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Crystal City BID Receives the Pinnacle Award at the 56th Annual IDA Conference

Crystal City BID Receives the Pinnacle Award at the 56th Annual International Downtown Association Conference

Crystal City (Arlington, VA) – The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) Artful Program was awarded the Pinnacle Award by the International Downtown Association (IDA) today at their 56th Annual Conference. The Pinnacle Award is the highest level of honor of the Downtown Achievement Awards and is presented to projects that represent the best of the best in downtown management and urban development.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Angela Fox, President/CEO of the Crystal City BID. “Art gives an area soul, and we're expanding ours by creatively utilizing and enhancing existing assets including underutilized walls, public space, retail storefronts, and office buildings.”

The Crystal City BID’s Artful Program is a comprehensive plan designed to fill the streets with color, the stage with exciting productions, and the area with great cultural events. Among the many great events and programs that the Crystal City BID has created, IDA singled out the Art Walls program in particular as deserving of the award. For the Art Walls program, the Crystal City BID takes works from local artists, prints them on dibond aluminum, and mounts them throughout the area. These new additions bring color and energy to building walls and drab underpasses, and create stunning views throughout the area. The collection has grown to 11 galleries, with many more on the way.

In addition to the Art Walls program, in the past year the Crystal City BID has hosted a week long fashion show, a progressive contemporary street-art exhibit featuring 5 floors of art and over 500 artists, hosted a wine tasting event attended by 5,000 people, welcomed thousands of Star Trek fans for free outdoor movies, and successfully launched Synetic Theater in their new space in Crystal City. Coming up, Crystal City will host FOTOWeek, and ArtJamz for their first trip across the river into Virginia.

IDA also gave the Crystal City BID the Merit Award for their efforts to promote Bike Culture throughout the region. By forming partnerships to offer bicycle commuters shower memberships at the local Sport & Health Club, open the Revolution Cycles City Hub (a bicycle accessory and rental shop with next-generation bike rental program), and launch Capital Bikeshare in the Crystal City area with 114 bicycles and 14 stations, as well as host Bike to Work Day, the Air Force Cycling Classic, and Bike DC, the Crystal City BID has enhanced the area’s existing bike assets. These investments have made the area more attractive to cyclists, and helped take cars off the road.

These awards are evidence of the tangible improvements that the Crystal City BID is making in the area. The area boasts color, world class theater, exciting art exhibits, and fun events, as well as a progressive transportation system. Clearly, Crystal City is a bright place to be.

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The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) is a public-private partnership established in April 2006 to promote the vibrant Crystal City business, retail, restaurant and residential community. The BID is committed to showcasing the area as a world-class destination for visitors, employees and residents. Crystal City is ACTIVE, ARTFUL, ACCESSIBLE, and GREEN. For more information, visit www.crystalcity.org.

Founded in 1954, the International Downtown Association has more than 650 member organizations worldwide including: North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Through our network of committed individuals, rich body of knowledge and unique capacity to nurture community-building partnerships, IDA is a guiding force in creating healthy and dynamic centers that anchor the well being of towns, cities and regions of the world.