Arts Focus

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This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Have you ever wondered about how our decisions about fashion, clothing and textile purchases have affected our environment and community and what we can do about it?

The latest installation of the award-winning Arlington Art Truck tackles these questions in FROM OUR WAIST TO WASTE: Is Fashion Sustainable (?) by artist Laure Drogoul, April 2 through May 22, at numerous activations throughout Arlington.

Learn about the history of American clothing as it relates to fashion, costume, cultural identity, garment construction and textile waste. Browse the Artist’s sculptural tent made of deconstructed garments that range in time period, style and material. Each garment has a label with information about its’ historical context.

Arlington Art Truck staff will model garments and answer questions about sustainability and fashion. Additionally, pick up a free Risograph-printed zine, created by the artist, which provides “close the loop” recycling solutions for discarded garments and textiles.

The project also solved a problem for another county agency that found itself with stacks of new work uniforms emblazoned with the old county logo. Our Community Partner for this project is Arlington Cultural Affairs’ Textile Studio which will be on-site at Art Truck activations sewing on patches featuring the new county logo.

The endeavor is saving thousands of dollars, as well as saving perfectly good uniforms from the landfill. A representative from the Textile Studio will be on-hand to answer your questions about how to repurpose items in your own home.

About Arlington Art Truck:

Launching to acclaim in 2018 with a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arlington Art Truck was a finalist for Americans for the Arts’ 2019 Gard Award for Arts and Community Life. The Arlington Art Truck embodies the Arlington Arts mission to revolutionize the traditional model of an arts venue.

Packed with digital and traditional creative tools, the “Truck” is a curated mobile toolbox for artists. From April through October, three artists-in-residence hit the streets engaging the public in art projects which are designed to blur the line between participant and presenter.

About the Artist:

Laure Drogoul is an interdisciplinary artist who lives and maintains a studio in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. Laure’s work embraces humor and play by inviting the viewer to be an active participant. She is engaged in developing strategies that emphasize people’s relationships to each other and in fostering a deeper understanding of our shared world.

Laure’s project for the Arlington Art Truck is a tactile information hub about fashion sustainability that invites the viewer to consider possible solutions to the ever-growing global environmental crisis.

About the Community Partner:

A program of Arlington Arts, The Textile Studio is a pop-up makerspace with a focus on recycling and reuse of fabrics and clothing and will offer workshops on sewing techniques to enable sewers to learn about the reuse of existing garments and how to create new ones.

The project kicks off on Saturday, April 2 (9 a.m.-12 p.m.) at Arlington Farmers Market, North Uhle & 14th Street N., (Courthouse Metro). Visit our webpage for the full schedule of activations throughout Arlington!

This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

When “Summer Camp” for youth comes to mind, most of us probably think of canoeing on a lake, or hiking through mountainous terrain. However, a number of Arlington arts organizations offer young people an adventure in their own creativity through the arts!

Most of the organizations have offered these programs for many years, but they are of particular importance as all of us continue to re-emerge from the challenges of the pandemic. Each of the organizations are grantee organizations that receive funding through Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development that delivers public programs as Arlington Arts.

Whether through movement, visual art, film, or theatre, here are several choices from well-known Arlington-based presenters:

• Arlington Arts Center (Ages 5-7, 8-11, 12-14, and 14-18)
  Campers will go on an artistic journey and explore the visual arts through exciting projects in 2D and 3D media while learning about new and different artistic techniques and contemporary artists working in the world today! June 27 through August 26.
• ETC: Educational Theatre Company (Pre K-K, K-2nd, 3rd-6th, 7th-12th)
  Camp topics include: acting, film, directing, improvisation, playwrighting, Shakespeare, musical theatre and more! From in-person half-day camps for pre-schoolers to multi-week teen intensives, ETC has a camp for everyone. June 13 through August 26.
• Encore Stage & Studio (Ages 3-5, 5-9, 8-12, 11-15)
  From our youngest theatre lovers to high schoolers, Encore Stage & Studio offers a summer experience tailored especially for them to explore their creativity. June 21-August 26.
• Jane Franklin Dance (Ages 5-9, 6-11)
  Young dancers participate in dance and movement classes, art projects, and creative assignments during in-person week-long camps. Enrollment for Summer 2022 is limited per camp week. Enroll today to save your place. June 21 through August 19.
• Synetic Theater (Ages 8-19, 11-4, High School)
  Offering both Spring and Summer sessions, Synetic Theater presents a wide array of camps for students of all ages and interests from movement and acting, to the backstage intricacies of theater tech! Camps are designed to get students up and moving around and are geared to students of all experience levels — no theater or performance skills required. June 21 through August 26.

Whatever the interests of the young person in your life, there’s an Arts Camp that can help them tap into their creativity.

Click on the hyperlinks above for details, fees and scholarship opportunities where available. Please note that enrollment is more limited than usual due to COVID-19 precautions. Please review the specific rules and requirements set by the respective providers in accordance with CDC guidelines.

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This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

History is all around us every day, but Black History Month offers the perfect time to highlight important milestones in the County’s history.

For the last four years, Arlington Arts has been working with an artist to highlight various aspects of this history through art, culminating in The Desegregation of Arlington Lunch Counters: 60th Anniversary Tribute by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

Being received at a restaurant with a welcoming smile and a warm meal would seem the basic expectation for any customer. Sadly, well into the 1960s widespread segregation denied such everyday courtesies to African-Americans and other people of color. While the sit-ins at Maryland’s popular Glen Echo Amusement Park are better remembered today, they were in-fact precipitated by the sit-ins at Arlington earlier that same summer, between June 9 and 22, in 1960.

In one of the photos above, sit-in participant Joan Mulholland (resting elbow on counter) watches as fellow activist Dion Diamond is confronted by angry youths. The protests were a resounding success, and on June 22, most Arlington lunch counters announced that they were desegregating.

The original project was curated by the Arlington Art Truck and Arlington Public Art which are programs of Arlington Arts. It is in collaboration with the County’s Historic Preservation Program, Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History and Arlington Transit’s Art on the ART bus program. The community partner for the project is the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., creates prints, posters and postcards from handset wood and metal type, oil-based inks, and eco-friendly chipboard. Much of his work is inspired by proverbs, sayings and quotes that are significant to the place he is working. Kennedy interviewed local residents, historians and participants in the sit-ins, and the placards contain poignant quotes from several of these individuals.

Initially planned for the Anniversary year (Summer, 2020) and delayed by the pandemic, the project launched in the Summer of 2021, with installations at or near the site of the original lunch counters. Upon the conclusion of those activations, the additional facets were developed to allow for continued engagement with the history.

Riders of public transportation can see the series of posters the Artist designed along the same themes via the decade-old Art on the ART Bus program — a partnership between Arlington Arts and Arlington Transit.

Instead of the ads for soap, salsa and soda that riders expect to see in the overhead frames, thousands of Arlington commuters regularly experience original artwork as they head to their jobs. Sometimes there are up to three specially outfitted Art on the ART Bus vehicles in circulation, each scheduled randomly each day, bringing art to a different route through Arlington.

Our collaboration with the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington resulted in an exhibit which features images of the landmark sit-in’s, which will be on display through December, 2022. During your visit, you can pick up a free set of Amos Kennedy’s postcards (while supplies last). You can take a sneak peek at the exhibit via this feature that aired on WRCTV NBC4.

For more information about The Desegregation of Arlington Lunch Counters: 60th Anniversary Tribute by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. and how to engage during Black History Month and beyond, visit our website.

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By Michelle Isabelle-Stark, Director at Arlington Arts

If you are like me, 2021 might seem like something of a blur. It can be difficult to chart progress when significant leaps forward are followed by a couple of steps backward, followed by another step ahead.

In fact, there have been many signs of progress and hope for the arts field. As Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development, moves forward in 2022 we take inspiration from a year filled with significant successes.

Advancing the Arts In Arlington

During the year, the County’s Arts Program led the arts community’s steady but measured return to in-person presentations and performances in the face of the lingering impacts of the pandemic and delivered an impressive string of projects which are continuing into 2022. For example, staff reimagined interactive Arlington Art Truck installations as to-go or take-and-make activations and scaled down signature in-person events to encompass virtual elements. The acquisition of new live- streaming technology ensured cultural affairs programs touched the lives of even more community members.

2021 Highlights

Commemorating Arlington’s Civil Rights History: Art and history intersected in A Tribute to the Desegregation of Arlington Lunch Counters by artist Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., a celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the historic 1960 sit-ins. The project employed an innovative social media campaign to direct patrons to self-serve kiosks at, or near, the seven original sit-in locations. A collaboration between the Arlington Art Truck and Arlington Public Art, the project garnered wide media attention ranging from WRC-TV NBC4 to WTOP 103.5 FM.

Lubber Run Amphitheater Concerts: Encouraging social distancing and masking, the Lubber Run Amphitheater Summer Concerts resumed in-person performances. Nationally acclaimed blues singer-songwriter Chris Pierce opened the season to capacity crowds that continued through much of the summer.

Highlights of Arlington Arts Program

Working with the County’s performing arts groups, staff created the all-Arlington-based Spotlight Series at Lubber Run Amphitheater, representing the first public performances for many groups since the start of the pandemic. It opened with Synetic Theater’s Shhhhhakespeare Revue. To expand audiences and to allow for participation of patrons not comfortable with in-person performances, the County live-streamed most of the concerts over YouTube, a successful first endeavor.

Collaboration with County Business Improvement Districts: Through collaboration with County BIDs and Partnerships, several signature Arlington events returned safely and successfully as ‘scaled-down’ in-person activations with attendance limited by reservations to allow social-distancing. A highlight was the September Rosslyn Jazz Fest.

Co-presented with the Rosslyn BID, it featured nationally acclaimed regional performers. Similarly, the Columbia Pike Blues Fest returned, utilizing a smaller footprint to allow for controlled access and social distancing. The Columbia Pike Partnership coordinated discounts and promotions with area restaurants for attendees and live-streamed pre-festival concerts in partnership with the Manoukian Rug Shop.

Moving Words Poetry Competition and Light Projections: The student component of the annual Moving Words Poetry Competition resumed in the fall, as part of the County’s partnership with APS Pick-A-Poet program. ART bus passengers enjoyed the winning poems of student and adult poets, showcased in the overhead display panels of the entire fleet. Another collaboration with APS, Collaboration Through Isolation, projected students’ post-COVID-19 aspirations outside their high schools

Updated Public Art Master Plan

In November, the County Board approved the first update to the Public Art Master Plan (PAMP) since its adoption in 2004. Positioning public art as integral to distinguishing our civic realm, the Plan outlines a strategy for how public art will improve the quality of public spaces and the built environment for civic placemaking in Arlington. As a sub-element of the Public Spaces Master Plan (PSMP), it offers guidance for future planning efforts as the County and private developers make investments in civic facilities and new developments, within the consideration of other County priorities and plans.

Staff began the process to update the document in 2017 with an intense phase of research, followed by robust community engagement, including steering committees, a widely distributed questionnaire, public open houses, and two artist-led community engagement activities.

The updated PAMP newly positions public art as integral to the County’s evolving priorities, such as fostering equity, protecting its natural resources through sustainable practices, leveraging its innovative businesses and workforce, and creating a sense of place in its urbanizing corridors. It accomplishes those goals while preserving some of the strongest aspects of Arlington’s approach to public art — its fundamental commitment to artistic quality, its focus on engaging with the most treasured places in Arlington’s public realm, and its flexibility in working with many partners to achieve outcomes that satisfy a broad range of goals.

As a result, public art will continue to be a timely and timeless resource, responding to current community priorities while creating a legacy collection of artworks that provide shape and meaning to places that are socially inclusive and aesthetically diverse features of Arlington’s public realm.

To follow the arts scene in Arlington during the exciting year ahead, bookmark our website, or follow Arlington Arts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Dominion Electric Supply in North Arlington has partnered with the Arlington Artists Alliance and local food and wine vendors for Lighting Our Community With Art — a series of community art shows at their space on Langston Blvd., featuring numerous member artists.

Opening in January, the first 2022 exhibition features work by ceramicist Lieve Dewulf, mixed media artists Tom Mulczynski,and Pat Loudis, and painters Donna Lomangino, Rebecca McNeely and Andrea Schellman.

Gallery Underground, the juried gallery of the Arlington Artists Alliance, has been named our region’s “Best Art Gallery” in Northern Virginia Magazine’s 2021 reader survey, and has received a 2021 “Arlies” as one of Arlington’s “Best Shops” from the readers of ARLnow. Located in the Crystal City Shops at 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202, this visual arts venue showcases the work of established and emerging regional artists. In addition to monthly rotating exhibitions, Gallery Underground hosts a variety of community events, like lunchtime paint-ins and dance and musical performances. Gallery Underground is sponsored by the Arlington Artists Alliance (AAA), in partnership with the National Landing Business Improvement District (BID), and JBG Smith.

This off-site exhibition will take place at Dominion Electric, 5053 Langston Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22207. The exhibit runs from January 3 through February 28, 2022, with an opening reception planned for Saturday, January 15 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. For more information about the exhibit and the Arlington Artists Alliance, visit: www.arlingtonartistsalliance.org.

This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

The collaboration between Arlington Transit and Arlington Arts has placed poetry in motion for 23 years.

Making poetry a part of daily life for commuters by displaying the work of local poets aboard Arlington’s ART buses, submissions are now being accepted for the Moving Words Poetry Competition 2022.

Moving Words was launched in 1999 during National Poetry Month and is sponsored by Arlington Transit and Arlington Arts.

Originally held in partnership with Metrobus/WMATA, Moving Words launched a new partnership with Arlington Transit for its 16th year. A parallel Student Competition is held in the fall as the culmination of the Pick a Poet project, a partnership between Arlington Cultural Affairs and the Arlington Public Schools Humanities Project, which places professional poets in APS classrooms.

Call for Submissions 

Poems of up to 10 lines may be submitted for consideration (submission deadline: January 15, 2022). The winning poems will be displayed inside ART buses between March and October, 2022. Last year, 211 poems were submitted for consideration by 85 poets. This year’s competition will be judged by Arlington poet Courtney LeBlanc.

Seven poems will be selected to be printed on colorful placards and displayed prominently on area buses, enlivening the ride for thousands of commuters. Each winner will also receive a $250 honorarium. Winning poems will be posted on www.ArlingtonArts.org and will be archived on the Arlington County CommuterPage.com website.

Poets who live within the D.C. Metro transit area (the Northern Virginia counties Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun and the cities Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church; the District of Columbia; and the Maryland counties Montgomery and Prince George’s) and are over 18-years old are eligible. There is no fee to enter.

About the Judge

Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the full length collections Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart (Riot in Your Throat, 2021), Beautiful & Full of Monsters (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2020), The Violence Within (Flutter Press, 2018), and All in the Family (Bottlecap Press, 2016), and a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. She has an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. She loves nail polish, tattoos and a soy latte each morning. She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Submission Form

To enter, please complete the submission form by January 15, 2022. Access the firm directly at this link.

This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

The New York Times Magazine devoted an entire issue to Losing Earth: A Recent History, Nathaniel Rich’s groundbreaking chronicle which became an instant journalistic phenomenon — the subject of international news coverage and editorials.

Arlington Public Library invites you to join an online conversation between the novelist and essayist and Library Director Diane Kresh.

The event is supported by EcoAction Arlington, a County program which also has been a community partner for Arlington Art Truck projects rooted in issues of sustainability, will share tips and resources during the YouTube premiere.

About the Book

By 1979, we knew nearly everything we understand today about climate change — including how to stop it. Over the next decade, a handful of scientists, politicians and strategists, led by two unlikely heroes, risked their careers in a desperate, escalating campaign to convince the world to act before it was too late. Losing Earth is their story, and ours. In its emphasis on the lives of the people who grappled with the great existential threat of our age, it made vivid the moral dimensions of our shared plight. Now expanded into book form, Losing Earth tells the human story of climate change in even richer, more intimate terms.

About the Author

Nathaniel Rich is the author of Losing Earth: A Recent History (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019), a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Award, and a winner of awards from the Society of Environmental Journalists and the American Institute of Physics. He is also the author of the novels King Zeno (MCD/FSG, 2018); Odds Against Tomorrow (FSG, 2013); and The Mayor’s Tongue (Riverhead, 2008). Rich’s short fiction has been published by McSweeney’s, Esquire, Vice, the Virginia Quarterly Review, and the American Scholar; he was awarded the 2017 Emily Clark Balch Prize for Fiction and is a two-time finalist for the National Magazine Award for Fiction.

Rich is a writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine and a regular contributor to The Atlantic, Harper’s, and The New York Review of Books. His reported pieces have appeared in various anthologies, including the Best American Nonrequired Reading and the Best American Science and Nature Writing.

Register here to watch on Arlington Public Library’s Youtube channel, where you can enter to win a free copy of Rich’s book!

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This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Ten Arlington ceramic artists are among those participating in the Alexandria Clay CoOp’s annual Holiday Pottery Sale.

Get a head-start on your holiday gift shopping while you support local artists on Saturday, November 13. More than 20 regional artisans will offer everything from functional ware such as mugs, servers and bowls, to decorative sculptural work of every kind.

Alexandria Clay CoOp is a 70 member ceramic studio who enjoy the shared experience of creating a variety of functional and nonfunctional ceramics. ACC offers a full array of pottery services and equipment. Outfitted with 20 Brent B and C wheels, 4 cone 6 L&L electric kilns, a 2 slab rollers, 2 extruders, etc. everything an artist needs to turn their artistic visions into reality.

Six to ten member’s ceramics will be on display in their gallery for a two month period. The displayed work will change every two months to allow as many members as possible to benefit from the gallery space.

So, exhale… You’ve found the solution to your holiday gifting needs! Check out the annual Holiday Pottery Sale at the Alexandria Clay CoOp, 2389 S. Dove Street, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314.

For information about the sale and the CoOp, visit www.alexandriaclaycoop.com.

This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

For many decades, zines (short for magazine or fanzine) have been an accessible and powerful medium to narrate and circulate stories and information through images and text.

Arlington Arts and the Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development are pleased to announce the release of the Langston Boulevard Zine, which will bring the history, stories and character of Langston Boulevard to life through illustrations by artist Liz Nugent. Created as part of Plan Langston Boulevard, the zine also celebrates the corridor’s new name after John M. Langston.

The Langston Boulevard Zine will create a lasting digest of the rich history and character of Langston Boulevard, connecting the community with the past and the present, while generating dialogue about a future vision for the corridor.

In 2019, Arlington County began Plan Langston Boulevard, a multi-year planning process for Langston Boulevard (formerly Lee Highway) to create a comprehensive plan for the corridor that provides guidance on how to direct future growth and investment toward community goals. As part of the planning process, the county and its planning consultant documented cultural and historical assets of the corridor and captured the character of the five neighborhood areas of the study. This work yielded two comprehensive documents, the Historic and Cultural Resources Report and the Neighborhood Inspiration Report. The zine brings to life aspects of these reports through artist Liz Nugent’s engaging illustrations.

In 2020, the Langston Boulevard Alliance started a public process for renaming Lee Highway to realize the years-long grassroots community effort to create a welcoming Main Street by removing the word “Highway” and to begin to reconcile the painful racial history many in the community experienced by changing the name “Lee.” The zine celebrates the new name for the corridor after John Mercer Langston, beloved civil rights activist and the first Black Congressman from Virginia, by illustrating his history and connections to Arlington and the Langston Boulevard community.

Arlington Arts is releasing excerpts from the zine on its social media platforms, and copies will be made available at various community events in the fall. You can request a free mailed copy of the zine by filling out a request form on the Langston Boulevard Zine project page.

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By guest blogger and artist Melanie Kehoss.

This year marks the fourth Arlington Visual Art Studio Tour (AVAST). On September 25 and 26, 48 artists open their studios to art lovers so they can see inside the artistic process and the studios, most of which are rarely open to the public.

The various disciplines include paintings, ceramics, metals, photography and more. The weekend event will begin with a launch party Friday, September 24, at the Cody Gallery on the Ballston campus of Marymount University.

After going virtual last year due to the pandemic, this marks the activity’s return to being an in-person format. The event will follow CDC guidelines with masking, social distancing, and other safety and health measures determined by individual artists.

AVAST is a joint effort of independent artists and volunteers, supported by contributors, including Schnider Investment group and Dominion Lighting, and in cooperation with Arlington’s visual art organizations. Arlington Arts was a founding sponsor of this new cultural tradition.

This year’s participants are listed, each with a sample photo and short description of their work, at this link. AVAST will add a guide with opening times and locations so that visitors can select for themselves the studios they wish to visit. The guides will be online and print versions will be available at Arlington galleries and sponsor locations starting in mid-September, and at studios during the tour.

For last year’s virtual tours, some 40 artists created online video tours that attracted thousands of viewers. To give you an idea of what you can once again experience in person, check out the montage of videos below.

For complete info on this year’s tour, visit the AVAST website and Facebook Page!

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Jazz is back in Rosslyn with a three-week celebration of music, food and fun!

The Rosslyn BID’s annual Rosslyn Jazz Fest has been reimagined with live performances around the neighborhood, culminating in an all-day event in Gateway Park on Sept. 18, featuring Three Man Soul Machine, Aaron Myers and Sin Miedo.

Enjoy the soulful sounds of local musicians, including Crush Funk Brass Band, Akua Allrich, Kingman Island Orchestra, and Cristian Perez, live from some of Rosslyn’s favorite outdoor venues. Plus, attendees can expect themed giveaways, prizes and restaurant deals throughout.

Beginning on Sept. 1, don’t miss pop-up performances from bands and soloists at Central Place Plaza, Continental Beer Garden and more. Jazz fans can also look forward to the return of last year’s popular Jazz Supper Club experience at Amuse at Le Méridien Arlington.

Rosslyn Jazz Fest is brought to audiences in partnership with Arlington Arts. For more information on Jazz Fest, please visit rosslynva.org and sign up for the Rosslyn BID’s newsletter at rosslynva.org/subscribe.

Please review the most current Virginia guidance surrounding COVID-19 before attending any in-person events. Do not attend if you or anyone in your household is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

For details, a 10% discount at participating restaurants and the full Rosslyn Jazz Fest schedule, visit the Rosslyn BID website.