What a horrible experience! Our group did a date night cooking class in July. Well let's just say a salad making class. Ugh! What a waste of $150.00. We would have been better off going out to dinner. The group was over booked so the little bit of precooked meat for the joke of salad on paper plates and plastic forks. Will never go back !!!
Very nice to see an infamous historic place, now closed down, turned into an arts center and a place for community events such as the Fourth of July fire works display. Art classes, to include pottery, stained glass are offered as well as cooking classes. There is a very small but informative museum about the Work House history - it includes a memorial of Correction Officers killed while in the line of duty when the Work House served as a prison. The open grassy area of the Work House is used for the Fourth of July fireworks display and other outdoor events, take notice that it can get crowded due to the small size of the field. There still is much to do to improve the place and look forward to see what more will be done to the complex. Nearby the Work House is an old, closed down and razed Nike Missile site built to defend Washington, DC from Soviet bombers during the Cold War.
I work here at the Workhouse for Charming Concepts in building 9. This is a great place for the collaboration and expression of many creative minds. Plus there are Pokestops.
The Lorton Correctional Facility was opened in 1910 to be a new and modern way to handle inmates. It had no walls or fences. Think of it as a place to re-educate, like a college, those people who had lost their way. In the end it turned out to be more of a workhouse. It is mostly known for the 168 members of the National Women's Party who were sent there in 1917. Many were force-fed after starting a hunger-strike and on the Night of November 17th many were tortured, abused, and beaten. In other words it kind of failed. It was closed in 2001 and in 2004 became a Cultural Arts Center (now known as the Workhouse Arts Center) and historical landmark. It also had a few sports fields (because of all the open ground). There are even some guard towers there.
I went to a comedy show here at the W16 building. It's in an art building and they don't serve food. They do have alcohol and sodas to drink and candy bars if you're hungry. The comedy was OK if you really want to get out but I don't think I will go back. I couldn't wait for the show to be over because the seats were uncomfortable. A fair price for the show would be $10.
When you visit it comes across as a history museum, art center, artist colony, and, yes, there was a gift shop when I visited. There is parking and the art galleries are free, as is the museum. The hours are all over the place and there are tours for groups of ten and up, so I would check their website before any visits. When we were there is was so empty we thought parts of it were closed but also remember they have events, classes, performances, and night concerts so be warned.
Workhouse Arts Center is a US Art Gallery based in Lorton, Virginia. Workhouse Arts Center is located at 9518 Workhouse Rd, Lorton, VA 22079, USA.
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