Workhouse Arts Center seeks to reshape Fairfax site’s story with year-round programming and Virginia 250 events

Keith Gordon, president and CEO of the Workhouse Arts Center, said he wants the campus to be remembered not for its history of confinement but as a place of creation, community and second chances.

"I want to take this place from a place that was once known for confinement to a place that's known for creation and creativity," Gordon said, describing the center's two-part vision to honor the site's past while building an arts destination in Fairfax County.

The Workhouse runs about 800 events a year, Gordon said, with roughly half focused on arts education through semester-long classes in ceramics, glass and other disciplines. Community offerings include a Mount Vernon concert series, theatrical runs (he said SpongeBob SquarePants played through mid-May), a mini-golf course and partnerships with local vendors such as Bunny Man Brewing.

Gordon highlighted a community open house on June 13 and an annual fireworks show scheduled for June 27 that typically draws 6,000 to 8,000 people. He described the events as intentionally family-friendly with discounted classes, parking and midway-style activities.

As part of Virginia’s 250th commemoration, Gordon said the Workhouse will host a continuous on-site presence of programming and bring a mobile hot shop to roughly 50 events across the region. He told listeners that an on-site hot shop is under construction and is expected to open in January 2027; the center also plans a commemorative time capsule tied to the anniversary.

"We have a mobile hot shop that will be taking out to all of the Virginia 250 events around town," Gordon said. "The hot shop is being currently constructed right now and it will be open in January of 2027."

Gordon framed the campus as part of South County’s broader revitalization, saying the neighborhood has moved from being associated with a landfill and prison to a growing residential and retail area where the arts can be a civic and economic asset. He tied that effort to Fairfax County’s strategic plan and said the Workhouse aims to be a welcoming “favored son” for residents and visitors rather than trying to be the region’s one top-tier museum.

The Workhouse leader said the center's programming mix — education, live music, festivals and family events — is designed so visitors find something for themselves and return often.

The episode closed with Gordon urging deeper community engagement: "It's the community patrons who come in. It's the people who come in to volunteer their time...and the artists who are residents at the community who engage with patrons when they come through the galleries."