Brown Bag Art

Visit the small, but mighty, Studio 4 of Workhouse Arts Center and you will find gallery walls overtaken by over 1,300 brown paper lunch bags. The bags can only mean one thing. The 2nd Annual Have a Heart Project--an artistic twist on the common (and vital) food drive--is underway. This artistic venture, organized by The Art Monkeys, benefits Food for Others, Inc., the largest distributor of free food directly to people in need in Northern Virginia.
Last year's Have a Heart Project, garnered considerable attention from local media and was the subject of a documentary by young filmmaker, Makeda Thomas. The exhibit challenged the community to help Studio 4 artists fill an "empty kitchen" art installation and successfully raised over 750 lbs. of non-perishable food for Food for Others during its month-long run.

This year's installation opened to the public on Wednesday, February 6, 2013. Studio 4's exhibit space has been transformed by 1,325 empty lunch bags featuring original art works created by an array of resident and guest artists. Each of the unique lunch bag works of art in the exhibit can be obtained by making a $10 donation, 100% of which will benefit Food for Others. As the artists replace each sold piece of art with food purchased with the donation, the installation will continually evolve throughout the gallery. An opening reception will take place on Saturday, February 9, from 6 to 9pm, in Studio 4 (Building W-4) of the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA.
"This year's exhibit is a great opportunity for new and seasoned collectors alike to get their hands on original art at an incredibly low price while making a difference." says participating artist and co-organizer MG Stout.
The public can also be a part of this exciting art installation to help Northern Virginians in need by donating canned or non-perishable food items during Studio 4's normal business hours: Wednesday to Saturday from 11 am - 7 pm, and Sunday from noon - 5 pm. Donations will be welcome through the exhibit's run, Wednesday, February 6 - Sunday, March 3, 2013.

2nd Annual Have a Heart Project: February 9, 2013

Goodbye Olympics, Hello Ritmos

Art Out Loud Article

Read the full article here.

Saturday July 7th: Art Out Loud

Art Out Loud

The Art Monkeys wish you a fabulous 4th and invite you to join them at ART OUT LOUD this Saturday at the Workhouse Arts Center!

No More Drama

These are good times.
And bad times.
And complicated and confusing times.

Today, in the midst of creating new collaborative works for our upcoming Duets exhibition in DC, we received final details on what works would be required of us for an exciting Workhouse Arts Center show, Commerce I, which opens on June 30th.
We could have easily picked work from our already existing collaborations, but the request came on the same day that this article about the Workhouse's financial troubles was published in the Washington Post. The reported issues are very real and last week the center announced that the Performing Arts Program would be disbanded.
This has touched us on a personal level. The Studio 3 Theatre is not only our next door neighbor, its team are also our friends.

In true "Art Monkey" fashion, we decided to paint something on on the spot. We immediately began snapping photos of Studio 3 from our front gallery windows and went next door for additional reference shots. The painting, tongue-in-cheek-ly titled No More Drama (get it??) is still in progress. It will be a deconstructed/abstracted Workhouse portrait that not only documents this phase of the art center's history/development but also honors our dear friends, whom we'll miss terribly.


Studio 3 from Studio 4's front gallery


passage between Studios 3 and 4


Studio 3


in progress...

STAY TUNED.

Come One, Come All!

This Test Is Bananas!

Have a Heart!

Click here to find out about the Have a Heart Project!