Spotlight On The Arts Returns After Year Off Due To COVID

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Spotlight on the Arts returned Friday to the City of Fairfax, kicking off more than two weeks of arts, entertainment, and activities for the public to enjoy.

"After canceling 2020 because of COVID, being able to get the community back together and have either virtual celebrations or in-person celebrations, I think that it's very exciting that we are able to make something happen for Fairfax," said Megan DuBois, executive director of the festival and the city's cultural arts manager.

Spotlight on the Arts, which runs from April 23 through May 9, is a partnership between the City of Fairfax, local businesses, and George Mason University to highlight the artistic community and encourage cultural opportunities.

The theme of this year's festival is Art Heals.

"We're looking at what the arts bring to a community as community and how the arts heal and bring us together after a year where we were so separate and far apart," DuBois said.

The festival features in-person and virtual storytelling, concerts, theatrical performances, and presentations by local artists, including The City of Fairfax Band, Shoestring Theatre Company, Better Said Than Done, GMU's Dewberry School of Music, Fairfax Sax Quartet, and many others. A full list of events is available online.

"Picking a favorite event is like picking a favorite child for me, because I love them all," DuBois said. "But, I really am excited that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is going to park a museum in the Sherwood parking lot on May 1 and 2. That's a really cool free event for people to check out."

The exhibit will feature artwork from the museum's permanent collection, including paintings, photographs, woodblock prints, and engravings. The Sherwood Community Center is located at 3740 Old Lee Highway.

Part of the festival's mission is to encourage members of the community to show off their artistic talents by participating in festival.

This year, Spotlight On The Arts, the Fairfax Commission on the Arts, and Ace Hardware teamed up to invite residents to decorate their yards to create a Neighborhood Art Gallery.

For those who wish to express their art by singing, Spotlight is inviting people 14 and older to sign up by April 29 for the National Anthem Contest.

"We're working with the Independence Day Celebration Committee for Fairfax City residents to submit their video to be considered to sing the evening show at the Fourth of July celebration," Dubois said.

The Old Town Fairfax Business Association began adorning their shop windows Friday with lace decorations, as part of the Looking for LOVE. Sponsored by the Chesapeake Region Lace Guild, this exhibition highlights the work of local lace makers.

"Each window in old town has LOVE written out in lace tools and lace," DuBois said. "That's a really cool event that's happening throughout the duration of Spotlight."

In connection with Looking for LOVE, Allie Marguccio will deliver a virtual lecture 11 a.m., on Saturday entitled “Idrija Lace: A Family Tradition – Continued in the US.”

Spotlight On The Arts is a nonprofit organization that collects donations to fund the festival and to award scholarships to students in George Mason University's College of Visual and Performing Arts.