Kalista Diamantopoulos
Mirror, Mirror at Waterfront Park, 1 Prince Street in Alexandria.
This weekend is the end of the line for Mirror Mirror, the first public art installation at Waterfront Park in Old Town Alexandria.
Mirror Mirror is an interactive art exhibit that was installed in March of this year. Designed by SOFTLab and artist Michael Szivos, the piece was inspired by the historic lighthouse at Jones Point. Mirror Mirror was the first piece of art commissioned for Site/See: New Views in Old Town, an annual series of temporary public art installations. The goal of Site/See is to draw in visitors and encourage interaction.
Residents are invited to take their last selfie with the sound-activated light exhibit on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 2 – 6 p.m.
The space won’t remain empty for long, said Diane Ruggiero, a deputy director in Alexandria’s Office of the Arts. A holiday tree will fill the space in November and December.
Then, a new public art piece will be installed in March by artist Olalekan Jeyifous, who has created art for Coachella, Cleveland and Chicago’s flagship Starbucks. (Learn more about him and the coming art here.)
While Mirror Mirror has been one of the most visible and active public art installations, it isn’t the only one getting attention in Alexandria this fall.
Brio, a sculpture of a man under the trees outside City Hall, got some much-needed attention in late October from professional public art conservationists. Brio, by artist Jimilu Mason, was a gift to the city in the early 1980s from the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association through a grant from R. Sherrard Elliot, Jr. and his wife.
Brio is one of Alexandria’s older public art pieces. Brio needed to be cleaned, repatinated and rewaxed for protection and the base needed to be strengthened, according to a 2018 assessment of public art works in Alexandria. That work is happening now on Brio.
“Brio, being one of the older pieces, needed a bit more work this year mostly related to the base of the sculpture,” Ruggiero said. “Pieces at the top has separated and water had gotten on the inside and had eroded some of the footings.”
“Every five years we undertake a condition assessment of the city’s public art collection and outdoor historic artifacts,” Rugggiero said.” The report gives the City feedback on the state of the pieces and makes recommendations for conservation work.
The other public art piece receiving significant attention this fall is Truths That Rise from the Roots Remembered, a piece by Jerome Meadows. The three-part installation at Heritage Park had become unsafe and major work on the base is underway.
Public art has been a part of Alexandria’s identity since the 1980s — the City’s oldest commissioned public art installation is actually the trellace at the triangular intersection of King and Diagonal streets, just east of the King Street Metro station. The trellace was designed by Buster and the Seattle Group, led by Buster Simpson. It is also in need of repairs.
It wasn’t until 2012, however, that the City government approved its first public art policy, and with that came funding to acquire public art. It also put in place a voluntary requirement for developers to provide public art as part of their project or donate to a public art fund. The public art implementation plan was approved in 2014 and since then Alexandria has been more actively acquiring public art. Among the newest: the piece at Lake Cook on Eisenhower Avenue and a planned new piece at Burke Library in the City’s West End.
