Around Town

Fairfax City is in the running to be ranked among the nation’s best small town arts scenes.

USA Today’s panel of independent editors nominated Fairfax for Best Small Town Arts Scene in its 10Best awards. There are 20 communities across the U.S. nominated in the category, including Abingdon in Southwest Virginia.


Around Town

With its first exhibit of the new year, Reston Art Gallery and Studios is turning its attention to a subject close to home: Lake Anne Plaza.

The gallery at 11400 Washington Plaza West, Suite B, will unveil the new exhibition “Art of Lake Anne” tomorrow (Thursday), showcasing interpretations of Reston’s original village center from nine different local artists.


Countywide

As Arthur Read famously sang, having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card — especially one designed by the local community.

Earlier this month, Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) unveiled the winning designs from a month-long contest that invited members of the public to come up with fresh artwork for its checkout cards.


News

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — When Jim Sanborn was commissioned to create a sculpture at CIA headquarters, he wanted to do something that spoke to its world of spies and secret codes.


Around Town

A new art installation has been unveiled at Springfield Town Center.

The gallery wall, which opened last week through a collaboration between the mall and ArtsFairfax, features seven works from a handful of local artists.


Around Town

A new vending machine at Commonwealth Brewing Co in Fairfax City gives community members a way to support local artists and parks at the same time.

The Mini Art Vending Machine supplies pocketed-sized works of art that customers can purchase for just four quarters — funds that will benefit the City of Fairfax Parks and Recreation Department under a partnership with Fairfax City Economic Development (FCED).


Around Town

A boutique dedicated to the oeuvre of an Iranian American painter, sculptor, and printmaker will host its grand opening in Reston Town Center next month (Nov. 9) from 3 to 5 p.m.

Nasser Ovissi, a former diplomat and cultural attaché under Iran’s former Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, settled in Reston in the 1980s, opening a studio that has since become an artist collective.


Around Town

Though it may be small solace for not knowing when their next paycheck may come, a night of music or theater could become at least a temporary escape for the thousands of workers affected by the ongoing federal government shutdown.

That’s what George Mason University hopes to provide by offering free tickets to select artistic performances for federal employees and contractors.


Around Town

A week after the first-ever Celebration of the Arts took over Capital One Center in Tysons, Fairfax County’s Mason District will throw its own party championing the local arts community.

The inaugural Mason District Arts Festival will bring artist booths, live entertainment, a children’s play area and food trucks to the Eileen Garnett Civic Space (7200 Columbia Pike) in Annandale this Saturday (Oct. 11) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.


Around Town

Though the calendar has turned to autumn, pedestrians and drivers entering or passing by Tysons Corner Center on Route 123 will now encounter flowers year-round.

Blooms are the centerpiece of a new mural painted on the pillars that support the pedestrian bridge connecting the mall’s plaza to the Tysons Metro station over Tysons Blvd.


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