, and brings to Asheville leading authorities in the field of photography for educational programming. Castell has also been a working photo-based artist for over 12 years, has exhibited extensively around the country, and is in numerous public and private collections. Castell received her MFA from East Carolina University, and currently teaches photography at Virginia Intermont College.

 

Homage: Past Influences
Exhibition Dates: October 6 - 28, 2012
Reception: October 11, 6 - 8pm - juror talk at 7pm

Homage is an all-media, juried exhibition featuring work that pays respect or dedication to past influences. Our juror, Brooke Seidelmann, is the director of DC's Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, located in the vibrant U St. corridor and part of the larger community center, Smith Center for Healing & the Arts. In 2011, Brooke was co-director of the citywide arts initiative, The 9/11 Arts Project, which brought together over 30 DC arts organizations to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with multi-genre programming.

Selected Artists
Diane Blackwell (VA), Stephanie Booth (VA), Abigail Cassner (GA), Sarah Fagan (OR), Jodie Mim Goodnough (MA), Matthew Hall (PA), Daniel Koterbay (RI), Alexander L. Landerman (WI), Luisa Mesa (FL), Dawn Nye (ME), Dale Odell (AZ), Brenda Oelbaum (MI), Diane F. Ramos (OH), Katrazyna Randall (ME), Scott Michael Raynor (NC), Ryan Schroeder (MD), Sandra Sitron (NY), Jenny Wiener (FL), Helen Zughaib (DC)

Ben Duke's Sublime Rupture Open in Target Gallery

What: Sublime Rupture, Paintings by Benjamin Duke
When: August 4 – September 2, 2012
Reception: August 9, 6 - 8pm; gallery talk with Benjamin Duke at 7pm

“Duke’s canvases are energetic and chaotic; he is unafraid of scale, lush surface, high contrast, saturated color, unstable angularity, exaggerated gesture and any of a number of devices that may make a self conscious, defensive painter squeamish. This exuberance is girded by masterful drawing, seemingly effortless mark and convincing picture structure; Mr. Duke applies his craft with conviction, enthusiasm and without apology.” – David Page, 2012 Open Exhibition Juror

The Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Target Gallery presents the exhibition Sublime Rupture, featuring a series of large paintings by artist Benjamin Duke, winner of the gallery’s 2012 Open Exhibition competition. A distinguished panel of three arts-experts who reviewed over eighty submitted proposals unanimously selected Duke’s work. The exhibition will open on Saturday, August 4^th and run through Sunday, September 2^nd, 2012. Please join us on August 9^th, from 6-8pm for a reception to meet the artist and hear him speak at 7pm.

When asked about this series of work, Duke says:
“In my paintings I ask myself ‘Is this the way the world is?’ I reshape and retool my painting experience to answer that question.  But while the question begins with the world, it ends with the work itself: ‘Is this the way the world is in this work?’ The search is for the world in painting and painting in the world (painting worlds/ painting’s world). Am I in the world or is the world in me? I allude to my life, to writers’ works, to imagery, and it is my hope that this record of allusion conjures and creates the same. I am referring to text, theory, idea - but I am also finding myself already there, looking out to see in.”



About the Artist
Benjamin Swallow Duke was born in Louisville, Kentucky and grew up in Utah. He studied Literature, Philosophy and Art at the University of Utah receiving his BFA in 2002. He received his Master of Fine Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore Hoffberger School of Painting, and has been teaching painting and drawing at Michigan State University since 2006. Duke has had numerous solo and group shows at the national and international level including at the Fitton Art Center in Hamilton, Ohio, “Weak Painting Group” exhibitions at The Kuandu Museum of Fine Art in Taipei and Da Xiang Art Space in Taichung City, Taiwan, and several solo exhibitions at Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago. Duke’s work has been represented since 2006 by Ann Nathan Gallery, a well-established and respected downtown Chicago Gallery with a focus on contemporary realism.  Duke has also been awarded international residencies at Bamboo Curtain Studios, Taiwan from May to July 2009 and The Kuandu Museum of Fine Art from December 2009 through January 2010 at Taipei National University of the Arts, the premier Art University in Taiwan.

About the 2012 Open Exhibition Competition
When the artists of the Torpedo Factory Art Center conceived the Target Gallery in 1987, it was tasked with the mission to feature emerging and established artists from all over the country in shows that would engage and challenge the viewer. We accomplish this through a series of juried exhibitions that are open to all artists nationally and internationally. One opportunity that we offer annually is our Open Exhibition competition, which invites artists to submit exhibition proposals for a chance at a solo exhibition in the gallery. In addition to the honor of having a solo exhibition in a world-renowned art center, the gallery offers the artist a show catalog.  We choose a panel of three arts experts to choose the winning exhibition proposal. This year’s distinguished juror panel included Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center in Washington, Catriona Fraser, international award-winning photographer and the Director of Fraser Gallery, and David Page, South African-born, internationally acclaimed Baltimore-based sculptor.

Peace Paper Project - Workshop & Exhibition

Made possible through out Art in Public Spaces program, this was a free workshop designed as a collaborative effort between Peace Paper Project and the Torpedo Factory Art Center's Target Gallery.



The workshop was be led Peace Paper Project Directors Drew Matott and Margaret Mahan, as well as Art Therapist Arielle Matthews. Participants were comprised of Torpedo Factory Artist and survivors of trauma and veterans in the Washington, D.C. area.

Through making paper from their own clothing and prints from their own images, workshop participants will utilize both traditional and contemporary applications of the paper arts as a means to tell their individual stories. The workshop will culminate with an exhibit of handmade paper, pulp paintings, pulp prints and broadsides made throughout the workshop.

About Peace Paper Recognizing the therapeutic benefits of the medium, Peace Paper works to make hand papermaking available to the world in numerous ways. Peace Paper works with survivors of trauma and uses a portable paper making studio and fibers that hold significance (such as articles of clothing that one might have worn during chemo treatment, or part of a military uniform, etc) to create hand made paper. Their goal is to bring paper to the people so that they may transform their unique fibers into works of art; expressing their stories through the pulp while using the medium of papermaking to enrich their artistic voices.

TF Artist of the Year Exhibit: Susan Makara's Masks

What: Susan Makara: Masks
When: June 30 – July 29, 2012
Reception: July 12, 6 - 8pm; Award Ceremony at 7pm

The Target Gallery presents Masks, a solo exhibition of work by Torpedo Factory artist Susan Makara, winner of the Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Artist of the Year award. A special reception will be held on July 12^th from 6-8pm, with an award ceremony at 7pm. Guests are encouraged to wear a mask to the reception.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Target Gallery presents Masks, which opens on June 30 and runs through July 29.  This solo exhibition features paintings and sketches by Susan Makara, winner of the Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s annual Artist of the Year award. About this series of paintings Makara says, “Masks showcases my strongest and most fantastical work to date. The ideas for the series come from my imagination, visible only in my minds’ eye until I paint them. We all wear masks. Our true feelings and thoughts are not always revealed for others to see. Sometimes we hide the person within.”

The juror for this exhibition was William Schran, Assistant Dean of Fine Arts at Northern Virginia Community College. About Makara’s work he said, “Susan demonstrates a command of the medium with powerful imagery that speaks to the viewer, yet presents a sense of mystery. There is a haunting dream-like quality with the figures, all hidden behind masks.  Behind the mask, who is looking at whom?”

Susan Makara holds a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. She served as assistant art director at a Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington, DC and as art director for the PBS series “Powerhouse.” Her work can be found in the School of Art Museum in Buenos Aires, at the U.S. State Department, in the homes of James Brady and Barbara Bush, and at the Garden Court in Jordan’s Royal Palace.

Forged: Examining contemporary approaches to the ancient process of forged metal work.

What: Forged
When: May 19 - June 24, 2012
Reception: June 14, 6 - 8pm; juror talk with Twylene Moyer at 7pm

Forged explores how artists today are taking a contemporary approach to one of the oldest known metalworking processes. The selected works represent a broad range of formal qualities, techniques, and points of view. They run the gamut from conceptual to functional, from practical to outrageous, but they all share a common root in the deep-seated role of metal as a shaper of thought and behavior. As stated by the juror Twylene Moyer, the selected work has “…the power to make us think, again, about how the most ancient of materials and processes can be renewed to forge a continually evolving present.”

The selected artists are: Ross Caudill (NY), Michael Leo Chmielewski (NC), Dylan Collins (WV), Ben Dory (IL), Ellen Durkan (DE), Wendy Edsall-Kerwin (PA), Seth Gould (NC), Lu Heintz (RI), Holland Houdek (NY), Lucas House (NC), John Huckins (ME), Daniel Marcucio (ME), Laurie Marshall (IL), Cozette Phillips (TX), Mike Rossi (PA), George Rousis (MO), Jon Shearin (NY), Steve Shelby (IN), Lisa M. Wilson (OH).

Push Pull Play opens April 12th

Exhibition Dates: April 12 - May 13, 2012Reception: April 12th, 6-8pm

Target Gallery hosts this juried exhibition that focuses on interactive, and toy inspired art. The juror for this exhibition is Prescott Trudeau, curator for the Children’s Museum of Art in Manhattan. This exhibition is in participation with MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Children and the Arts 2012, a statewide collaboration of artists, arts organizations, and other institutions to present programs focusing on Children and the Arts.

Selected Artists: Ellen Benson (PA), Ashley V. Blalock (CA), Phillip Delacruz (FL), Marlene Hawe (VA), Erika Heffernan (NY), Joel Jonientz (ND), Melanie Kehoss (VA), Caroline McCatty (MD), Christopher Nitsche (GA), Seamus Liam O'Brien (NY), Mallory Sloss (PA), Alex Waggoner (GA)

Welcome Newly Juried Artists!

Exhibition Dates: March 24 - April 1

Reception: April 1, 2-4pm

This year we had eighty-four artists apply for membership to the Torpedo Factory Artists' Association! Six out of twenty-seven 3D artists were accepted. Eleven out of fifty-seven 2D artists were accepted. CLICK HERE to learn more about the Jury process. Stop by the gallery to from March 24 through April 1st to see some of their work, and make sure to come to the reception on April 1st to meet the artists.

We are pleased to announce the results for the

2012 Newly Juried Artists! 

3D Results: 
Karin Abromaitis, Clay and Metal
Bev Andrews, Ceramics
Jamie Fine, Ceramics
Dejan Jovanovic, Jewelry
Maureen Melville, Stained Glass

Holly Sugarman, Fiber

2D Results: 
Lesley Clarke, Painting
Soomin Ham, Photography
Eric T. Johnson, Photography
Rachel Kerwin, Painting and Drawing
Greg Knott, Photography
Guido Krueger, Photography
Allen Levy, Painting
E. E. McCollum, Photography
Jennifer Stone, Painting
Brady Wilks, Photography
Frederic Zafran, Photography