Our Story

The Workhouse Arts Center is the nation’s largest adaptive reuse arts center, providing high-quality, interactive, multidisciplinary arts experiences for 100,000+ visitors annually at our 55-acre campus. Our mission is to grow and support a vibrant arts center that offers engaging opportunities and inspiring experiences in visual arts, performing arts, history, and education. We offer free and affordably priced arts experiences to visitors of all backgrounds. These programs: Support and promote our campus artists and mount fine art exhibitions that connect residents to high-quality local visual art; Are a home for exceptional performing arts programming on our stages that spans all disciplines and genres; Offer innovative and engaging education programs for learners of all ages in visual arts, performing arts, culinary arts, and wellness specialties; and, Preserve our historic location as an educational resource and as a valuable piece of the Fairfax County community. After several years of planning and adaptive reuse, what was once the former Lorton Correctional Facility was transformed into the Workhouse Arts Center, opening to the public in September 2008. Today we consist of six artist buildings, three main galleries, classrooms, The Lucy Burns Museum, outdoor gathering space, and the W-3 Theatre.