More Artist Studios To Be Re-Juried At Alexandria's Torpedo Factory Art Center

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The second of three groups of artists studios are set to be re-juried this year at Alexandria's Torpedo Factory Art Center.

An annual jury and re-jury process is part of the Torpedo Factory Factory Art Center vibrancy and sustainability plan adopted by Alexandria City Council. This was the first time re-jurying is happening for current artists in the art center's 48-year history.

All artist studios at the Torpedo Factory Art Center will be re-juried, except for 1974 founding artists and their studiomates. Founding members and their studio occupants can receive renewable one-year leases for the duration of their tenure in the studio.

About one-third of studios were re-juried in 2022, and the remainder will be re-juried in 2023 and 2024. By the end of 2024, all resident artists will have been re-juried under this new process.

In the first round in 2022, 26 artists or artist groups were chosen for studio spaces. This includes 15 artists who currently don't have Torpedo Factory studio space and 11 who currently have studios. There were 13 artists who had artist studio space and were not chosen.

This year, the Torpedo Factory Art Center is accepting applications from visual artists in its latest jurying phase. Individual artists or groups up to four can apply for resident artist to receive a three-year studio lease or as an artist pro tem with the ability to sublease. The subsidized rent price for an artist studio is $17.39 per square foot per year.

Through the jurying process, four independent jurors will review applications for quality and merit as well as artists' ability to interact with the public and contribute to the art center community.

The 2023 jurors include Kerry Brougher, former chief curator of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in DC; Jaynelle Hazard, executive director and curator of Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, Ara Koh, an artist and adjunct professor at American University, The George Washington University, and Maryland Institute College of Art; and Christine Neptune, founder of Neptune Fine Art in New York City.

Applications will open on March 1 and are due on April 18. Free webinars for applicants are planned on March 15 and 16. If artists are accepted into the third phase of the process, in-person presentations to jurors will happen on June 14 and 17.

Current artist studio leases expire on Sept. 30. Leases begin on Oct. 1 for incumbent artists selected again in the jurying process and Nov. 1 for other artists.

More information is available on the Torpedo Factory Art Center's website.