Arlington County is in the early stages of designing a multi-use trail facility along Long Bridge Drive.
Now through mid-October, the county is gathering input on how people currently use this corridor, which will inform designs set for public review next spring.
(Updated at 12 p.m. on 10/10/23) A church in Clarendon could be redeveloped with senior housing, pending the outcome of a forthcoming county land-use study.
Over the last year, Clarendon Presbyterian Church and Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, or APAH, have been developing plans to tear down the 75-year-old church at 1305 N. Jackson Street and build a 92-unit affordable apartment building for seniors 55 or 62 and older.
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
The prestigious Washington Post Fall Dining Guide is out and Arlington avoided the shut out of past years.
As is usually the case, the vast majority of the 40 restaurants on critic Tom Sietsema’s list are located in D.C. But one Arlington eatery made it: Ruthie’s All-Day (3411 5th Street S.).
The annual Army Ten-Miler race will trigger a series of road closures in Arlington this weekend.
More than 26,000 runners will start and end the race near the Pentagon, racing through parts of Rosslyn, D.C. and Pentagon City, according to Maida Johnson, deputy director of the Army Ten-Miler.
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.
Emergency Alert Test Today — From FEMA: “On Wednesday, Oct. 4th at 2:20 p.m. ET, there will be a nationwide emergency alert test on cell phones, wireless devices, radios, and TVs. This is a standard test that occurs at least once every three years. No action is needed.” [Twitter, CBS News]
Walk and Roll School Day — From ACPD: “[Today] is International Walk, Bike and Roll to School Day! Each and every day, help keep our students safe during their commute to and from school by slowing down, avoiding distractions and obeying posted traffic signals.” [Twitter]
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 — Oct 3, 2023.
A 19-year-old man and a teen boy are facing charges after two girls overdosed at Wakefield High School last week.
Police and medics responded to the school just before 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27 for a report of a critical overdose. A student in the school clinic was going in and out of consciousness and Narcan was administered ahead of the arrival of first responders, according to scanner traffic.
Arlington Restaurant Week returns this month with almost five dozen eateries for local foodies to explore.
This marks the Arlington Chamber of Commerce’s fifth consecutive year organizing the week-long event, starting Monday, Oct. 16. It is also the third year in a row Amazon has sponsored the event.
(Updated at 12:50 p.m.) In the last four days, a crash-prone intersection near Lubber Run Community Center has logged nearly as many crashes.
Two crashes on Monday at the intersection of N. Park Drive and N. George Mason Drive — also near Barrett Elementary School — resulted in reported minor injuries. The other, this past Friday, caused only property damage. In two of the cases, a driver was cited, according to ACPD.
