Client: Fairfax Arts Council

Location: Tysons, VA, United States

Completion date: 2015

Artwork budget: $40,000

Project Team

Artist

Julia VOGL

Client

Lisa Mariam

Fairfax Arts Council

Overview

Tysons Tiles is two visually compelling ground murals that raise community awareness of potential for public art and the arts at Tysons. Data collected from over 1,000 individuals is visually translated into a vibrant design creating awareness about the arts, using arts to enhance place making, and provide vision for future enhancements in Tysons. It is also a place for fun- come invent games wit the tiles and play!
Alumigraphics floor vinyl over 6000 square feet

Goals

The data, asking the community to share three pieces of information about themselves, was digitally recorded using a custom designed app and later amalgamated for the culminating art installations at multiple locations in Tysons including Greensboro Park. Respondents who participated in the artist designed community activities, made a pin to represent their tile and then a tile ten times the size of their pin was placed in the installation. All participants were able to locate their tile in the ground mural installations and learn more about their community. Integration was understood on many levels, community engagement, defining a site and location. Tysons Tiles also bridged disperate groups of community and integrated them at the artwork - as a data visualisation and then in real-= as they visited and took part in sharing the site and the artwork.

Process

Fairfax Arts Council did a tremendous job connecting artist with community groups negotiating with private site owners to allow for public art- to showcase the hidden community. The artist visited 26 different community sites and groups and collaborated with them to share their vision for future cultural aspirations and ideas of community in the area. The sharing at multiple sites created the final artwork but also illustrated the various sites and types of community that make up the area- Tysons- which up until now has not been seen as a cohesive community or place.

Additional Information

Commissioned by Fairfax Arts Council. Imagine Art Here: Tysons Tiles has been made possible through a lead Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) with matching funds from corporate sponsors, The ASCENT, Capital One, Intelsat, The JBG Companies and JBGR Retail, The Meridian Group, and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust. In-kind support has been provided by AlumiGraphics, Beacon Capital Partners, INADEV, and Severn Graphics. Arts Council would also like to thank its partners Fairfax County Government and Tysons Partnership, consultant Michele Cohen and photographer/videographer Vita Images and Jenna Von Elling.