The Hybla Valley Community Center will be getting a mural on its façade this summer, and residents of neighboring communities will play a big part in its development.
Plans for the mural originated in March 2023 when Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay submitted a Joint Board Matter to make the front of the community center more visually inviting. Specifically, they requested that the County Executive include $25,000 in the fiscal year 2024 budget for the commissioning of a mural to be facilitated in partnership with the Franconia District Supervisor’s office, Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS), and the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation.
Noting that the community center — formerly a membership-based tennis and fitness club — was housed in an industrial-style building with “plain and stark presentation,” Lusk said he believed the county should “step forward to make a modest investment in reskinning the Hybla Valley Community Center into a facility that is both visually welcoming and also a reflection of the community it serves.”
According to NCS spokesperson Cristin Bratt, a call for artists will be circulated within the neighborhoods surrounding the center in mid-April, and select applicants’ work will be presented to the community and voted upon in May. By the end of that month, the winning muralist will be selected, and he or she will complete the art project in mid-June, if all goes according to plan.
While the mural is predominantly planned for the community center’s façade, it potentially could wrap around the side of the building facing the Workhouse Innovation Skills Hub’s (WISH) community garden, said Lusk.
The garden itself will be getting more color this spring with the painting of a separate mural on the fence surrounding it. On April 27, community members will join local artist Eddie Harris in a related community paint day.
The Hybla Valley Community Center is located at 7950 Audubon Avenue in Alexandria.
