Today we’d like to introduce you to Ewa Harr.
Hi Ewa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Founded in 1919, Frank Ix & Sons was originally based in Union City, New Jersey. In 1928, Frank Ix, Jr. moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to build the third and eventually largest of six mills. He’d only planned to stay a year but liked it so much, he stayed a lifetime.
Known around town as the silk mill, Ix & Sons produced “greige goods”, unfinished fabrics. During World War II, Ix & Sons shifted the emphasis of their output from bolts of fabric to nylon parachutes. Four times, the Undersecretary of War awarded Ix & Sons the Army-Navy Production Award, both for their industry and their contribution to the development of new fabrics such as rip-stop nylon, a true lifesaver for American paratroopers.
For decades, Ix & Sons was Charlottesville’s largest employer, known for its fairness and warm family atmosphere. Most employees stayed with the mill at least twenty-five years. Many never worked anywhere else. But in 1999, the grand old mill bowed to an enemy it could not see; a depressed domestic textile market. Their high of 1,400 employees shrank to only 150. After years of struggling, Ix & Sons finally succumbed to the pressure of foreign competition and closed its doors in 1999. In 2014, local developer Ludwig Kuttner and local filmmaker Brian Wimer sought to revitalize the property and soon, the steel and concrete skeleton of the warehouse erupted in colorful murals, life-size sculptures and installations that invited people of all ages to touch, draw and play with art.
Over the years, event programming began taking place on an outdoor stage among the art and later inside the old warehouse. Free outdoor concert series, weekly salsa dancing, tributes to great artists like David Bowie and Aretha Franklin, a winter farmers’ market… there have been precious few limits to what we could do with art and community in Charlottesville.
We currently produce and welcome many events throughout the year spanning many genres of music, dance, film, theater, crafts, and visual art, as well as family-friendly events, wellness-oriented events, events promoting diversity and inclusion, and one-of-a-kind immersive experiences like black light body paint parties and costumed theme nights such as Studio 54 or Roaring ‘20s.
In September 2019, the IX Art Park Foundation (now the IX Arts Foundation) received our official 501(c)3 status as a nonprofit organization.
In January 2020, we opened the Looking Glass, Virginia’s first immersive art space.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road! We became a nonprofit in 2019 and opened The Looking Glass in January 2020, just weeks before the pandemic shut everything down. Like so many arts organizations, we suddenly had to figure out how to survive while continuing to find ways to serve our community.
Beyond COVID, one of our biggest ongoing challenges has simply been building something that doesn’t fit neatly into a traditional box. The IX Arts Foundation is part public art park, part immersive art museum, part event space, and part community gathering place. That’s what makes it special, but it also means we’re constantly figuring things out as we go.
So much of what happens at IX is also free and open to the community. We’re committed to keeping art accessible while also making sure artists are valued and paid for their work, and finding that balance takes creativity, partnerships, and a lot of persistence.
We’ve learned and evolved tremendously over the years. There have definitely been difficult moments, but each one has forced us to become more thoughtful about what we do and why we do it. Through all of it, we’ve tried to stay focused on creating opportunities for artists and making art and creative experiences accessible to everyone.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about IX Arts Foundation?
IX Arts Foundation is all about making art accessible, immersive, and part of everyday life. We operate The Looking Glass, Virginia’s first immersive art experience, and bring the outdoor IX Art Park to life through public art, festivals, performances, and community events.
What makes IX different is that we really believe art is for everyone. You don’t need to know anything about art to belong here. You can wander through The Looking Glass, dance at a festival, discover a mural or sculpture outside, bring your kids to make something, hear live music, or simply sit in the park and experience the space.
We’re also committed to creating opportunities for artists. We work with local and regional artists across disciplines, pay artists for their work whenever possible, and give them opportunities to experiment, collaborate, perform, exhibit, and connect directly with the community.
I think what I’m most proud of is the sense of ownership and connection people feel to IX. It has become a place where very different parts of Charlottesville come together — families, artists, musicians, kids, longtime residents, newcomers, and people who might not normally find themselves in the same space.
Ultimately, we’re not trying to tell people what art is supposed to be. We want people to experience it, play with it, be surprised by it, and hopefully leave feeling a little more curious and connected than when they arrived.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think people are craving real, shared experiences more than ever. We spend so much of our lives looking at screens, and I think arts and cultural spaces have an increasingly important role to play in giving people places to actually be together, to experience something, make something, discover something, and connect with other people.
I also think we’ll continue to see art move beyond traditional galleries and museums and become more integrated into public spaces and everyday life. That’s always been a big part of what IX is about. We want art to be something you encounter and participate in, whether you came specifically looking for it or not.
That’s also where we’re looking as we think about the future of IX. We’ve begun exploring some pretty exciting ideas for the next evolution of the outdoor Art Park and ways to make it more immersive, beautiful, playful, and full of opportunities for art, performance, gathering, and discovery. It’s still early, so I can’t share much yet, but I’m really excited about where it could go.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ixartpark.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ixartpark/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ixartparkcharlottesville/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ix-art-park-foundation
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY0LPEz6Ere0ihtpWb1HBsA
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/ixlookingglass
