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In their lease agreements, all Workhouse artists commit to a minimum of 100 hours per month of studio time so that the public can observe them directly at work. The artists are housed in 10 of the prison’s original brick buildings, which along with the other prison buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Readapted with state-of-the-art studios and separate retail spaces, each is dedicated to a particular medium, such as the visual, ceramic, glass and fiber arts. And students who begin at the institution can eventually become artists there, as four beginners who started learning at the Workhouse Arts Center are now working in “emerging-artist” space given to them for a year.

“We’re getting known throughout the country. That was the goal for this year,” said Rick Sherbert, 52, of Herndon. Sherbert is a blown-glass artist and director of the Workhouse’s Glassworks, whose eight artists occupy building 7, and said the goal for next year will be “refining” the operation and bringing in more people to teach. This year, the center housed world-famous glass artist Milon Townsend, who recently visited and taught a master class on his flame-working technique.

“Were getting on the radar of people who are well-known, people like Milon Townsend, who’s psyched about what we’re doing here,” Sherbert added.

In the far future, Sherbert said he would like to build a “hot shop” where artists blow and shape objects from molten glass. If he could work it out, he would fuel it by piping in methane gas from the landfill next door.

Springfield resident Dale Marhanka, 44, director of Workhouse ceramics in building 8, remains thrilled by what he regards as his “once-in-a lifetime opportunity.”

The mix of professional and emerging artists that work alongside him, as well as newer students and visiting public, have generated a wonderfully “interactive, highly dynamic environment,” he said.

Marhanka, who as an artist does mostly sculptural vessels, said other priorities for the institution include expanding infrastructure, such as finishing the studio’s kiln yard; growing the student body; and reaching out to area schools, such as nearby South County Secondary School.

But the consistently positive responses of visitors show that the center is on the right path, he said.

Giving a recent example, he related that his five resident ceramic artists and students made 350 ceramic bowls for use at an ice cream social in July on the Workhouse quad. They sold out in just an hour. More than 1,000 people came through the ceramics building during that event, Marhanka estimated.

Working in clay, like sharing food, brings people together and “provides a foundation for dialogue,” he said.

To keep its pool of artists “fresh,” the artists go through the jurying process when their leases expire in the next three to five years, Mason said.

In addition to studios, space also has been dedicated for rental by the public and rotating exhibitions of works by local and national artists and performers. The arts center already receives about three or four inquiries a day about renting space, Speer said.

By the end of 2010, more than 53 exhibitions will have been mounted, noted Lorton resident Camela Speer, 40, the Workhouse’s public relations and special events specialist.

Shows in the Main Gallery, featuring four different visual artists each time, change monthly.

In addition, studio space has been created in “one of the more unique buildings” for classes in pilates, yoga, tai chi, qi gong, martial arts, balletone and even hula dancing, Speer said.

Also recently opened in building 9 is a small museum dedicated to the site’s history, including the prison’s most famous inmates: Suffragettes who were incarcerated there after protests in Washington, D.C. in 1917.

Though Mason, 62, joked about the stamina it takes to keep up with the Workhouse’s rapid and demanding growth, she is obviously pleased and energized by it, too.

One of the past year’s surprises, Mason said, was the immediate and overwhelming demand for classes. Beginning last October, 130 classes and workshops were offered to the public — and filled rapidly, she said.

“To our amazement, 70 percent of the classes were booked, and they continue to grow,” Mason added.

A film series, started in March at the request of a benefactor, also has been a resounding success.

Lake Ridge resident Joey Wallen, 40, director of the Workhouse Institute, oversees the Workhouse Film Institute and its 13-person staff as one of his multiple duties.

Coming up on Oct. 10 is a short films competition open to everyone, and a festival of Indian Bollywood films follows on Nov. 7 and 8. Bollywood dance workshops also will be held prior to the screenings, and Wallen hopes the event will be the start of an annual “Cinematic Tourists” program that could involve embassies and restaurants, too. He also hopes to hold “something domestic” in the near future, too, such as a film event on Alaska.

“Lots of fun stuff,” Wallen promised.

A $50,000 grant from the Claude Moore Foundation was invested in industry-level film editing equipment and software so the Workhouse could offer classes in this art form, as well.

Because of a temporary space crunch, a hallway was adapted as space for the new editing lab. However, more space will become available as the buildings are renovated in phases.

Julie Booth, 42, a Kingstowne resident and the Workhouse’s community relations manager, has spent a good deal of the past year working with schools, as an “Art for Change” grant allows the Workhouse to bring its resident artists into local school. Art teachers also bring their students to the site for tours.

“They want us to talk about making careers out of art,” she said.

And children’s interest in the center has grown far faster than expected. For instance, its six-week summer camp programs were fully enrolled, Booth noted, and enrollment for next summer begins in February. Demand for year-round children’s programs also is rising.

On the horizon to accommodate this growth is the conversion of a building into an 8,000-square-foot “Kids Zone” with classroom space and a small theater.

Besides the Kids Zone, Phase 2 plans include the readaptation of two more of the site’s 30 buildings. One would become a 9,000-square foot performing arts building with a theater, and the other a 34,000-square-foot special events center. Outdoor event facilities also would be developed at the site of a future Music Barn.

This past summer, performing arts events were housed in a special tent —underwritten by a benefactor — set up on the Workhouse’s central “quad.”

The only new construction so far planned for the site will be 40 units of “live-work” space, or apartments with artist studios that are modeled on a similar art district in Paduca, Ky.

Tentatively scheduled to break ground in March 2010, this housing will be restricted to people associated with the Workhouse. Once a year, the artists residing there will be required to open their studios to the public.

Four units will be set aside for a residency program for artists who would teach at both the Workhouse and Northern Virginia Community College.

Phase 3, expected to begin about 2015, would consist of a state-of-the-art performing arts complex, including the Music Barn, constructed by combining and renovating several other Workhouse buildings, located directly behind the proposed events center. Dance venues, performing arts education and other musical performing arts activities will be the focus of this project.

When completed, the Workhouse Arts Center will occupy approximately 294,000 square feet of arts facilities and approximately 40 acres of open space.

“We’re fully engaged in negotiating with the county and construction companies,” Mason said. “We want to see more people on site more often.”

Helping to make that happen with “all kinds of events to drive awareness” is Andrea Sims, a public relations and special events executive who has been “bringing Hollywood to the Potomac” since moving from Los Angeles.

Known for her celebrity-packed Rolodex, Sims, 58, a nearby Lake Ridge resident, recently began lending her expertise to bringing some sparkle to the Workhouse.

“If you don’t have a celeb, you don’t have a party,” Sims told Forbes when the magazine named her one of the top events planners for “The World's Hottest Parties" in 2006.

And the celebrities have been appearing — most recently, Tippi Hedren, star of Alfred Hitchcock classics “The Birds” and “Marnie,” visited the Workhouse for a special discussion and screening of “The Birds.” Actress Tina Louise, best known for her role as the glamorous Ginger on the TV sitcom “Gilligan's Island” and a personal friend of Sims, read from her new children’s book “When I Grow Up” at another special event.

In the music realm, Betty Buckley — known to television fans for “Eight Is Enough” and to Broadway devotees as the original “Grizabella” in the musical “Cats,” where she sang “Memories”—will headline the Workhouse’s first Art, Wine and All That Jazz Festival on Oct. 3. Deanna Bogart, blues and boogie pianist, saxophonist, singer and the winner of 20 Washington Music Awards, performs Oct. 4.

These stars are just the beginning, Sims said — people should expect “really fun, eclectic stuff to happen” in the next few months.

“We’re going down a lot of different tracks,” she said.
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