Torpedo Factory Art Center
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Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
at 105 North Union Street in the Old Town of Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Historically it was literally a former torpedo factory and munitions storage site.
It houses more than 82 artists' studios, 6 galleries and two workshops, with some 165 professional visual artists who produce a diversity of artwork, ranging from painting, ceramics, photography, jewelry, stained glass, fiber, printmaking, and sculpture. The six galleries located at the Torpedo Factory include the Target Gallery, The Art League Gallery, Enamelists Gallery, the Multiple Exposures Gallery which specializes in photography, the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery and the Scope Gallery which specializes in ceramics.
The centre attracts around 500,000 visitors annually.
History
On November 12, 1918, the U.S. Navy began constructing a torpedo factory in Alexandria, named the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station. Over the next five years it was responsible for the manufacture and maintenance of torpedoes and subsequently served as a munitions storage area until World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As the demand for weapons dramatically increased during the war it resumed production activity and the factory was substantially expanded with ten new buildings. A green Mark XIV torpedo was manufactured in the factory in 1945, which is still on display.
After World War II, production ceased and is was used throughout the 1950s and 1960s by the Smithsonian institution who stored art and paleaontological items there and by Congress for storing documents. Then in 1969, the President of the Art League, Marian Van Landingham proposed to adapt the building into studios for working artists and following the approval of the Commission, the factory was purchased by the City of Alexandria from the Federal Government. Large-scale renovation began in the May of 1974 and the redevelopment team worked arduously through the summer, enabling the new centre to formally open on September 15, 1974. From 1982 to 1983, the building underwent further renovation in compliance with City's waterfront development plan and was entirely gutted and rebuilt with a new ventilation system and central heating. It formally reopened on May 20, 1983.