(Updated 2:40 p.m.) The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded a grant to Alexandria to keep some of the city’s most high-profile art projects going.
The grant funding goes to the Artist Residency Program, part of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts, which supports projects like the Waterfront Park art initiative and the art lab. Diane Ruggiero, who leads of Office of the Arts, said the grant was for $45,000.
One Alexandria artist aims to spark joy in the mundane with her one-of-a-kind, handcrafted pottery known for its elegance and vibrant colors.
Meet Bhavani Arabandi, the sole owner of Samhara Ceramics based in Old Town Alexandria. Arabandi is a full-time sociologist and researcher, but she spends her evenings in her studio, enveloped in the beautiful mess she calls her passion: pottery.
After six years leading Heard, a nonprofit that brings the arts to incarcerated adults, Jane Collins is hanging up her hat.
Collins, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, founded the nonprofit in 2017 by hosting a writing contest between participants of ALIVE!, Friends of Guest House and Together We Bake. Collins has been executive director ever since, growing the nonprofit to teach thousands of Alexandria adults in the Alexandria Detention Center, the Arlington County jail, and in more than a dozen local nonprofits.
Musical duo The Bacon Brothers, consisting of Michael and Kevin Bacon, are coming to the Birchmere Music Hall (3701 Mount Vernon Avenue) again this fall.
The two initial nights, Oct. 7 and 8, have already sold out. A third night on Monday, Oct. 9, was added and — as of 1 p.m. on Aug. 8 — tickets were still available.
This week, leaders on both sides of the Torpedo Factory discussion raised the issue of the city’s plans once more ahead of the center’s 50th anniversary.
The Torpedo Factory is celebrating 50 years as an arts center next year, but questions linger about what the long-term future of the building looks like.
City-approved plans for the future of the Torpedo Factory Art Center are drawing serious concern from resident artists.
The Torpedo Factory Artists Association (TFAA) says it’s hopeful the plan will work, but that the city’s vibrancy initiative threatens to reduce rental space available to artists.
Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: The weather forecast predicts a mostly sunny day with a high of around 91 degrees. Expect a calm wind in the morning, turning to a south wind at 6 mph in the afternoon. Wednesday night will be mostly clear with a low of about 75 degrees and a south wind ranging from 6 to 9 mph.
Dominion Energy’s Glebe Electric Transmission Project in Potomac Yard just got a little more attractive.
Since last winter, the parking lot in the 3800 block of Richmond Highway in Potomac Yard has been home to a tall, ugly concrete structure to hide the work Dominion has been doing to create underground electric transmission lines and rebuild and modernize the Glebe Substation in nearby Arlington County.
The Art League is one of several Old Town North tenants being displaced by new development at Montgomery Center (300 Montgomery Street), but a permit filed with the City of Alexandria indicated the arts-focused non-profit could be moving to the former ABC Imaging location at 800 Slaters Lane.
A Special Use Permit has been filed to open new studio spaces in the former printing shop. The Art League also said classes will be held inside the building.
You might know Brian Hilton better as George Washington, but soon, you’ll also know him as Albert Einstein.
For the last six years, Hilton has been Alexandria’s official portrayer of the first U.S. president at the George Washington Birthday Parade in Old Town and at dozens of annual events around the country. He was most recently invited by the National Park Service to appear as Washington on July 4 at Mount Rushmore.
There’s a new mural in Old Town.
Last week, Los Angeles-based muralist El Mac put the finishing touches on his new mural outside 901 King Street. The piece depicts a bespectacled woman looking south.
