Elliot C. Williams
“Modern Apple Tree” sculpture in Chantilly and ArtsFairfax would assist in adding more information. Courtesy of ArtsFairfax
ArtsFairfax wants to make it easier for residents and visitors to locate and learn more about public sculptures, murals, and other forms of art installations in the county with a new online map.
The public art locator, which the Fairfax County arts nonprofit agency launched in mid-July, features artwork around the county and is crowdsourced, meaning residents are encouraged to submit public art installations they stumble upon. Users can submit photos and relevant information, such as when the piece was made, whether it’s temporary or permanent, and details about the artist. The nonprofit then reviews the details and verifies the information before approving the submission.
The new service is part of the county’s broader initiative to commission art in underserved areas. The first step is to use the map to take an inventory of all the existing projects, which will inform a county-wide public-art master plan that will be released early next year. Already, residents, artists, and ArtsFairfax staffers have submitted more than 100 works to the locator, according to Lisa Mariam, the project lead and senior director of grants and services for the agency.
“I think there’s a lot of enthusiasm at the outset,” Mariam says. “We have very limited resources, so crowdsourcing was just a really natural way to go for it … I hope that people will use it as they’re out and about to learn more about the art that they’re passing by. I’m planning on using this to plan a bike ride.”
Currently, the art locator is not available for download on iPhone or Android, but if the website is a success, the organization would consider applying for a grant to develop a mobile app in the future, according to Allison Mui of ArtsFairfax.
What they’ve learned so far? There’s a large concentration of public artworks in Reston, which has a public art program in place, and Tysons, thanks to the nearby Metro station and corporate hubs like the Capital One headquarters, Mariam says.
The organization counts as public art any work that’s visible and accessible to the community. Here’s what that includes, according to a press release: “sculpture, murals, and installations enhancing public spaces including but not limited to public furniture, walls, street and bridge enhancements, earthworks, light-based or multimedia works, and other pathfinding, interactive, or participatory installations.”
Mariam says that list also includes memorials, such as Fairfax County’s planned COVID-19 memorial — one of the first to get approval in the D.C. region.
A similar app launched in D.C. over a decade ago, and Mariam says it’s relatively common for jurisdictions to create an inventory of their murals and public art installations before creating more substantial grant programs for local artists.
Next on the docket for ArtsFairfax, the agency is planning to take a census of the artists throughout the county, which will launch later this month.
“We know that with a community of over a million residents, there are a lot of artists out there,” Mariam adds. “We want to get to know them and get a better sense of how we can better serve them, whether it’s through our professional development opportunities or through our planning efforts to get affordable housing and more studio space.”
