Photo by Matt Smith.

When Artisphere opened in Rosslyn in October, it seemed like it was filling a niche for art in Arlington. Arlington’s new cultural center has hosted a multitude of art shows, parties, performance art, theater, film, etc. However, it’s not doing as well as hoped: it will likely fall 75 percent short of its expected revenue.

ARLNow reports that Arlington County staff revealed that Artisphere admission and ticket income is projected at $174,202 for the financial year ending in June. This is well short of the $789,912 in revenue that planners expected. Hopes were to draw in 250,000 visitors each year. However, since opening 6 months ago, it has attracted a little less than 50,000 visitors.

Perhaps Rosslyn isn’t quite ready for a large scale arts center, the neighborhood is mostly known for office buildings and a really bad mall.

County officials note that Artisphere’s online ticketing service didn’t launch until January, perhaps making people less likely to come. Further, the restaurant in the center is expected to open next week – again decreasing attendance and revenue.

Arlington County is further worried about financial year 2012, projecting admission and ticketing revenue will fall $455,000 short of original expectations and expenses will be $462,000 higher than expectations. Yet, Artisphere is succeeding in one spot: fundraising. The cultural center has raised $200,000 more than they expected.