Reston's Initiative for Public Art: Mauve Art for Mauve Art's Sake

We've been remiss about talking about Reston's awesome new public art initiative, which could bring even more whimsical hilarious polygonal concrete statuary to the highways and walkways of Reston. People definitely seem to be all over that.

More than 100 people attended a public forum to learn more about creating art in Reston's public spaces. The Initiative for Public Art—Reston, which organized the May 29 event, formed to inspire the community to work together to help create a master plan for public art in Reston.

The IPAR board of directors has hired Todd Bressi and Meridith McKinley, experts in urban design, planning and public art, as consultants for the project. They have already met with hundreds of community members, including the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, Reston Association and the Reston Town Center Association.

Joe Ritchey, president of IPAR's board of directors, said Reston has always embraced art and it should be made available to everyone. It was Bob Simon's vision to include art throughout the community and was something he sought after even in the architecture, Ritchey said.

"Of Bob's seven founding principals [sic], four emphasize art and beauty in public spaces," Ritchey said. "The concept of bringing art into public spaces was less fulfilled in other parts of Reston and that's exactly why the Initiative for Public Art—Reston, or IPAR, was formed."

Yay! What kind of awesome art can we expect from this initiative?

Bressi said in his previous projects it was important that the art be fun, playful and surprising.

Cool! To that end, we propose "Design Review Board Violation" (multiple media, ca. 2008). This mixed-media project would include such "found art" as pink flamingos, distressed appliances, tall crabgrass and misspelled 'Beware of the Dawg' [sic] signs, arranged around a centerpiece scale model of a molding foreclosed townhouse, whose trim would eschew earth tones for various shades of pink, purple and black. For versimlitude's sake, various DRB violation notices and liens would be shoved under its door.

We can only hope it would be as thought-provoking as this masterwork on display at the Reston Town Center Hyatt:

His painting "All Day Long" shows two seagulls, one flapping its wings and the other resting, and Mihalko said at the reception that the title could mean the seagull that is sitting is lazy all day long, or that the seagull flapping its wings could be nagging the other all day long.

Or it could mean that it's a freaking seascape.