We are used to seeing fun, creative and colorful murals pop up on the exterior of buildings around Old Town, Del Ray, Arlington and the District. Now the Richmond Highway corridor in Southeast Fairfax has a mural of its own at 8121 Richmond Hwy., just south of the Buckman Road intersection.
The public art project was the result of a collaboration between Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation (SFDC), the DC-based non-profit Community Arts for Everyone Inc. (CAFÉ) and other partners.
CAFE’s mission is to make cities safer and more beautiful through community art activities. The mural was designed with the idea that color, light and constructivist style will better prevent vandalism and crime in the neighborhood.
According to CAFE’s Facebook page, the mural is meant to reflect the history of the area while setting the tone of the corridor’s present and future. “We used images of the rising sun, wave, airplane, and bird. The mural site is on Richmond Hwy along US route 1 which serves the length of the East Coast. It is the first place to see the rising sun in the US. The waves represent the Little Hunting River, the Potomac River, and the Atlantic Ocean. The airplane motif is an homage to the original building owner who distributed airplane parts. And, the cardinal bird is the Virginia state’s bird.”
The mural was painted by CAFE volunteers over the period of three weeks and was completed on April 10. The new mural is technically not the first public art located in Southeast Fairfax. In 2017, art students at Bryant Alternative School (2709 Popkins Ln.) completed a mosaic mural on the wall of the school.
