What Is Happening to the Great Jewel of the DMV Art Scene?
By F.Lennox Campello
As I write this month’s column, I am in New York City at the Volta Art Fair during NYC’s week of art fairs. I am typing this column in my cell phone because I have a thing about free hotel WiFi and security.
Art fairs are tiring work… one must be on full alert, on your feet, and kibbitzing for hours to the thousands of potential collectors and art buyers.
So why am I typing this column in my phone as I lay on my weird Scandinavian style bed, eight inches off the floor at the trendy and chic Selina Hotel in Chelsea?
Because the city of Alexandria is slowly but surely screwing up, and tarnishing, and destroying the great jewel of the DMV art scene that once was the Torpedo Factory.
I could try to explain what the kommissars at the helm of the office that now “runs” the Torpedo Factory are screwing up… but I thought that I’d let Cindy Packard Richmond, a well-known and highly talented and successful Torpedo Factory artist tell you in her own words:
“I am voluntarily leaving the Torpedo Factory Art Center at the end of September. I am NOT retiring. I have loved my time (17 years) at the Factory and being with the amazing artists and friends. The TFAA is not what it once was. We had blind juries. Artists were free to develop and stay as long as they wished.
Alexandria abruptly took away the artists’ autonomy. Now, the jury is as far from ‘blind’ as possible. Everyone’s age and ethnicity is determined before the art is considered. The most odious part of their process affects the current artists. They are not being judged as artists, but by studio space. If a studio has three artists and one is deemed lacking, ALL THREE artists are forced to leave. The factory lost some amazing artists due to this folly last year. Now every artist has to re-jury every three years. The Office of Arts appears to believe this constant churning will make the factory vibrant.”
In my opinion, this is what happens when clueless said kommissars take over running and dictating the Arts.
Result: what was once the shining jewel of the DMV art scene, a building once full of trash, rescued and refurbished by artists, not the city or its politicians, artists who over the decades turned it into a magical place for the Arts, not the City or its politicians, slowly fades away into an art-by-recipe gray hunk of government-approved art.
Cuba and North Korea also have government kommissars who dictate government-approved art. In those countries, artists who are determined to be “lacking” are often jailed. Ask Cuban artist Tania Bruguera about what happens when the heavy hand of government chokes the creative process of the fine arts.
“That is exactly how the Corcoran failed – clueless political hacks attempting to run a museum”, commented a well-known art administrator of a major DMV non-profit arts space.
“Manufactured authenticity,” noted a local artist.
“… the city is CLUELESS. So many people have tried to wake them up,” added a well-known and respected DMV gallerist.
Is the avalanche of the destruction of the Torpedo Factory’s artistic footprint too late to stop? I don’t know.
Is there a politico in the City of Alexandria who remembers the Factory when it was a shining and vibrant example of what hardworking artists can accomplish when working together? Probably, but these days politicians just align to what the wind and pollsters tell them is the right (or left) thing to do.
What makes this disaster sadder, is the fact that “art by recipe” has failed every time it has been tried as the Nazis and the Soviets discovered in the last century.
There’s no formula, there’s no allotment by race or ethnicity or affiliation or fill-in-the-blank…the real selector is the Art itself. The art decides…with artists, not political offices as the drivers.
Torpedo Factory… the Art world weeps for you.
About the Author: F. Lennox Campello’s art news, information, gallery openings, commentary, criticism, happenings, opportunities, and everything associated with the global visual arts scene with a special focus on the Greater Washington, DC area has been a premier source for the art community for over 20 years. Since 2003, his blog has been the 11th highest ranked art blog on the planet with over SIX million visitors.
I read your interesting article about ‘what is happening at the Torpedo Factory Art Center’. It sounded quite strong and opinionated, but only one point of view is directly quoted. I am one of the artists who got juried in last November, and would like to join in this conversation. For one, the jurors had credentials relevant to sorting through the portfolio of artists who applied for entry into the Torpedo Factory Art Center. We were graded in 3 phases. I am at studio 324 on the 3rd floor and am open to more conversations about my views.
The artists at the Torpedo Factory Art Center are amicable and I have enjoyed interacting with visitors who stopped by my studio space. The jurying process that happens once in 3 years is nothing compared to the plenty criticisms and conversations that the artists of the Torpedo Factory Art Center engage in with visitors from all kinds of backgrounds! Hopefully some of the markers mentioned as irrelevant- race, ethnicity, affiliation, ‘fill-in-the-blank’ are interesting pointers for balancing the narrative about ‘art in society’ which seems one of the primary goals for having the Art Center. There can always be other, more introspective and art for itself work that continues in isolated spaces, in artists studios outside of community centers, in people’s basements etc. Torpedo Factory Art Center seems to be sticking to the formula and the original intentions for its forming- to give the artists in the community a place to converge, a place to engage with its immediate environs, a pedestal for starting robust conversations with the more international, borderless art world. Throughout human history, certain rigid specificities in critique of ‘what is art or not’ have been proven consistently to be faulty, sometimes hasty or outright wrong. It is a refreshing to see how the center is reinventing for the new world with all the genre-bending work being created today.
Hi all–I’ve been an old town artist for quite a long time. I don’t have a comprehensive understanding of the new policies, but want to voice support for Anthony and other TFAC artists, especially new ones. Thanks for your post Anthony, I hope to come by and say hello soon.
Hi Allison… thank you for your note. I am a little confused though… my opinion article is about the “process” being used by the City – not the artists — in fact a while back I visited the Factory and noted several of them: https://oldtowncrier.com/2022/12/01/a-visit-to-the-torpedo-factory/
I do like the article you’ve linked there, but for a lot of this I have to refer you to Jenny and Anthony’s comments. I haven’t been very involved with the ongoing situation, but I do live down the street, and hope to make new artists feel welcome. I think that the comparison of the TFAC management to nazis and North Korean officials discourages people from visiting these artists in their work space, and the way the issue with the process is framed here does read as if the people selected to have studios shouldn’t be taken as seriously as other artists in the area, or be visited in their studios. If you’re at a week long series of art fairs, the visibility of this article may also be unusually high, and I am concerned that that’s the impression others are getting as well. I’m glad to learn from Jenny that there’s a first round of blind jurying. At the same time, I’ve taken a look at Anthony’s website, and learned that his excellent work is informed by living in Nigeria. It’s a valuable context to have. Other than that, I hope you will take it as constructive criticism that this article has some issues with tone deafness–I know that this has been a difficult issue, and that you care hugely about the local arts community and work to support it. I also know you wouldn’t want to create any rift within that community, so I want to share that this piece is raising some flags for me. The intention is to talk about the process, but its effect does reach the artists.
I am also an artist at the Torpedo Factory — like Anthony, I am relatively new, having been juried in (by the city) during the pandemic, arriving in December 2020. Cindy Packard Richmond is an esteemed colleague and wonderful artist — however one extremely important point in her post was incorrect. The first phase of the city’s jury process for artists is actually entirely blind — the ONLY basis for judgment in Round 1 is one’s artwork. It is when — and only when — an artist makes it past the initial phase of this process that any other criteria (for better or worse) becomes a part of the process.
However, Cindy is completely correct that it has been a very difficult time at the Torpedo Factory, and we are all terrified of the new jury process that is required every three years. (A time which is actually quite short if one is building a brand new art business for the first time, like myself.) As a relatively new member of the community, I do not have the historical memory of the city and artist interactions that many here do. But I have seen enough to know that the relationship is highly dysfunctional, and it breaks my heart.
With all of that said — I deeply believe that GREAT ART IS STILL HAPPENING HERE, despite the depressing view of the above article. Anyone who is unsure of this, please stop by and see for yourself. All of the artists here are hardworking and dedicated to their craft, and we need your support. Come view the work (on all three floors!), follow us on instagram, sign up for our newsletters — and perhaps fall in love with some artwork that will make your home more beautiful and inspiring. We are here, we are doing great work, and we welcome your visit!
Jenny, thank you for your thoughtful note… My opinion article is generally about the dangers of the “process” being used by the City – not the artists — and the 3-year rule, etc…. in fact a while back I visited the Factory and noted several of the artists: https://oldtowncrier.com/2022/12/01/a-visit-to-the-torpedo-factory/
Hi Lenny – I 1000% agree with you. Give the new artists a little time, my bet is they will come around to the reality of people who have been familiar with the organization for a long time.