A key way to navigate these difficult times is stay fit, both physically and mentally. Public Art Reston has a suggestion for doing both at the same time — enjoy its self-guided, outdoor, public art tours of Lake Anne Village Center and Reston Town Center. Its Public Art Tour Series – Lake Anne was recently updated and reprinted.
With this guide, Public Art Reston invites you to consider Lake Anne Village Center as both a site filled with artworks and a unique Reston experience. Public art has been part of Reston since it was first integrated into the design of Lake Anne Village Center, the “historic heart” of Reston, built in the 1960s. Reston founder Robert E. Simon, Jr. referenced the benefit of art in daily life in his seven founding principles.
Drawing attention to the rich collection of public artworks in the community, the Public Art Tour Series – Lake Anne takes you on an art walk throughout Lake Anne’s open plazas and along its paths where you will experience the diverse range of 11 works that enhance its communal spaces. The guide also documents four temporary public art projects and programs that took place there. In addition, you will learn how these works of public art were seamlessly integrated with Lake Anne’s architecture.
Once you have explored the Lake Anne area, the second guide in this series, Public Art Tour Series – Reston Town Center, offers a self-guided tour of 14 of Reston Town Center’s public art works. A world-class and historically significant urban environment within a suburban setting, Reston Town Center, which opened in 1990, presaged the current trend toward walkable, mixed-use development.
The two guides can be purchased at the Reston Historic Trust & Museum and at Reston Association. They can also be viewed at https://publicartreston.org/engage/explore/
Public Art Reston, a non-profit organization founded in 2007, seeks to inspire an ongoing commitment to public art and create a new generation of artworks. It commissions community public artworks in collaboration with community partners, offers outreach and educational programs, and documents the public art collection. It is committed to raising awareness about the role of public art in the community. Over the past decade, its work has been guided by a Public Art Master Plan for Reston, adopted 2008. For more information about Public Art Reston, visit www.publicartreston.org
