Summary

On June 15, 2024, the Tinner Hill Foundation will dedicate a new mural on the side of the Ace Tool Rental building at 7131 South Washington Street (Route 29).

The Arts and Humanities Council (AHC) discussed in March 2024 proposals for a sculpture at Founders Row II and a mural at West Falls and were shown the winning designs for utility box art to be installed on four additional traffic control boxes around the City.

The City has issued a request for quotation calling for art for City Council chambers. Responses are due June 14, 2024.

At present, the Planning Commission ultimately approves public artwork and looks to the Architectural Advisory Board (AAB) and the AHC for recommendations. A new policy intended to bring more order to the process is under consideration and will be discussed in a future post.

Tinner Hill mural

The new Tinner Hill mural on the side of the Ace Tool Rental building on South Washington Street was several years in the making. The initial idea came from former City resident Peter Adriance who connected the Tinner Hill Historical Foundation (THHF) with the owner of Ace, Bryce Schwarzmann. Mr. Schwarzmann was receptive to the idea, and the THHF Mural Committee worked to turn the concept into reality. The committee consisted of THHF board members, Irene Chambers, Mike Everette, Nikki Graves Henderson, and members of the Social Justice Committee of Falls Church and Vicinity as well as Tinner Hill family members, including Rebecca Tinner.

Funding for the mural came from the City, the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia, Arts and Humanities Council grants, City resident Kenneth Feltman, and others.

The committee gathered input from the community, including neighborhood businesses. They then worked with artist Bryan King on the design. In the final mural, shown below, the images in the letters are taken from the THHF archives. Tinner Hill Road with its historical homes forms the background. The milkman and his van were inspired by Mr. Schwarzmann’s father who was a milkman. The mural will be formally dedicated on June 15, 2024.

Public artwork: Tinner Hill mural — Tinner Hill mural by Bryan King on South Washington Street

Founders Row II sculpture

Founders Row II artwork sculpture location — Location of sculpture on the Founders Row II plaza is marked in red.

The City required the Founders Row II development to include public art. Chad Price of Mill Creek, the developer, and Barton Rubenstein, sculptor and public artist, presented two works by Mr. Rubenstein to be considered for the plaza at Founders Row II, now under construction at the intersection of Broad and West Streets. The plan shows the location of the plaza along South West Street. The sculpture would be located on the corner of the entrance to the plaza in a 16-20ft by 4ft space near the road.

The two works offered are shown below. Both works utilize a brushed stainless steel finish that weathers well over time. They are also wind kinetic and so move and would be surrounded by vegetation, but are not designed for people to climb or sit on them.

Migration by Barton Rubenstein — “Migration” by Barton Rubenstein

“Migration” is a tribute to efforts to restore the shad population in the Potomac River. Each undulating fish is 4ft high, 8ft wide, and 1.5ft thick.

Artwork: River grass by Barton Rubenstein — “River Grass” by Barton Rubenstein

“River Grass” is a tribute to the eelgrass that is an important part of the marine ecosystem in the Potomac River. The sculpture comprises two elements, 20ft and 16ft tall, respectively, that are designed to rotate slowly when the wind blows.

Behind the scenes: A convoluted path for selecting art for Founders Row II

The City’s Arts and Humanities Council (AHC) expected its recommendation on the nature of the sculpture and its best placement to be adopted but does not think that happened. There was no opportunity for citizen input, and the sculpture’s location became an issue. Both the artist and the AHC wanted the sculpture placed either in the center or on the edge of the plaza at the midpoint along West Street. However, the developer opposed locating it as part of the plaza. Currently, the sculpture is slated to sit in the entrance aisle to the plaza.

Mill Creek presented the two options to the Architectural Advisory Board (AAB) at its June 14, 2023, meeting. AAB members expressed a preference for the “River Grass” sculpture because of safety concerns regarding the “Migration” sculpture. They worried that people would try to climb the 4ft-high fishes that are not designed for such physical interaction. They thought the “River Grass” sculpture would more safely tolerate physical contact from people, and that the the design would better fit in the narrow space afforded by the entrance to the plaza.

By contrast after a similar presentation from the developer, the AHC expressed a strong preference for the “Migration” sculpture at their June 15, 2023, meeting, but thought either design would work.

Mill Creek then submitted “River Grass” to the Planning Commission at their December 6, 2023, meeting, and the Commission voted to return the application to the AAB and the AHC for further review. The AAB approved the submission at their meeting a week later. However, in January the AHC voted to send the Planning Commission a letter saying they disagreed and recommended the “Migration” sculpture. In March 2024, the Commission asked the AHC to revisit their decision.

AHC members believed that people on the plaza would interact with the “Migration” sculpture more than they would “River Grass,” which they considered too tall and “out of scale” with the available area. They also maintained that the placement of the fishes just behind the glass railings would give the positive effect of an aquarium. Further, the AHC liked the “story-telling aspect” of the sculpture, relating it to human migration through Falls Church.

Sculptor Rubenstein concluded that the ultimate decision should be based on “which kind of sculpture do you want? For the people walking up to the plaza, or [to] announce, ‘We have arrived!’.”

In the end, the AHC voted 5-4 to approve the developer’s submission of “River Grass” to the Planning Commission. The application now returns to the Commission for final approval.

Rendition of "River Grass" on the Founders Row II plaza. — Rendering of Founders Row II with the “River Grass” sculpture.

The West Falls mural

West Falls developer Hoffman & Associates presented two proposals for the mural to “beautify” the unfinished concrete wall of the multistory garage that can be seen from Haycock Road. A multifamily condominium is planned for the area between the garage and Haycock Road in Phase 2 of the West Falls development project. However, as that is some years away, the City Council required artwork for the blank wall that many have complained is an eyesore, and the developer proposed a mural.

Commissioned to design the mural, artist Juan Pineda offered two designs shown below. The ACH selected the “West Falls VA State” mural and asked for modifications that would identify the artwork more closely with the City, such as the addition of oak trees and the Tinner Hill Arch. The Falls Church Episcopal from which the City takes its name is depicted with the purple roof and red doors at the midpoint of the bottom of the mural. The mural installation is underway.

City-initiated public artwork

utility box artwork at Falls Church city hall. — Utility box art near City Hall

Before the COVID pandemic, the AHC implemented one “art wrapped”utility box as public art at the intersection of Park Avenue and Little Falls Street (shown at right). More recently, the City issued a call for proposals to artists for artwork for four more utility boxes in Falls Church. The winning artists will each receive $1,250 for their designs, and the City will own the rights to their work. The City will install the selected designs as vinyl (or similar) wraps on the utility boxes.

The winning entries are shown below, with a picture of the utility box and location for each artwork. Each piece will include QR codes for information from the artist about the work. Staff hope the artwork will be installed by the end of summer.

Portraits for City Council chambers

The City also plans to diversify the art in City Council chambers. Currently, portraits of four Founding Fathers donated by the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS) decorate the chamber walls. A request for quotations (RFQ) released in May 2024, seeks to add two more pieces of art to this central meeting space.

The RFQ provides suggestions of people, places, or events that artists may want to incorporate, such as:

People: Frederick Forrest Foote Jr., Barb Cram, Mary Riley Styles, Edwin B. and Mary Ellen Henderson, Joseph Tinner, and Harriet Brice.

Places: The Falls Church, Cherry Hill Farmhouse and Barn, the Eden Center, the Tinner Hill Arch, the Farmers’ Market, the W&OD Trail and Bridge, Brown’s Hardware.

Stories: History of the land (indigenous through present day); the influence of women, Black and African Americans, and Vietnamese and Asian Americans in the City; and the formation of the Falls Church City Public School District.

Preference will be given to proposals that expand recognition of all City of Falls Church history and stories not already depicted in the City’s public art. Electronic submissions are due June 14, 2024, by 5:00 pm.