Arts in Alexandria
About Us
Office of the Arts
The Office of The Arts promotes the value of arts and culture in the City of Alexandria by nurturing, investing in and celebrating the creative contributions of artists and arts organizations. Through engaging the community, encouraging participation, and facilitating access to the arts, the Office strives to build a vibrant community for all of the City’s residents, workers and visitors.
Alisa J. Carrel, Director
alisa.carrel@alexandriava.gov
Cheryl Anne Colton, Cultural Arts Administrator/Acting Director, Durant Center
cherylanne.colton@alexandriava.gov
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Alexandria Commission for the Arts
In celebration of its 25 years of service to the City of Alexandria, the Alexandria Commission for the Arts will present a year-long series of events and programs designed to showcase the broad range of arts activities available within the City.
The role of the Arts Commission is to provide leadership in the development of a vibrant and sustainable arts community that engages audiences, and to encourage support and appreciation for the arts as a cornerstone of Alexandria’s identity and cultural, social, and economic vitality. To accomplish this mission, the Arts Commission administers City grant funds and arts programs; advises City Council on policy, funding and development needs for the arts; collaborates with partners on initiatives that further the development of, and participation in, the arts; and generally advocates for the arts.
The Arts Commission is composed of 16 citizen volunteers appointed to a three-year term by the Mayor and City Council. Meetings are held at 7 pm on the third Tuesday of the month at the Dr. Oswald Durant Memorial Center at 1605 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA. All meetings are open to the public.
- Pat Miller, Chair - aca@alexandriava.gov
- Donna Fowler, Vice Chair
- Jeannie Hodges, Secretary
- Jim Allison
- Vaughn Ambrose
- Barbara Boehm
- Mary H. Chaffe Brooks
- Sydney-Chanele Dawkins
- Matthew Harwood
- Marla Howell
- David Livingston
- David Martin
- Eileen O'Brien
- Ross Simons
- Margaret Wohler
- Ian Zuidema
Arts Commissioners | Committee Members | Panelists | 2009-2010 Commission Meeting Schedule
For additional information on the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, please visit AlexandriaCommissionForTheArts.org or call 703.746.5588.
Contact Us
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Services
Grants Program | Calls to Artists | Training | Internships | Jobs | Volunteers
Grants Program
Each year, the Alexandria Commission for the Arts advises City Council on the allocation of City funds designated for the arts. Approximately $180,000 in funding is available to assist local artists and arts organizations. This year's grants deadline is Friday, November 20, 2009. For online application information, please visit AlexandriaCommissionForTheArts.org.
Grants Program Goals:
- Encourage artistic excellence in the City of Alexandria;
- Ensure that Commission funded arts programs are accessible to all;
- Assist Alexandria based arts organizations in improving their financial, administrative and management capabilities;
- Provide individual artists with opportunities to create, perform and present their works;
- Support the development of knowledgeable audiences by encouraging projects and programs to make the arts experience more rewarding and significant for its citizens;
- Encourage arts organizations to undertake activities to increase earned income and to develop new sources of revenue to reduce the percentage of City funds as a portion of their income; and
- Provide significant impact on the citizens of Alexandria and on the visibility of the Alexandria arts community.
Types of Grants:
- City Arts Operational Grant
- City Arts Project
- City Arts Technical Assistance Grants
- Special Opportunities Awards
Funded Partners for 2009 - 2010:
Current Calls to Artists
- City of Alexandria Poet Laureate - Nominations Due January 11, 2010
Training
Internship Program
The Office of the Arts and the Alexandria Commission for the Arts seek applicants for the internship program which provides arts management training for high school, undergraduate and graduate students. Interns assist with advancing the Office of the Arts and Commission’s short and long-term organizational goals. Each intern will have the opportunity to develop a plan reflecting specific learning objectives relating to the intern's academic program. A flexible schedule (preferred hours from 8 am - 5 pm Monday-Friday) can be developed. Ten to thirty hours per week for two or three months is requested. Internships are available in the following three areas:
Public Art Associate: the intern will assist in maintaining a public art inventory for the City of Alexandria; will track and research information for new public art to the City; prepare reports; and will assist with preparing grants for public art;
Program Associate: the intern will work with volunteers in planning the annual Film Festival and Alex Awards programs, these activities include, but are not limited to, preparing timelines, writing press releases, drafting correspondence, and creating flyers and brochures; and,
Research Associate: the intern will conduct local, state, regional and national research on arts related issues; this includes web-based research, soliciting information via email and telephone, writing reports and presentations based on the research, and sharing the findings through oral presentations to Committee, Commission or staff members.
For further information, call or write Cheryl Anne Colton, Cultural Arts Administrator, Alexandria Commission for the Arts at: Internship Program, Office of the Arts/Alexandria Commission for the Arts, Dr. Oswald Durant Memorial Center, 1605 Cameron St., Alexandria, VA 22314, 703.746.5588 (office), 703.838.6344 (fax), or by email at aca@alexandriava.gov.
Jobs
Volunteer
The Alexandria Commission for the Arts seeks volunteers with expertise in dance, literature, music, theatre, visual arts, arts education, arts administration, business, marketing, and fund raising to serve on its Committees and Resource Panels.
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Events & Programs
Arts Calendar | Alex Awards | Film Festival | Festival of the Arts | Art Chats | Poet Laureate
Arts Calendar
The Office of the Arts is a member of CultureCapital.com, a regional arts calendar operated by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington. Most Alexandria arts organizations post their calendar of events on this web site: CultureCapital.com.
Alex Arts Awards
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2009 Alex Arts Awards
Pictured: (L to R) Cheryl Anne Colton, Alisa Carrel,
Marga Fripp (award recipient), Mayor William D. Euille,
Ilona Savage (award recipient) and Pat Miller
Photo by Steven Halperson of Tisara Photography.
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On October 23, the 2009 Alex Arts Awards were presented to two individuals who have made a significant contribution to our City’s vibrant arts culture. Marga Fripp, Empowered Women International, and Ilona Savage, Alexandria Performing Arts Association, are the recipients of the 2009 Alex Arts Awards. The awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Alexandria’s “Taste for Giving.” More than 300 people attended the event, held at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, which included live music, silent and live auctions, tastings from several Alexandria restaurants, and the Alex Arts Awards ceremony.
Marga Fripp founded Empowered Women International (EWI) to address the isolation and cultural and economic barriers many immigrant and refugee women experience and help them promote their art and cultures and learn entrepreneurial skills. Each year, she helps more than 300 of these women, while reaching more than 1500 community members who participate in EWI’s art programs.
Ilona Savage is credited with launching a new program for the Alexandria Performing Arts Association called ENCORE (ENtertainment Carried Out to the Retired and Elderly), which seeks to bring high-quality performing arts to elderly residents who lack the mobility to attend performances in one of the City’s traditional venues. Through Ilona’s efforts, the program has become one of the most vital new arts initiatives in Alexandria.
Mayor William D. Euille presented Marga and Ilona with a beautiful piece of ceramic art created by Blair Meerfeld and a brass star created by David Martin of Gold Works, each commissioned especially for the occasion. The Alexandria Commission for the Arts and Office of the Arts are pleased to recognize Marga and Ilona for their contributions to our community and for inspiring others to do the same.
Past Alex Award Recipients - Coming Soon
Annual Alexandria Film Festival
The 3rd Annual Alexandria Film Festival was held September 24-27 at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, 101 Callahan Drive, Alexandria VA. Sponsored by the Alexandria Commission for the Arts and the Office of the Arts, the Festival brings high-quality independent short and feature length films, documentaries, filmmaker panels, and arts presentations to Alexandria, Virginia. Across from the King Street Metro. Plenty of Free parking available.
For more information, please visit AlexandriaFilm.org
Alexandria Festival of the Arts
More than 200 artists from around the country gathered September 12 & 13 to display and sell a variety of art ranging from paintings, sculpture, prints and photography to pottery, glass, jewelry and ceramics. This annual juried art festival transforms King Street into an outdoor art gallery. Plus the Alexandria Commission for the Arts presents a live music performance on Saturday evening at Market Square, historic Christ Church offers a family respite area with refreshments and moon-bounce, and the Torpedo Factory Art Center hosts Art Activated, with interactive activities and entertainment. All within easy walking distance. Activities and entertainment are free. A free concert was provided on Saturday evening by Swing Command,
Art Chats
The arts community gathered at MetroStage on December 15, 2008 to recognize the Alexandria Nominees for the 2008 Governor’s Arts Awards. The event was held as part of the Art Chat series sponsored by the Alexandria Commission for the Arts and the Alexandria Arts Forum.
Carolyn Griffin, Artistic Director of MetroStage, welcomed the audience and provided information on the history of the theatre and upcoming productions. Trish Poupore, Executive Director of the Virginians for the Arts and Cheryl Anne Colton, Cultural Arts Administrator of the Office of the Arts and Alexandra City Coordinator, Governor’s Arts Award, presented certificates of recognition to the nominees. Ms. Poupore followed the presentation with a talk on the Virginians for the Arts’ advocacy programs, its “Arts Build Communities” initiative, and the upcoming “ArtWorks for Virginia” conference. The event attracted current and former arts commissioners, members of the Arts Forum and Councilman Tim Lovain.
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Vera Danchenko-Stern, Cheryl Anne Colton, and
Trish Poupore.
Photo by Kathryn Brown.
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Congratulations to:
Alexandria Guitar Festival
Alexandria Symphony Orchestra
The Art League
Adrienne van Doren
Del Ray Artisans
Little Theatre of Alexandria
Nothern Virginia Fine Arts Association
Pat Miller
Vera Danchenko-Stern
Nina Tisara and Christa Watters
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Poet Laureate
The City of Alexandria Office of the Arts is issuing a call for applications to serve as the City’s Poet Laureate. The Poet Laureate fosters an appreciation of poetry as an art form, encourages creative writing and reading, and promotes literacy through poetry. The Poet Laureate is appointed to a three-year term and receives a modest honorarium.
Individuals can nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else. Nominees must distinguish themselves in the field of poetry through the body of work they have created; be a resident of the City for a minimum of one year and maintain residency through the three-year term of service; accept the Poet Laureate post as a ceremonial role, which includes presentations of work appropriate for all audiences; and be 18 years of age or older. All nominations must be submitted to the Office of the Arts, 1605 Cameron St., Alexandria, VA, by 5 p.m. on Monday, January 11, 2010. The new Poet Laureate will be named in March 2010. To make a nomination, click here.
The City’s current Poet Laureate, Mary McElveen, was appointed in April, 2007 as the unanimous recommendation of a selection committee representing the citizens of Alexandria. Since that time, she has been active in the community, visiting schools, teaching poetry classes, creating and reading poems for City events, and bringing her love of poetry to many other places and events. Her appointment has inspired interest in Poet Laureate programs in several other communities, including Fairfax County, VA and Santa Clara County, CA, which recently appointed a Poet Laureate. Mary also has worked with Office of the Arts to involve businesses, civic associations, libraries, schools, recreation centers, and community residents in National Poetry Month and “Poem in Your Pocket Day” activities.
Prior to McElveen’s appointment, Jean Elliott, a 78-year-old Alexandria resident, was the first and only Poet Laureate of record for the City. The Alexandria City Council appointed Elliot Poet in Residence and honored her by placing a plaque on her South Fairfax Street home in 1979. She passed away in 1999.
Mary McElveen was appointed the City’s Poet Laureate in 2007. Her role has been to promote an appreciation of poetry, to encourage creative writing and reading, and to promote literacy through poetry. She has appeared in Alexandria and Northern Virginia at school events, libraries, arts programs and citywide activities.
As Alexandria’s Poet Laureate, Mary McElveen has written several poems and appeared in Alexandria and Northern Virginia at school events, libraries, arts programs and other activities. Following is a collection of the poems she has written during her appointment.
City of Songs, March 2007
Wind from the River, Freedmen’s Cemetery Re-Dedication, May 2007
One American High School, T.C. Williams High School New Facility Dedication, October 2007
Half Turn, 2007 Alex Awards, November 2007
Birthday Cake, Alexandria Birthday Celebration, July 2008
Makers of Rainbows, 2008 Alex Awards, October 2008
Building, Charles Houston Recreation Center Dedication, February, 2009
Women of Alexandria, Alexandria Commission on Women Salute to Women Awards, March 2009
Old Town Bricks, March 2009
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Public Art
Projects | Art in City Hall | City Galleries Program | Collection
Projects
Art in City Hall
Art in City Hall is a collaborative program between the Alexandria Commission for the Arts and The Art League with participation by the Del Ray Artisans and the Torpedo Factory Art Center.
City Hall, 301 King St.
Monday through Friday, 8 am-5 pm
Second Floor
Bi-Annual Art in City Hall Juried Exhibition, “Our Town,” July 20, 2009 - January 8, 2010
Exhibition is a partnership between the Art League and the Alexandria Commission for the Arts with the following participating arts organizations: Del Ray Artisans and the Torpedo Factory Art Center.
The following City Hall Exhibitions by appointment only, 703.746.5588.
City Manager’s Office, Room 3500
Sarah Pearson, paintings, July 2009 – January 2010
City Hall, Employee Lounge, Fifth Floor
Mohammad Sadiq, watercolors and pastels, July 2009 – January 2010
City Council Room, Room 2204
Lai Leong, paintings, July 2009 – January 2010
Planning and Zoning Office, Room 2100
Paige Ireland, paintings, July 2009 – January 2010
City Galleries
Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library, 5005 Duke St.
- Living Legends of Alexandria, photographs, July 2009 – January 4, 2010
- Francesca DiLorenzo, terra cotta, July 2 – January 7, 2010
Lee Center, 1108 Jefferson St
- Jim Dorsch, photographs, Conference Room 4, through January, 2010
- Chris Haggerty, paintings, July 2009 - January 2010
Dr. Oswald Durant Memorial Center, 1605 Cameron St.
- “Young at Art,” Senior Services of Alexandria and the Goodwin House Foundation, August 1 - October 30, 2009
- Nhora Osorio, exhibit, November 2, 2009 - June 30, 2010
For additional information about the City Galleries program, or if you are a visual artist and want to exhibit your work, call the Commission for the Arts at 703.746.5588 or email aca@alexandriava.gov.
Public Art Collection - Coming Soon
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Venues
The following sites offer exhibit and/or performance space, for more information follow the links below.
Alexandria Black History Museum
Athenaeum
The Birchmere
Bishop Ireton's Whaley Auditorium
Carlyle House
Dr. Oswald Durant Memorial Center
Episcopal High School Auditorium - Ainslie Arts Center
Fort Ward Amphitheatre
Gadsby’s Tavern
George Washington Memorial Masonic Temple
The Lab at Convergence
Landmark Mall
Lee Center Kauffman Auditorium
Lee-Fendall House
Lloyd Museum
Lyceum
Market Square
Nicholas Colasanto Center (managed by the Del Ray Artisans)
Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center
St. Elmo's Coffee Pub
Torpedo Factory Art Center
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Many houses of worship also offer performance space.
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News & Information
eNews | Press Releases | Policies | Reports & Research | National Arts and Humanities Month
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Stay informed with eNews!
To receive information about Department programs, special events, community meetings, and more, update your subscription or subscribe to eNews by visiting enews.alexandriava.gov. |
Press Releases
City of Alexandria Searches for Poet Laureate (released November 16, 2009)
“Tea and Talk” Sharing Alexandria’s Parker-Gray and Civil Rights Stories (released November 16, 2009)
Alexandria Commission for the Arts Seeks Public Art Committee Members (released October 22, 2009)
2009 Alex Arts Awards Announced (released October 21, 2009)
Third Annual City of Alexandria Film Festival Features Local and International Artists (released September 19, 2009)
Call for Artists Announced for Alexandria Police Memorial (Released September 3, 2009)
Grant Workshops Scheduled for On-Line Grant Applications for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 (released September 1, 2009)
Alexandria Commission for the Arts Seeks Nominations for the 2009 Alex Arts Awards (released August 31, 2009)
Call for Artists Announced for Charles Hamilton Houston Memorial (released August 18, 2009)
City to Hold Community Meeting on Alexandria Police Memorial on July 28 (released July 17, 2009)
Juneteenth Film and Music Celebration: “Come Walk in My Shoes” Film and Gospel Choir Concert (released June 1, 2009)
“Tea and Talk” Sharing Alexandria’s Civil Rights History (released June 1, 2009)
Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Target Gallery Special Event (released May 21, 2009)
Alexandria Commission for the Arts Seeks Public Comment on a Mural to Be Hung in the Future Alexandria Soft Playroom (released May 8, 2009)
April 30 Is Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day (released April 23, 2009)
Alexandria Film Festival Seeks Entries (released April 23, 2009)
2008 Holiday Concert Schedule Announced for Historic Old Town Alexandria (released November 21, 2008)
Alexandria Commission for the Arts Seeks Applicants To Serve on Arts Resource Panels (released November 10, 2008)
Alexandria Commission for the Arts Announces Call for Special Opportunity Award Applications (released November 3, 2008)
Alexandria Commission for the Arts Announces 2008 Alex Awards Recipients (released October 17, 2008)
Commission for the Arts Grant Workshops Scheduled for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 (released September 19, 2008)
City of Alexandria Hosts Reel Politics: Second Annual Alexandria Film Festival (released September 17, 2008)
Alexandria Commission for the Arts Seeks Nominations for 2008 Alex Awards (released July 25)
Alexandria Commission for the Arts Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Revisions to the Acquired Art Policy (released July 18, 2008)
Policies
Policy on Acquired Art
Reports & Research
Alexandria Commission for the Arts' Annual Reports: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000
Arts & Economic Prosperity III
Arts Organization Structure and Community Visioning Plan (Lord Report)
National Arts and Humanities Month
The Alexandria Commission for the Arts and Office of the Arts join thousands of arts organizations and communities across the nation in celebrating National Arts and Humanities Month throughout October with activities that honor the efforts of artists, historians, teachers, and cultural groups working to make the arts and humanities a part of everyone’s life. Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts and national coordinator of Arts and Humanities month, says, “Everyone recognizes the creative and cultural value of the arts and humanities. National Arts and Humanities Month offers us a chance to celebrate the often overlooked economic, educational, and civic engagement values that the arts impart in our daily lives.”
Please join us in the country’s largest annual collective celebration of the arts and humanities.
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Donate
Arts Commission Donation Account
Contributions may be unrestricted or designated to support a specific program such as: Annual Grants Program, Charles Houston Public Art Project, Alex Awards, Alexandria Film Festival, Art Chats, Poet Laureate Program, Arts in City Hall and City Galleries Program. Your gift in any amount is appreciated. Donations may be mailed to Office of the Arts, 1108 Jefferson St., Alexandria, VA 22314.
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Links
Alexandria Arts Forum
Americans for the Arts
Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington
National Arts Strategies
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
National Endowment for the Arts
Virginians for the Arts
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