Snow in Rosslyn on Feb. 11, 2025 (courtesy George Brazier)
In case there was any doubt, Wednesday will be a snow day for local students.
Arlington Public Schools and Falls Church City Public Schools both announced that schools will be closed tomorrow due to the ongoing winter storm. They join Alexandria, Fairfax County and other D.C. area districts in making that call.
The concrete spheres and steel poles of Dark Star Park create more than a striking sculpture. Photo by Elman Studios.
Visitors gather each year to witness the annual Dark Star Park Day alignment. Photo by Elman Studios.
Dark Star Park in Rosslyn, designed by artist Nancy Holt, was created to connect art, time and place. Photo by Elman Studios.
Every year, for just a few minutes, one of Arlington’s most iconic works of public art comes to life exactly as its artist intended.
On Saturday, Aug. 1, at approximately 9:32 a.m., visitors will gather in Rosslyn to witness the annual shadow alignment at Nancy Holt’s Dark Star Park (1979–84). At that precise moment, the shadows cast by the sculpture’s spheres and poles align with permanent shadow forms embedded in the ground—a phenomenon Holt designed to commemorate the anniversary of Rosslyn’s founding.
The alignment lasts only a few moments, but it has become a beloved Arlington tradition, drawing residents, visitors, artists and architecture enthusiasts alike to experience the intersection of art, astronomy, and history. If the weather cooperates, the park transforms into a striking demonstration of how light, time and place can become part of a work of art.
Created between 1979 and 1984, Dark Star Park was Arlington’s first County-commissioned public artwork and remains one of the nation’s earliest examples of integrated public art—where sculpture, landscape architecture and the surrounding environment function as a single work. Rather than placing an object within a park, Holt made the entire park the artwork, incorporating spheres, pools, steel poles, tunnels, earthworks and carefully positioned plantings into an immersive landscape.
Nancy Holt (1938–2014) was a pioneering artist whose work spanned poetry, film, photography, land art and large-scale public sculpture. Throughout her career, she explored perception, time and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Dark Star Park remains her most significant urban installation and one of the few major works by the artist that can be experienced in an accessible city setting.
Whether you’ve attended for years or have never visited before, Dark Star Park Day offers a rare opportunity to experience a public artwork that changes with the movement of the sun—and reminds us that some of the most memorable moments in art happen not inside a museum, but out in the world around us.
Dark Star Park Day
When: Saturday, Aug. 1, beginning around 9 a.m.; shadow alignment at approximately 9:32 a.m. Where: Dark Star Park, 1655 N. Fort Myer Drive, Rosslyn
An American Airlines flight passes over nearly two dozen crosses near Gravelly Point, a tribute to the 67 victims of the mid-air collision over the Potomac River (staff photo by James Jarvis)
An airport dispatcher admitted to illegally recording surveillance footage showing deceased victims after last month’s fatal midair crash, police say.
Maryland resident Jonathan Savoy allegedly admitted to a police detective that he captured photos and videos of crash victims being transferred from a first-responder boat to a staging area at Reagan National Airport, according to a criminal complaint obtained by ARLnow.
Java Loco in 2777 Crystal Drive (courtesy of Java Loco)
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Java Loco Coffee & Bubble Tea opened Jan. 27 at 2777 Crystal Drive. The new location, featuring two new lunch options, is the business’ fifth overall and first in Arlington.
Join DC Road Runners and Potomac Valley Track Club for our annual Family Night at the Track and Meet of Miles. The event is open to runners of all ages and paces as well as nonmembers.
This event hosts 400 meter and 800 meter races for kids ages 1-8, as well as multiple 1-mile heats for participants of all ages. There is also a 3K race that is open to participants of all ages.
Sequoia Plaza - Arlington Dept. of Human Services headquarters (staff photo)
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Gwenie's Pastries signage at The Gramercy in Pentagon City (staff photo by Katie Taranto)
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Two men are facing allegations of assaulting first responders in separate incidents in Virginia Square and Pentagon City last week.
The first incident started around 4:30 p.m. Friday, a block away from the Virginia Square Metro station. A shoplifting suspect led officers on a brief foot chase, fled on a Metro train, exited at East Falls Church and then ran on the tracks before being taken into custody nearby, according to Arlington County police.
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“We are, together, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel” on road, transit and pedestrian/bicyclist upgrades up and down the 5-mile corridor, said Hui Wang of the Arlington Department of Environmental Services.
Wakefield scoreboard (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)
Neighborhood-rivalry high-school basketball games are meant to be this way — nothing comes easy, both teams play hard, scoring is difficult and the contest is close throughout.