eARTh Day Celebration
April 26 @ 11:00 am – 5:30 pm
Presented in partnership with
An art-inspired celebration of the day!
Saturday, April 26, 11:00am-5:30pm
Reston Town Square Park
ALL FREE
Day’s schedule/programming:
11:00am-5:00pm
Streets surrounding
Town Square Park
Public Art Reston’s ChalkFest
- An environmentally themed ChalkFest returns to Reston Town Center! Established and aspiring artists of all ages welcome. For Registration and details, go to Public Art Reston’s ChalkFest.
1:00pm and ongoing
Tephra ICA
Special Curator-led Tours of the Matriculture Exhibition at Tephra ICA
- On view in the Tephra ICA gallery, the Matriculture exhibition explores nurturing as a potent intervention into the contemporary moment. Youth climate organizer, Nadia Nazar, and interdisciplinary artist and educator, Devin Harclerode, each presents new bodies of work that aim to reorient our relationships to each other and the land we live on, as one of care and responsibility.
12:00pm
Town Square Park
Amphitheatre
eARTh Day Opening and Celebration of Claire Ashley’s Radiant Pearl
- Hosted by Robert Goudie, Executive Director RTCA
- Poetry Reading from the 2024–2027 Fairfax County Poet Laureate, Angelique Palmer.
- Dignitary remarks
- Celebrating the installation of Radiant Pearl, a temporary public artwork in Town Square Park. This 12’-diameter, inflatable sculpture is the “parent” to the inhabited forms that will perform “Radiant Spawn” at the Tephra ICA Arts Festival. By Scottish-born and Chicago-based artist, Claire Ashley, presented by Reston Community Center with support from Tephra ICA and RTCA. Remarks to include:
- Bebe Nguyen, Executive Director of Reston Community Center, the project sponsor
- Jonell Logan, Executive Director and Curator, and Hannah Barco, Associate Curator and Festival Director, Tephra ICA
- Overview of the day:
- ChalkFest, Maggie Parker, Board Chair, and Ricki Marion, ChalkFest Director, Public Art Reston
- Art Activations and Matriculture Exhibition, Ms. Logan and Ms. Barco of Tephra ICA
- Concerts, Mr. Goudie of RTCA
12:30-1:45pm
Town Square Park
Amphitheatre
eARTh Day Concert — Project Locrea
- An environmentally themed set list from Project Locrea, a global jazz-fusion ensemble combining sound and instrumentation of world folk traditions with classical, jazz ,and contemporary music conventions. The project’s focus is to bring a better understanding and deeper connection between cultures in current days. 2022 WAMMIEs (Best World Music Group and Best World Music Song); part of the Touring Artist Roster of the Virginia Commission for the Arts; has performed internationally (MACAO Youth Music Festival in Macao, China) and at many important regional venues (including Strathmore and Blues Alley).
1:00pm-5:00pm
Town Square Park
Artist and Environmental Activations
- Tephra ICA presents drop-in art-making workshops with contemporary artists. Accessible for audiences of all ages. Workshops will include printmaking with plant matter, natural dye, and more! And don’t miss your chance to explore the park from inside one of artist Claire Ashley’s inflatable sculptures. You will not have experienced anything like this!
2:30-3:45pm
Town Square Park
Amphitheatre
eARTh Day Concert — Victor Provost Steel Pan Ensemble
- An environmentally themed set list with the Victor Provost Steel Pan Ensemble. Mr. Provost is an Adjunct Professor of Music at George Mason University and one of the world’s leading voices on the steelpan. With a strong foundation in Bebop, a contemporary sensibility, and deep roots in Caribbean music, he was named “Jazz Percussionist of the Year” six years in a row (The Washington D.C. City Paper); his recent recording, Bright Eyes, debuted at #5 on the iTunes Top 40 Jazz Charts; he has performed and recorded with Jazz luminaries Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, Wycliffe Gordon, and many others.
5:00pm
Town Square Park
Amphitheatre
ChalkFest Awards Ceremony
- Public Art Reston to announce First, Second, and Third Place winners for each of the Friends and Family, Amateur, Professional, and People’s Choice categories, with cash prizes to be awarded for each.