The doors to the Torpedo Factory Art Center slide open as visitors come in to see artists at work in their studios. Rachel Kerwin is one of those artists. Wearing earbuds and concentrating with each stroke, she paints a mural that she hopes connects the Factory to its visitors and the surrounding community.

“I was thinking a bit about who uses the building, how I see the building fitting in with the community around us,” Kerwin said. “Lots of kids come here; lots of adults come here. So I was thinking about how you really see the whole range in this building, from people that know absolutely nothing and just wander in, to people who are die-hard excited about art.”

The mural encompasses the art center’s entry facing the waterfront and came about because of an open call from the Torpedo Factory Board. The board wanted a new mural on the walls in that space, and Kerwin jumped at the opportunity to paint it.

“That space is the literal connector of the vibrancy inside the factory to the vibrancy of the waterfront,” she said. “[I wanted] something that kind of draws in the public and can also tell them a little bit about who we are and what’s inside this building.”

Kerwin’s design for the mural begins with a simplistic idea, like paint-by-number, then morphs into an abstract design and finally a more detailed picture. The piece recognizes that the Torpedo Factory welcomes anyone who is interested in art on any level. The building is home to several different classes and serves as studio space for artists to work and sell their art.

THE OFFICIAL UNVEILING of the mural will be held June 12, 6 p.m., and is part of the Torpedo Factory’s 40th anniversary celebration that is continuing throughout the summer.

When Alexandria native Clara Beyer wandered in to the Torpedo Factory on Monday afternoon, she had no idea that the art center was commemorating 40 years, even though she was part of its history. “I grew up in Old Town and took classes here when I was a kid,” said Beyer. “I took drawing and ceramics with the Art League.”

Beyer’s friend Nicole Cacozza, of Washington D.C., said that Monday’s visit to the Torpedo Factory was her first. “We were walking down the street and Clara said, ‘We have to go in the Torpedo Factory! I used to go there when I was a kid!’” she said.

One person who is hoping to inform visitors about the Torpedo Factory's history as an art center is art historian and curator Roman Petruniak, who has pieced together an exhibit in the Target Gallery about the past 40 years. The exhibit is an interactive gallery that features hanging posters, a chest of tools, a collection of books, and what Petruniak described as a “cabinet of curiosities” — drawers containing quirky stories about the Factory’s history.

“I enjoy digging through local art histories, so the Torpedo Factory became a wonderful case study for me,” he said. “For the 25th anniversary of the Factory, Marian Van Landingham, the founder, collected a series of stories about the first 25 years of the institution and put together a book. I’ve just been so fascinated by it.”

The interactive gallery features a seating area that encourages visitors to spend time in the exhibit and learn about some of the memorable moments in the Factory’s history, from a stolen piece of art work in the late 1970s to a headline written by a D.C. art critic at the art center’s launch. Visitors are encouraged to contribute their own information about the Factory’s history to the exhibit, which opened Sunday as the Alexandria Community Art Library.

“Sometimes, generating resources for artists can be just as creative a process as what the artists then do with those resources,” Petruniak said. “In that sense, this exhibition really celebrates art work, but with a focus on the work. The Torpedo Factory is a place for the working artist. Living and sustaining a creative life; that’s what it’s all about.”

DETAILS

The Torpedo Factory Art Center is located at 105 North Union St. Call 703-838-4565 or visit www.torpedofactory.org.

• Thursday, June 12, 6 p.m., there will be an unveiling of Rachel Kerwin’s mural, “Coloring Outside the Lines,” with guest speaker Mayor William D. Euille. That will be followed by a public reception for the Alexandria Community Art Library with a curatorial presentation by Roman Petruniak at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, June 21, at noon, there will be a public art workshop. With the guidance of local artist Charles Robertson, visitors will learn the art of wheat paste and have the opportunity to decorate some of the TPAC’s communal spaces.