Torpedo Factory Art Center Joins Statewide 2010 Arts Celebration , Chosen As An Official Regional Launch Event For Minds Wide Open

(Friday) February 26, 2010

PastForward (Courtesy Image)

Exhibition Dates: February 27–March 28; reception: March 11, 6-8pm

Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Target Gallery has scheduled an exhibit PastForward from February 27-March 28 as part of Virginia’s 2010 statewide celebration featuring women in the arts.

MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts will include thousands of special events and programs offered between March and June of 2010. Events include plays, choreography, compositions, and exhibitions of paintings, photography or films that have been created by women or feature women as the primary focus. This celebration is an unprecedented collaboration of hundreds of participating artists and cultural organizations and is a demonstration of the breadth and diversity of arts and culture across the Commonwealth. It is the first of what the cultural community hopes will be an ongoing series of statewide collaborations shedding light on topics of interest to the people of Virginia.

PastForward will feature work of four former resident Torpedo Factory artists – Kathleen Dustin, Barbara Rachko, Anne Laddon and Joyce Zipperer. This exhibition kicks off the gallery’s participation in Minds Wide Open.  The artists will exhibit their latest works, from Rachko’s pastel paintings, Zipperer’s sculptures, Dustin’s polymer clay works to Laddon’s oil paintings.

The Target Gallery Committee invited these four women to be a part of this special exhibition because of their continued success and critical acclaim after leaving the Torpedo Factory. The exhibition will display their latest work.

Background on Artists:

Kathleen Dustin is considered an expert in her polymer clay works. She was featured in the Crafts Report in 2000 as “A Polymer Clay Pioneer.”  She is an award winning artist and continues to show and sell regularly at the best juried fine craft shows including the Smithsonian Craft Show, Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, American Craft Exposition and is represented by Julie: Artisan’s Gallery, NewYork, NY. In Dustin’s artist statement she says “Part of my job as an artist is to pay attention, and so for 30 years I have been paying attention to the stages in my life and those of women around me, to the lives of women in the exotic places where I’ve lived, and now to the quiet life I live and the natural world around me.”

Barbara Rachko, a prolific pastel painter, splits her time between New York City and Alexandria, VA working as a professional artist. She is represented by six galleries throughout the United States and exhibits nationally and internationally. She recently won the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation award for her unique work.  Her current works are deeply rich and psychological pastel paintings that draw from an intense place of pain, death and emptiness.  The artist states that her life changed forever after 9/11 when her husband was killed in the plane that hit the Pentagon.

Anne Laddon,who now resides in California, has been a professional artist for 30 years, with a background in graphic design, printmaking and painting. She has designed and produced hundreds of limited edition serigraphs, lithographs, and posters. Her paintings have won numerous awards and are in collections around the world. She is one of the founding artists for the Torpedo Factory and most recently founded another art center in California based on the Torpedo Factory model, Studios on the Park, Inc.

Joyce Zipperer, one of the founding artists at the Torpedo Factory, is known for her metal sculptures of women’s lingerie, shoes and adornments. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Association of Women in the Arts in New York City.  She will be exhibiting her metal shoes.  Through a great sense of humor, Zipperer creates iconic sculptures that create a statement through the use of fashion. In describing her work she states, “My interests are concerned with how women throughout history have been influenced by trends in fashion rather than comfort.  The use of metal and metal fabrics underscores humorous, as well as alluring, but sometimes uncomfortable styles.”

A reception to meet the artists will be at the Target Gallery on our Second Thursday Art Night, March 11 from 6-8pm.  *This exhibition is a part of the official statewide launch of Minds Wide Open. Please visit our website to learn more about our exciting spring lineup: http://www.torpedofactory.org/mindswideopen/

The Target Gallery, national exhibition space of the Torpedo Factory, promotes high standards of art by continuously exploring new ideas through the visual media in a schedule of national and international exhibitions. Located on the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria, VA. The gallery is open daily from 10-6pm and until 9pm on Thursdays. www.torpedofactory.org

For a list of events and more information about MINDS WIDE OPEN: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts, visit www.vamindswideopen.com.