Metropolitan Performing Arts Alliance Signs 10-Year Renewable Lease with Workhouse Arts Center

But some artists aren't happy about it.

The nonprofit Metropolitan Performing Arts Alliance dance academy is the Workhouse Arts Center's newest tenant. The remaining artists have been cleared out of building W-4 (three have left for good, one relocated to a new studio on campus), and $350,000 in renovations will begin in May.  "Because of the shortfall of venues on campus, our program is lacking in performing arts activities," said John Mason, the Workhouse President and CEO, to Patch. "Well, MPAA is all about visual arts." The Good News "By leasing W-4 with essentially no risk to us, we will start FY14 with a $100,000 per-year new revenue stream," said Mason. "My aim is that our operational budget will have a positive balance." MPAA is paying for the renovations (dance studios …

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Workhouse Arts Center Makes Cuts, Looks for Partnerships

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will have to approve funds to keep the arts center in operation.

The challenges facing Lorton's Workhouse Arts Center are many, and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will most likely provide millions of dollars in financial support for the next few years until the former home of the Lorton Prison becomes self-sustaining. But it still won't be enough. The center faces program cuts, slowed renovation of buildings and potential partnerships with neighboring colleges to offer art classes.    "We are being very challenged at the Workhouse. We're not going to let it go down the tubes and we have an interest in keeping it successful," said Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland at last week's South County Federation meeting. "We need to find ways to get more people to the Lorton Arts Foundation, …

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Bobbi Ginnavan

12:23 pm on Thursday, December 6, 2012

I live in one of your so called ratty older homes next door. I think your comment is offensive and rude.   more ›

The Lorton Perspective

The Lorton Perspective: Tips From a Master on Nailing That Job Interview

Workhouse Arts Center President and CEO John Mason has seen it all

Ever feel like you've lost a job because of a bad interview? With a national unemployment rate of 8.2 percent (Northern Virginia is at 4.5 percent), knowing the secret to a good interview - and how someone crosses that bridge from being on the short-list to the call-back list - can make or break your next career move. On Thursday, Patch sat down with an authority on the subject - John Mason, the President and CEO of the Workhouse Arts Center, who estimates that he's interviewed hundreds of job applicants over the last 30 years. Patch: What tips do you have for people about to walk into that interview?  Mason: First, do your homework on the business or organization that you are trying to get a job with. Get on their website, understand what…

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Lorton Arts Foundation Sets Sights on Self-Sustainment

The Workhouse Arts Center is in for some big changes this year.

The nonprofit Lorton Arts Foundation has been in the red since the Workhouse Arts Center opened in 2008, and LAF President and CEO John Mason has a goal to make the complex self-sustaining by summer 2013. "We have been operating at a loss," Mason told Patch. "How can we do that? You move some money around to cover your immediate expenses, and, at the end of the year, the negative balance gets carried to the next year. At some point, you run out of opportunities to plug holes, and so here we are in 2012, and we're coming to grips with a new business model that hopefully makes sense." County Assistance The LAF reported that revenue dropped to negative $500,000 in 2010 from $2.75 million in 2009, according to the nonprofit's most recent tax …

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