RESTON
THE ART OF COMMUNITY
“We didn’t invent anything here … what was different about Reston was the collection of good ideas.” Robert Simon August 18, 2008 Interview
RESTON: A NEW TOWN
In 1961, Robert E. Simon, Jr. purchased a property about half the size of Manhattan and began plans for a “new town” named with his initials. It became the innovative and world-renowned planned community of RESton, Virginia. Simon saw the opportunity to build more than another subdivision, he wanted to create a community with both urban and suburban amenities. His initial principles included the idea of LEISURE TIME—that there be a wide choice of cultural and recreational facilities made available to the residents from the outset of the developement, not years later; and that BEAUTY— structural and natural as a necessity for the good life and should be fostered. In 2002 The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) presented its Landmark Award to Reston and Robert Simon received its Planning Pioneer Award. He shares this honor with others who have made major contributions to planning practices, such as Pierre L’Enfant, Frederick Law Olmstead, Daniel Burnham, Robert Moses and James Rouse. 15 minutes away from Dulles International Airport. Reston, VA, is one of America’s first planned community. Come to Reston, walk our trails and neighborhoods and see the public artworks in our town.
Public art has been a vital element in the
planning, design, and experience of Reston for nearly fifty years. The community’s visionary creator, Robert Simon, saw public art not as decoration but as an essential element of placemaking and memory. It remains so today. This exhibition is organized by the geographic locations in Reston where public art resides. It also recalls the pieces that came to Reston for a short period of time or are no longer in existence, and introduces public art works that are soon to be. All have a story to tell and give meaning to what Reston is and will be in the future. But, the exhibition can only be a snapshot, a largely two dimensional chronicle of places. Use it as a guide as you go out into the community and experience and come to understand public art in Reston for yourself.
Mary Konsoulis Curator
Detail Emerge
ART FOR A NEW COMMUNITY: LAKE ANNE VILLAGE CENTER
I
n the early 1960s when Robert Simon was developing his vision for Lake Anne Village Center, the first neighborhood in his planned new town of Reston, he was influenced by European cities with their form-giving plazas, waterside living, mix of uses, and clustered homes. He was also familiar with Radburn, New Jersey, a new town developed in the late 1920s around green space and pedestrian pathways separated from roads. Simon’s master planners and designers for the community, Whittlesey & Conklin (later Conklin & Rossant), shared his ideals. The urban concepts incorporated at Lake Anne made it unique in American midcentury suburban development; the architecture’s modern design was equally atypical. Simon also insisted on using public art to define this new community as a place—art that could be enjoyed by adults and children. So the plaza and pathways, underpasses, and views became populated with tactile art that could free the imagination.
“Objects and things are esthetic and beautiful because there is no reason for them being mundane and pedestrian. This is one of the charms of Reston: somebody cared all the way.” Vladimir Kagan Interiors magazine, September 1966
Lake Anne Village Center under construction, c.1964 Whittlesey & Conklin
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The Underpass and The Pylon
EARLY WORKS AND THE ARTISTS GONZALO FONSECA
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Gonzalo Fonseca:
One of his most extensive works, The Underpass, includes multiple elements encountered in the pedestrian tunnel under N. Shore Drive connecting Lake Anne Village Center to Hickory Cluster townhouses. Some are functional, such as the seat and table; others whimsical, such as the geometric forms and an abstract boat. The Pylon stands just beyond The Underpass, a curved concrete cylinder etched by the wooden forms used to create it, and is itself a study in solids and voids. Passersby like to touch its rough texture or peer through its viewing holes. These works are framed by the wooden Van Gogh Bridge—inspired by the artist’s painting of Arles, France—crossing the inlet to Waterview Cluster townhouses and by a wooden swing structure.
The Pylon, 1965 Gonzalo Fonseca Concrete Pathway to Hickory Cluster townhouses, Reston Association, owner
“There was a sculptor by the name of Fonseca ... and I had a binding contract with him to do three pieces. ... [H]e got so enthusiastic that he forgot all about the contract ... and spent the better part of a year doing all this stuff and the underpass.” Robert Simon, August 18, 2008 Interview
The Underpass, Seat and Table (Detail)
The Underpass, 1965 Gonzalo Fonseca Concrete and wood, multiple works
Swing, Conklin & Rossant Wood, steel
Pathway connection under N. Shore Drive, Reston Association, owner
Reston Association, owner
The Underpass, View (Detail)
Van Gogh Bridge, William Roehl, Associate Partner Conklin & Rossant Wood, steel, and wood composite Reston Association, owner
EARLY WORKS AND THE ARTISTS GONZALO FONSECA
Gonzalo Fonseca:
The Sun Boat, The Building, The Wooden Horse, and a Play Structure
The Building, 1966 Gonzalo Fonseca Wood (disintegrated) Across cove from Heron House
At Lake Anne, the Uruguayan artist, Gonzalo Fonseca, used concrete to explore notions of playfulness and fantasy, mystery and movement, and the relationship of object and place. His abstract work, The Sun Boat, invites children to play on and in it, a large toy nurturing imaginative play. Fonseca also created several wooden sculptures at Lake Anne specifically for children. Unfortunately, because of the temporary nature of the medium, these wooden pieces have not survived. These lost works are The Horse and The Building in Lake Anne Village Center and a tall wooden piece for climbing at Oak Tree Plaza, near the townhouses on Chimney House Road, part of a small playground. The Wooden Horse, 1965 Gonzalo Fonseca Wood (disintegrated) Lakeside of Chimney House Road
“We walked past the boat down next to Heron House and there were kids in the boat yelling and ... I said to the kids, ‘What’s the matter?’ And one of the kids pointed out and said, ‘SHARKS!’ Well, what more could you want? ” Robert Simon, August 18, 2008 Interview
The Sun Boat, 1965 Gonzalo Fonseca Concrete Overlook Plaza, near Heron House, Lake Anne of Reston, a Condominium, owner
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EARLY WORKS AND THE ARTISTS James Rossant
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James Rossant:
Washington Plaza Fountain, The Pyramid, The Pulpit, and The Lookout Tower James Rossant, one of the chief planners of Reston and a designer of Lake Anne Village Center, was also an accomplished artist whose sculptural works define the village’s public space: Washington Plaza fountain, The Pyramid, The Pulpit, and The Lookout Tower. The texture, form, and location of Rossant’s sculptures—like Gonzalo Fonseca’s— also invite interaction. The fountain is the focal point of the plaza; its concrete forms are set in a circle and water flows, jets, and sprays from the elements. Less damp but equally inviting to children is The Pyramid, a series of stepped concrete blocks with a cave-like central space. The Pulpit, a concrete box atop a cylindrical column, rises at the water’s edge. Accessible by a short stairway, it provides a vantage point for peering across the cove. Rossant used concrete to relate his sculptures to the surrounding complex and to Fonseca’s nearby works, but one had a utilitarian origin: The Lookout Tower, a vertical counterpoint to the horizontal Sun Boat, was developed initially to test concrete for the neighboring buildings.
The Pulpit, 1965 James Rossant Concrete
The Pyramid, 1965 James Rossant Concrete
Lake Anne Cove, Reston Association, owner
Lake Anne Plaza, Lake Anne of Reston, a Condominium, owner
The Lookout Tower, 1965 James Rossant Concrete Overlook Plaza, near Heron House, Lake Anne Plaza, owner
“The abstract forms were based on the sand castles that Gonzalo Fonseca and my father made on the beach. I remember them well. The pots around them that spray water represent the kids who would gather around and watch—there are four Fonseca kids and four Rossant kids and we grew up together in New York—we spent many summers at the beach watching our fathers carve these elaborate sand castle. ... I remember coming to Lake Anne when I was six or seven years old and playing in the fountain—amazed at how the sand castles were now so big! Juliette Rossant, E-mail to IPAR July 30, 2011
Fountain, 1965 James Rossant Concrete Washington Plaza, Lake Anne of Reston, a Condominium, owner
OTHER WORKS AT LAKE ANNE
Whittlesey & Conklin: Washington Plaza Storefronts Whittlesey & Conklin treated the storefronts at Washington Plaza as a form of public art. Enlarged versions of wares sold by the stores were applied to the exterior, a mid-twentieth century interpretation of an old signage tradition: toothbrushes and pills at the pharmacy, clothes hangers at the dry cleaners, a life-ring and bell at the Quay Club restaurant. Round display portholes at the hardware store extended out from the window filled with tools. The New York-based graphic design firm, Chermayeff & Geismar, was responsible for graphics painted or etched on the windows or doors.
Olin L. Russum Jr.:
Ceramic mosaic, 1967 Olin L. Russum Jr. Textured ceramic Moorings Drive Underpass, Reston Association, owner
Ceramic Mosaic, Moorings Drive Underpass Although a convenient way to separate people from automobile traffic, pedestrian underpasses were somewhat forbidding. The Marylandbased potter and sculptor, Olin Russum, was commissioned to complete a ceramic mosaic at the Moorings Drive underpass to make it more inviting. Possibly based on the early Reston master plan, the abstract ceramic work was originally on both sides of the entry; only the right side remains intact.
Zachary Oxman: Untold Stories Dedicated in 2004 in honor of Robert Simon’s ninetieth birthday and Reston’s fortieth anniversary, Untold Stories—better known as “Bronze Bob”— features a life-size statue of the community’s founder sitting on a bench at Lake Anne Village Center seeming to survey the plaza, ready to greet any well-wisher who comes his way. The piece, a work by sculptor Zachary Oxman who grew up in Reston, captures the spirit Robert Simon envisioned for public art in the community. Cafe and Barber Shop Signs, 1965 Storefronts at Washington Plaza Whittlesey & Conklin with Chermayeff & Geismar Mixed media Lake Anne of Reston, a Condominium, owner
Untold Stories, 2004 Zachary Oxman Bronze Lake Anne Plaza, Lake Anne of Reston, a Condominium, owner
“You can be easily side-tracked by the ‘design-oriented’ shop fronts ... and their colorful, cleanly variegated graphics and hangars.” Phyllis Hattis, “Sculpture: The Rest of Reston” Visual Arts of Harvard, Fall 1966
ART AT SCHOOL, ON PATHS, AND IN PARKS
Dedication of Restosauria, June 9, 1990 Photo: Courtesy of John Parker
Public art in Reston is not limited to Lake Anne
Village Center. As the community has grown, so has the opportunity for art. It can be found in almost every place that people gather, walk, or enjoy leisure time. And it is there to help the community remember people and events. Robert Simon’s founding principles for public art have been nurtured and supported by the residents through the Reston Association and through local organizations like the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE), the Reston Museum, the Reston Community Center, and the Initiative for Public Art - Reston (IPAR). Public art is also part of how students in Reston schools are taught to see the world.
South Lakes High School: John Parker
“Sculpture is not something in a museum that you can’t touch but it is part of the community and they [students] grow up with it and they learn to appreciate it as well.” Ann Erickson, Interview, March 22, 2012
In 1990, Reston began inviting artists to work with students in making public art for the community. The sculptor John Parker spent a month at South Lakes High School creating two large pieces. Students viewed his process, asked questions, and worked with him as he moved from concept to fabrication. The natural world and his interest in dinosaurs served as Parker’s creative inspiration, and the students saw him interpret his observations into abstracted forms. The resulting art works of welded steel were named Cadmiosaur and Restosauria. The process plus interviews with the artist, students, teachers, and other participants Cadmiosaur, 1990 John Parker Welded steel and representatives of the community were South Lakes High School, South Lakes High School, owner preserved in a film, FROM FIRE & STEEL – Sculpture Restosauria, 1990 John Parker Welded steel for Reston by Natalie Killgore, Hattal & Associates. Lake Newport Pool, Reston Association, owner
ART AT SCHOOL, ON PATHS, AND IN PARKS
Hunters Woods Elementary school for the Arts and Sciences: Kevin Reese, Michael Pilato, Bonnie Fitzgerald, Alfredo Ratinoff During the last decade, Hunters Woods Elementary School’s Artist-in-Residency program has invited well-known artists to work with fourth and sixth graders to create works of public art that express the students’ creative ideas. Sometimes, the piece is more abstract, such as the stabile, developed under the guidance of Kevin Reese. The painted mural designed with Michael Pilato included elements, concepts, and people with meaning to the students, united under arches formed from the students’ handprints. At the students’ request, Robert Simon also placed his handprint on the mural. The colorful abstract mural created with Bonnie Fitzgerald involved many hours to prep and install. Another tile mural, created with Alfredo Ratinoff, is a compilation of the students’ drawings.
Tile Mural, 2011 Alfredo Ratinoff and 6th grade students Tile
Stabile, 2006 Kevin Reese and 4th grade students Painted wood and metal
Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences, owner Photo: Norma Morris
Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences, owner Photo: Norma Morris
Tessare Mosaic, 2009 Bonnie Fitzgerald and 6th grade students Mosaic tile Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences, owner Photo: Norma Morris
Outdoor Wall Mural, 2008 Michael Pilato and 6th grade students Paint on masonry wall Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences, owner Photo: Norma Morris
“The inspiration [for the outdoor wall mural] came from our students. They wanted to include one of our beloved students who had brain cancer. She was a 6th grader and had several friends in the class. The sad part ... was that she died during the end of the project. A candlelight vigil was held in front of the mural.” Norma Morris, Art Specialist, E-mail to IPAR July 3, 2011
Fairway Drive Underpass:
ART AT SCHOOL, ON PATHS, AND IN PARKS
Marco Rando and Lake Anne Elementary School The underpass at Fairway Drive serves as an unexpected opportunity for artistic expression created by students at Lake Anne Elementary School under the guidance of artist Marco Rando. At the suggestion of a parent, the graffiti-covered tunnel was transformed by the students’ brightly painted mural. Lively designs of colorful fish, trees, flowers, flags, and the students’ handprints convey the diversity of the school.
Emerge, 2010 Valerie Theberge and Hunters Wood Elementary School Students with the participation of Shahin Shikhaliyev Glass and mirror mosaic tiles, stained glass Reston Association, Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences, Initiative for Public Art – Reston, Reston Community Center, sponsors. With a project grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Reston Association, owner
Glade Drive Underpass: Valerie Theberge and Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences In 2010, IPAR, a collaboration of community and civic organizations committed to supporting public art, undertook its first project—the installation of a mosaic mural at the Glade Drive underpass. IPAR had earlier developed a public art master plan (2008) that recommended the community’s many underpasses as potential locations for new works of art, an idea that recalls the work of Gonzalo Fonseca at Lake Anne Village Center. The mosaic artist Valerie Theberge created the mural, which incorporates the green hues and fluid lines of the nearby woods and stream. Mirrored and stained glass capture and play with the light as it changes during the day. Working with Theberge were thirty students from Hunters Woods Elementary School who created the mosaic stars that form part of the piece. Lake Anne Elementary School Tunnel Mural, 2008 Marco Rando and Lake Anne Elementary School Students Paint on masonry Fairway Drive, Reston Association, owner
Walker Nature Education Center: Kathy Walden Kaplan and Katie Shaw
ART AT SCHOOL, ON PATHS, AND IN PARKS
A small bronze plaque on a large stone is dedicated to Nature Nancy Herwig for her many years of service to the Reston Association’s Walker Nature Center. The Nature Center is itself a memorial to Reston’s first director of environmental services, Vernon J. Walker, who fostered another of the founding principles of Reston— the importance of nature in the community.
Reston Regional Library: David S. Holland, Anne Nagy Two works of public art are located at the Reston Regional Library. Untitled, an abstract form in granite by David S. Holland, is part of the garden donated by the Reston Garden Club. Book of Love, by Anne Nagy, is a four-foot tall sculpture of books, created for the Art in the Pages program of the Fairfax Library Foundation.
Untitled, 1992 David S. Holland Granite Gift of the Reston Garden Club Reston Regional Library, owner
Woodland Garden, 2008 Kathy Walden Kaplan, sculptor; Katie Shaw, poet Bronze and stone Reston Association, owner Book of Love, 2008 Anne Nagy Painted resin Initiative for Public Art - Reston, sponsor Reston Regional Library, owner
“When I was teaching ...at Armstrong Elementary ... it was always the third grade that had to find out more about the troll. ... I would give them a hint a week to see who could find [it]. ...
ART AT SCHOOL, ON PATHS, AND IN PARKS
Ann Erickson, March 22, 2012 Interview
A Hidden Surprise: Mary LaRue Wells and the Trolls of Reston Appropriately, Trolls, a work in concrete by the artist Mary LaRue Wells, is located under a small footbridge near the housing complex at Bowman Towne Court. Despite their best efforts to appear scary, the trolls are an endearing pair. They are also humorous caricatures of two well-known Fairfax County residents who enjoyed their fairytale likenesses. The face of the original troll is that of Walter Webdale, then head of the Fairfax County Housing Authority who commissioned the piece to add amusement to a utilitarian footbridge. He is shown happily swinging on a rope as a nearby frog catches an insect. The second is a likeness of the former chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the late Jack Herrity, who helped guide growth in the county for more than a decade. This troll is in somewhat lower relief and shares its space with a pestering bird, cat, and fish.
Trolls, 1990 Mary LaRue Wells Concrete Under footbridge at Bowman Towne Court, Reston Town Center, Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority, owner Photo: Mary LaRue Wells
Freedom Grove at Brown’s Chapel Memorial: Kathy Walden Kaplan On September 11, 2001, Reston residents Leonard Taylor and Norma Cruz Kahn were passengers on American Airlines Flight 77 when it was crashed into the Pentagon. The bronze relief sculpture attached to a large stone in a peaceful garden setting is dedicated to the memory of all who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks that day.
September 11th Memorial, 2002 Kathy Walden Kaplan Bronze and stone Reston Association, owner
“But, y’know, if you’ve got a bridge ... what lives under a bridge? Trolls.”
Walter Webdale, April 27, 2012 Interview
Detail Trolls
ART AT WORK: CORPORATE COLLECTION
As envisioned in the original plan, Reston was
to be more than a residential suburb. Integrated into the green landscape are places of work— office parks—that help to complete Reston as a community. Many of the corporations and government agencies located here share the community’s founding principle of supporting public art and sculptural pieces help to define the office precinct.
Harmony Ridge, 1996 Robert Lobe Anodized hammered and welded aluminum, steel and concrete U.S. Geological Survey Building, General Services Administration, owner
U.S. Geological Survey Building The U.S. Geological Survey, which came to Reston in 1966, has installed a piece by the sculptor Robert Lobe, a composition in aluminum of a tree and rocks, the natural elements over which the artist had hammered the metal to extract their impression. The process created a work that reflects on nature as it abstracts it through the selection of materials and the influence of the artist’s labor and interpretation. The work was supported by the General Services Administration (GSA) Art-in-Architecture Program, whose mission is to integrate works of public art into federal properties.
“Art, like time, comes from somewhere and goes to somewhere, partaking in narratives. ... Harmony Ridge reflects this greater performance which takes place in the woods.” Robert Lobe on Harmony Ridge, U.S. Geological Survey Building GSA Art-in-Architecture Pamphlet
Parkridge Center is the setting for several works of public art. Many of these date to 1991, when Walker and Company, in collaboration with the Greater Reston Arts Center, first sponsored an invited outdoor art exhibition by well-known sculptors. Walker and Company presented two other exhibitions in 1992 and 1993.The pieces range in size and shape, are abstract or whimsical, depending on the artist’s personal investigation of form, material, space, and story.
ART AT WORK: CORPORATE COLLECTION
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Parkridge Center
One piece, On Top of the World, by Richard Felix Dennis depicts a colorful, abstract figure in a tall hat balancing atop a frame orb. The work originally met with criticism by business owners and employees but came to be regarded as a landmark within the office park.
Viewer for the Age of Reason, n.d. Greg Shelnutt Steel
10780 Parkridge Blvd, Garrison Parkridge 5, LLC, owner
Tennessee Pherein, n.d. Joseph Wesner Steel, sandstone and paint
Invocation, n.d. Peter Nicapetre Wood 10700 Parkridge Blvd, Penzance Parkridge Four. LLC, owner
Questions, n.d. Austin Collins Steel
10700 Parkridge Blvd, Penzance Parkridge Four. LLC, owner
10700 Parkridge Blvd, Penzance Parkridge Four. LLC, owner
“No one will like every piece, but as with any work of art, each one tries to tell a story. We hope you will listen to the story and judge for yourself how well the artist has succeeded.” Chris Walker, President, Walker and Company First Annual Outdoor Sculpture Invitational Brochure
On Top of the World, n.d. Richard Dennis Steel 10700 Parkridge Blvd, Penzance Parkridge Four. LLC, owner
Wing Spirit, n.d. John Mishler Steel 10700 Parkridge Blvd, Penzance
Parkridge Four. LLC, owner
Crustacean Throne, n.d. Dale Wedig Steel, aluminum, found objects and paint 10700 Parkridge
Blvd, Penzance Parkridge Four. LLC, owner
Several works are also on view at other office locations within Reston:
Fountain, c. 1973 LBC & W Architects, attributed Concrete Reston International Center, 11800 Sunrise Valley Drive JBG, owner
Berlin Wall Fragment, c. 1973 Erected in commemoration of the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall 11150 Sunrise Valley Drive, Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) Command Headquarters, owner
Etain, 1991 Joe Mooney Steel
and paint 12005 Sunrise Valley Drive, Garrison Reston Corner 2, LLC, owner
ART AND A NEW DOWNTOWN: RESTON TOWN CENTER
By the 1980s, a more concentrated urban center
in Reston was being planned. The first phase opened in 1990 with a second phase begun in 1997 and largely completed by 2010. This second phase features taller and higher density buildings with a mix of uses—Reston Town Center—an urban “downtown” for the community. Incorporated in the development are parks and public squares; the largest, Fountain Square, is a popular congregating place for people with a pavilion, ice skating rink, and a significant work of public art, the Mercury Fountain. The fountain and other sculptural pieces in Reston Town Center serve as landmarks, continuing the community’s tradition of defining place through art.
Mercury Fountain
Mercury Fountain is a focal point in the new downtown. The elaborate marble fountain by the noted sculptor Saint Clair Cemin features a carved vertical element decorated with water spouts and topped by a bronze statue of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce and communication. The piece sits within a larger tiered granite basin with water flowing from the top of the fountain to ground level, cooling and calming within the brick plaza.
“A fountain is a source of life ... People relate to it immediately. ...You are experiencing life right there.” Saint Clair Cemin, sculptor, Mercury Fountain, Interview, May 18, 2012
Mercury Fountain, 1990 Saint Clair Cemin White Carrara marble and bronze Fountain Square, Reston Urban Core Association, owner
“Fountain Square is an ideal plaza. I think it is just perfect. It is a gathering place, as a plaza is supposed to be.” Robert Simon, “Five Minutes with Robert E. Simon,” by Karen Goff, Reston Patch, September 28, 2010
with Goff, , 2010
ART AND A NEW DOWNTOWN: RESTON TOWN CENTER
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Market Street The main road through the town center, Market Street, crosses between the Mercury Fountain and the pavilion with stylized weathervanes in the median. Two metal orbs—an armillary sphere and a celestial globe—mark the intersection of Market and Presidents streets. The orbs and weathervanes, designed by RTKL, Inc., were sited to draw pedestrians into and along Market Street. On the west end of Market Street, at the entrance to the Greater Reston Arts Center, stands Vascular Form III, a work on loan from the sculptor Foon Sham. The vase-shaped work of layered narrow wood blocks creates a rhythmical and highly textured curved form. It is one of a dozen related sculptures by the artist installed in the U.S. and abroad. Wakan, a piece by Richard Lew, stands at the end of Market Street at Crescent Park and the West Market residential community. The work of sculpted limestone, bronze, and copper was inspired by the artist’s Native American heritage.
Orbs, 1990 RTKL, Inc., Architects Metal Market Street, Reston Urban Core Association, owner
Weathervanes, 1990 RTKL, Inc., architects Metal Market Street, Reston Urban Core Association, owner
“When the sum of the parts does what it’s supposed to do, it takes you to a different place in space and time. ... Reston Town Center is one of those.” Joe Ritchey, Founder and Chairman, IPAR, April 19, 2012 Interview
Vascular Form III, 2007 Foon Sham Pine wood
Wakan, 2007 Richard Lew Indiana limestone, copper and bronze
Greater Reston Arts Center, 12001 Market Street/St Francis Street On loan from the artist
Market Street at Crescent Park West Market Community Association, owner
ART AND A NEW DOWNTOWN: RESTON TOWN CENTER
The Public Art Master Plan for Reston envisioned new artworks at specific locations in Reston Town Center. The growth associated with the arrival of two metro stations, including one at Reston Town Center, also is bringing new public artworks, both permanent and temporary, to the center area.
Reston Town Square Park Reston Town Square Park, designed by Sasaki Associates, forms a green edge for Reston Town Center. The tiered landscape is punctuated by two vertical stainless steel sculptures. The organic shape of the flower inspired Iris by Daniel Goldstein. The dynamic yet delicate curves of Fidelity of Form, by Dennis Heimbach, complement Iris across the park. The nearby construction of the Avant building led to commissioning the two Basket of Flowers by Stephen Robin. These sculptures draw inspiration from the Beaux-Arts and Art Deco periods. A Bird in the Hand, realized by Patrick Dougherty with the assistance of volunteers, was a site-specific temporary sculpture installed for a two-year period. It provided an immersive and magical experience. New temporary art installations will be commissioned for this site.
A Bird in the Hand, 2015 Patrick Dougherty Ash, hickory, red maple, oak, and willow saplings Reston Town Square Park, Project partners Public Art Reston and Greater Reston Art Centre
Iris, 2006 Daniel Goldstein Stainless steel
Reston Town Square Park, Reston Urban Core Association, owner Donated by Sallie Mae, 2008
Basket of Flowers, 2014 Stephen Robin Cast aluminium 12025 Town Square St, Boston Properties, owner
Fidelity of Form, 2007 Dennis Heimbach Stainless steel Reston Town Square Park, Reston UrbanCore Association, owner Donated by Kettler and Reston Town Center Association
Other Places of Public Art in Reston Town Center Area Reston Rondo by Mary Ann Mears in Hyatt Park welcomes people approaching the Reston Town Center. Conveying lyricism and whimsy, the sculpture’s graceful, organic movement invites viewers to move around and though it. Mutual Understanding/Mutual Respect by ml duffy was commissioned for the new North County Governmental Center. Two hands reach out for each other in a welcoming gesture. It also is a graceful reminder that county officials and staff work together with the community in mutual understanding and mutual respect. The cheerful and colorful Midtown Community Mural by Dana Ann Scheurer was designed as a “Welcoming Wall” on New Dominion Parkway. It includes images directly related to the Town Center.
Reston Rondo, 2014 Mary Ann Mears Painted aluminum (sculpture), bluestone (paving) Hyatt Park, Reston Town Center Association, owner
Midtown Community Mural, 2013 Dana Ann Scheurer Keim paint on concrete
New Dominion Parkway, Midtown North Condominium Owners Association, owner
Mutual Understanding/Mutual Respect, 2016 ml duffy Welded stainless steel
1801 Cameron Glen Dr, County of Fairfax, owner
ARTS OF MEMORY: TEMPORARY WORKS
“Sleeping Tree was much more than an exhibition. It was a public art experience involving community members from all walks of life ...” Joanne Bauer, Curator, Sleeping Tree exhibition catalogue
Art at School Sleeping Tree progressed over a two-year period in Reston, a component of Shinju Turner-Yamamoto’s Global Tree Project in which the artist explores regeneration and the human connection to nature. A twenty-five foot dying dogwood tree in Governor’s Square was the subject of the piece. With the help of community volunteers, naturalists, Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) and Reston Association personnel, and others, the tree was uprooted and temporarily relocated to a parking lot where its roots were carefully cleaned of soil. It was then exhibited at GRACE for five weeks, the prone tree on a mound of earth shaped by the artist and planted with ferns, a metaphor for rebirth. It was then installed at Dogwood Elementary School; the artist coated the tree with clay from its original site as it again lay on a mound of earth, symbolically bringing it back to its place of beginning. The tree became a teaching tool in the students’ science, writing, and art instruction. A film directed by Andrea Tree documented the process. Sleeping Tree, 2008–09 Shinji Turner-Yamamoto Tree and organic materials Temporary installation at GRACE, permanent installation at Dogwood Elementary School, and a film. Part of artist’s Global Tree Project Arts Council of Fairfax, Greater Reston Arts Center, Initiative for Public Art - Reston, and Dogwood Elementary School, sponsors Photo: Courtesy of Greater Reston Arts Center
Upstart II, 1979 Clement Meadmore Painted aluminum Shown on temporary exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art Commissioned by The Mason Hirst Companies
Out of Place, 2012 Ronit Eisenbach and Sharon Mansur Temporary site-situated art installation and performance. Performance May 6, 2012 (below) installation on view May 6 to May 21, 2012 (bottom) Lake Anne Village Center Reston Community Center, Initiative for Public Art - Reston, Friends of Lake Anne, Reston Museum, National Endowment for the Arts, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and Arts Council of Fairfax County, sponsors and supporters Performance Photo: Zachary Z. Handler Installation Photo: Jeff Gipson
“It was Mansur & Eisenbach ... that accomplished what site specific work should: alter a space or one’s experience of that space.”
ARTS OF MEMORY: TEMPORARY WORKS
Lisa Traiger, DanceViewTimes
Lake Anne Village Center
In the spring of 2012, dance artist Sharon Mansur and architect Ronit Eisenbach—inspired by the art, architecture, and history of Lake Anne Village Center—developed a temporary installation and performance, Out of Place, that explored the site’s spatial qualities and the relationship of energy, water, and the built environment. Eisenbach created a series of floating forms that moved on the water while tethered to the shore by tensile lines; these concretelike forms absorbed energy from the sun and glowed at night with a soft blue light. On May 6, Sharon Mansur and Daniel Burkholder performed a duet in which the two dancers moved through the lakeside space, occupying and activating it while manipulating the tethered floats, carrying the influence of their energy and movement into the water.
Corporate Collections
Upstart II, a sculptural work by Clement Meadmore, was a focal element at Lake Fairfax Business Park. It was commissioned by The Mason Hirst Companies and installed at the entrance to one of the offices in the complex. The business park was sold in 2004 and the art work’s owners, Tom and Joanna Hirst, provided it on temporary loan to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. for exhibition. A related work of art by Meadmore, Upstart, is part of the Putnam Collection at Princeton University.
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ARTS OF MEMORY: TEMPORARY WORKS
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Reston Town Center In June and July 2010, GRACE, IPAR, and the Washington Sculptors Group sponsored a temporary exhibition of works by twenty-three artists who explored form, scale, space, and time in various media. Three works by Mike Shaffer—Earthquake, The Way to Be, and Monument to the Sun and Stars—examined these issues in the context of public space at Reston Town Square Park. Although all of brightly colored reclaimed wood, the pieces had different intents: the first two were toylike as if inviting play, while the theme of the third, a twelve-foot tall tower, was the timelessness of the universe. Two other works were for a time on display at Reston Town Center: Kazimoc XXIX, an abstract, painted steel sculpture by Rodney Carroll; and Whirligig, a painted steel sculpture by Greg Moring. These were loaned pieces, intentionally on display for only a limited period. Whirligig was located on Market Street prior to the second phase of Reston Town Center construction; it was a favorite with children who liked to climb on its base. Kazimoc XXIX, inspired by sword movement in Japanese martial arts, was located at Hyatt Park, Reston Parkway Greens. Kazimoc XXIX, 1995 Rodney Carroll Painted steel
Formerly at Hyatt Park, Reston Parkway Greens Photo: Reston Town Center Archives
Earthquake (2010), The Way to Be (2009), Monument to the Sun and Stars (2009), Mike Shaffer Acrylic on reclaimed wood Temporary outdoor installation at Reston Town Square Park presented as part of juried exhibition gaps, at Greater Reston Arts Center.On display week of June 24–July 31, 2010. Greater Reston Arts Center, Initiative for Public Art - Reston, and Washington Sculptors Group, sponsors
Whirligig, n.d. Greg Moring Painted steel
Formerly at the base of Market Street prior to Phase II construction of Reston Town Center Photo: Reston Town Center Archives
Wooden Horse at Lake Anne Village Center Inspired by a work by Gonzalo Fonseca that disintegrated over time, Marco Rando’s Wooden Horse returned to Lake Anne Village Center’s Washington Plaza for 2016’s Reston Founder’s Day. Rando remembers playing on the horse as a child. He “honored” the overall details of the original Fonseca work. Any changes were “guided” by the dried Elm trunk “lying in wait for more than 12 years till the opportunity presented itself.”
ARTS OF MEMORY: TEMPORARY WORKS
STEAM Team installations at Lake Thoreau
Each summer since 2014, South Lakes High School’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) Team—collaborating with Public Art Reston, Reston Association (RA), Lake Thoreau Entertainment Association, and chief benefactor James Pan and guided by artist and art teacher Marco Rando—have created unique site-specific, temporary public art installations that camouflage Lake Thoreau’s utilitarian spillway. Student team members go through the same process as professional artists, presenting design concepts to Public Art Reston’s Public Art Committee and to the RA Design Review Board. Combining art with civic lessons and other real-world practicalities, this ongoing program has produced: Pyramid of Light (2014), Nothing Twice (2015), Simon (2016), and Althea (2017).
Wooden Horse, 2016 Marco Rando Body: Elm; Neck: Spalted maple; Legs: Treated pine; Head & Tail: Treated douglas fir; Assembling Dowels: Oak; Galvanized lag bolts Lake Anne Village Center, Lake Anne Reston Condominium Association, owner
Nothing Twice, 2015 South Lakes High School STEAM Team Galvanized steel, Strataglass – clear vinyl, iridescent film, and galvanized wire rope Lake Thoreau, South Lakes High School, owner Photo: Charlotte Geary
INSIDE OUT Project
In September 2015, We Make Reston, an INSIDE OUT Project, was created by the people of Reston. We Make Reston featured large-scale photographic portraits representing the diverse faces of Reston. Reston residents and employees were invited to submit black-and-white photos to be considered for inclusion. We Make Reston, a collaboration between Public Art Reston and Reston Community Center, was inaugurated at the 2015 Multicultural Festival at Lake Anne Village Center. Photos were temporarily posted in three areas of Reston: on the sea wall at Lake Anne Village Center, windows of the BLVD at Reston Station, and on the walls of South Lakes High School.
We Make Reston (An INSIDE OUT PROJECT), 2015 Black and white photographs submitted by people who live or work in Reston Project partners: Public Art Reston and Reston Community Center
“... art is in the DNA of Reston.”
Several public art works are currently in development: • The Portal Seats of Memory, a series of five sculptural stools by Marco Rando, is scheduled to be installed at Sunrise Square in late 2017. Cast in concrete, the work commemorates Marcel Breuer’s Brutalist design and his use of material in the demolished API building and his earlier contributions to the world of architecture and furniture. One side of the stools will be imprinted with the API building’s footprint and the other will have a quote or saying by Marcel Breuer.
Janet Rems, March 22, 2012
ARTS TO BE: MAKING ART HAPPEN
its founding. But, what of the future? To assure its continued presence, representatives of Reston’s key community organizations — Greater Reston Arts Center, Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the League of Reston Artists, the Reston Community Center, the Reston Association, and the Reston Town Center Association in cooperation with the Arts Council of Fairfax County — created the Initiative for Public Art – Reston (IPAR), now Public Art Reston, in 2007. IPAR developed a Public Art Master Plan for Reston, adopted in 2008, as a framework for future public art in Reston. The plan outlines priorities and goals and identifies methods for implementation, guidelines for commission, and geographic areas well-suited for public art. Public Art Reston also provides support for public art and guidance to civic groups and private developers on public art projects and management.
“The energy that ignited IPAR was the energy Bob Simon brought to his vision of Reston. We have adopted that. ... Dream big!” Joe Ritchey, Founder and Chairman, IPAR, April 19, 2012 Interview
Photo by Lesnick Photography
Public art has been part of life in Reston since
• Convergence, a bronze and stainless-steel sculpture by Zachary Oxman, was installed in September 2017 at the Aperture apartments, near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station. The sculpture dramatically depicts the “birth of a thought, the precarious edge that separates the intangible from tangible. Like the shutter of a camera snatching a moment and giving it life.”
• The Force of Nature, a bronze sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn, is scheduled to be installed at Reston Station at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station in 2018. Quinn said of the work’s symbolism: “We humans think of ourselves as supreme beings, above all others and in absolute control of our destiny and our surroundings. We live with a false sense of security only to be awakened by Mother Nature’s fury, almost as if she needs to remind us of her presence and our responsibility towards her child (The Earth).”
• Danny Lane is creating a sculptural environment where three pedestrian paths converge. It consists of a 12-foot stacked, low iron glass sculpture on a soft-edged granite plinth. Scheduled for 2018, it will be installed at Boston Properties’ Reston Town Center residential tower, The Signature.
Flux, 2013 Valerie Theberge Glass tiles, mirror and stained glass, Dogwood Pool Reston Association, Initiative for Public Art - Reston, Reston Community Center, sponsors Reston Association, owner
RESTON
THE ART OF COMMUNITY
PUBLIC ART RESTON would like to thank the many artists, individuals, and organizations who helped make this exhibition possible, which is a joint project of Public Art Reston and the Reston Historic Trust & Museum. Public Art Reston and the Reston Historic Trust & Museum programs are presented with the support of Reston Community Center. Sponsors: Steve and Pat Macintyre Comstock Friends of Lake Anne Cleveland Coaching Group – Karen & Jim Cleveland Charles A. Veatch Family Contributors: Lynn Lilienthal Shelley Mastran Janet Rems Cheryl Terio-Simon Eve Thompson Rebekah Wingert-Jabi Lucy Yen Anne Delaney Abigail Fundling Curator: Mary Konsoulis Exhibition Designer: Jeanne Krohn, Krohn Design Researchers: Loren Miller, Lauren Stelzer, Anne Delaney Exhibition Fabrication: Capitol Exhibits, Inc. Interviews: August 18, 2008 Interview with Robert Simon by Jim Ferguson March 22, 2012 Interview with Ann Erickson April 19, 2012 Interview with Joe Ritchey April 27, 2012 Interview with Walter Webdale by Janet Rems May 18, 2012 Interview with Saint Clair Cemin, by Rebekah Wingert-Jabi
Š 2017 by Public Art Reston. Third edition.
PRINCIPLES FOR PUBLIC ART
The year 2017 marked a significant milestone for Public Art Reston—its first 10 years. The nonprofit, whose mission is to create a new generation of public artworks in Reston, has excelled in establishing the collaborative and creative partnerships needed to bring these projects to fruition. In recognition of its accomplishments over the past decade, it moved on from its original name of Initiative for Public Art – Reston and officially changed its name to Public Art Reston. Founded in 2007 by Reston civic and community organizations and leaders, since its inception, Public Art Reston has tangibly made its mark in the community by facilitating 15 new permanent and temporary public artworks. Reston’s growing inventory of public art now numbers 68 and may be accessed, mapped and explored through www.publicartreston.org and the internationally accessible Public Art Archive’s website, www.publicartarchive.org.
VISIT US ONLINE AT PUBLICARTRESTON.ORG