From a Blank Wall to a Work of Art

Like almost everything else in Reston, the Midtown North Condominiums were built with a plan. There were to be two separate structures, one with 70 units and a smaller one with eight units. Separating the two would be a large wall that would feature a beautiful and interesting mural with a Reston theme.

And it all went according to plan – except for the wall.  It’s there, but it’s blank, and has been for five years.

Fortunately for those who drive and walk past it every day, that is about to change.  Sometime  next year, the wall, at 12025 New Dominion Pkwy., will be bursting with the color and whimsical designs that are the trademark of well-known Reston artist Dana Ann Scheurer.  The artist signed on after meeting Deva Brehony, a resident of Midtown North and its former board vice president.

“I was so taken with her work,” Brehony said of the time she met Scheurer at the latter’s early 2012 exhibit at the Hyatt Regency Reston.

“It was very important to me that we have a local artist,” for the mural at Midtown North, Beehony said.

Brehony explained to Scheurer that the board and residents of the condominiums were intent on getting the wall finished. They planned to raise money, apply for grants, and choose an artist who could represent the essence of Reston’s urban core.

“That got me excited,” Scheurer said. “I wanted to do it and I bumped other projects for it.”

By last summer, Brehony and Scheurer, working with other residents including Brehony’s husband JP, had approved the design. It features the buildings and transportation of the town center with some of Scheurer’s trademark touches – she likes to make people think.

For example, the mural will include the number 6,750 – if you’re a student of Reston, you’ll know that was the number of planned original acres.  And a black silhouette featured prominently in the foreground of the piece should look familiar too.

“A representation of Bob Simon,” Scheurer says.

Scheurer has completed the watercolor that will be the basis for the 20 foot x 20 foot mural. Her work, when funding is complete, will be transferred to the wall by a mural painting company in Alexandria.

Kettler the developer of Midtown North, has pledged $10,000 of the total $30,000 cost. In addition, the Reston Historic Trust will accept donations for the mural through its non-profit status, making gifts tax deductible.

Earlier, the Initiative for Public Art/Reston and the Reston Town Center Association,along with several private donors, pledged about $10,000 previously. So the group is about two-thirds of the way there.

“I just can’t wait,” Brehony said. “I am so tired of living next to that blank wall.”