From left -- Showing off her artistic talent in front of Copan Restaurant was artist Livingston Rodgers with “crawler” Virginia Glenn of Great Falls. Glenn already owns at least one piece by Rodgers, but looked ready to add to her collection. Photo by Andrea Worker.
See more Arts Crawl photos on Facebook.
An “Arts Crawl” around historic downtown was a perfect mid-point for Herndon Arts Week, an annual celebration that started its 2016 run with “Kids Day” at Frying Pan Park and ended appropriately with a performance by child prodigy pianist Jose Andre Montano at ArtSpace in the town.
From 5:30 p.m. until 8 (ish – since some folks didn’t want the fun to end!) shops and restaurants and even street corners became venues for painters, potters, dancers and musicians, to the delight of Herndon residents and quite a few who came from other locales to enjoy the various artistic offerings. “I’ve come to this event before,” said Sylvia Allemagne from McLean, “but I think this is the best one yet!”
PRAISE FOR THE EVENT, which saw more artists and artisans and more participation from local businesses than in years past, was echoed by many who attended, like Richard Downer and his wife Linda. “I think this is probably the first real crawl,” commented Downer, who was enjoying visiting with neighbors and friends while listening to some ukulele music at Green Lizard Cycling. It’s probably safe to take his word on the matter since Downer has been around these parts for a long time. “Before we moved to Herndon, at eleven years old I used to ride the train on the Washington and Old Dominion Line from Oakton to work as the shoeshine boy in my dad’s barbershop,” he said.
Aside from the action at The Green Lizard, which also provided space for several artisans on the sidewalk, performances took place in front of the Herndon Train Depot and inside and outside of eateries and beverage hot spots like O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub, Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern, Copan and Mediterranean Breeze. The alcove on the corner of Elden and Spring Streets became the perfect stage for several groups, sponsored by the Reston Herndon Folk Club. Town Hall even got into the act, hosting a pottery exhibit by the Arts Crawl organizer, Mercia Hobson.
Mercia and her army of volunteers have been hard at work on the Arts Crawl for the last three months, and seeing so many people out and about, enjoying the arts and “just being neighborly” made all of that effort more than worthwhile. Hobson said it was great to bring the arts “into the streets for everyone to enjoy” and to support local artists and performers.
PUT A BIG CHECKMARK in the books for the 2016 edition of Arts Crawl Herndon, but don’t stop enjoying the arts around town just because this year’s event is over. Hobson urges everyone to keep checking out the exhibits and events at ArtSpace, Herndon’s community art gallery, workshop and showcase for performers. Various classes for different age groups and interests are also available at the facility at 750 Center St. According to Hobson, the first week of November should see offerings by about 45 artists in the expanded workshop at the gallery, “just in time for your holiday shopping!” she laughed.
Visit the website at www.artspaceherndon.com for their calendar of events and more information about classes, and www.artsherndon.org to keep up to date on what Arts Herndon!, the private, non-profit organization is up to in their mission to bring access to the arts to everyone in the area.