Workhouse Arts Center
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District of Columbia Workhouse and Reformatory Historic District | |
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| Location | 9518 Workhouse Rd, Lorton, VA 22079 |
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| Coordinates | 38°41'53.1"N 77°15'17.2"W |
| Area | 511.32 acres |
| Built | 1910 |
| Architect | Snowden Ashford, Albert Harris |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Beaux Arts; Colonial Revival. Late 19th and early 20th Century American Movements: Bungalow/Craftsman. |
| NRHP reference No. | 06000052 |
| Added to NRHP | February 16, 2006 |
38°41′53.1″N 77°15′17.2″W / 38.698083°N 77.254778°W
The Workhouse Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides visual and performing arts studio and exhibition space as well as arts education programs. The Workhouse is located in Lorton, Virginia, situated on 55 acres (220,000 m2) of land in the Occoquan Workhouse portion of the historic D.C. Department of Corrections Lorton Reformatory.
The Workhouse houses over 100 professional and emerging artists as well as cooperative studios, performance and theatre venues, a main gallery building, as well as gallery space in each studio and event facilities.[1]
History
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In 2002, 2,324 acres of the Lorton Reformatory were sold to Fairfax County, Virginia for $4.2 million after the correctional facility closed in 2001. Because of the site's prime location next to the Occoquan River and major highways, a comprehensive adaptive re-use study was completed. In 2002 the Lorton Arts Foundation, Inc. proposed a plan to transform the former prison facility into a cultural arts center. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the rezoning of a 55-acre portion of the former correctional facility to become the Workhouse Arts Center in July, 2004. After several years of planning, adaptive reuse, and rehabilitation of the historic buildings, the Workhouse Arts Center opened to the public in September, 2008.
References
- ^ About Workhouse http://www.workhousearts.org/about/press/
External links
- Workhouse Arts Center - official site