Shifting through fliers and business cards of organizations, with mission statements and exhibition notices falling from my lap to the floor, I try to organize dates, addresses, and names. In the process I come across a Washington Post article that summed up one of the best success stories I’ve heard from an organization. The Workhouse Arts Center of Lorton Virginia has opened the doors of a former prison as a newly-created artist residency and center. Few times do two causes so happily meet.

These days we hear more and more of prison construction and overcrowding. Art programs being cut in schools and the money used to build penitentiaries to house the same students who could have benefited from such a program.

But in Lorton, a former prison has been given over to the purpose of housing artists, community groups, presentations, classes, and performances. The space has been reconstructed, repaired, and reused to provide a unique setting for artists and for those aspiring.

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