New mural brightens up Annandale
The Annandale community celebrated the completion of the mural at the Eileen Garnett Civic Space with a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 26.
The mural is on the ACCA Child Development Center at 7200 Columbia Pike. The artist, Giuseppe Percivati, known as Pepe Gaka, spent weeks in Annandale working on it and has returned to his home in Hot Springs, Ark.
The design features two children standing in a garden talking to one another via a tin-can phone against a yellow background. The three cats in the mural are modeled after the community cats who live nearby.
The garden in the foreground depicts native plants from Hands On Harvests’ demonstration garden in the Garnett park.
The mural on the CDC building is the first in the county’s Paint It, Fairfax! initiative to facilitate murals in commercial revitalization districts.
At the ceremony, Mason Supervisor Andres Jimenez read a proclamation approved by the Board of Supervisors that recognized the growing arts community in Mason District and designated August 2024 as Art Appreciation Month.
Jimenez is planning to host a Mason District Arts Festival in fall 2025 possibly at Green Spring Gardens.
Related story: Annandale mural design revealed
Mason resident and artist James Albright, whom Jimenez appointed to head the Mason Arts Advisory Committee, lauded “the increased presence of art in the community.” When people express themselves and their cultures through art, he said, “this is what makes community.”
The committee is working “to create opportunities for the arts to flourish,” Albright said. That includes all types of cultural activities, including the performing arts as well as visual arts.
“Partnerships are critical,” he said, noting that the Eileen Garnett Civic Space opened last year as a collaboration among the Community Revitalization Section of Fairfax County’s Department of Planning and Development, the Park Authority, Arts Fairfax, ACCA (Annandale Christian Community for Action), Hands On Harvests, and the Mason supervisor’s office.
Planning for a community gathering space at the county-owned land between ACCA and the Annandale Fire Station started in 2018 with a series of events and discussions with residents, recalled Elizabeth Hagg, the director of the Community Revitalization Section.
Related story: Mason District Arts Action Agenda proposed
The park opened in October 2023. It was named for Eileen Garnett, a long-time community activist who died after being struck by a car during a review of needed infrastructure improvements in Annandale.
The Community Revitalization Section has hosted monthly events at the Eileen Garnett Civic Space, beginning with an Earth Day festival in May. There was a Fall Festival in the park last week.
The next event, a Winter Celebration with a tree lighting, will be held Dec. 7.