Children’s Art is Moving From the Refrigerator to the Walls of an Overpass in Crystal City
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Children's Art is Moving From the Refrigerator to the Walls of an Overpass in Crystal City
October 16, 2007 - Crystal City (Arlington, VA) – Local children will be able to put their artistic talents on display with a new event at Crystal Run, a fun day in which Crystal City celebrates the Marine Corps Marathon.
The Crystal City Business Improvement District has partnered with the Arlington Arts Center to temporarily hang a 100-foot sheet of DuPont™ Tyvek® on the northern-most wall of the Route 1 overpass at 18th Street. Local children will be able to paint and draw on the long, blank canvas using supplies provided.
Held on race day, Sunday, Oct. 28, Crystal Run will take place between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and feature live music, restaurant tastings and plenty of kid-oriented activities including a moon bounce and a palm tree climb. The new mural event will leverage the large draw of the Marine Corps Marathon to Crystal City. The marathon is a major family-friendly event that is expected to attract an estimated 12,000 people to the streets of Crystal City. The BID intends for the new children’s mural painting to be one of a number of children’s activities throughout the area on marathon day.
“Crystal Run is a family event,” said BID Executive Director Angela Fox. “The addition of the mural gives our younger marathon spectators a fun outlet to express themselves while making our 18th Street Metro gateway come to life with art.”
The hands-on art project will have a Halloween theme. Local children and their families will be encouraged to stop by the underpass and take part in the creative fun. The activity will be held in conjunction with the other kid’s activities in the area between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The ghoulish theme and the Tyvek canvas tie the project into the 0 Project installation currently on display at the Arlington Arts Center. The centerpiece of that project is 0 (“Zero”), a 300-foot long, 15-foot high banner printed on Tyvek sheets, which will wrap the old building of the historic Maury School. It will be installed through February 2008. The image is based on a drawing by Alexandria, Va., artist Rosemary Feit Covey.
“We are excited to partner with the Arlington Arts Center,” Fox said. “Their commitment to fun arts education made them the perfect partner to help our neighborhood children express themselves while making one of our gateways more welcoming for the many spectators who will join us on Marathon day.”
Additional public art and artistic lighting projects are anticipated to follow this temporary installation. The ultimate goal is to create a more noteworthy experience when traveling through the Route 1 overpass at 18th Street, a major entrance and gateway to the Crystal City neighborhood.
About the Crystal City Business Improvement District
Established in April of 2006, the Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) is creating a soul for Crystal City. A public-private partnership, the BID is providing a higher level of service to visitors, workers and residents in Crystal City - driving to become world-class destination in both Arlington and the greater DC region. For more information, visit www.crystalcity.org.
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