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Public art proposals ready in fall
By the early fall, Restonians should have an array of potential public art projects to consider.These projects would add to the “living, breathing tradition” of public art that already exists in Reston, most notably at Lake Anne Village Center and Reston Town Center, according Todd Bressi and Meridith McKinley, consultants to the Initiative for Public Art-Reston (IPAR).
When assembled, these recommendations – outgrowths of months of targeted public roundtables, a brainstorming charrette and other forums – will be presented to the community for wider discussion.
Guiding the implementation of these recommendations will be a specific, binding public art master plan for Reston, developed by Bressi and McKinley. Reston’s public art master plan is expected to be a model for other, similar initiatives in Fairfax County.
Bressi, a principal in the Philadelphia-based urban design and planning firm Brown & Keener Bressi, and McKinley, a partner in the St. Louis-based public art planning firm Via Partnership, explained these next crucial steps in the IPAR planning process at a final roundtable July 29 at the Reston Community Center at Lake Anne.
It was noted that although the group was small – about two dozen residents attended the discussion – there was almost unanimous participation.
Among those attending were John Mason, chairman of the Arts Council of Fairfax County board; Ann Rodriguez, the council’s president and CEO; and Reston founder Robert E. Simon.
The purpose of this final roundtable, Bressi said, was to involve residents who were unable to attend previous events. There may still be “some stones we haven’t turned over yet,” he said.
A number of those at the roundtable strongly urged getting the community’s children involved.
“That’s where it starts,” said Cheryl Parsons, an artist and member of the League of Reston Artists.
“It will start feeding on itself; [art] can’t be something untouchable," agreed Greg Pryzby.
And Norma Morris, an art teacher at Hunters Woods Elementary School, said, “The schools in Reston are ripe for this kind of project.”
“It gives kids a pride of place,” added Bill Farrell.
Not only children but adults, too, will benefit, said Bill Penniman, suggesting public art “enhances the satisfaction of living in a place.”
Extending that thought, Patty Nicoson, president of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association, proposed bringing artists in to engage with the employees of Reston’s many corporate residents. “It would be an interesting way to create works that grow out of what we do [here], an interesting partnership,” she said.
Before implementing any of these ideas, IPAR and the community needed to work out, what Bressi described as, all the “under the hood stuff.”
Framed in the form of questions, Bressi and McKinley asked participants the following: How and what kind of public art can enrich Reston? What are the goals and best locations for this art (parks, lakes, civic spaces, transit centers, even construction sites and parking garages)? Should art projects be temporary or permanent? How will they be commissioned, funded, implemented and overseen?
“Art should be informed by place” in every sense – its history, culture and personality, McKinley said.
“We need to ask these questions of as many people as possible,” Bressi said.
But warned longtime Reston resident Dale Lanzone, president of International Public Art for the Marlborough Gallery in New York City, you need to watch out for too much democracy.
Citing a problem in San Francisco, he said, “Put together a process that’s inclusive but not so inclusive that it stops functioning, so democratic that no one can make a permanent decision.”
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