Danielle Hatch, Hard Feelings, 2023
Join Reston Town Center Association (RTCA) and Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) for an art-inspired celebration of Earth Day! The inaugural event will kick off with an Opening Ceremony and the celebration of a large-scale installation presented by Reston Community Center, titled All Is In Motion, Is Growing, Is You, by Arkansas-based interdisciplinary artist, Danielle Hatch. With colors and shapes informed by native flowering plants of Northern Virginia, the installation takes inspiration from the founding of Reston and Robert E. Simon’s vision of community building. The work will be further activated through a performance by Hatch during the Tephra ICA Arts Festival in May.
The Opening Ceremony and celebration will be followed by an afternoon of artist activations in Reston Town Square Park– including poetry readings, a meditative sound bath, plant repotting and rehabilitation, printmaking workshops, community composting, face painting, a concert, film screening, and much more. Delve into conversations surrounding the environment and climate through the unique perspective of contemporary art and artists!
This event is free and open to the public.
Schedule of Events
10am–11am
Opening Ceremony & Danielle Hatch Artwork Celebration
Reston Town Center Mercury Fountain Plaza, 11900 Fountain Dr, Reston, VA
• Including speaking remarks from Robert Goudie, Executive Director at RTCA; Jaynelle Hazard, Executive Director and Curator at Tephra ICA; Reston Community Center; Danielle Hatch; and other partners.
• Dignitary remarks (including Congressman Gerry Connolly, Delegate Karen Keys-Gamarra, Supervisor Walter L. Alcorn, and Scott Cryer, Board Chair of ArtsFairfax)
11:30pm
Curator's Tour of Pressing Exhibition
Tephra ICA, 12001 Market St, Reston, VA
Join Tephra ICA Associate Curator, Hannah Barco, for a tour of Pressing, featuring new work by Kansas-based artist Rena Detrixhe and Washington, DC-based painter Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann.
1pm–5pm
Artist Workshops and Activations
Reston Town Square Park, 1900 Market St, Reston, VA
• Sound Bath with Plants by Naoco Wowsugi of Very Sad Lab (1:15pm–1:45pm)
• Repotting and Plant Rehabilitation Workshop with Naoco Wowsugi of Very Sad Lab. Bring your own pot and plant! (2pm–3pm)
• Miniature Dried Floral Arrangement Workshop with Kelanda from the Watering Can
• Edible Flower Cookie Decorating Workshop with Danielle Hatch (1pm–4pm)
• Quilted Lily Pads installation by Danielle Hatch
• Printmaking with Plant Matter Workshop by Adjoa Burrowes
• Artistic Textile Mending with D. Allen
• Love Letters to Nature with Nicole Salimbene
• Other Family-Friendly Activities such as Face Painting, Composting Demonstrations, Balloon Twisting, and more!
2pm–3:15pm
Live Concert
Reston Town Square Park
Environmentally-themed live concert presented by George Mason University Professor Victor Provost’s Steel Pan ensemble
5:30pm–7:30pm
Film Screening | Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
LOOK Cinemas, 11940 Market St, Reston, VA
Featuring opening remarks from, and post-film Q&A with, Prof. Jeremy Campbell of GMU’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth
Sponsored by and presented at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas at Reston Town Center