WORKHOUSE ARTS FOUNDATION INC

The Workhouse is a community arts education and performance institution grounded in the belief that participating in the arts is vital to living a healthy life regardless of one’s age, background, economic status.

For over a decade, the Workhouse has been the solution to the “arts desert” in the Southern portion of Fairfax County, and is the only multidisciplinary arts center in either Fairfax or Prince William County. As a unique, incredible adaptive reuse project, the Workhouse repurposed 50+ acres of the former Lorton Correctional Complex into a thriving arts and cultural destination. And as the only multi-disciplinary arts center in Fairfax County, the Workhouse Arts Center is uniquely positioned to drive the artistic and cultural identity of our shared community, the Northern Virginia region, and the nation.

Workhouse artists represent diverse cultural backgrounds and offer unique classes, performances, and experiences; many unavailable anywhere else. Workhouse classes cover virtually the entire Arts spectrom from visual, ceramics and glass arts, performing arts, the Art of Movement, fiber arts, culinary arts, drum circles, digital art, and more. The Workhouse brings underrepresented art forms to the community, including muralists who perform their craft outdoors before a public audience. In addition, it provides opportunities to emerging to mid-career level artists; 70% of the exhibition programming highlights these artists.

The Workhouse ensures equal access to the arts by removing economic barriers to participation. Many programs are free of charge. The Workhouse Needs-Based Tuition Program reduces tuition by as much as 75% for youth from low-income families; ensuring these underserved members of the public have access to the arts, to develop their artistic skills, and explore a creative method of self-expression.

The Workhouse Military in the Arts Initiative is a free, year-round therapeutic arts program offering quality arts programming to address the unique needs of service members and veterans, and provides participants with a vital, creative outlet in a supportive community. The Workhouse provided nearly 300 hours of annual Art instruction to Service Members, received glowing testimonials for the art therapy sessions, served 90 military families, and established meaningful and long-lasting partnerships with a variety of organizations.

The recently opened Lucy Burns Musuem celebrates both the Workhouse's previous life as a prison as well as our historical importance. The Lucy Burns Museum presents the story of the imprisonment of the 72 Suffragists at the Occoquan Workhouse in 1917 — an event on these grounds that marked a turning point in the Women’s suffrage movement to secure voting rights for all women in the United States. WAC is honored to be part of this historic moment.

During the past decade, the Workhouse has played a key role in reshaping public perception of the arts in our region and invigorated the economic health and resilience of our community. Each year the Workhouse provides approximately $620,000 to resident artists in the form of teaching salaries and art sales, allowing them the freedom to create, inspire, and transform the world around them.

Being able to offer unique and meaningful arts experiences to the public, including to those who would otherwise not have access to art in Fairfax and Prince William Counties, is critical.