Workhouse Arts Center

I do not know if I can truly give this place a fair review since I truly didn’t get to experience Workhouse Art Center as much as I experienced the grounds of it where it sits at an old prison site. The Art Center was created 8 years ago and refurbished the prison into what it is today offering classes in art, theatre, yoga, and dance.
This was the Lorton Reformatory which was a prison that was used during the Women’s Suffrage Movement when they were trying to gain and eventually did gain voting rights for women. Alice Paul one of the suffrage pioneers served time here the longest and was beaten here and force fed due to her hungry strike in 1917. In total about 170 women served time here due to their picketing the White House among one of their many acts.
The prison was opened in 1910, discontinued in 2001 and was placed on the NRHP in 2006 and has been an active art center since 2007. The buildings themselves were built brick by brick by the convicts serving here. Instead of them being build with cement; they were built with bricks that were made onsite in a huge kiln that is now outdated and defunct by today’s standards.
Around the grounds — you can see the old sports field that prisoners used for recreation, and the watch towers that surround it. The Revolutionary War patriot William Lindsay’s former estate house circa 1790 still sits on these grounds called Laurel Hill which eventually gave this area its name.
If you come here, make sure to soak up the history of the place and learn about the art center and what it has to offer. That’s something I will have to return for.

Pretty informative on the history of the Prison. The studios were nice to stroll around to see various types of art pieces. I would go back for other events.

We went to Springfest here this past weekend. It was our fifth event at Workhouse, and we enjoy going every time. The event was really well organized. They had a passport that each kid could collect stickers and stamps at from each table. One station had a place to decorate small bug boxes, complete with ladybugs to bring home in the box. We now have enough water bottles to last us the rest of the summer! We also played ring toss with cans as pegs, played wiffleball with cans, went on a big inflatable slide, and touched turtles and snakes. We will be back again!

I came here yesterday to watch Beauty and the Beast. The show was about an hour long with one intermission. I liked how they made small changes to the script. The cast did a great job and will be performing this play again next Saturday.
The location is easy to find and there is a lot of parking lots. Check out their other plays and events at this location.

Ground Zero for Pilates training! All Pilates Apparatus offered with certified experienced Pilates Instructors!
Also offer Yoga, Barre Classes, Tai Chi, Nia, Hula, Ballroom, & much much more!

one of my favorite places in nova. i love how they reused the prison as art studios. the cool cows comedy show i went to was nice.

Art 4 u.
Ok, that thing on your wall that you light up with a black light while you toke on your water bong is not ART, jack ass. That vinyl stencil you rubbed on your wall from Khols that says some BS about life, love, happiness, woopty doo shit is not ART. That blown glass crab you bought when you were drunk at Ocean City and collects dust on the window mantle in the kitchen… you got it… not ART.
Forget this used to be the Lorton Federal Penitentiary and housed some of this countries worst murderers, rapists and robbers. They have been evicted long ago (actually most have probably been turned loose due the Feds sweeping budget cuts).
In here is a renovated series of galleries and collections displaying impressive works of art. This is actually more of a cultural center (not like the Wal-​Mart cultural super center outside your trailer park). I get that you watch Bob Ross occasionally when skipping between sitcoms while in your La-​z-​Boy chair at home… seriously? Go ahead, Wikipedia Bob Ross, you know his fro. Get out of the house come down to this place and educate your self about art in a friendly environment.
If you have a hot date and need to prove to your girl that you know more about art than just that framed Scarface picture of Al Pacino hanging at your bachelor pad, bring her down here. Maybe she’ll see something more in you than the cheese puff crumbs making modern art on the front of your shirt.
Bottom line: Free parking. Eat that Corcoran Gallery in DC!

I am not much of a writer but really enjoy the visual arts. Read the other reviews to get an idea of what this place is. Then add in my opinion that this place is fabulous fabulous fabulous! Enjoy strolling through all the galleries! Enjoy the well-​informed docents at the little museum! Pray that we do not lose this wonderful resource!

«Lock your door! Roll up the window!», my mother used to yell every time we’d drive past the old Lorton prison when I was a lad. My mother was apparently under the impression that Lorton housed superpowered master criminals who could leap onto moving cars going 45 miles an hour. Growing up a couple miles away I can fondly recall the nights when the searchlights were up, during a jailbreak, and I’d be forbidden from playing flashlight tag lest I have a Pip moment, and be asked to bring a minced meat pie to a convict who threatened to slit my throat otherwise.
Today the cell blocks have been transformed into at least a dozen different studios showcasing artists in practically every medium. It brings to mind the torpedo factory in Alexandria, although the art seems more affordable here, generally speaking.
I was disappointed that most of the interiors have been stripped of the prison heritage to create the galleries.
At present there is a small museum that glorifies the century of penal magic that once glittered on the site. The docent was extremely passionate about the site, and shared many fascinating anecdotes about the history of what was once one of the nation’s most progressive jails, before being turned into a dumping ground for victims of the War on Drugs in DC. The museum contains several exhibits, most interesting being the macabre recreation of a suffragette being force fed by rubber tube through the nose in the 1910’s. Turns out many of the women who led the fight for women’s suffrage were incarcerated at Lorton after being arrested for picketing in DC. The docent explained there were plans to build a much larger museum in one of the dormitories, but funding had not been acquired yet.
Leaving the Art Center, turn right on Furnace Rd and go about 3 quarters of a mile to a boarded up old house in a field on the prison grounds. From there you can access the Cross County Trail, which goes directly beneath a classic barrel vault bridge constructed by inmates to carry the jail’s personal railroad to and from the river. The bridge is a beauty (see my picture), and only a hundred yards or so from the parking area, if you’re not in the mood for a real hike.

relaxing and fresh. This place has everything and its great for kids if you have those too.
I’ve been to a few of their 2^nd Saturday of the month art walk through where you get to meet the artist, ask questions or watch them work on upcoming pieces.
They offer a lot of various classes and just recently had a Japanese appreciation day with numerous activities and guest speakers.
I encourage all my friends and family to check this place out as it borderlines with Prince William county and if your a resident here you know how much were lacking in cultural art and wellness. The dance studio is one of my favorites with Yoga, Tai Chi classes and more :-)

Workhouse Arts Center– I’ve exercised at several locations, the teachers here are exceptional. Yoga, Pilates and much more, the team is positive, encouraging as well as knowledgable and attentive to special needs/​injuries. Best P/​T ever, and they are all delightful gals! Art for the spirit, the center is truly a blessing.

Love art spaces like this.
A former prison (apparently it was where many of the women suffrage demonstrators were sent, and it was actually good for the community until it was mandated that you couldn’t force prisoners to work — go to the museum and have the docent give a short talk) that is now a historic site and also an art gallery/​studio.
There are several (16 or so) houses/​galleries and each has a little gallery/​shop in the front with someone to greet and guide you if needed, and then about 10 studios that artist rent in each house. Some house have a theme (fiber art, clayworks, kids place), but most seem to have intermixed styles. There is a house where you might catch some glass work being done. There is also the aforementioned museum in one of the houses (it’s only one room big). There is a main gallery with a bigger show (current Textiles show is very creative, I’ve never been interested in textiles until that show), also with a small café there too.
You might be able to catch an artist at work. Almost all the work displayed is for sale.
Personal favorites were Songmi Park and another artist who works with pen in Gallery 5.
Similar but not as big are ArtWorks and Plant Zero in Richmond.
You have to go through the entrances that face the center grassy area.

My Wife wishes that we lived near here so she could take some classes and display her work here. It is more relaxing than the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria. Have to come here more often to view and hopefully buy some Art work here.

My review is based on what this place looks like because we went on a Monday and they were closed.: (
However, the concept looks like it should be a winner. Several artist studios giving visitors the opportunity to watch the art being created, shop, or even take a class. I wish I lived near by!

Wow, what a beautiful transformation! Spent the whole afternoon here with the in-​laws a few months ago and by the end I was ready to move to Lorton.
Each old prison bunkhouse has a different artist theme– be it ceramics, glass, painting, dance, etc. Then the front of each house has an assorted gallery of things for sale from each artist within, and you can walk down the long hallway and peek into each artist’s individual space. I was particularly amazed by the ceramics house– lots of super nice kilns and beautiful glazes. All I wanted to do was get my hands dirty. Some of the paintings were stunning as well. And the prices were all reasonable.
There is also a house with a gift shop, art supply shop, and free apple cider.
I know where I’m picking up xmas gifts next year…

What do you do with a defunct city of DC prison for more serious offenders? You turn it into an artist «colony,» obviously.
The Lorton Workhouse Arts Center is a fabulous place. Rows of former prison bunkhouses have been converted into sunny, airy, open artist studios. There are hundreds of different DC-​area artists housed here, working in all manner of media: pottery, woodturning, acrylic, watercolor, photography, collage, mixed media… you name it, there’s a Workhouse artist doing it.
You could spend an entire afternoon strolling the beautiful grounds and wandering the buildings. Each building has a front lobby, staffed by a volunteer, where the different artists from that building sell their art. The volunteer receptionist can also answer any questions you might have about the artists or their work. All artists rent their space, and as part of the rental agreement with the Workhouse must actually be in their studio a certain number of hours per week while the Workhouse is open. This is great news for you: this means that on any given day that you visit, you will see artists at work throwing pots, or painting a landscape, or turning a bowl on a lathe. It’s really cool to be able to see the artists doing their thing.
The Workhouse hosts a lot of special events, too, so check out their website for the monthly calendar. Sometimes they’ll throw a wine and cheese, sometimes there will be live music. You can also take classes here, so if you’ve ever wanted to reenact the hot pottery scene from «Ghost,» or try your hand at the art of Chinese calligraphy, you can do it here.
The Workhouse Arts Center is a really wonderful place to explore or pick up a special gift for that special someone (including yourself!). You can pick up small items relatively inexpensively, or you can splurge on an oil painting for over your couch. The artists are wonderful and love talking to you about their craft or answering any questions you have. Come out and support the arts and local artists! You will love it here!