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Arts & Entertainment

Public Art Field Guide: Cupid's Garden

The art you walk by everyday.

It's likely the vast majority of Rosslyn pedestrians, bumbling down the Wilson-Clarendon corridor each morning on the way to work, are too focused on catching the next Metro train to stop and ponder the significance of the massive hunk of tangled stainless steel that dominates the intersection of Wilson Bouldevard, Nash Street and Oak Street. But most have surely noticed the statue, rising 24 feet tall and stretching nearly 75 feet.

Installed and dedicated in 1994, artist and sculptor Christopher Gardner is responsible for the gigantic statue, titled "Cupid's Garden," in reference to the 24 arrows that loop, twist, and bend in a shiny, metal knot. Even the brick base of the statues is shaped like an arrow, with sedum, rose, and moonbeam plants filling out the rest of the concrete island.

While the name of the statue, which was appropriately dedicated on Valentine's day, recalls arrows of love and flowers of romance, the abstract mass of metal more accurately signals the controlled chaos and swirling movement of a busy city intersection. A more cynical spectator might say it symbolizes the hysterical confusion of the haphazardly-planned convergence of several different streets.

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Local passerby Max Behlke rates the aesthetic merits of the statue as  "so-so," but said: "I just hope none of my tax dollars went to fund this strange thing." In fact, no public funds were sacrificed for the erection of "Cupid's Garden."

Mr. Gardner's looming $200,000 statue, still glaring in the summer sun 12 years later, is courtesy of real estate developer La Salle Partners, who funded the construction and installation costs in exchange for exemption from the limits of certain zoning regulations. Today's Zoning regulations require developers to offer a number of public benefits as part of their plans, and public art istallations are often one of those.

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As the summer months approach, and the weather becomes more pleasant, venture onto the city streets for some outdoor art appreciation. "Cupid's Garden" is just one example of public art in Arlington. There are many more, and a new piece of public art will be profiled each week in Clarendon-Courthouse-Rosslyn Patch, so stay tuned.

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