{"id":244614,"date":"2025-10-22T22:41:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T22:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/244614\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T22:41:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T22:41:12","slug":"falls-church-unveils-new-love-sculpture-celebrating-diversity-and-local-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/244614\/","title":{"rendered":"Falls Church unveils new \u2018LOVE\u2019 sculpture celebrating diversity and local life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity\u201d sculpture in Falls Church (staff photo by Katie Taranto)<\/p>\n

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\u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity\u201d sculpture is unveiled at 300 Park Avenue (staff photo by Katie Taranto)<\/p>\n

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Water color design on \u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity\u201d by Bill Abel features City Hall (staff photo by Katie Taranto)<\/p>\n

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Water color design on \u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity\u201d by Bill Abel features Eden Center (staff photo by Katie Taranto)<\/p>\n

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Water color design on \u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity\u201d by Bill Abel features The State Theatre (staff photo by Katie Taranto)<\/p>\n

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A sign details Falls Church\u2019s new \u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity\u201d sculpture during its October 2025 unveiling (staff photo by Katie Taranto)<\/p>\n

Virginia is for lovers, and so is a new public art installation near Falls Church City Hall.<\/p>\n

The art piece, which plays into the commonwealth\u2019s iconic slogan while promoting the Little City as \u201ca unique travel destination,\u201d consists of a set of steel letters spelling out LOVE.<\/p>\n

The mirror-like \u201cL,\u201d \u201cV\u201d and \u201cE\u201d are meant to celebrate the city\u2019s diversity by allowing viewers to see themselves in the artwork, while an illustrated letter \u201cO\u201d features some of Falls Church\u2019s cultural landmarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t simply view the art, become part of it,\u201d the city said in a statement. \u201cYour image joins a moving reflection of all who have stood here, making you an essential thread in the work of diversity and inclusivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In collaboration with the Virginia Tourism Corporation, Falls Church officials unveiled the new sculpture, titled \u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity,\u201d this morning (Wednesday) at 300 Park Avenue. It\u2019s a bustling area that includes City Hall, a community center and the grounds of the Falls Church Farmers Market.<\/p>\n

The concept for the sculpture came from Housing & Human Services Manager Ripal Patel last year as part of a design contest open to city employees. Watercolor artist Bill Abel, a former Falls Church resident, illustrated the letter \u201cO.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat came together was what I hope is, just all the love and community that I felt when I lived here,\u201d Abel, who moved in 2020, said at this morning\u2019s event. \u201cIt really held me up during some hard times, but I really found that when I left here, I missed it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new sculpture joins about 350 other art installations<\/a> across the commonwealth inspired by the \u201cVirginia is for Lovers\u201d slogan. It\u2019s the only \u201cLOVEwork\u201d to appear within the Capital Beltway.<\/p>\n

The piece cost $10,000 and was funded<\/a> by the city\u2019s 75-anniversary celebration budget in 2023. City Council selected the winning design in May after a series of lengthy discussions<\/a> to narrow down the contest\u2019s nine qualifying submissions.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Public art] sparks pride, brings people together and strengthens our local economy,\u201d Mayor Letty Hardi said today. \u201cEvery selfie, every visit and every moment shared here tells the story of a small city with a big heart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity\u201d sculpture in Falls Church (staff photo by Katie Taranto) \u201cReflection: Diversity and Inclusivity\u201d sculpture…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88,105577,10825,3,13937,13708,6808],"class_list":{"0":"post-244614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-falls-church","14":"tag-love","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-public-art","17":"tag-sculpture","18":"tag-tourism"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}