The Torpedo Factory Art Center Board is pleased to announce a partnership with the Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, in which the contribution to the Friends directly supports specific events and special programs developed in collaboration with the Torpedo Factory Art Center. The Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center (Friends) is a nonprofit membership organization presenting a variety of arts-related programs and events in collaboration with the Torpedo Factory Art Center (TFAC), one of Alexandria’s best resources for the arts. Through your support, the Friends helps make art an integral part of the community. We do this by sponsoring programs and events, noted below, that both bring art to the community and connect the community to art. Friends programs and events are underwritten in part through operating assistance from the Alexandria Commission for the Arts.

Friends Mentorship Program Exhibit 2010

2011 Events:

Artist of the Year Exhibit and Reception

On January 10 the Friends announced Tory Cowles as the winner of our 2011 Artist of the Year contest. Also recognized for their artistic excellence were Torpedo Factory artists Joyce Zipperer (2nd place) and Brenda Townsend (3rd place).

The winning work of Tory Cowles, 2011 Artist of the Year (AOY), will be exhibited in her solo show “Living Large!” in the Target Gallery from July 2 through August 14, 2011.  A reception and awards ceremony will be held in the Target Gallery on July 14 at which time the AOY award will be presented.  Harry Cooper, Curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Art, juror for the 2011 AOY competition, will be on hand for the presentation.

Special programming includes an Art Panel from 6-8pm on July 28th to discuss the topic “Why does art move you?” The Friends are also sponsoring a Kids Art Activity on July 30th from 11am-1pm.

Perspectives in Triplicate: Art Therapy with Our Military Heroes
On Friday July 8, from 6 to7 p.m. the American Art Therapy Association and Friends will host an event at the TFAC featuring art in the military from the perspective of a combat artist and health care professionals who work with military personnel and veterans diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and psychological health issues. Sgt Kristopher Battles, BFA, will describe his work as a U.S. Marine Corps combat artist. Judy Rollins will discuss the signature injuries of our current conflicts and Melissa Walker will report on the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), an advanced facility dedicated to research, diagnosis and treatment of military personnel.

Art Therapy Mask Making Workshop
The Friends, in conjunction with the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria’s exhibit, Art Uniting People: a Celebration of Creativity and Mental health, and the Target Gallery’s exhibit, Masks, will sponsor a workshop, lecture and Q&A session on Thursday, October 6, 6-8:30 p.m. The free workshop (6-7 pm), to be held in the Target Gallery, would be limited to 19 pre-registered attendees, although the lecture and Q&A session (7-8 pm), to be held in the TFAC’s main hall, will be free and open to the general public. A reception will follow (8-8:30 pm).

Dr. Raymond Jackson
Internationally known pianist and Howard University professor Dr. Raymond Jackson will lecture and perform with dancers from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and the Julliard School of Music, Dr. Jackson conducts solo recitals of the European masters as well as lecture recitals of lesser known composers of African descent. Date to be determined.

Mentorship Program Exhibit and Reception
Exhibit: May 9-21; Awards ceremony & reception Saturday May 21, 4-6 pm, 3rd floor

Mentor Program 2011

In this popular program a volunteer artist is paired with an art student from one of the City of Alexandria’s high schools.  The student shadows the artist and learns from his or her mentor’s artistic experiences and insights. The mentor instructs the student on what is involved in being a professional artist: education, finding and maintaining a studio, marketing one’s artwork, and other subjects of interest to budding artists.  He or she may also advise the student on his or her work. For a final project, the mentor helps the student create a piece of art.  This year’s program culminates in an exhibit of work by students from West Potomac and T. C. Williams High Schools on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory, running from May 9 through May 21. A reception honoring the students took place on Saturday, May 21. Students, their parents and mentors were present to receive awards and hear encouraging words from Mayor Bill Euille and Councilman Rob Krupicka and Councilwoman Del Pepper.

Jane Franklin Dance

Jane Franklin Dance Company: Take a Deep Breath—Art That Moves
Wednesday, April 27 at 7:00 pm. Free & open to the public.  Refreshments will be served. 

Jane Franklin’s new dance explored the emotional connection to place. In two works Jane Franklin Dance brings to life both remote landscapes and places experienced daily. A Vivid Sense of Place, with music by Washington DC composer Steven Rogers, transforms verbal descriptions of untouched landscapes into raw and untamed movement. In Double Take, dancers perform before a video of the Torpedo Factory and then in the real space.

Beau Soir Ensemble performed March 2, 2011

The Beau Soir Ensemble favored the Friends with a return engagement on March 2, 2011. Formed in 2007, Beau Soir Ensemble is a flute (Lauren Panfili) and harp (Michelle Myers Lundy) duo that performs live chamber music concerts throughout the mid-Atlantic region, offering both new and standard repertoire spanning all eras of classical music.  Beau Soir released its first recording, “Debut,” in the summer of 2008, and the second, “Intermezzo,” in the fall of 2009.  Their goal is to make classical music accessible and enjoyable, inspiring a new generation of music lovers.

24th Annual Young at Art Competition and Exhibit
The Friends is proud to support the 24th annual Young at Art Exhibit cosponsored by Senior Services of Alexandria and Goodwin House Foundation.  The show opened at the Durant Center, 1605 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA on Monday October 4 and ran through January 20, 2011.  A reception was held at the Center on Thursday, October 7.

Lecture on Art & Aging by Dr. Harry Moody

The Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, along with At Home in Alexandria and Mount Vernon At Home, sponsored an intriguing lecture by Dr. Harry Moody entitled “Later in Life: The Best is Yet to Be,” on Tuesday, January 18 in the Great Hall of  the Torpedo Factory Art Center.  In his lecture, Dr. Moody presented an overview of the works of great artists in their later years, ranging from Michelangelo and Rembrandt to Matisse and Georgia O'Keeffe, and provided important lessons for enhancing creativity in the second half of life.

Please consider joining the Friends.  Click here for the membership form. For further information, contact .