EXHIBITION HONORS FOUNDING MEMBERS OF TORPEDO FACTORY ART CENTER

Target Gallery, the national exhibition space inside the Torpedo Factory Art Center, will host Origins: 30 Years @ the TFAC from April 28 through May 23, 2004. This exhibition includes contemporary work by the 33 artists and four galleries that opened studios and exhibition spaces in 1974, the first year of the center's existence. F. Lennox Campello, Washington D.C. critic and gallerist, curated the salon-style exhibition. A reception for the artists will be held on Sunday, May 9, from 3-5 PM. The exhibition and reception are free of charge and open to the public. Origins is part of a year-long celebration of the Torpedo Factory Art Center's thirty successful years.

When the City of Alexandria agreed to the idea of an art center, the building lacked proper heating, windows, and power. A dedicated few turned the armaments plant into a workable space and set the groundwork for today's center. In 1974, the former torpedo plant was full of old government furniture and forgotten storage items. Evidence of resident pigeons and rats was everywhere. Members of Alexandria's Art League, in search of reasonably priced studios, approached the City Council about transforming the space into a center where the public could watch artists at work. Once approved, 33 artists and four artist collectives (today's galleries) swept, scrubbed, removed trash, ran garden hoses the length of the building for water, and set up walls dividing space for studios. Originally envisioned as a three-year experiment, the Torpedo Factory Art Center revitalized a struggling King Street retail corridor and became a destination for art supporters in Washington D.C. area and beyond. The Origins exhibition celebrates the dedication of the artists who were here when the doors opened in 1974 and have stayed committed to teaching the public about the visual arts through all thirty years.

Today the Torpedo Factory Art Center includes 84 open studios housing 165 artists in all media, a national exhibition space, the Art League School, and the City of Alexandria Archeology Museum. Roughly 700,000 people visit the art center annually. The Torpedo Factory is one of the oldest and most successful public visual art centers in the United States. In addition to Origins, the Torpedo Factory is celebrating thirty years by hosting the UNconventional Convention, a national conference about visual art centers on May 21-22; and an anniversary gala on the evening of Saturday, May 22. The Torpedo Factory Art Center is located at 105 N. Union Street, on the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria. It is open to the public from 10 AM to 5 PM, seven days a week and is available in the evenings for private special events. For further information, call 703.838.4565 or visit the art center's website at www.torpedofactory.org.