High School Art Mentorship Program Calling all high school artists in the D.C. Metropolitan Area. The Torpedo Factory Artist Association believes in fostering emerging young art talent. We encourage all eligible high school students in the DC metropolitan area to apply to its high school art mentorship program for the fall 2025 semester. Each eligible student applicant will be paired with a Torpedo Factory Artist as a mentor. The student will have the opportunity to learn experiment with new art techniques and learn some business aspects of the art profession. Students who successfully complete the program will have completed artwork featured in a special group exhibition in the TFAA's Online Gallery in December, 2025. Eligibility Requirements Painting, Ceramics, Jewelry Making, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Photography, Digital art, Drawing No toxic substances Winning artwork must be exhibit ready. Artwork larger than __ will not exhibited except in photograph form. Artwork Requirements Application Details

Sierra Barnes is a cartoonist and history buff whose work is inspired by the relationship between history and folklore. sierrabravoart.com/about Sierra Barnes Sierra Barnes is a cartoonist and history buff whose work is inspired by the relationship between history and folklore. Her work has been published by various publishers, including Dark Horse Comics, Mad Cave Studios, Bad Neighbor Press, and more, and was part of the Ringo-nominated anthology Lower Your Sights. She is interested in using her art and comics to foster empathy toward other people by looking into the past. She can be found in Studio 331.

There is so much magic under the sea and I love capturing it; really taking a close look and allowing us all to marvel at what swims beneath the surface.In Jelly Undulations and Seadragon’s Surprise, I’m combining photos and creating my own underwater world. Jennifer Brewer Stone Jennifer Brewer Stone lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and son. She has been painting since 2008, focusing on bright color, texture, and natural subjects. She has been collected around the world, with solo shows ‘Blooming Brightly’ at Strathmore Mansion and ‘Fantasy of the Real’ at the Art League of Alexandria, VA. She had her own studio-gallery for 6 years at the Torpedo Factory Art Center and continues to show at Van Landingham Gallery on the third floor of the Factory. Her Dance of Life series is featured in public art in the D.C. area, on vintage police call boxes in downtown D.C.,and on traffic control boxes in Alexandria, VA. Her large resin artwork ‘Magenta Sea’ was granted at the American Geosciences Institute. She has also shown at Superfine DC in 2023 and Tephra ICA Arts Festival in 2023 and 2025. https://jenniferbrewerstone.com/ "I began painting my Dance of Life series in 2008, inspired by doing sidewalk chalk drawings of flowers with children and taking a trip to visit my grandmother and sister in the Sonoran Desert. My artistic loves highlight nature’s gems: bright color, texture, and transparency. A small bite of the yawning & vast natural world. My love for transparency and the exotic and rare brought me more and more into the underwater world. There is so much magic under the sea and I love capturing it; really taking a close look and allowing us all to marvel at what swims beneath the surface. In Jelly Undulations and Seadragon’s Surprise, I’m combining photos and creating my own underwater world. With Seadragon’s Surprise I decided to make the subjects slightly surreal, and added a flower into that underwater world for the seadragon to look at. I took that a step farther in Tulip & Jellyfish Embrace, emphasizing the relationship between the jellyfish and the flower, and starting to explore adding molding paste in the base. There are at least 50 texture paintings in between these two paintings as I grew and explored that molding paste base as a medium, and at least another 100 paintings exploring resin before I envisioned Jellyfish Rising. My most recent Grace series is a culmination of working with these different media separately over the past 15 years. I layer molding paste, then oil paint, and on some pieces such as Jellyfish Rising, I layer resin on parts of the painting before finishing with hyper-realistic oil painting on the surface. I largely paint on panel. I use thin layers and dry brushes at times to keep the color sharp and the edges crisp. Jellyfish Rising and all the Grace series explores water in many forms through texture & transparency: the way waves look when seen from a plane, watching the bank of a river or a cresting wave in the sea, and the wave’s tiny droplets. I apply the paste with a large palette knife, then remove some by using a pull up motion to create this wavy texture. The tentacles of the jellyfish were applied with a small liner brush. This piece overall took 140 hours to complete over the course of a year." Tulip and Jellyfish Mixed Media on Panel 24" x 24" Jelly Undulations Oil on Canvas 20" x 30" Seadragons Surprise Oil on Canvas 20" x 30" Jellyfish Rising Mixed Media on Panel 18"x 36"

The aim of my work is to educate the viewer and make them ponder about the arguments which I illustrate on sometimes historical forms with a bit of humor. Marcel Deolazo thehornypotter.bigcartel.com The primary objective of work I am presenting is the exploration of the “drawn line” and how it can be used to continue my journey of “illustration” from two-dimensional pen and ink drawing styles onto three-dimensional forms of hand made ceramics and sculpture. The presentation takes inspiration from the re-interpretations of Iconic Art and Chinese Wares of Yuan and Song Dynasties and the underlying symbolism of animals, figures and decorative motifs to illustrate historical ceramics, the desire to create a series of “Modern Day Artifacts” using a bit of humor to lighten the slight edginess of my work. These vessels that tell stories that reflect today’s society:global warming, sexuality, minorities violence, mental health issues and segregation which are some of the themes illustrated onto these “ Modern day Time Capsules.” The work further explores the use of mixing mediums with ceramics as a way to embellish ceramic pieces to make them lighter and with less technical problems of firing and the sometimes unwelcome outcomes of the kiln. Utilizing other techniques like paper machié, embroidery and quilting or sewing. I can enrich the embellishments and take the “drawn line”a step further by means of a sewn line or embroidered stitch. This also resolves many setbacks in engineering of how to hang or place a sculptural form which can be installed in an easier manner, with out the weightiness of only ceramic pieces. The aim of my work is to educate the viewer and make them ponder about the arguments which I illustrate on sometimes historical forms with a bit of humor. A series of Modern Day relics that will be a reminder of what is happening in today’s society. A social conscious of forms put on display Water World 2 Social Isolation 1 The Farmer's Daughter Love is Love

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I have been making images for more than 60 years, from the earliest expressions with crayons and pencils through years of surreptitiously drawing my schoolmates whenever I was bored with classes. rebeccamcneely.com Rebecca McNeely “I have been making images for more than 60 years, from the earliest expressions with crayons and pencils through years of surreptitiously drawing my schoolmates whenever I was bored with classes. During the years at home with young children, I kept a camera with me much of the time and, when time permitted, created black and white images that I developed and printed myself. I shall always love good black and white photography in the classical tradition of Cartier-Bresson, Paul Strand, Steiglitz and Steichen, and I still collect photography. My love of color and landscape and being out in nature eventually led me to give up the darkroom for paint and canvas. My first paintings were rooted in the Impressionist tradition of painting “en plein air’ in Europe, California and Virginia inspired by Cezanne and Monet. The longer I painted, however, the more I came to appreciate good abstract paintings, which can take on a life of their own and elicit intuitive, visceral responses from the viewer. Inspired by Richard Diebenkorn, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko and Vassily Kandinsky, I turned to abstraction in order to focus on color, better distill the idea, clarify form and simplify the composition. For many years, I have painted abstracted landscapes, flowers, figures, and non-objective images. Color, nature and context continue to inspire me as I create images that speak to me and may communicate something meaningful to viewers. My joy in the process remains undiminished, despite all the time constraints and distractions of life.”

My body of work is both figurative and illustrative and focuses on several subjects and topics, including animals, botanicals, and technology. My Instagram is @bulldoghouse. Website is Samantha Lee Shelton - Home My online store is VisualBlissPrints - Etsy Email is sam.l.shelton@gmail.com Samantha L Shelton I hold both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and have worked in the tech industry for more 20 years. I am also an Air Force veteran and served as a communications officer in two highly technological wars in Turkey and Africa. My academic, military, and work background sparked my interest in the ways the world communicated before the digital age. This inspired me to study traditional printmaking including etching, lithography, wood engraving, linocut, monotype, and sun-printing. I am fascinated by the ways that our modern technologies have evolved from some of these legacy, analog technologies. or example, many digital concepts descend from ideas expressed in the 1700s with stone lithography, such as binary memory, image libraries, duplication, and storage. The metal etching process stems from the middle ages and is the basis of computer chip fabrication today. My body of work is both figurative and illustrative and focuses on several subjects and topics, including animals, botanicals, and technology. My latest work is cyanolumens, which combines two alternative photographic sun printing processes, cyanotype and lumen. Rose #9 - lumen Mums #1 - Cyanolumen Bat Kitty #4 - On the Climb - Linocut Veronica #1 - Cyanolumen

The gallery specializes in high-quality ceramic art, featuring functional pottery, sculptural pieces, and decorative vessels created by more than 30 local artists from the Washington area representing diverse international traditions. abolart.com About Scope Gallery Founded in 1974, Scope Gallery is one of the original medium-specific cornerstone galleries at the Torpedo Factory Art Center on the waterfront of historic Old Town Alexandria. The gallery specializes in high-quality ceramic art, featuring functional pottery, sculptural pieces, and decorative vessels created by more than 30 local artists from the Washington area representing diverse international traditions. Scope showcases a wide range of ceramic techniques—including crystalline glazing, salt, raku, wood-firing, pit firing, and horsehair pottery—while inviting nationally recognized experts to jury exhibitions. With rotating monthly themes and regularly introduced artists, the gallery continually presents fresh work and fosters engagement between visitors and ceramic artists, deepening appreciation for the clay medium. Board Members Marsh Lederman Co-President Ji Shin Co-President Scott Kaye Co-Vice President Ana Cavalcanti Co-Vice President Shirley Gromen PR Suan Ying Treasurer Artists Click here for List! Hours: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday - Friday 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Saturday - Sunday Contact Information Phone: 703-548-6288

I often strive to contrast the colors of each side in some way. After all, we all have more than one side – why not wear the colors that fit? Studio 9 papaziandesign.com Diana Papazian After moving to America at the age of 12 from Armenia, art became a refuge. Art class was where I excelled, where I did not need to speak English to belong. At home, my love of art and craft extended to polymer clay. My debut as a jewelry artist was at age 14, when I gathered my collection of polymer clay jewelry and participated in Alexandria’s Armenian festival. I realized then that I loved not only the process of creating jewelry but the connections I made with each person who chose to purchase one of my creations. Over the years of exploring jewelry techniques, I sometimes felt torn between minimalist, modern styles and ornate, statement pieces, much like I felt torn between my American and Armenian cultures, and much like my desire to simultaneously fit in and stand out. Once I discovered enameling, I fell in love with the idea of reversible jewelry because it allowed me to express and share these dueling emotions with the world – I often strive to contrast the colors of each side in some way. After all, we all have more than one side – why not wear the colors that fit?

Inspired by the textures of nature and the depth of human experience, he creates sculptural and mixed-media works that balance technical discipline with experimentation. Salih Zeki Sayar Sculptor | Ceramic Artist | Adjunct Professor | Co-founder of MUSZ Studio/Panelist muszstudio.com Salih Zeki Sayar is a sculptor and ceramic artist who approaches clay as a dynamic, expressive medium shaped by both control and chance. Inspired by the textures of nature and the depth of human experience, he creates sculptural and mixed-media works that balance technical discipline with experimentation. As co-founder of MUSZ Studio (est. 2021), he develops projects that merge traditional ceramic practices with contemporary exploration. Sayar also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Ceramics at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where he encourages students to master fundamentals while expanding their creative boundaries. He currently holds a studio residency at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria and serves as a panelist for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH). His work invites viewers into a dialogue where clay becomes a space for reflection, tension, and storytelling. Sayar is an adjunct professor of ceramics at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where he leads students in mastering the fundamentals of clay while encouraging them to push boundaries through interdisciplinary exploration. He inspires students to view art as a means of storytelling and to see their creative process as a bridge between the tactile and the conceptual. Currently, Sayar holds a studio residency at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, where his practice thrives amidst a vibrant community of artists. Here, imagination takes shape and creativity finds its home. His studio is a place of continuous experimentation—a space where clay becomes a medium to question, reflect, and connect with others. Wall Art Ceramics H4 x W8 x D8 Breaking The Waves Ceramics H13 x W11 x D10 The Crown Ceramics H17 x W12 x D11 Hopes Quiet Embrace Ceramics H15 xW12 x D9

I paint the world around me, a yellow lemon on a blue plate, a patterned tablecloth… color excites me, and starts me on a journey. Ann Barbieri I paint the world around me, a yellow lemon on a blue plate, a patterned tablecloth… color excites me, and starts me on a journey. I strive for rhythm and movement in my paintings. I want the viewer’s senses to be heightened along with mine. Occasionally, the suggestion of a figure creeps in, although, to me, these paintings are abstract. They are about the joy of living. annbarbieri.com Blues Room 32 x 40 Acrylic on Arches 300 pound paper (framed under glass) Tossed floral 20 x 16 Acrylic on canvas Calypso II 41 x 33 Acrylic on Arches 300 pound paper under glass Trumpet Vines 36 x 48 Acrylic on canvas

The work grows organically, and I let my instincts direct me to its conclusion. This blending of Eastern and Western cultures, incorporating their varied ideas and tools in my work, continually reinforces the overarching theme I pursue - the conflict between mankind and nature. Delnadastur.com Delan Dastur I grew up in Bombay, India. Life there is loud and crowded, teeming with humanity. I remember seeing bright colors and patterns decorating every possible surface. These memories are embedded in my unconsciousness and infiltrate my work. My palette reflects the colors I grew up with. Intricate patterns form initial layers. Compositions are often dense, brimming to the edges with imagery. I subtly attempt to bring attention to climate change in my work. My subject matter over the years has been this conflict between Man and Nature, how the continuous construction of buildings infiltrates our very existence, resulting in our present climate change disaster. As a result, architecture and geometry sometimes dominate my canvases with muted and somber colors. At other times Nature flourishes with organic shapes and brilliant colors. The work starts with materials from my Indian roots, printing with primitive Indian woodblocks and using handmade Indian paper for collage. These initial layers are embedded within gels and pastes. Acrylic washes and drips enfold these layers, connecting them irrevocably. I do not start with any preconceived ideas. The work grows organically, and I let my instincts direct me to its conclusion. This blending of Eastern and Western cultures, incorporating their varied ideas and tools in my work, continually reinforces the overarching theme I pursue - the conflict between mankind and nature. Frivolity 42 x 42, Acrylic, collage, string, gels on canvas (2024) Undaunted Acrylic, collage, printing with woodblocks on oil Percussive 50 x 24, Charcoal and collage on Arches paper (2024) Ebb and Flow 30 x 22, Acrylic, gels, printing on oil paper (2023)