Arts Focus: Dark Star Park Day shadow alignment heralds Arlington Public Art’s 40th anniversary

An Arlington tradition for four decades, the public is invited to participate in Dark Star Park Day, on Tuesday, August 1 to watch the shadow alignment that the iconic sculpture was designed to capture.

Dark Star Park is located at the convergence of Fort Myer Drive and North Lynn Street, just off of Route 50/Arlington Boulevard, in Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood.

Every August 1st at 9:32 a.m., Nancy Holt’s Dark Star Park (1984), in Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood, aligns with the sun. Shadows cast by the spheres and poles of this landmark outdoor sculpture align with their permanent forms on the ground, marking the moment of Rosslyn’s founding. The community is invited to celebrate with light refreshments provided by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.

The work of pioneering Land art artist Nancy Holt, Dark Star Park is one of the first major examples of “integrated public art” in the nation, and Arlington’s first major commissioned public art project. It also marks the anniversary of the day in 1860 that William Henry Ross purchased the land that later became Rosslyn, where the park is located. As many of Nancy Holt’s site-specific artworks were purposely built in remote areas, Dark Star Park is also extraordinary in that it is among the late artist’s few major artworks in an accessible urban area.

A deeply moving experience in-person, you can get a sense of the event from this video of the 2019 alignment which coincided with a live performance of a site-specific composition by Cuneiform recording artists Janel and Anthony.

In addition to being a regional landmark, Nancy Holt’s sculptural park is the cornerstone of Arlington’s internationally acclaimed Public Art collection. This 40th shadow alignment since the artwork’s inception will launch Arlington Public Art’s yearlong 40th anniversary observance with a series of events and activations highlighting the entire collection, including the dedication of several artworks new to the collection. Join us in celebrating four decades of sparking civic engagement and urban placemaking in Arlington County!

About: Arlington Public Art
Arlington County, Virginia, is home to more than eighty permanent public works of art. Arlington Public Art directly commissions artworks integrated into County capital improvement projects, coordinates artworks commissioned by real estate developers as part of the site plan process and assists community groups to initiate public art projects on public property. We also partner with local arts and community organizations, artists and businesses to present interpretative projects, temporary artworks, exhibitions and more.

Arlington’s history of commissioning public art stemming from County planning objectives began in 1984 with the dedication of Nancy Holt’s Dark Star Park in Rosslyn which features a community-celebrated annual shadow alignment. August 1, 2023, marks the 40th shadow alignment since the artwork’s inception and will launch a yearlong 40th-anniversary celebration with a series of events and activations highlighting the entire collection. Arlington Public Art is a program of Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs.

For more information about Dark Star Park Day, click here.