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DDOT Press Release

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For Immediate Release

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Media Contacts: Rachel Dickerson, DCCAH, 202-724-5613

John Lisle, DDOT, 202-671-2004

The 800 block of Vermont Avenue, NW will be closed to traffic this weekend for an interesting public art project. Below is the original press release from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Residents and visitors are encouraged to sign up as volunteers or to come out and watch the design take shape.

THE DC COMMISSION ON THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES SELECTS STEED TAYLOR TO CREATE A ROAD TATTOO

ON 800 BLOCK OF VERMONT AVENUE, NW BETWEEN H AND I STREETS

INSTALLATION BEGINS SATURDAY JULY 24 THROUGH SUNDAY JULY 25 FROM 7AM – 7PM EACH DAY

DEDICATION: SUNDAY JULY 25 AT 1PM

As part of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s ongoing efforts to advance arts in the District of Columbia, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) selected Steed Taylor to paint a road tattoo entitled “Daughters and Sons Knot”. Mr. Taylor’s design highlights Washington DC’s relationship with war and loss by honoring metropolitan area soldiers recently killed while serving their country. The names of those soldiers’ children will be incorporated in the design. The design is a complex Celtic Knot with 6 loops, a symbolic number for harmony and alluding to the interdependence within a community as well as a family. The road tattoo is approximately 60 feet wide and 300 feet long and made with the help of local volunteers and neighbors.

A dedication ceremony will be held Sunday at 1pm after which the design’s outline will be painted by the community.

A road tattoo? If roads are considered the skin of a community, then a road has a similar relationship to the public body as skin does to the individual body, allowing roads to be marked as people mark their skin for commemoration, communication or ritual. To see an example of how a road tattoo is created please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt4RNojp5W4

Gallery plan b is coordinating the installation with Mr. Taylor. Images and additional information can be found on their website: http://www.galleryplanb.com/artists/steed-taylor/artist.html

The project will require traffic and parking restrictions along the 800 block of Vermont Avenue, NW, from 6 am Saturday, July 24 to approximately 7 pm on Sunday, July 25. Participants are encouraged to arrive via Metro (The McPherson Metro Station-Vermont Avenue exit). Limited on-street parking is nearby.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS TO HELP PAINT! Help make an incredibly meaningful public artwork for our city and be a part of DC history! For questions or more information contact Gallery Plan b at , 202-234-2711, or Steed Taylor at .

John Lisle | Public Information Officer | District Department of Transportation | Office of the Director | 2000 14th Street, NW, Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20009 | 202-671-2004/direct | 202-486-5838/cell | 202-671-0650/ fax | , e-mail | www.ddot.dc.gov