Lorton Arts Foundation

Education Program: The Workhouse Arts Foundation provides arts classes, workshops, camps and education to the general public, as well as the military community through the Workhouse Military in the Arts Initiative, offering a total of over 100 classes quarterly and 25 camps annually, in approximately 15 disciplines, to children and adults of all ability levels. The Workhouse dedicates approximately 12 teaching classrooms in 7 buildings on the campus. Each year over 1,500 students enrolled in more than 425 classes, workshops, and camps that are taught by nearly 60 teaching artists. Approximately 30% of the teaching artists are also Workhouse campus artists. The Workhouse Arts Foundation also provides movement-based wellness and fitness classes through the Art of Movement program. Classes include traditional fitness classes, meditative movement, creative movement classes, and youth gymnastic fundamentals programs through our Kidnastics Gymnastics initiative. Art of Movement offers a total of over 600 classes annually to over 2,000 students of all ages.

Studio Artists and Visual Arts: Visual Artists are offered below-market rate studio space to create artwork and practice their crafts. They can also exhibit and sell their artwork in these studios and galleries. The Workhouse Arts Foundation supports approximately 70-100 art exhibitions annually both in artist buildings and in main exhibition spaces, a portion of which are juried and competitive in nature, and several of which have a national scope. The Workhouse Arts Foundation has dedicated approximately 60 studio spaces with an average occupancy rate of 95%, supporting approximately 65 artists who are accepted through a competitive juried process. We also support approximately 30 more visual artists, also juried, who do not occupy studio space but are given an opportunity to exhibit and sell their work in our Arches gallery. Disciplines presented in exhibition span the breadth of the field, and include painting, glass, ceramics, sculpture, fiber, jewelry, mixed media, and photography.

Performing Arts Program: The Workhouse Arts Foundation provides more than 150 individual performances annually in theatre, dance, music, and film, including our annual Haunted Trail interactive-performance event. In addition to productions created in-house, the department also offers a robust 'presenting' series in which local (and touring) musicians and performing artists are programmed as part of our season calendar. In addition, these venue spaces are available for community organizations and other performing arts groups to be able to present their works to our neighbors. Through our connection to the Fairfax County Park Authority, the Workhouse Arts Foundation has been proud to host free concerts on Saturday nights during the Summer as part of the Mt Vernon Nights initiative.The Workhouse Arts Foundation has multiple performance spaces including a 100-seat black box theater, and a 300-seat outdoor performance pavilion with room for several hundred more in the lawn areas adjacent to the stage. Our McGuireWoods Gallery has also hosted musical concerts and stand-up comedy performances throughout each season and has a capacity of 150 persons. In addition to traditional performing arts (theatre, music, and dance) our venues have also been host to films, lectures, and educational experiences related to performing arts and the history of our campus.

Lucy Burns Museum and History Program: Lucy Burns Museum and History Program: The Workhouse Arts Foundation is home to the Lucy Burns Museum, a free-admission museum on campus. This museum engages visitors in an exploration of the history of our campus as the former Lorton Correctional facilities that operated for a total of 91 years (1910-2001). From the prison's founding to our current activation as a significant and large adaptive reuse project, the museum explores a vast history of civil, public, and cultural histories, including our place in the Reformation Era and our direct ties to the women's suffrage movement in America. This is done through public exhibitions, ticketed and free public programs, and a variety of tours. The Lucy Burns Museum Director leads the Museum with three part-time staff and numerous highly-dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers and docents.