“I can’t wait to see people of all different ages and backgrounds gathering for public art,” said Souza, a Shirlington resident. “I don’t think we do this enough in our society, where we can gather and look at something that we’re experiencing together.”
Then, around 9:30 a.m., as the sun shone and the wind blew, the crowd at the park in Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood watched the perfect shadow dance that comes each year as it has for almost 40 years.
“Wow, there it is,” said a voice from the crowd quietly. The crowd looked in silence, seizing the moment as the shadows aligned with the forms on the ground.
Dark Star Park, which sits just west of D.C. near North Lynn Street and Fort Myer Drive, was designed by Nancy Holt, a member of the earth, land, and conceptual art movements, according to the Holt/Smithson Foundation. The park was commissioned in 1979 and finalized in 1984. Holt worked with an astrophysicist to ensure that the shadows cast by the concrete spheres and the steel poles align with the shadow patterns on the ground once a year.
Dark Star Park Day commemorates the day William Henry Ross acquired the land that became Rosslyn on Aug. 1, 1860.
The display consists of two areas, a shadow and sunny side. The shady side sits near an office building, with two reflecting pools, a tunnel and a large tree. The sunny side is positioned in a traffic oasis, where the solar event takes place.
Souza was inspired to attend the solar event while on a bike tour hosted by Arlington Public Art.
“They did a tour all around the neighborhood looking at public art, and I got to learn so much about the history of the neighborhood I’ve lived in for six years. They told us about Dark Star Park, and I told myself I have to come, it’s my birthday,” Souza said, smiling.
During the event an attendant asked if there were any birthdays in the crowd. Immediately hands went up, one of them Kayleigh Hasson, 23, who lives in Rosslyn.
“I was looking for community events to do in the middle of the week and something I could take my dog to. I got the Rosslyn newsletter and thought this would be a fun thing to go to,” Hasson said, standing alongside her dog lying in the grass.
Angela Anderson Adams, director of Arlington Public Art, enjoys witnessing the community’s pride and commitment to the park. While sitting under a tree, Adams said Arlington Public Art doesn’t headline every event, but the community has taken Dark Star Park Day as its own holiday.
“What is special to me about this is it reflects Nancy’s commitment, having spent five years building and planning. She really created something that has meaning for the community,” Adams said as a little girl dipped her finger in the pool, of the park’s the shady side.
Bhavana Nancherla, 43, sat on the concrete watching their children tour the area. The family traveled from Brooklyn to visit family in Rosslyn. While here, Nancherla found a fun outing the family could enjoy.
“I heard there was an event happening and it sounded cool that there was something that only happened once a year, and I wanted to see what it was,” Nancherla said.
Nancherla’s 5-year-old daughter, Amar, wearing a rainbow-striped dress and a sequined headband, ran around the park gazing at the massive spheres. Sitting together, Nancherla asked if she had fun.
Amar shouted, “Yeah, they were so big!”
She went on to describe the shadow alignment with glee.
“They made shadows, which made some of the shadow parts disappear, which was so cool.”
Amar couldn’t resist gazing at the gigantic spheres before leaving. She stood in front of the sphere smiling, holding a stuffed animal to her chest after a morning in Dark Star Park.