Artist Finishes 100 Foot Mural; Local Entrepreneurs Open 9,000 SF Beer Garden
Tysons, VA – April 26, 2016: The arrival of a new beer garden and massive mural has vitalized the area directly outside of the Greensboro Metro Station. The site is now home to a massive 100 by 20 foot mural by internationally acclaimed artist, Naturel, and the soon-to-launch Tysons Biergarten, which includes over 9,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. A public event is planned to celebrate the completion of the mural this Friday, April 29 from 6-9pm at Tysons Biergarten.
The mural design is the work of internationally acclaimed artist Lawrence Atoigue, professionally known as Naturel, who has recently produced commercial art campaigns with Mountain Dew and Hpnotiq and boasts an impressive list of celebrity clients, including LeBron James, Rihanna and Spike Lee. Naturel also lent his design to the 130 banners erected to the light poles along Route 7 as a companion piece to the mural.
“I’ve always been very inspired by Claude Monet’s ‘Water Lily’ series, as have many other artists that I admire” said Naturel of the inspiration behind his design. “I want to leave people with the notion that no matter how deep the water you may be in, you can still grow above it.”
The mural serves as the backdrop to Tysons Biergarten and its 5,000 square foot outdoor patio. The Beirgarten occupies a 4,000 square foot space formerly leased to an adult video store and features two above ground levels and a basement packed with communal bench space and string lighting, similar to a German brewhaus.
The two projects are part of an greater placemaking effort on behalf of Tysons Partnership to work with local developers to activate transitional spaces across Tysons. The Greensboro site represents the intersection between three privately owned properties.
The owners of the Biergarten, Matt Rofogaran and Paymon Hadijesmaeiloo, secured a two-year lease agreement with property owner NV Commercial, which has plans to redevelop the site at the end of the term.
“It’s always been my dream to open a beer garden in my hometown,” said Matt Rofogaran. “We built Tysons Biergarten to be a community destination that offers something for everyone.”
The mural adorns a wall owned by Beacon Capital Partners, and is the foundation for several large Beacon properties, including the Booz Allen Hamilton headquarters.
“Beacon is very optimistic about the Tysons market, and we are proud to support dynamic placemaking here,” said Shane McLaughlin, asset manager of Beacon properties in Tysons.
Collaboration on placemaking projects among competing property owners is rare, however, the mural project was funded equally among Beacon, The Meridian Group, and NV Commercial. Each firm holds a seat on the Tysons Partnership board, which is active in placemaking initiative across Tysons.
“This mural on a concrete canvas is a tremendous example of collaboration for the common good,” said Michael Caplin, President of Tysons Partnership. “The water lily is a symbol of rebirth and transformation, which makes it a perfect metaphor for the beauty and vitality brought to this site by the mural and Tysons Biergarten.”
The mural was produced by Art Whino Gallery Executive Director, Shane Pomajambo, whose resume includes production of over 140 murals nationwide, including 80 in Richmond alone as the organizer of the Richmond Mural Project. In addition to curating Naturel for the Tysons mural, Pomajambo created Blind Whino, a 501(c)(3) Non-profit Arts Club and Event Space located in the Southwest Corridor of Washington DC recently named by The Washingtonian as one of “The 9 Coolest Places to Instagram in DC.”
“I am a big advocate of bringing art to the D.C. Metro region as part of my mission to cultivate the scene for this genre of art,” said Pomajambo. “D.C. has gone through an arts renaissance in the last five years; I’m thrilled to help spread the movement into Tysons.”
TYSONS LUXURY LILIES MURAL RECEPTION
This Friday, April 29 from 6-9pm Tysons Biergarten, along with co-hosts Tysons Partnership and Art Whino will host “Tysons Luxury Lilies Mural Reception” to celebrate the completion of a massive 100 x 20 foot mural by Naturel and the opening of Tysons Biergarten.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lawrence Atoigue, professionally known as Naturel, is an illustrative based artist who’s quickly emerging in today’s postmodern scene. His futuristic illustrations have successfully blended methods of Pop and Cubism with a Surrealist vision. Considered an influencer himself with tens of thousands of Instagram fans, his talents have attracted the eyes and support of celebrity clients such as Rihanna, LeBron James, Spike Lee, Swizz Beatz and countless others. Born and raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Naturel’s work is deeply rooted within today’s urban millennial community. After studying Graphic Design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, he began a career as a Designer and Art Director for several notable fashion brands.
Moving forward after 10 years of industry work, Naturel’s craft evolved into the highly sought after fine art paintings and prints that followers are mostly familiar with today. Selling out his debut solo show at Poppington Art Gallery in New York, Naturel began to exhibit his work to much fanfare at galleries from Miami to London. Shortly after his New York exhibition, the artist began painting murals at several invitational festivals such as Pangea Seed’s “Seawalls” in Miami and Cozumel, Mexico, and the popular PowWow! Hawaii. Naturel’s countless collaborative projects with brands like Crooks & Castles, Nike, Pepsi, Fiat and others, have all seamlessly brought together his foundation as a designer with his recently mastered fine artistry to make for exciting and successful campaigns and products. More information: www.allburgundy.com
MORE QUOTES FROM THE ARTIST
“This massive mural will be the first major project that I will have done in my hometown. I’ve been blessed enough to have worked on an array of artistic endeavors throughout the world, each time I tried my best to represent myself, my family, and my hometown,” said Naturel. “This will be the first time I get to bring all those experiences home and show all my folks from here the possibilities of turning your aspirations into your livelihood.”
ABOUT TYSONS PARTNERSHIP
Tysons Partnership is the association of business and community leaders working with County Government to redevelop Tysons as a walkable, mixed-use, transit-oriented modern city. For more information, including a full list of upcoming events in Tysons, please visit: www.tysonspartnership.org.
ABOUT ART WHINO
Art Whino is a DC based art gallery whose mission is to bring together the pioneers and freshest talent from around the world. With over 1200 artists in the Art Whino arsenal, ranging from California to New York, Germany to Japan and beyond, Art Whino has become an all encompassing force in the art world. Exhibitions cover the whole spectrum of new art forms ranging from emerging stencil and wheat pasting artists to showcasing the most skilled leaders of the lowbrow movement. For more information, please visit: www.artwhino.com.
Contact:
Drew Sunderland
drew@tysonspartnership.org
703.559.2552