21st Annual Art Safari at the Torpedo Factory Art Center

Hundreds of children and their families are expected to visit the Torpedo Factory Art Center on Saturday, October 8, for Art Safari, an Alexandria family tradition for 21 years. Visitors can get their hands (and clothes) a little dirty with a bevy of interactive activities and crafts from noon to 4 pm.

Resident and visiting artists lead young visitors in creative projects across a variety of media, including clay, papier-mâché, fiber, and printmaking. Children should wear clothing that can get a little dirty. All activities are free with most appropriate for children age 5 – 11 with some activities requiring parental assistance.

Tens of thousands of people across the region have attended Art Safari during its two-decade history. Leading up to the special day, the public is invited to share their own stories and photos of past Art Safaris with hashtag #artsafariALX.

For more information, visit http://torpedofactory.org/artsafari.

List of Activities:

• Potomac Riverfront – Plein Air Tiny Paintings – Led by the Torpedo Factory Artists Association
  Painters from the Torpedo Factory Art Center sit with visitors along the riverfront and create miniature paintings together while enjoying the fall weather.

• Union and Cameron Street Alley – Relief Printing – Led by the Mobile Art Lab
  Children can check out Alexandria’s one-of-a-kind art truck while making colorful prints.

• 1st Floor Hallway – Giant Papier-Mâché Tiger – Led by Lisa Schumaier
  In only four hours, children use simple paper and paste to transform a wire frame into a new sculpture. Many of Schumaier’s previous Art Safari sculptures, such as the iconic camel, are on view in the first floor throughout the year.

• Studio 16 – Bottlecap Necklaces – Led by UpCycle Creative Reuse Center
  Bottlecaps are transformed into sparkling necklaces with the help of sequins and glitter glue.

• Studio 21 – Gallery scavenger hunt – Led by The Art League Gallery
  This year, The Art League’s scavenger hunt explores the exhibition Op-Ed. Each completed scavenger hunt can be shown at the gallery desk to receive a special prize.

• Studio 22 – Clay Experience – Led by Susan Greenleaf
  Children play and experiment with a piece of wet clay to mold and shape into any form they can imagine. Potters will demonstrate their technique for throwing clay on a pottery wheel.

• Studio 29 – Fiber collage – Led by Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery
  Artists help children create a dynamic image using bits of fabric and fiber.

• 2nd Floor Hall – Easel stations – Led by Christine Cardellino
  With acrylic paint and paper, children paint anything they can imagine at the easel stations located on the 2nd floor.

• 2nd Floor Catwalk – Community Weaving Project – Led by Hannah Elmer
  By weaving strips of fabric through the crisscrossed wires along the 2nd floor railings, visitors create a beautiful design that will take form through the course of the afternoon.

• 3rd Floor Hall – Coloring Tables – Led by the TFAA Community Outreach Committee
  Torpedo Factory artists created black and white line drawings for children to embellish with color.

• Studio 325 – Silk screen printing – Led by Patrick Sargent
  Children progress through four different color stations to create their own full-color silk-screen image.

• Studio 327 – Potter’s Art – Alexandria Archaeology Museum
  The Alexandria Archaeology Museum will have a selection of china and pottery from their collection on view. Children create their own sketches and learn to identify 19th-century Alexandria potters from the designs on stoneware pottery.

About the Torpedo Factory Art Center

Founded in 1974 in an old munitions plant, the Torpedo Factory Art Center is home to the largest number of publicly accessible working artist studios in the U.S. The organization’s mission is to foster connections between artists and the public that ignite the creative spirit. Just south of Washington, D.C., the Torpedo Factory Art Center overlooks the Potomac River in the Old Town section of Alexandria, Va. Each year, more than a half million national and international visitors meet and interact with more than 160 resident artists in 82 working studios and six galleries. The Torpedo Factory Art Center is also home to The Art League School and the Alexandria Archaeology Museum. For more information visit torpedofactory.org or follow the Torpedo Factory Art Center on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram via @torpedofactory.