Arts Council selects artist team and concept for public art engagement project in Seven Corners

surcreative’s preliminary design for the INOUT art installation.

The Arts Council of Fairfax County has selected an artist team known as “surcreative” to develop a public art engagement project at Seven Corners.

This project, titled “INOUT,” will begin in spring 2018. Public engagement will take place at sites throughout the Seven Corners area, and the primary installation site is located at Route 50 and Sleepy Hollow Road in front of the Bank of America.

The surcreative team, from the left: Natalia Brizuela-Pires, Hector Montalvo, Julieta Guillermet, and Edwin Coimbre.

INOUT will be the second in the Art Council’s series of Imagine Art Here projects. The first was the Tysons Tiles project by Julia Vogl in 2015. Another project is planned for Springfield.

INOUT will consist of photo portraits of the community projected on an interactive eight-foot cube. The artist team plans to collect community feedback through a variety of engagement strategies, including social media and online surveys, as well as through the installation itself.

During a six-week period, members of the community will be encouraged to participate in the installation’s interactive questionnaire, surcreative states. The questions will primarily focus on gathering information pertaining to visitors, such as: What are you doing in the community right now? What is home to you? What makes you laugh? When would you like to see art? And who should fund public art?

These questions will be displayed on one of the four sides of the cube and will populate the structure as information from participants comes in. Members of the community will be provided with various-sized stickers that will be peeled off the structure and then re-placed onto the structure’s main face according to their answer.

“The INOUT project was designed in hopes of bringing the community of Seven Corners ‘OUT of their IN.’” surcreative says. The portraits will be submitted via social media hashtag, website upload, and onsite on Sundays. Team members will host photo booth events before the installation in hopes of acquiring as much community involvement as possible.

According to the Arts Council, INOUT will enhance the experience of residents, employees, and visitors passing through the area, promote community participation, and increase public awareness of the potential for public art,

The Arts Council is working with the Fairfax County government and community partners to carry out the project and is seeking corporate sponsors. Donations will be matched by an NEA Art Works grant.

Imagine Art Here is “all about engaging the public in a dialogue on art and arts amenities for their community — and we get to engage artists in producing temporary public art in highly visible locations,” says Linda Sullivan, president & CEO of the Arts Council.

The Image Art Here installations will both elicit a vision for the role of the arts in the community and collect resident, workforce, and visitor feedback on the type of facilities, public art, and related arts amenities desired in the redevelopment of the area.

“As the long-awaited redevelopment of Seven Corners gathers momentum, community involvement will be critical,” says Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross. “Engaging our residents for public art is an important facet of that involvement.”

Public opinions gathered through the Imagine Art Here initiative will also help to inform the Master Arts Plan for Fairfax County,” says Leila Gordon, chair of the Art Council’s Master Arts Plan Task Force.

The Master Arts Plan is aimed at expanding community access to and engagement in the arts and culture by planning cultural facilities and public art throughout Fairfax County that reflect its diversity, consider existing facilities, and respond to future growth.