The U.S. Navy constructed a factory on the banks of the Potomac in 1918. More than 10,000 torpedoes, a world war, two renovations and 160 artists later, the Torpedo Factory Art Center draws more than 800,000 visitors each year.
The 83 open studios of sculptors, painters, photographers, jewelers and other artists infuse life and color into the gray cement gut of the World War II naval torpedo station. As visitors wander through this three-story artist village in Old Town Alexandria, Va. they can experience unique interaction with the artists and question them about their work.
"The artists were definitely friendly and open to talking, not just so they could sell their stuff, but to tell you about what they did and how they did it," said Lindsay Blampied, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, who visited the factory last weekend. "It was wonderful."
The gratification can work both ways, as some artists say they benefit and even attain inspiration from talking with visitors.
"I'm so used to people coming in now ... I think there are many layers in ourselves and sometimes people who come in tell me about where they come from and I have this vision. I connect with something in them, so I paint it," said 84-year-old Dot Woodall from behind a table dotted with colorful palettes, spilt watercolors and 50 years of experience. "But they never know that if they don't come back."
However, some artists say that a constant flow of visitors can create distractions.
"The main drawback is that there are a lot of interruptions when you need to work. There are a lot of times when I really need to concentrate and that's very difficult here," said Rosemary Covey, a wood engraver who works within the purple-stained walls of her second-floor studio, a space that she frequently shares with her Siberian Huskie, Nikki.
"We have to be open to the public a certain amount, but sometimes when I really need to work I'll pull my blinds down on my door and put up a note saying no interruptions, because otherwise interruptions can just be endless. You have to work around the situation." Covey said, explaining that she sometimes works at night and on public holidays when the factory is closed to visitors.
Still, Covey said that "the connection to the people buying [the work] and getting their reactions" is a benefit to renting space in the Torpedo Factory. Covey credits her "connections" with visitors in helping her sell her art, which some call "dark."
"People always say, 'I'd hate to see what your nightmares are like,'" Covey said, grinning.
However, besides improved relations with customers, Covey says that building relationships with other artists makes the Torpedo Factory a good working environment.
"I always find one or two artists, or more even, where we share a lot of ideas. We share an interest in each other's work, so there's a huge amount of help from that. When you get stuck you can actually go get them and say, 'What do you think? Do you think this gray is right or is this gray right?'" Covey said, explaining that she'll consult "Susan, the jeweler, who's right across there, Marsha who's next door, Jack, who's down the hall or Edward," when she's caught in a non-creative web.
"They're different kinds of artists but they're still very visual. It actually helps that they're in something different because they come in with a fresh eye," Covey said. "And we know each other's work well. One of the things about being here is that over time you slowly get to know somebody's work and you get to see their development."
Covey's friend, jeweler Susan Sanders, agreed that this experience sets the Torpedo Factory apart from galleries and other artistic venues.
"The chance to be in the company of other artists is really special. There's nothing really comparable to [the Torpedo Factory] and I've been here since it opened," Sanders said.
The Torpedo Factory Art Center's opening in the summer of 1974 occurred after Marian Van Landingham, a woman who served on several boards and commissions in Virginia, proposed that the space, which had accumulated 40 truckloads worth of debris, be converted into an art center.
Prior to her proposal, the government and the Smithsonian used the factory to store items as diverse as dinosaur bones and Nazi war films, according to a history currently posted above a giant green Mark XIV submarine torpedo on the first floor of the factory. Between 1918 and 1945 the factory had produced more than 10,000 submarine and aircraft torpedoes and employed more than 5,000 people.
"It's interesting how they've turned a place with a historically violent nature into something creative," said Corey Flannagan, 24, during his first visit to the Torpedo Factory last weekend. "It's impressive."
However, even within the art center visitors can find surprising and varied histories. For instance, like Sanders, 82-year-old sculptor Pat Monk has worked at the Torpedo Factory since its birth.
"My wife found that the Torpedo Factory was starting to open, so she put down a check renting a space for me and it was such a great thing that I've been here ever since ... before that I was a physicist and was on the atom bomb project during [World War II]," said Monk in his studio cluttered with shiny steel sheets, climbing spires and helix-like sculptures. "After the war I worked in physics research for the government, but all the time I made things on the side, small things, some wood, some metal."
Monk said he began sculpting as a career in 1970, working mainly with wood before moving on to marble, copper, bronze and his current medium of choice, stainless steel.
Monk expressed his satisfaction with his studio space and echoed the sentiments of other artists, saying that the relationships they formed were an important aspect of the art center.
"You make friends and critics, you get a lot of help from other artists as well as visitors," Monk said.
One might think that with so many artists in such close proximity, competition would be bouncing between the bright studio walls like tennis balls, but photographer Link Nicoll says this isn't the case.
"I think there are so many different styles represented here that it's not really competitive. People have their own individual tastes when they're buying and either they're going to like something or they're not. It's not as if they're two pairs of tennis shoes and one is less expensive than the other one," Nicoll said. "Art is such a personal thing. I think people buy your work because they have a personal connection to it."
Between forming these personal connections with visitors and each other, some artists, including Woodall, admitted that the studios can be hectic.
"We can always use some extra help. College students should apply for an internship here. People should come visit us and bring us samples of your work so we can see what you're doing," Woodall said, encouraging even more connections. "We interact a lot. We need to, we feed off of each other ... It's like my home away from home."
The Torpedo Factory Art Center is located at 105 N. Union St., closest to the King Street Metro stop on the Yellow Line. It is open Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information call (703) 838-4399 or visit www.torpedofactory.org.
