The event is being held as part PARK(ing) Day, “an annual, worldwide event that invites citizens everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good.”
In addition to the lounge itself, Rosslynites will be treated to a performance by dance artist Sarah Levitt between 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. See the press release about the event, after the jump.
Participants who drop by between noon and 2:00 p.m., from Sept. 11 and 15, will be asked to stare at a video camera for nearly half an hour.
“Participants are welcome to move their body but are asked not to look away from the lens,” Artishpere said in a press release. “The work is very much about identity and what happens emotionally and physically when a body is asked to simply be in space and time. Additionally, the project aims to illustrate how place is defined by its inhabitants.”
A Squirrel Did It — Last night’s widespread N. Arlington power outage was caused when “a squirrel tripped a number of circuit breakers at a substation.” [WUSA9]
Artisphere Supervisor Heads to N.J. — Norma Kaplan, the director of Arlington County’s Cultural Affairs division, is heading to New Brunswick, N.J. after 25 years in her current position. Kaplan, who oversaw the creation of Rosslyn’s struggling Artisphere cultural center, will serve as executive director of the New Brunswick Cultural Center. [Washington City Paper]
Pentagon City Water Balloon Prank Shatters Windshield — Someone apparently thought it would be funny to throw water balloons at cars leaving the Pentagon City mall parking garage on 15th Street. Perhaps it was funny, up until the point where one of the water balloons hit the windshield of a family’s minivan and shattered it as they were driving. [WUSA9]
Groundbreaking Set for Arlington Mill Center — The ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Arlington Mill Community Center (909 S. Dinwiddie Street) has been set for 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 24. [Sun Gazette]
De Vol (television legend Dick Dyszel) will be hosting “Spooky Shorts,” a three-hour screening of “thirteen of the wildest short films from around the world,” at Artisphere on Saturday.
The screening starts at 8:00 p.m. in the Artisphere’s Dome Theater. Tickets are $10.
The group is making its only D.C.-area stop here for Artisphere’s Salsa Tuesdays. Dancing lessons start at 7:30 p.m., followed by the band’s performance and dancing from 8:30 to 11:00 p.m. Tickets are $25, discounted to $22 for students, military servicemembers and senior citizens.
Many of the members of Sierra Maestra have performed with the Buena Vista Social Club, the international “supergroup” created by Sierra Maestra founder Juan de Marcos Gonzales.
Late Night For Harry Potter Fans — Hundreds of die-hard Harry Potter fans attended midnight and 3:00 a.m. screenings of the last film in the series — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 — at the Regal Ballston Common cinema last night.
Artisphere Reduces Burden on Tenants — The County Board voted this week to simplify the 15-page legal document that potential tenants of the Artisphere must use if they want to put on a show or hold an event. [Washington Examiner]
The video is long (nearly an hour) and the audio is low, but the county’s television channel has posted a video of an fascinating panel discussion on this history of rock and roll in Northern Virginia.
The commission and its consultants have just released a draft copy of “Arlington Arts 2030,” a report that proposes “a long-range strategy for supporting the arts over the next 20 years.”
The report recommends that the county “pro-actively and steadily move… [from] supporting the arts in a manner appropriate for a suburban community to one of building the arts to support the growing urban community that Arlington is today.” To that end, the report recommends increased investment in the arts, art facilities and the artists themselves.
Panel Recommends Building New Schools — An Arlington Public Schools advisory council has come out with a report that recommends new construction to help ease the looming school capacity crisis. The panel recommends building one or two new elementary schools and adding capacity at two existing middle schools. In addition to the construction, they suggest adding as many as 40 classroom trailers. Questions linger as to whether the county has enough debt capacity to follow the building recommendations. [Sun Gazette]
Adopt-a-Cat Month at AWLA — The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (2650 South Arlington Mill Drive) has declared June to be Adopt-a-Cat Month. With the shelter — and other shelters like it — inundated with homeless felines, AWLA is trying to find homes for its “Desperate Housecats” — cats that have been at the shelter more than four months. The adoption of such cats is free through the end of the month. [Animal Welfare League of Arlington]
Tonight is the public opening for “Contain, Maintain, Sustain,” a gallery of contemporary art inspired by sustainability. Among the pieces in the exhibit are beautiful gas cans, inspiring rubbish receptacles, a free-floating trash bag, magazines made into mountains and a box-laden bicycle.
The exhibit — a partnership between Artisphere, the Washington Project for the Arts and the Washington Sculptors Group — features the work of 24 international and locally-based artists.
It’s hard to say whether it was a normal lunchtime crowd or if people were feeling a bit more festive today for Cinco de Mayo, but the Chipotle in Rosslyn was packed to the gills today. A line snaked around three walls of the restaurant as office workers and residents waited patiently for their burrito fix.
Elsewhere along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, a healthy crowd sat outside Mexicali Blues in Clarendon, sipping Coronas in the cool sunshine. Santa Fe in Rosslyn, meanwhile, was still doing steady business at 1:15 p.m.
