On The Wall

Of Bricks and Beauty Murals feed the urban soul By DeNeen L. Brown

2010-07-29T22:14:00.000-04:00

Sunday, May 17, 2009
"Of Bricks and Beauty, Murals Feed the Urban Soul," by Deneen L. Brown Read it HERE*

See Community Mural by Anne Marchand in photo gallery.

Anne Marchand painted this 2002 mural on Westminster Street between S and T streets NW. The redesigned playground has become a focal point for the Shaw neighborhood.

AAV ArtCast, 20th Edition: Art and Change: Part 3: Art Murals and the Community

2009-03-16T00:23:00.012-04:00

Sharon Burton of Authentic Contemporary Art and I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday talking about murals and their effect on communities. You can listen to the ArtCast: Art and Change: Part 3: Art Murals and the Community / Interview HERE. These are some of the murals we discuss.

Prism, Metro Gateway Mural Anne Marchand 2008, acrylic on concrete, 9' 4" x 160'
18th and S. Bell Streets Arlington, VA 22202
Photo Courtesy: Crystal City BID

Building Blocks, High Up Close to Heaven, 2006 Mural, acrylic, 7' x 18'
Takoma Community Center, 300 Van Buren St., NW Washington, DC
Photo Credit: Greg Staley

AAV ArtCast, 20th Edition: Art and Change: Part 3: Art Murals and the Community

We are continuing our series called Art and Change, and today's topic is about one of the most visual art that can be seen in many neighborhoods - the art mural. To discuss how the mural concept contributes to community change and growth, I invited DC based artist, Anne Marchand to join us. Anne Marchand was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Growing up in a colorful environment of Spanish and French influences ..... Anne recently completed a 160' mural for the Crystal City Metro Gateway in 2008 and installed work on an art wall on the outside of the Hyatt Regency Crystal City. Read more HERE.

You can visit her website at http://www.annemarchand.com.

Authentic Contemporary Art
ARTCAST presented by Sharon Burton

Community, Mural Anne Marchand 2002, acrylic, 35' x 35'
DC Creates Public Art
915 Westminster Street NW, Washington, DC
Photo Credit: Greg Staley

See more of Anne Marchand's Public Art Projects at these sites:
Hyatt Art Wall
Prism Mural in Crystal City, VA
On the Wall Blog

For more information on the ArtCast series contact:
Authentic Contemporary Art
1-888-861-1395

List of Resources

Anne Marchand's Murals locations:

“Community” Mural
Westminster Playground
913 Westminster Street (Between S and T Sts. NW)
Washington, DC
Commissioned by DC Creates Public Art

“Building Blocks, High Up Close to Heaven” Mural
Takoma Community Center
300 Van Buren St., NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 576-7068
Commissioned by DC Creates Public Art / Dept. of Parks and Recreation

“Red Delicious” Mural
Eastern Market
7th St. & North Carolina Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.
Commissioned by DC Creates Public Art, Office of Property Management

“Prism” Mural
18 th and S. Bell Streets
Arlington, VA 22202
Commissioned by Crystal City BID
703-412-9434

“Ellipsis” Art Wall
Hyatt Regency at Ronald Reagan National Airport
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202 US
Commissioned by Crystal City BID 703-412-9434
Sponsors - Hyatt Regency, Concord Residences, and Gould Property Company

Anne also mentioned community resources for funding and information to develop murals in DC. Please check these resources out!

Mural Program Resources: DC Creates Public Art Program
Rachel Dickerson
DC Creates Public Art Manager
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
1371 Harvard Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 724-5613 main
(202) 727-4135 fax
http://www.dcarts.dc.gov/

Public Art Building Communities Grant
Rachel Dickerson
DC Creates Public Art Manager
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
1371 Harvard Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 724-5613 main
(202) 727-4135 fax
http://www.dcarts.dc.gov/

The DC Mural Initiative or Murals DC
Midnight Forum
Dominic Painter, Executive Director
(202) 640-2040
http://www.midnightforum.org/
contact@midnightforum.org

Albus Cavus
2451 18th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
http://www.albuscav.us/
albuscavus@gmail.com

City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center at the Thomas Eakins House
1727-29 Mt. Vernon Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130
Phone: 215.685.0750 Fax: 215.685.0757

Diego Rivera, a famous Mexican muralist summed up the importance of murals, "mural painting must help in [a person's] struggle to become a human being, and for that purpose it must live wherever it can; no place is bad for it, so long as it is permitted to fulfill its primary functions of nutrition and enlightenment" (Rivera & Wolfe, 1934, p. 13).

Hyatt Regency Art Wall

2009-03-12T13:34:00.008-04:00

HYATT ART WALL - ELLIPSIS
A Crystal City BID Installation
Artwork by Washington, DC based artist, Anne Marchand

Public Art Project by Anne Marchand
Direct UV printing to Dibond, 10' x 10'
www.annemarchand.com

Crystal City BID President Angela Fox

Washington, DC based artist, Anne Marchand

CRYSTAL CITY is a gallery and the area’s walls serve as canvases. Launched in October of 2008 (read the press release), the Art Walls project infuses color and character into the area while leading to fun, whimsical, and interesting spaces for Crystal City’s guests, residents, and employees.

Location - Hyatt Regency Crystal City - 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202
Materials - Existing works photograped by Greg Staley and printed directly on 3mm Dibond panels by Dodge Color. The ten 10' x 10' panels are mounted directly onto the exterior of the Hyatt Regency using 2x4" wood studs giving the works a floating appearance.

Works reproduced courtesy of Anne Marchand.
Axis © 2007
Portal © 2006
Around © 2007
Recollection © 2006
Consonance © 2007
Evening Star © 2005
Kindled Flame © 2006
Luminous Motion © 2006
Arcs Revelation © 2005
Space Between © 2005
Cushion of Ancient Secrets © 2007
Red Spiral © 2005

Sponsors - Hyatt Regency, Concord Residences, and Gould Property Company

Crystal City Business Improvement District
Artist website: www.annemarchand.com

More pictures HERE

Visit the artwork at his location:
Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway,
Arlington, Virginia, USA 22202
703-418-1234

Prism Art Wall in Crystal City, VA

2009-01-06T22:33:00.003-05:00

You are invited to view Crystal City BID's photo album: Prism

Mural by Anne Marchand

18th Street Gateway / "Prism" Mural / Crystal City, Virginia

2008-10-10T21:44:00.019-04:00

The Mural Environs. Prism by Anne Marchand

Looking East towards the 18th Street Underpass, pedestrians and cars enter the Crystal City, VA neighborhood and have access to Metro across the street from the "Prism" mural. The mural spans 160' of the underpass creating a colorful pedestrian walkway and drive by. The Sheraton Hotel is situated on the corner of S.Eads and 18th Streets and has a side entrance to 18 Eads Bar and Restaurant. Many thanks to the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel Management for offering their facilities to assist the artists in creating the mural.

Store to Door Container held all our work tools over the course of the month, giving us the needed space to store paint and materials on a daily basis, the container sometimes working as a portable office. Thanks to Tom Johnston and the staff for support with the mural project! You folks are the best!

Two coats of a urethane, finishes the surface of the mural and gives it a soft satin sheen that helps protect it from the elements.

Prism, 9' 4" x 160', acrylic on concrete
Washington, DC Artist Anne Marchand, www.annemarchand.com
Commissioned by the Crystal City Business Improvement District

Varnishing and Photography

2008-10-07T13:00:00.001-04:00

The last few days of varnishing and now Greg Staley has come to take photos of the mural. The team gets our fun pics as well! Anne Marchand, Jose Piedra and Michael Hammond

Le Signature

2008-10-05T21:38:00.001-04:00

Prism by Anne Marchand

Varnishing to come....

Finished Sans Varnish

2008-10-03T00:06:00.004-04:00

Sidewalk elements

2008-10-02T13:10:00.001-04:00

Mural is complete and colors are being painted on the 5' sidewalk squares.

Plumb line

2008-09-29T13:04:00.001-04:00

Adjustment to site contours. Working with assistants to plumb top edge of the mural

Stripes of Many Colors

2008-09-23T23:35:00.008-04:00

We're on schedule. Our days work is careful attention to edges. Michael Hammond, Jose Piedra and I are working on stripes.

Anne Marchand

Jose Piedra

Anne Marchand and Michael Hammond

RED DAY Team, Crystal City, VA

2008-09-20T22:16:00.000-04:00

We're at the halfway mark today. Our work schedule has been 9:30 - 5:30 daily. Since it's Saturday, we started an hour later and finished an hour earlier leaving time for the assistants to play in the evening. I'm doing inventory of how much more paint and supplies we will need. We had more visitors and great comments today.

Saturday and the team tunes in to the color RED.

Anne Marchand, Washington, DC Artist

Siobhan Gavagan

John Grunwell joins us for a day.

Eve Hennessa

A day's work on Prism Mural, Crystal city, VA.

Friday at the Prism Mural

2008-09-19T21:29:00.007-04:00

South side of the 18th Street Underpass in Crystal City, VA

Today we do finishing details on the previous days work and begin drawing panels 17, 18, and 20. The weather is cooler and the paint is drying faster. I'm happy with the middle passages of greens which creates a soft glowing luster against the light blues. - Anne Marchand

Valerie Theberge Mosaics

2008-09-19T19:36:00.003-04:00

Everyday, my team and I look across to the north side of the 18th Street Underpass in Crystal City, VA and watch the dazzling mosaics go up on the wall. Valerie Theberge's team is at it all week installing the last mosaics that adorn the wall. The mosaics are simply gorgeous! Sparkling and Radiant. The piece is called Radiance and the mirrored tiles twinkle and light up the underpass like fireflies. When the sun is low, rays of sunlight bounce off the tiles. Now that's dazzling.

The Crystal City Business Improvement District commissioned Valerie Theberge to create a mosaic mural on the 18th Street underpass outside the Crystal City Metro. The mosaic consists of individual mosaic pieces ranging from 4-9 feet in size spanning the length of the 160 foot wall. The mosaic is created from colorful glass tiles, stained glass,and mirror. Each piece is hand-cut and assembled in Valerie's studio.

Prism Mural / Crystal City, VA

2008-09-18T22:28:00.002-04:00

At the end of the day/
Today's work in progress....

Mural Audience Speaks

2008-09-18T20:00:00.009-04:00

Delightful! Lovely. It brightens up my day. I love it! Great job. This used to be such a drab walk. What kind of tape are you using? What a great idea for the underpass. It's coming along really well. Hi, love it. Who is the artist? You're kinda famous around here, aren't you? Did you have a design first? It really adds a lot of color to the space. Did you do the one across the street too? (No, that's the lovely Valerie Theberge's mosaic mural gracing the north side of the underpass.)

Thank you to all the lovely people who keep coming by with well wishes and accolades. We love you too!! - Anne Marchand and the mural team

Crystal City Metro Mural Panels by Anne Marchand

Mural In Progress

Anne Marchand and Mural Assistants

2008-09-18T17:00:00.002-04:00

One of the beauties of making a mural is the collaborative effort. President/CEO, Angela Fox and Operations Director, Rob Mandle at the Crystal City BID, are actively promoting the arts in Crystal City. I have a great team of mural assistants working with me. Michael Hammond and Jose Piedra are onboard this week and Eve Hennessa joined us today. Another wonderful aspect of making a mural is the reaction of people on the street. We have daily "visitors," folks walking and driving by, who are delighted at the impact the mural is having in their community.

Anne Marchand
Meet the Team of Mural Assistants:

Siobhan Gavagan (stay tuned)

Michael Hammond

Jose Piedra
Eve Hennessa Mural assistants, artist Jose Piedra and Michael Hammond, visual arts and murals instructor for the Midnight Forum Hip-Hop youth program in Washington DC working on the Crystal City mural.

PRISM - A Color Poem

2008-09-17T18:00:00.002-04:00

Beginning the mural, Prism, is a wonderful experience. It's thirteen feet up and down the scaffold, taping and painting the concrete panels. The colors are starting to come together like the color chords that they are. The colors sing with a second coat of paint.

Crystal City Metro Mural

2008-09-17T17:30:00.006-04:00

The Crystal City Business Improvement District commissioned Washington-based artist Anne Marchand to add a colorful mural to the Route 1 Overpass along 18th Street. The piece, titled Prism, will welcome pedestrians and cars entering and exiting the Crystal City Neighborhood along 18th Street. The mural will be painted on thirty five concrete panels sized 4 feet x 9 feet spanning the length of the 160 foot wall. The design phase of the project began in July and the fabrication is taking place in September 2008. The mural will be created in vibrant hues that reflect a theme of light and color.

Anne Marchand with President/CEO of the Crystal City BID, Angela Fox.