Mason Art Festival brings creative inspiration to Annandale
The Mason District Art Festival brought loads of art and a spirit of creation to Columbia Pike on Saturday.
Artists and crafters displayed paintings, pottery, and jewelry; residents participated in communal art projects; and performers entertained the crowd with music, dance, drama, and stand-up comedy.
The festival, organized by the Mason District Arts Council with support from ArtsFairfax and other sponsors, featured nearly 70 artists, art organizations, vendors, and performers.
Here are just a few of the participants:
- John Hartt, a muralist and painter of extraordinary beings, invited festival attendees to contribute to a large painting called “Community Garden.”
- Jin-Young Son, who teaches classes in Korean calligraphy at Jinson Studio in Alexandria, brought keychains, mugs, and stickers in the Hangul style, combining lettering and pictures, some of them featuring Annandale designs.
- Samantha Majerus describes her paintings of flowers, still lifes, and landscapes as “colorful, fast gestural works that capture the mood.” She has a studio at Studio @ 307 at 307 E. Annandale Road in Falls Church.
- Former Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross asked people to decorate small fabric squares, which she will later fashion into a quilt.
- Annie Ray, Grammy-winning music educator at Annandale High School, conducted a classical chamber ensemble.
- Rev. Casey Wait of John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Annandale and the founder of the Community Studio based at the church, led several hands-on art activities.
- Mary O’Donnell, the founder of Mod Arts, a private gallery in Lake Barcroft, brought several paintings from the artists she represents.
- Rockeats Alcoreza, a self-taught graphic artist, focuses on street art and pop culture. His designs appear on clothing, stickers, murals, and much more. His next exhibit is in the group show “Patient Zero” through Nov. 1 at the Art Factory in Manassas.
- Rebecca Mayloe, an Annandale resident appearing at her first public art showing, displayed watercolors, a wooden squirrel sculpture, a knit blanket, and other creations. She asked festival visitors to collaborate on a communal painting and handed out potted plants. “I’ve always been an artsy, crafty person,” she said.
- Muthulakshmi “Anu” Narasimhan (Lakshmi) presented dreamy paintings of women, many in traditional Indian dress.
- Annandale High School theater students presented a choreographed fight scene from their upcoming adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” staged in an updated, dystopian Verona. The play will be shown at the school Nov. 19-21.
- Ginny Loving of Horrible Darlings brought a collection of “ghosties and ghoulies,” along with wearable flower wreathes that last forever.
At the start of the Art Festival, Supervisor Andres Jimenez recognized James Albright, the chair of the Mason Arts Council, for all the work he and the council did in organizing the event.
“The purpose of art and culture in our society is to inspire each other, to help each other grow, and to become the society that we want to be,” Albright told the audience. “And so today, we hope that the work that the artists do is very inspiring for everybody here.”’
More scenes from the Mason Art Festival:
