Reston Station, one of the biggest mixed-use developments along the Silver Line in Northern Virginia, is upping its public arts game — and that includes a huge aquarium filled with sharks. Not real ones though.
Reston Station developer Comstock Holdings Company recently installed a SiliconCore LED digital screen at the center of Reston Metro Plaza. In addition to the 3D aquarium, it displays Google Doodles digital art, cityscape and landscape flyovers and commuter information, as well as advertising.
The screen is 56 feet wide and 31 feet tall. The videos and ads run in a 20-minute loop.
It will also serve as an outdoor theater for movies and concert performances this spring and summer.
It is one of several new public art displays at Reston Station.
On Feb. 1, Comstock unveiled one of Virginia’s LOVEworks installations at 1900 Reston Metro Plaza, part of Virginia’s decades-old “Virginia is for Lovers” tourism campaign. It is one of more than 250 LOVE installations across Virginia.
The 7,700-pound LOVE installation was designed by artist Dylan Myers of Dylan Myers Design in Elkridge, Maryland.
There are also now two large sculptures from Italian figurative sculptor Lorenzo Quinn, two Party Animal sculptures that were part of first lady Laura Bush and D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams’ public art project in 2002, and two panda sculptures that were part of the D.C. Commission of the Arts and Humanities citywide art project in 2004, based on the popularity of pandas at the National Zoo.
The pandas are at the entrance to Reston Metro Plaza.
“Comstock believes the inclusion of art in development projects serves the common good in a manner that enhances architectural designs, landscaping and streetscapes,” said Comstock CEO Christopher Clemente.
The ongoing Reston Station development covers more than 45 acres by the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station. There are several residential buildings either completed or under construction, with two hotels in the works.
Restaurants include Founding Farmers, Matchbox and Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse.
Consulting form ICF International will relocate its headquarters, and about 1,000 employees to a Comstock Holdings building at 1902 Reston Metro Plaza, an eight-story office building scheduled to be completed in 2022.
