Next year, the Lake Thoreau spillway will feature a nature-inspired public artwork created by South Lakes High School’s STEAM team.
The 10-foot tall installation was designed to embrace Reston’s natural environment with a “modern twist,” according to Public Art Reston. Viewers will see a forest from one perspective and a single tree from the other. Students plan to illuminate flowers fastened to the tree’s branches.
The design was selected by Public Art Reston’s selection committee, which narrowed down submissions to three concepts.
In order to fund the project, the STEAM team is selling calendars that feature nature photography by Reston resident Mary Prochnow. Calendars can be purchased online or in-person at the Reston Museum.
The art club has been creating artwork on the lake spillway since 2014. It is led by South Lakes art teacher and working artist Marco Rando. Projects are supported by Public Art Reston and Reston Association.
This year’s artwork — titled “Rise” — was inspired by Reston’s rapid development.
A solo exhibition by sculptor and microbiologist Kendall Buster will descend on Reston’s Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art on Dec. 9.
The exhibit, SEED, is presented in conjunction with Buster’s SOLSTICE, which will be on view at The Kreeger Museum in D.C. An opening reception and artist talk will be held at Tephra ICA (12001 Market Street, Suite 103) on Saturday, Dec. 9 from 6-8 p.m.
The exhibits will be on display through Feb. 25.
Both exhibits were curated by Tephra ICA Executive Director Jaynelle Hazard and belong to a series of three shows organized to mark the 50th anniversary of Tephra, a nonprofit previously known as the Greater Reston Arts Center.
In a press release, Tephra says the exhibits are fitting anniversary tributes because they emphasize “the significance of place while examining themes of life, future, and innovation.”
“We’re so pleased for this first-time partnership with The Kreeger Museum, through their guest artist program The Collaborative, to uplift and celebrate the work of D.C. art star Kendall Buster,” Hazard said in a statement. “Tephra ICA deeply values partnership and collaboration to help thoughtfully contextualize an artist’s work in the canon and it’s wonderful to work with institution that shares these values.”
Here’s more from Tephra on Buster’s work:
Trained as a microbiologist, Kendall Buster’s work suggests ideas of budding, merging, and hybridization, using abstract forms and high-tech materials to create objects that expand what we know of natural and made environments. Her practice examines the microscopic and the monumental, from works that allude to intimate, botanical illustrations to architectural drawings to life-size biomorphic vessels. With the gallery often assuming the role of a laboratory, Buster’s work interrogates the edges of free expression and posits new ways of thinking about what can and cannot be expressed.
SEED features a large-scale sculpture called “Radial Spin.” The exhibit — which was last on display in 1997 in Berlin, Germany — has accessible spaces and envelopes the viewer, intending to challenge viewers’ sense of perception.
SOLSTICE features “Model City (Constraint),” which uses “geometric abstraction” and modernist architecture to suggest an “unpopulated cityscape that seems filled with talking shadows.”
Buster received a bachelor’s degree from the Corcoran College of Art and Design in D.C. and a master’s in sculpture from Yale University. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at American University’s Katzen Museum and the Kemper Museum in Kansas City.
More changes may be on the horizon for Reston’s Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, following a brand and name change in recent years.
The institute — which was founded in 1974 as the Greater Reston Arts Center by local artists and residents — is actively fundraising for a new home in Reston as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
“Armed with a clear vision of the type of space we will need to house Tephra ICA for the next 50 years, the funds we raise today will help us begin the design and procurement process when the site for that new home is identified,” Sofia Blom, Tephra’s senior manager of gallery and communications, told FFXnow by email.
The institute has launched a “Tephra ICA at 50” capital campaign to raise $300,000.
According to Blom, Tephra hasn’t determined what it will do with the current space in Reston Town Center once it moves to a new location. The existing facility at 12001 Market Street, Suite 103, is owned by the gallery and was secured 20 years ago through a condition, or proffer, from town center developer Boston Properties.
The current facility requires improvements like exterior signage to prominently identify the space, along with enhanced visibility, accessibility accommodations, and information technology and audio visual upgrades to accommodate digital, film and media artwork, according to Tephra.
“We have been creative in pushing our current facility beyond its limits to present the ambitious exhibitions and programs we have hosted the past several years,” Blom wrote. “But to reach remaining unfulfilled goals, we eventually will need a new and expanded facility that offers capacity/capability we cannot secure in our current space.”
In the long term, Tephra hopes to secure accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, a national organization that provides resources and serves as an advocacy group for museums and their workers.
To achieve that milestone, Tephra ICA will need to get a centralized, 24-hour temperature and humidity control system, UV-filtered window systems and an automated light level system that Blom says are not possible in the current space.
The timeline of the project depends on the outcome of the fundraising campaign. Discussions are underway with developers on securing a possible new space.
“We are currently planting seeds and preparing for the future but we are several years away from moving into a new facility,” Blom said.
The McLean Project for the Arts is going downtown, at least for a weekend, though it hopes to stay longer.
The nonprofit will launch an inaugural “MPA Inspires” celebration of art and jazz on Nov. 18-19 that will also serve as its introduction to a new space at The Signet (6910 Fleetwood Road), a seven-story condominium building with some ground-floor retail space.
Known for now as “MPA Downtown,” the facility is envisioned as a supplement to MPA’s main galleries and offices in the McLean Community Center at 1234 Ingleside Avenue, according to MPA communications director Deb Bissen.
“MPA has been looking for a way to have additional space to provide more arts education opportunities for our community as well as an expanded exhibition and events space,” Bissen told FFXnow.
While the organization isn’t ready to discuss details yet, Bissen confirmed it’s pursuing a space in downtown McLean in place of the arts center that the Fairfax County Park Authority board approved last year last year as an option for future development at Clemyjontri Park.
That proposal — the crux of a revised master plan for the 6317 Georgetown Pike park best known for its disability-inclusive playground — “has now been set aside,” she said.
In addition to being more accessible than Clemyjontri for pedestrians in McLean’s redeveloping downtown, The Signet has a courtyard and Elm Street Park across the street that could support outdoor exhibitions and events, according to Bissen.
“We’re excited about the potential of this idea, and hoping our community of supporters will embrace it as well during this weekend of celebrating MPA’s artistic legacy and our exciting plans to expand our presence within the vibrant D.C. arts community,” she said.
MPA Inspires will kick off at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18 with an Art Insights panel and reception featuring art collectors Michael Abrams and Sandra Stewart, art advocate Nancy Hirshbein, and University of Maryland University College Arts Program Director Eric Key.
Following the panel, attendees can get a gallery tour and meet the artists showcased in a new alumni exhibition that will be open for viewing from 2-4 p.m. this Thursday (Nov. 9), Sunday (Nov. 12), Nov. 14 and Nov. 17.
Sunday, Nov. 19 will bring an Art + Soul Jazz Brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to raise funds for MPA’s new space. It will feature live music by saxophonist Langston Hughes II, bass player Chris Hon and guitarist Jan Knutson, along with a Collectors’ Drawing for the more than 60 works donated to the alumni exhibition.
While the panel event is free, the brunch will cost $150 per person, and the 60 tickets available for the drawing are an additional $600, covering the purchase of the artwork. Sponsorships are also being offered, starting at $1,000 for four brunch tickets.
Proceeds will go to “the development of a new MPA Art and Education Center,” the event website says.
“We are thrilled this weekend will bring such a group of dynamic artists, each esteemed alumni of MPA’s exhibition program, together with our warm and engaged community of supporters,” MPA Executive Director Lori Carbonneau said. “…This moment stands as one of the most remarkable milestones in MPA’s 61-year history, and a celebration of our continued leadership in McLean and the wider regional arts scene.”
Image via Google Maps
(Updated at 1:45 p.m. on 11/3/2023) The Blue Ridge mountains are the focus of the latest exhibit at the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art in Reston.
The exhibit “Metopic Ridge” by Eleanor Mahin Thorp, an artist and educator, features paintings of the mountains that explore stability and change.
An opening reception and artist talk is slated for Friday (Nov. 3) from 6-8 p.m. at Tephra ICA at Signature (11850 Freedom Drive). The exhibit ends on Feb. 4.
Here’s more from Tephra on the scope of the exhibit:
Through her discerning gaze rocks are more than geological entities; Instead, they metamorphose into vessels of history and human connection. Drawing inspiration from the fascinating transformations depicted in Persian miniatures, Thorp traces the hidden figures and forms in the rocks. Her paintings reveal the duality of rocks’ existence as both a firm witness to time and a medium for that which is intangible.
Thorp, who works in Richmond, approaches her work through the lense of Persian animism and constructs images of stone faces by searching for figures in rock. She received master’s degree in fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a 2023-2025 visual arts fellow with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
“It is often said that the world is built by the way you see things around you. Thorp’s painting asks us to contemplate the layers of reality that exist beyond the surface – the palpable, the invisible, and the divine,” said Sandy Cheng, 2023 ArtTable curatorial fellow at Tephra ICA and the exhibit’s curator.
The exhibit is being presented in partnership with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Visual Arts Fellowship program.
(Correction: There was no members-only preview for “Metopic Ridge” as initially stated in this article. The exhibit is free and open to the general public.)
The exhibit is located at Tephra’s satellite gallery in the Signature apartment building. Visitors are welcome Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
An aerial dance studio based in Maryland will swoop across state lines this fall with an expansion into Merrifield.
Aerial Candy is transforming an industrial space at 2801 Merrilee Drive that was being used for storage into a studio where dancers can train with aerial silks, hoops and other specialized equipment.
On track to open in November, the new studio will become the “main” location for Aerial Candy, which currently operates inside Takoma Park’s Dance Exchange, owner Candy Cantu says.
“This is a wonderful location because it’s right off of the highway and I actually live in Virginia,” Cantu told FFXnow. “…I wanted something kind of more central, a little bit more of like a hub where it’s easier to have access to because it’s off 495, it’s off 66, it’s next to the Metro, it’s close to D.C. So, it just is right at that perfect spot.”
Established in 2019, Aerial Candy offers classes for both adults and children 6 and up in what Cantu calls “circus arts,” including aerial hoops and silks — the kinds of acrobatics you might see at Cirque du Soleil.
In fact, Cantu was scheduled to show the new, roughly 2,800-square-foot space to some Cirque du Soleil performers last week in the hopes they may use it for future photoshoots or rehearsals. The circus has been in Tysons since early September with the debut of its new show “ECHO.”
“Because it’s so close to their show, it kind of works as a nice place for them to either do photos or get some extra rehearsal times in,” Cantu said.
In addition to introductory, intermediate and advanced classes on silks and aerial hoops, also known as lyras, the Merrifield studio will likely offer contortion and flexibility training and possibly a static trapeze class, Cantu says. There will also be open gym sessions.
Cantu anticipates that having a second location will expand Aerial Candy to a new client base, but with the kids’ sessions at Takoma Park consistently filled to capacity, some patrons may shift over to Merrifield. Those who purchase a class pass or membership will be able to use them at either location.
As the studio build-out nears completion, including the installation of a mural by artist Christopher Lynch, Cantu says she’s excited to have a location closer to home and provide a creative space in an area where local artists are starting to find a foothold.
“There are some other studios that are slightly similar to what I’m trying to do, but I just think mine is going to be a little bit unique and different, and they’re so far and few in between,” Cantu said. “I’m just really excited about meeting all the people in the area. I’m really excited about building a community. That’s my favorite part.”
Take a seat, Ben Affleck. A new artistic statement about Nike’s trendy Air Jordans is coming to town.
Falls Church artist Andy Yoder’s well-traveled exhibit “Overboard” will take up residence at Tysons Corner Center starting this Friday (Oct. 13), the latest installation resulting from the mall’s ongoing collaboration with local arts agency ArtsFairfax.
Inspired by the “Great Shoe Spill of 1990,” where thousands of Nike shoes got dumped into the Pacific Ocean by a storm, Overboard features more than 250 “sneakers” that Yoder sculpted out of discarded materials from recycling bins. The traveling exhibition originally launched in D.C. in 2021 and was organized and curated by Auburn University’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.
“I’m a big believer in the possibility of second chances, which is why this story has such appeal for me,” Yoder said in a press release. “Making art is a form of alchemy and being creative gives us the power to steer the ship, rather than bobbing around like a sneaker lost at sea. With this in mind, if you come across a shoe on the beach (or a flip flop, or a bottle), do the right thing, and toss it in the trash. You never know where it might go from there.”
A Cleveland Institute of Art graduate who also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, Yoder says his art is often driven by a desire to tweak or subvert domestic objects to challenge “the attitudes, fears and unwritten rules which have formed that [home] environment and our behavior within it.”
Here’s more on “Overboard” from Tysons Corner Center:
One of the most iconic and recognizable athletic shoes in the world, the Nike Air Jordan 5 catapulted into popularity in 1990. That same year, more than 80,000 pairs of Nike brand shoes and work boots fell into the Pacific Ocean from five shipping containers when their ship was overwhelmed by a storm while on route to the U.S. from South Korea. The “Great Shoe Spill of 1990” prompted a groundbreaking study of maritime currents by Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer. Using unique serial numbers on each sneaker, the oceanographer and his researchers gathered data from beachcombers worldwide who found the shoes as they washed ashore.
Instead of cloth or leather, Yoder uses fast food packaging, cereal boxes, luxury shopping bags, posters, and other discarded items – much like the salvaged and waterlogged shoes – to create art that commemorates the Great Shoe Spill while also calling attention to consumer culture’s effect on the environment, delivering the message in a non-preachy way.
The exhibit will be on display near Barnes & Noble on the mall’s first floor through mid-January 2024.
This will be the third exhibit to come from Tysons Corner Center and ArtsFairfax’s partnership, which began in July 2022. Currently slated to continue through at least the end of 2023, the initiative aims to promote the work of local artists and arts organizations to a wider audience.
The mall also partnered with Lorton’s Workhouse Arts Center this summer on a new mural and free workshops.
Art will take over McLean Central Park this weekend with the return of MPAartfest.
Now in its 17th year, the annual festival from the McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) will be back on Sunday (Oct. 1), promising dozens of artists, food trucks and live entertainment from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This will be a comeback for the festival after the prospect of Hurricane Ian canceled its 2022 iteration. Fortunately, a repeat appears unlikely, as the National Weather Service is forecasting clear and sunny skies for Sunday.
“Each fall MPAartfest celebrates our community and the arts in the beautiful setting of McLean Central Park,” MPA Executive Director Lori Carbonneau said. “We are so appreciative of our lead community sponsor, the McLean Community Center, and of all the generous community sponsors who help to make this event possible. We invite all the community to join us for a relaxing and inspiring day of art in the park!”
The event’s centerpiece will be a juried fine arts show featuring more than 35 visual artists from across the Mid-Atlantic region. Their work will be available for sale and on display in mini galleries spread throughout the park at 1468 Dolley Madison Blvd.
The festival will also bring musical guests, food vendors, children’s activities and an outdoor gallery showcasing work by local students, according to a press release from MPA:
MPAartfest will again offer a full day of lively and varied musical performances. Sponsored by Mars and curated by Music Director Ken Avis, radio host of Antidote WERA 96.7 FM and a performing musician with the award-winning band Veronneau, this year’s performers include: Blues Alley Youth Jazz Orchestra (10am), Alison Crockett (11am), Bobby Thompson (12pm), Little Red and the Renegades (1pm), The Honey Larks (2pm), and Taisha Estrada (3pm).
Sponsored by BOWA, Deirdre Maull Orthodontics, McLean Community Foundation, and TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, the MPAartfest Children’s Activity Tents will feature a variety of art-based activities and learning stations. Other art highlights include the New Dominion Women’s Club Children’s Art Walk, a juried open-air gallery displaying artwork from local public and private elementary school students.
On the food front, MPAartfest will once again feature the much-loved Café Beret (sponsored by The Mather) where guests can enjoy wine and beer provided by The Wine Outlet. The event will also offer food from a variety of food trucks and eateries, including Rocklands BBQ, Pikoteo, Timber Pizza, Kona Ice, and MooThru.
Admission to MPAartfest is free. Parking will be available at the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue), along with overflow lots at Capital One Bank (6890 Elm Street) and FitzGerald Properties (1446 Dolley Madison Blvd).
MPA’s latest exhibition, “(Not) Strictly Painting,” remains on display inside the community center. Accompanied by an artist talk scheduled for Oct. 19, the biennial showcase of painters from around the region will stay open through Nov. 11.
Fairfax County is considering a pilot program to support more murals in its commercial revitalization areas.
The pilot program, called Paint It! Fairfax, was introduced at a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors economic initiatives committee meeting on Tuesday (Sept. 19).
If approved, the program would allocate $400,000 to complete at least two murals in the county’s Commercial Revitalization Districts (CRD) and Commercial Revitalization areas (CRA).
Richmond Highway would receive $85,000, with the rest spread out between the other CRDs and CRAs in Annandale, Bailey’s Crossroads and Seven Corners, Lake Anne, Lincolnia, McLean, Merrifield and Springfield, according to Jenee Padmore, a planner with the Department of Planning and Development’s Office of Community Revitalization.
Murals would remain on the property for at least five years, and artists would agree to repair the mural if it’s defaced or vandalized for a minimum of five years.
The program would begin with site identification and an agreement with the property owner, followed by calls for submission. The artist and committee would then work to finalize a concept to be presented to the community for input, followed by approval from the program director.
A Site and Artist Selection Committee would manage the program.
Elizabeth Hagg, deputy director of the community revitalization office, said that the program was developed at the board’s direction.
“If the board should confirm that this proposal is on target, our intention would be to come back to the board to seek funding through the economic reserve fund,” Hagg told the committee.
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity encouraged staff to leverage students and community members to create and design the murals.
Overall, the board said they were supportive of the program. Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, for example, noted that the addition of a mural at The Boro in Tysons is a significant asset. Some developers choose to install murals without specific direction from the county.
“I’m just in awe of it every single time. And I’ve looked at it so many different times,” Lusk said.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik encouraged staff to consider adjusting the program timeline so that community input was prioritized earlier in the process.
“My big concern about this is the order,” she said.
The newest exhibition curated by the McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) is all about painting.
The local arts organization will launch the 14th iteration of “(Not) Strictly Painting” — its biennial showcase of work from artists based in the Mid-Atlantic region — with an opening reception from 7-9 p.m. tonight (Thursday).
According to MPA, the exhibit will highlight the “depth and breadth” of paintings and other pieces that are somehow related to painting from 50 different artists. It’s being juried by Tim Brown, director of the D.C.-based nonprofit art gallery IA&A at Hillyer.
“Now in it’s 14th incarnation, (Not) Strictly Painting will exhibit works by some of the most interesting and innovative artists currently active in the Mid-Atlantic region,” Nancy Sausser, MPA’s director of exhibitions and curator, said.
Recurring every two years, (Not) Strictly Painting last returned in September 2021, when MPA was still capping its galleries at six visitors at a time to encourage social distancing and limit the spread of COVID-19.
Located in the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue), the organization’s Atrium Gallery is open during the community center’s operating hours, and the Emerson Gallery is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
In addition to tonight’s opening reception, MPA will celebrate the new exhibition with an in-person artist talk at 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19.
Artists featured in the current iteration of (Not) Strictly Painting include:
Maremi Andreozzi, Sondra Arkin, MK Bailey, Julia Bloom, Maria Brito, Nikki Brugnoli, Tory Cowles, Pamela Crockett, Delna Dastur, Anna Davis, Thomas Drymon, Gayle Friedman, Genie Ghim, Jane Godfrey, Pat Goslee, Reni Gower, Freya Grand, Lou Haney, Amelia Hankin, Tom Hill, Andrew Hladky, Leslie Holt, Sabiha Iqbal, Barbara Januszkiewicz, Wayson Jones, Joanne Kent, Pamela Keravuori, Chee Kung, Ruth Lozner, Matthew Malone, Nicole Maloof, Nipun Manda, Sasha-Loriene McClain, Begona Morton, Olivia Niuman, Cory Oberndorfer, Sookkyung Park, Judith Pratt, Sharon Robinson, Violet Simulation, Kanika Sircar, Marsha Staiger, Ann Stoddard, Monica Stroik, Terry Thompson, Roderick Turner, Jessica van Brakle, Ashley Joi Whitley, Sharon Wolpoff, and Debra Wright.
The exhibition will be on display through Nov. 11.
