Olalekan Jeyifous
This spring, the City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts will welcome a new public art installation at Waterfront Park.
Artist Olalekan Jeyifous will create work for the park as part of Site See: New Views in Old Town. Selected by a task force and approved by the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, Jeyifous has been commis-sioned to create a new and original site-specific work inspired by Alexandria. This is the second work in the Site See series — the first was Mirror Mirror by artist Michael Svizos.
“Through the Site See series, we’re bringing engag-ing contemporary art to Alexandria’s burgeoning waterfront,” said Diane Ruggiero, director of the Alexandria Office of the Arts and deputy director for the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities. “The public reception to Mirror Mirror has been so positive and we’re thankful to Michael and SOFTlab for helping build a strong foundation. We can’t wait to bring Olalekan to Alexandria for this next chapter.”
Based in Brooklyn, Jeyifous has spent more than a decade creating large-scale artwork for pub-lic spaces. He was commissioned, along with Amanda Williams, to create a monument for Shirley Chisholm in Brooklyn. He previously created public art at the 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, Cleveland’s Public Square, and Starbucks’ flagship store in Chicago.
Olalekan Jeyifous and the City of Alexandria
Jeyifous has visited Alexandria and met with residents, gathering inspiration for his design (rendering above). The Office of the Arts seeks to amplify Alexandria’s reputation as an arts destination with world-class artwork that captures the public’s imagination.
The Site See public art series is an annual rotation of temporary installations that showcase Alexandria’s public art program through innovative, exciting, high-quality contemporary art at the key riverfront location. The aim is to bring work that is unlike any-thing that can be experienced in the region.
Waterfront Park is a public plaza at the foot of King Street, historic Old Town’s main commercial street. The plaza is adjacent to the Torpedo Factory Art Center and the existing Waterfront Park, on the site of the former Old Dominion Boat Club’s building and parking lot. The park serves as the keystone to the revitalization of the Potomac River waterfront in Alexandria. It features an open plaza, a waterfront promenade, shade structures and modular space that can adapt to different uses throughout the year.
But Waterfront Park is not the only place that Alexandria is focusing on public art. There is currently an Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew) Public Art Residency that is featuring art related to water-related environmental issues and community involvement.
Art is also coming to the Burke Branch Library in Alexandria’s West End and the Duke Street Tunnel in the Carlyle District.
In addition, several new developments in Alexandria are bringing public art into the mix. Array at West Alex, for example, has installed a kinetic sculpture garden called En Pointe by artist Harry McDaniel. Local artist Alma Selimovic installed a 45-foot wall sculpture of bright flowers called Last Summer, and David Smedley installed an op-art tile wall on King Street called The Event.
Public art has been a part of Alexandria’s identity since the 1980s — the City’s oldest commissioned public art installation is the trellis at the triangular intersection of King and Diagonal streets, just east of the King Street Metro station. The trellis was designed by Buster and the Seattle Group, led by Buster Simpson.
