Media Advisory: Installation of Public Art in Columbia Hills

Published on October 10, 2023

As part of Affordable Housing Awareness Month, the media is invited to mark the installation of Cut To The New in the lobby of the Columbia Hills residential building on Weds., Oct. 11, 2023, at 3 p.m. The project is the result of the 2023 IMPACT Arts Residency, which connected residents of two public housing communities with noted textile artist Asa Jackson to create a work of public art.

Funded by a $35,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the 2023 IMPACT Arts Residency was developed jointly by Arlington Public Art with the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (MoCA Arlington) to serve the residents of Columbia Grove and Columbia Hills, two affordable housing communities located near Columbia Pike with a diverse population of Arabic, Amharic, Spanish and English speakers. The media will be able to speak with the artist and with residents, and learn what it means to have had a hand in its creation.

The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) hosted community workshops at their Columbia Hills and Columbia Grove residences led by artist-in-residence Asa Jackson for a collaborative art-making process to produce a community quilt. The Columbia Grove Columbia Hills community quilt by Asa Jackson was initially displayed from May 31-Aug. 20, 2023, at MoCA Arlington and will now be a permanent public artwork at the Columbia Hills residential building. 

A second IMPACT program will launch in 2024. This installation is the latest among several taking place during Arlington Public Art’s yearlong 40th-anniversary observance with a series of events and activations highlighting the entire collection, including the dedication of several artworks new to the collection, of which Cut To The New is the latest.

What: Installation of “Cut To The New," a collaborative work of public art by artist Asa Jackson and residents of the Columbia Hills and Columbia Grove affordable housing communities.

Who:

• Asa Jackson, an American artist, curator and director based in Virginia
• Arlington Public Art
• Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing
• Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington

When: Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, from 3-4:30 p.m.

Where: Columbia Hills residential building lobby (1000 S Frederick St., Arlington, VA 22204)