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Travel Log- Spring 2018  (1 of 5)


Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

In March I made a trip to the East Coast and had the opportunity to drop by the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia. This is becoming a yearly visit for me. Let me tell you why.

I was traveling with my husband last spring and we got into a conversation with a woman working at the airport. When she heard we were going to the Washington DC area, she enthusiastically recommended the Torpedo Factory. If you’re at all familiar with that area, you’ve probably heard of it in passing, as I had. But I thought, if this person from the opposite side of the country had only one recommendation during our brief conversation- and it was this destination- maybe I should look at it more closely.

So off I went to investigate.


This art center is exactly what its name implies- an old torpedo factory which has been renovated to include galleries and artists’ studios. It is three stories of creativity in the form of painters, weavers, potters, jewelers, glass workers, and more. 

I was curious to see if there were any quilters there, so I wandered into Fiberworks, Studio 14 which displays the work of artists producing items in fabric, felt, etc. I quickly found myself in a wonderful, energizing conversation with the artist on duty, Gloria Barbre, who works in silks to create hand-painted scarves. When I mentioned my tie quilts, the conversation took off. Ideas, resources, and all kinds of information just kept flowing. (So much so that I had to start taking notes and began to worry that our parking meter would run out.) It impressed me that, though we were creating very different work, (and at that time, they didn’t even have any quilting on display), she found our common ground. It was a special exchange, freely shared, and it inspired me to think of new possibilities for creating.

Later, when I thought about this visit, it occurred to me that this is what artists/creatives naturally do for one another in a communal setting. In fact, ideally, this is what we should do for each other regardless of where we find ourselves. What a joy to be lifted up and encouraged in this way, and what a special privilege to be the vehicle for pushing someone to be the best they can be.

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