An annual exhibit showcasing student art returns next week to ArtSpace Herndon.
The Herndon Pyramid Schools Exhibit will feature art created by students from the following schools:
- Aldrin Elementary School
- Armstrong Elementary School
- Clearview Elementary School
- Dranesville Elementary School
- Herndon Elementary School
- Hutchison Elementary School
- Herndon Middle School
- Herndon High School
The exhibit runs from Tuesday, April 9, to Monday, May 20, at ArtSpace Herndon (750 Center Street).
An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, April 10, from 6-8 p.m.
Some of the art will be available for purchase.
Image via Google Maps
Lake Anne will have a new art exhibit ahead of Founder’s Day.
The exhibit will run from April 1-29 at the Jo Ann Rose Gallery (2310 Colts Neck Road). Founder’s Day, which celebrates Reston’s founder Robert E. Simon, Jr. and the community’s history, will be held on Saturday, April 6, at Lake Anne Plaza.
“In this exhibit, artists step back and focus on things that evoke feelings — anger, happiness, serenity — and give color to them through their art,” Reston Community Center’s website says. “They hope to capture the intensity of a moment and convey the message that reality is not what we see, but what we discover and create for ourselves.”
Pat Macintyre, the founder of the League of Reston Artist, is a sponsor of this exhibit, according to RCC.
A reception is set for Sunday, April 7, from 2-4 p.m.
Photo courtesy Reston Community CenterÂ
An Aldrin Elementary School student received a surprise celebration in front of her classmates today (March 21) for her artwork.
Shortly before 2:30 p.m., Aldrin students assembled in the lobby of the school for an announcement by Principal Shane Wolfe. The Virginia Lottery then surprised fifth-grader Elizaveta G. with the news that she is one of three winners statewide in the “Thank a Teacher Art Contest.”
Jennifer Mullen, the public affairs and community relations manager at Virginia Lottery, told the students that the lottery started the artwork contest last year as an addition to its notecard writing to thank teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. Three students’ pieces were selected from 700 entries, Mullen said.
The Virginia Lottery presented Elizaveta with a $150 gift card along with $1,000 for Aldrin’s art department.
Elizaveta’s original design will be used on thousands of thank you notes that will be distributed to public school teachers in Virginia during National Teacher Appreciation Week in May.
Wolfe facilitated a Q&A between Elizaveta and her classmates, who asked questions about her favorite color (“blazer blue and red”), how long it took to make the art (“one to two hours”) and who told her about the contest (her mom).
The other two winners have not been announced yet.
A South Lakes High School teen was among the 21 students from Fairfax County public schools who earned national medals in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards program.
Gabrielle Baughman will receive a silver medal for a painted self-portrait, FCPS said in a press release.
In June, an award ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City will honor the national medalists, according to the press release.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards recognize student artists with categories including architecture, ceramics and glass, comic art, design, digital art, drawing, editorial cartoon, fashion and more.
Image via Scholastic Art & Writing Awards/Facebook
Creative printmaking tonight — Head to ArtSpace Herndon to learn how to carve and create your own prints from handmade plates, carved blocks and more from 6-8 p.m. All levels are welcome. Four sessions cost $160 total. If you enjoy it, the next class will be held on April 3. [ArtSpace Herndon]
Reston company scores SEC contract — Reston-based Octo Consulting recently “announced it has been awarded a position on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ONE IT IDIQ vehicle. This 10-year, $2.5 billion vehicle contains seven service channels through which the SEC’s Office of Information Technology will procure IT services and solutions, including systems and software development.” [Associated Press]
2019 Virginia GeoBee — Out of the 23 students named as semifinalists, some are from area schools, including Forestville, Great Falls Elementary and McNair elementary schools. [FCPS]
Locals can soon see sculptures combining cast iron and knitting. Hooked?
Artist Alyssa Imes’ solo show titled “Looming Connections” opens tomorrow (March 5) at ArtSpace Herndon (750 Center Street).
The mixed media exhibit includes sculptures made from cast iron and other metals covered with knitted fabric, along with earthen colored drawings on raw paper.
Imes, who describes herself as a social person, explores physical bonds and emotional relationships with her artwork — a theme that carries over into her exhibit.
From the ArtSpace Herndon description:
The artist sees the yarn as time and life, and the knots as experiences we share. The looms are the places we meet people. The pieces of fabric are knitted from the sculptures themselves so the iron looms create support and help mechanically weave fabric from an individual strand of string.
A reception will be held on Saturday (March 9) from 7-9 p.m.
“Looming Connections” will run until April 6.
Photo via ArtSpace Herndon/Facebook
RA election starts — Voting begins today for the Reston Association’s Board of Directors. [Reston Association]
Community conversation — Want to help Fairfax County on its strategic planning process? Join a meeting tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Reston Community Center. [Eventbrite]
Youth Art Month — Exhibits open today at the Jo Ann Rose Gallery and the 3D Gallery at RCC Lake Anne featuring artwork by kids from eight Reston elementary schools. “National Youth Art Month has been observed annually since 1961. It emphasizes the value of art education and encourages support for quality school art programs.” [Reston Community Center]
(Updated at 5:05 p.m. on March 4)Â Starting Saturday (March 2), a student art exhibition will be on display at the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE).
The exhibit features art by students at Fairfax County public schools, who are participating in GRACE’s education program called “Emerging Visions.”
GRACE reworked the program to include grades K-12, inviting elementary and middle schools to participate for the first time, according to a press release from the arts center.
“We are now able to take the best parts of our existing programs, expand those in close conversation with FCPS and make a greater impact on more young artists,” Executive Director and Curator Lily Siegel said in the press release.
In addition to the three longstanding participating FCPS high school schools — Herndon, Oakton and South Lakes high schools — the exhibit includes student art from Dogwood, Hunters Woods and Hutchinson elementary schools and Rachel Carson Middle School.
The exhibit is based on Caitlin Teal Price’ exhibit last year titled “Green is the Secret Color To Make Gold.”
GRACE worked with art educators at the schools to develop content and concepts to include into the curriculum, according to the press release. After educators, students and their families had the chance to view the exhibition and meet the curator and artist, students were able to respond to the theme by creating their own artwork.
FCPS released additional information about the students and their art on March 4:
One student, who is non-verbal, experiences art and, primarily painting, as a ritual or routine, according to this teacher. He makes repetitive marks with varying color and layers them to refer to different subject matter, such as a landscape. Another student has made at least one artwork a day for multiple years on topics from space-like environments to designs that involve flags of the world. South Lakes students shared their artist statements, explaining the process for creating their works.
[Another] student described the artwork as expressive of the mental illness she has been diagnosed with and says her work shows “that I’m locked inside myself and can’t get out of the emotions in my head.” She uses symbols indicative of psychological and emotional states. A team of two students uses found objects to which they apply paint, glue, and other materials, embracing their sense of humor and love of experimentation to provoke a sense of play and curiosity in their audience.
A third student uses her art to define herself through her own values and beliefs, not through the culture of her home country. She uses layering as a metaphor for memory and experience relevant to her life today. One student used a found piece of wood to which she responded with color and brush strokes ranging from tumultuous to more gentle; another uses her responses to daily events, observations, and feelings to create her paintings. One student submitted a photography display using a camera from a bin of broken cameras, kept by his teacher for spare parts, and fabricated a pinhole lens for the camera. Using a 30-second exposure, he took a series of photos that didn’t meet his expectations but he came to like for their abstract quality and colorful texture that “had a kind of painterly approach.”
Several free events are based around the exhibit.
The opening reception for the exhibit is set for tomorrow from 5-7 p.m. GRACE plans to host an open mic for kids on March 16.
The exhibition will be on display until March 30 at the gallery located at the Reston Town Center (12001 Market Street #103).
Photo via FCPS
NextStop Theatre Company is rolling out a new program to strengthen the network of D.C.-area playwrights.
The Herndon-based, nonprofit theatre company unveiled The Playwrights’ Initiative on Friday (Feb. 8) to help connect artists and to provide resources often needed for new theatrical works.
“I have long aspired for NextStop to get involved in developing new work,” NextStop Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Evan Hoffman said in a statement. “But I wanted to start by consulting with playwrights. I wanted to find out how we could best serve them and their creative process.”
Hoffman says that playwrights often say they face two challenges. “They lamented that the writing process can be very lonely work and that finding the people and space to gain objective feedback is daunting,” Hoffman said. “It is my hope we can help to ease both of those struggles through this program.”
The program has two components.
First, the theatre company will host an inaugural “Playwrights’ Mixer and Pitch-fest” on March 23. NextStop Theatre Company plans to invite 30 local playwrights network with each other and local directors and producers before each playwright pitches their work to the group.
After the event, playwrights in attendance will have the opportunity to complete a survey about the pitches, which will help NextStop Theatre Company select the works for a series of free staged readings. The theatre company plans to have professional actors and directors take part in the developmental readings, which are slated to take place over six months.
The Playwrights’ Initiative is partly funded by a grant from ArtsFairfax.
Photo by NextStop Theatre Company
A Vienna resident’s art show titled “A Bunch of ‘Nun’sense” will bring depictions of nuns and stained glass windows to Hunters Woods at Trails Edge.
The art show “consists of mainly acrylic and ink on large stretched canvas, which includes a variety of styles,” according to information provided by Hunters Woods at Trails Edge.
Jan Dittmar, 68, started painting at the age of 50. A decade later, she earned an arts degree at Columbia College in South Car0lina at the age of 60. She is currently a member of the League of Reston Artists and the Vienna Arts Society.
Locals can view her nun-themed art while sipping sangria and enjoying sweets at the Pre-Opening Showroom (2254B Hunters Woods Village Shopping Center) from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 8).
Photo via Jan Dittmar/Facebook
Finalists’ photographs for a contest have their work on display at ArtSpace Herndon starting today (Feb. 5).
The 10th Annual Fine Art Photography Exhibit features nearly three dozen finalists in the Fine Art Photography Competition.
A sneak peek at the artwork on ArtSpace Herndon’s website and Facebook shows some of the vibrant, colorful and dramatic photographs in the exhibit.
“These photographers show how a group of artists with a range of themes and skills can be brought together to exhibit work ranging from whimsical digital collages to realistic black and white prints to colorful abstract images, into one spectacular exhibit,” according to ArtSpace Herndon’s description of the exhibit.
Photographer Mary Louise Ravese is the competition’s judge. She selected the 45 photographs from more than 180 submissions from 93 professional and amateur photographers in Virginia, Maryland, D.C. and Pennsylvania.
Locals who visit the exhibit will see art by some Reston-area artists. A handful of members of the League of Reston Artists have their work showcased, including Vladimir Grablev, Maureen Costantino and Sandy Gherardi.
Ravese will announce the winners during the free awards reception from 7-9 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 9) at 750 Center Street.
The exhibit runs until March 2.
Photo via ArtSpace Herndon/FacebookÂ
The Cotting Quilters’ second quilt show opens today (Feb. 4) in the Jo Ann Rose Gallery at Reston Community Center Lake Anne.
The group brings together Reston and Herndon quilters who focus on traditional and modern designs.
“Through The Eye of The Needle II” showcases full-sized quilts, art quilts, wall hangings, table runners and other fabric art, according to the Reston Community Center.
The exhibit features the following quilters:
- Dora Anderson
- Ruth Grubb
- Hannah Hamilton
- Barbara Happ
- Anita Lowen
- Nicky Moering
- Connie Wright-Zink
The show will run until March 3.
Photo via Reston Community Center
Adults are needed to participate in a movement installation for the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival.
Artist Heidi Latsky plans to “celebrate the beauty of differences” with a movement installation titled “ON DISPLAY/RESTON.” The installation is a sculpture court where the performers are the sculptures, according to the Reston Community Center.
The Reston installation is a local platform for a worldwide initiative called “ON DISPLAY,” which was created by a partnership between Heidi Latsky Dance, a New York City dance company, and the United Nations to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Men and women age 18 and older are able to participate — no formal dance experience is required. “Diversity and the most inclusive range of ability are welcome. The movement installations will involve focus, stillness and structured improvisation,” according to the press release.
“ON DISPLAY/RESTON” will take place on Saturday, May 18, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 19, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. People interested in participating should contact Kevin Danaher at [email protected].
The three-day festival at Reston Town Center is set to start on Friday, May 17, and last until Sunday, May 19. More than 200 artists are anticipated at the festival.
Photo by Charlotte Jones
The kickoff celebration for the 2019Â NoVa Maker Faire will take place next week in Reston, even though the event itself is set to take place elsewhere.
The annual event — now in its sixth year — gathers engineers, artists, scientists, crafters and more to show off their hobbies, experiments and projects.
The kickoff event will be at the Nova Labs “makerspace” at 1916 Isaac Newton Square next Wednesday (Jan. 23) from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Participants can watch presentations, get information about the Maker Faire and eat food.
The Maker Faire, which used to be held at South Lakes High School, found its new home at George Mason University in 2017.
The main event is slated to take place on June 2.
Photo via Maker Faire NoVa/Facebook
Abby Wendle, the producer of NPR’s “Invisibilia,” will spill her thoughts on art as a part of Greater Reston Art Center’s “Creative Response” events.
One Thursday of each month, GRACE invites an expert in their field to respond to the work on view in the gallery with an open discussion. Presenters may range from poets to dancers, from writers to musicians.
Wendle was a farm reporter for Harvest Public Media in rural Illinois and helped launch This Land Radio in Tulsa, Okla. Her work has appeared on NPR News, the BBC, CBC and ABC in Australia.
In her spare time, she enjoys creating experimental sound art, according to GRACE. In fact, she has an ongoing collaborative sonic experience called “~1652Hz (the howling dome)” in which people are invited to make noises they associate with a pain or grievance in their life.
Maryam Ovissi, the chief executive officer and founder of Beloved Yoga in Reston, will provide a “sonic introduction.”
The free monthly event is sponsored by Reston Community Center. The event starts at 7 p.m. tonight (Jan. 17) at 12001 Market Street, Suite 103.
Photo via Greater Reston Arts Center
