Dark Star Park (artwork)

Photos by Anice Hoachlander and Elman Studio                     

Location

1655 Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA 22209

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Artwork Details

Artist: Nancy Holt
Materials: Gunite (air-placed concrete), earth, sod, gro-low sumac, willow oak, stone dust, stone masonry, asphalt, steel, water
Installed: 1984 (restored 2002)

Encompassing landscape architecture, sculpture, and astronomy, Dark Star Park by Nancy Holt (1938-2014) is among the first major examples of “integrated public art” that is inseparable from its setting and creates a total environment to be experienced. The work also refers to the area’s history. Each year, on August 1st, at 9:32a.m., actual shadows cast by the poles and spheres align with permanent forms in the shape of the shadows on the ground beneath them. The date marks the day that William Henry Ross purchased the land that later became Rosslyn.

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Funded and developed with support from National Endowment for the Arts, J.W. Kaempfer Company, Arlington County, Theodore Gould, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Marriott Corporation, Westfield Realty, Charles E. Smith Building Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation, Weissberg Development, Preston Construction Corporation, Charles and Smith Management, Geneva Associates.