Good Tuesday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Dec 5, 2023.
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(Updated at 3:50 p.m.) The man whose house exploded during a standoff with police is dead.
James Yoo, 56, is presumed dead as a result of the explosion of the duplex at 844 N. Burlington Street, in the Bluemont neighborhood, Arlington County police confirmed during a news conference this afternoon.
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
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(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) A land-use study teeing up an affordable housing redevelopment project in Aurora Highlands has generated significant interest as it nears completion.
Melwood, a D.C. area nonprofit that provides services to and employs people with disabilities, is looking to redevelop property it owns at 750 23rd Street S., two blocks west of “Restaurant Row” in Crystal City.
Go to Potential affordable housing development in Aurora Highlands nears initial milestone
Read more
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(Updated at 9:15 p.m.) Booeymonger in Ballston will be replaced by a new full-service Nepalese restaurant this spring, according to the incoming tenant.
Booeymonger, known for its sandwiches, wraps, bagels and salads, closed its doors at its two locations in D.C. this year, including Friendship Heights and Georgetown.
*Mamistad Groups meet IN PERSON-only the introductory Zoom call is virtual. :)
Pregnancy and new mom groups are a lifesaver when it comes to normalizing those feelings we just can’t be prepared for.
Nearly a dozen Arlington nonprofits surveyed by ARLnow reported meeting or exceeding their fundraising goals for Giving Tuesday this year.
But there’s a catch.
The annual Wreaths Across America event is returning to Arlington National Cemetery next week.
The event will take place next Saturday, Dec. 16, starting at 8 a.m. Members of the public are invited “to lay wreaths at headstones and columbarium niches throughout the cemetery to honor and remember our nation’s service members this holiday season.”
Taller Lights for Fields? — “Taller lighting stands on Arlington government and school athletic fields could be coming down the pike, if County Board members in mid-December approve a proposed change to the county’s zoning ordinance. Current zoning language mandates a maximum of 68 feet for field and court lighting on county properties. The proposed change, tucked into a package of zoning alterations, would give board members the power to waive that restriction.” [Gazette Leader]
Trail Bumps Removed — From the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail: “Commuters who use the MVT and ride through Gravelly Point rejoice! We spent 7 hours removing those nasty trail bumps.” [Twitter]
Good Monday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Dec 4, 2023.
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Update on 12/5/23: The suspect, now officially identified as James Yoo, is presumed dead following the explosion, police say.
(Updated at 11:30 p.m.) A large explosion, heard throughout Arlington, has rocked the Bluemont neighborhood after a police standoff.