Love is love is love is love: Pride in Reston, VA
I had the honor of being on the Aesthetics Committee for Reston, VA’s first ever Pride Festival, organized by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Reston, under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner (I am not at all religious but this lady is hella cool — open, real, charismatic, and pretty fiery).
I grew up in this area, and while it is diverse and mostly liberal, it’s still the suburbs. Y’all know what I mean. So, I was very pleasantly surprised to see such a celebration in the works, and to meet the diverse group that came together to make it happen. Not only is Pride a celebration of identity for the LGBTQ community — it’s a celebration that benefits the entire community.
For this project, I built & painted the rainbow love arch pictured below (had to pay homage to Haring, clearly). I also photographed the event, whose turnout exceeded our estimates by double. The vibe was all Love, baby.