Published on November 12, 2022
Today, the Arlington County Board approved the license agreement for a unique new partnership between Arlington Arts and Arlington Independent Media (AIM) that will expand and enhance the cultural and arts opportunities throughout Arlington with a new AIM satellite location at Arlington Arts’ 3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive location. AIM, which has been providing video instruction and community broadcast access to Arlingtonians since 1982, will utilize existing studio space at 3700 in an effort to expand its access to media technologies and the creation of video, audio, web and digital content.
“This unique collaboration will expand arts education and access to the wider Arlington community and provide the opportunity to share knowledge and resources,” said County Board Chair Katie Cristol. “The partnership also further the goals and vision for a thriving ‘arts and industry’ in the Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan by bringing community broadcast services as well as audio visual educational programming to the area.”
The partnership aligns with AIM’s mission to increase diverse and inclusive access to established and emerging public media. ” I am extremely proud and humbled to lead AIM as we expand into secondary space in South Arlington. As a longtime resident of Arlington, I respect and appreciate the rich history of the County, specifically Green Valley,” says Whytni Kernodle, CEO of Arlington Independent Media. “Team AIM is excited to bring community media to South Arlington, we look forward to connecting with the local community, meeting residents and business owners, and more.”
This collaboration not only enhances the opportunities available to Arlingtonians, but also takes a significant step forward in the ongoing effort to expand cultural offerings along the Four Mile Run Corridor. This effort is an important facet of the County’s Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan as well as the Public Art Master Plan and other long term planning initiatives, and it aligns with ongoing goals of providing a vast community network of arts initiatives in South Arlington.
About 3700 Four Mile Run
Constructed as a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant in the mid-1940s, the building at 3700 Four Mile Run Drive later served as WETA’s radio broadcast facility. When the County acquired the facility in the early 2000s to house the Theatre on the Run black box venue, rehearsal spaces, dance studios, offices and gallery space, three soundproof studio spaces were preserved. Over the last two decades these studios have been utilized periodically for a spectrum of both County and independent projects. These range from sessions for CAMMO – a non-profit providing opportunities for military veteran musicians, to “Now and Then,” the only solo album by Arlington’s bluegrass fiddle legend Roy “Speedy” Tolliver (1918-2017). This new partnership is an ideal opportunity to activate these purpose-built studios through AIM’s production and outreach activities.
About Arlington Independent Media and Arlington Arts
Arlington Independent Media is a community media organization with a 40-year history in Arlington, VA. Our mission is to make media more accessible within the community. We believe that it takes independent voices to build community and are committed to amplifying the voices of the most marginalized in our community.
Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development, delivers public activities and programs as Arlington Arts. Our mission is to create, support, and promote the arts, connecting artists and community to reflect the diversity of Arlington. This includes providing material support to artists and arts organizations in the form of grants, facilities and theater technology; integrating award-winning public art into our built environment; and presenting high quality performing, literary, visual and new media programs across the County.
