Saturday's Festival: Public Artwork Symbolizes Strength, Courage

Local artist Tracie Griffith Tso will be bringing her 14-foot kinetic dragonfly sculpture first shown as part of the The 2022 National Cherry Blossom Festival to the Reston Multicultural Festival Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Traci Griffith Tso

The artwork will be part of the 2025 Multicultural Festival, a celebration of Reston's diversity and community spirit. Started in 2000, this annual event brings together the people of Reston to celebrate a rich medley of cultures. Presented by the Reston Community Center in partnership with Reston Town Center Association and is cohosted by BXP. This outdoor event features live music and dance and demonstrations on multiple stages, food, games and pop-up performances. A hands-on art project making dragonflies out of clothespins will accompany the dragonfly display.

Painter and ceramic artist Griffith Tso created 'Dragonfly Wishes,' a 12-foot dragonfly with a 14-foot wingspan in her North Reston backyard with wire and plumbing materials, a sculpted foam head and household items like takeout containers, a tomato cage, duct tape, wire hangers, shower rod, plastic bowls, tablecloth and more for detailing. Wings were printed then hand painted with cherry blossoms. The dragonfly's head and wings are designed to move, making it a kinetic sculpture. The public will be invited to add their wishes to the dragonfly on dragon scales during Petalpalooza.

"I like working with everyday materials. It is challenging and takes imagination to consider and present familiar objects in a different way," says Griffith Tso, the daughter of a handyman-engineer. "Home Depot is an art supply store, too."

Photo courtesy of Traci Griffith Tso

According to the artist, her design is filled with color and meaning relating to Japan, where the DC cherry trees were gifted from in 1912. She says Japan has been known as 'Dragonfly Island' and legend has it the island's shape actually depicts dragonflies.

"A red dragonfly is considered sacred and represents strength, courage and happiness and is linked with serenity and rejuvenation, much like the cherry blossoms," Griffith Tso says, "Dragonflies are also said to be formed from the shed skin of powerful dragons."

Griffith Tso is the brushpainting teacher at The Reston Community Center Lake Anne and learned this traditional artform at age 12. Lucky enough to have a biology teacher as a mother who encouraged pets and plants of all kinds, she focuses on gestural works, highlighting spontaneous flora and fauna. She sells her pottery and prints in her studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Va. and on Etsy.com. A native Californian, Griffith Tso teaches and lectures about Chinese brushpainting nationwide and specializes in spontaneous flower-bird painting. The artist and her husband reside in Reston, Va. along with her muse and workshop rabbit, Willow.

The dragonfly sculpture was created as an extension of the Art in Bloom program presented by Amazon and supported by Park West. Griffith Tso created sumi-e inspired 'Sakura+Seasons,' one of 26 Blossom sculptural chairs for Art in Bloom 2021 which is on permanent display at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center concourse level.

Saturday's Reston Multicultural Festival runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Reston Town Center with free admission.