The Observer Newspapers | County Launches First Public Art Sculpture Initiative

April 10, 2008

County Launches First Public Art Sculpture Initiative

By Rebecca Plevin

Observer Staff Writer

During the past week, Hutchison Elementary School students have helped paint a 4-foot tall statue shaped like a book. The students have decorated the statue with peace-inspired drawings and, when the statue is complete, it will also feature the school's mottos, "Students are the Heart of Hutchison" and "Together We Can."

At the end of April, the statue will go on display at Worldgate Centre as part of "Art in the Pages," the first public art sculpture initiative in Fairfax County. "Art in the Pages," which is reminiscent of the "PandaMania" and "Party Animals" sculptures that were displayed in Washington, D.C., in past years, is intended to promote public art and literature in Fairfax County, said Roberta Longworth, executive director of the Fairfax Library Foundation.

Longworth said books are the theme of the art initiative because Fairfax County is a highly educated and well-read area and because the library serves as a point of commonality among county residents. Plus, she said, "Writing is a form of art. It certainly is artistic, and there is not always a line between art and literature."

Local artists were invited to submit designs for the statues and Longworth said the project has been, literally, "an open book" for artists. "It has been interesting to see all the different artistic renderings from the same, basic, open book statue," she said.

Hutchison art teacher Kathryn Vaughn, who created the design for the school's statue, said their statue depicts images created by Hutchison students during the school's "Chalk 4 Peace" event this fall. She said she incorporated the students' drawings and invited them to decorate the statue because, "I really want the kids to do it if it's from the school."

Vaughn said she likes the idea of public art because it "tends to connect one generation of kids to the next." Her hope, she said, is that the students will learn to support public art at a young age and carry this appreciation with them into their adult lives.

Karen Cobb, senior marketing manager for The Rappaport Companies, which manages Worldgate Centre, said the company chose to sponsor Vaughn's statue because it enjoys participating in the projects and programs of local schools. She also hopes that "being on the tour would be good for our merchants," she said.

Once the program kicks off, Herndon Fortnightly Library will display a statue, sponsored by Virginia Dominion Power, and the Reston Regional Library will exhibit one as well. Longworth said there could also be at least one additional statue in Reston. By the end of May, she said, there would be a map available of the more than two dozen statues in the county, so people can check out all the sculptures, support local artists and visit a local library.

At the end of the Art in the Pages exhibit, the libraries will keep the statues, and sponsoring businesses have the opportunity to keep the statue, donate it to a library branch, or sell it at auction to benefit the Fairfax County Public Library system, through the Fairfax Library Foundation.