New ‘Dining’, ‘Shop’, ‘Walking Mall’ banners portend more public art on the horizon

Melissa Ichiuji is a local artist and Front Royal resident who is a founding member of the Warren County Project for the Arts (WCPA), dating to its February 2020 inception. The placement of new downtown Arts Project banners advertising dining and other business opportunities in Front Royal’s downtown, including as part of the late spring implemented weekend walking mall phenomena, gave Royal Examiner the opportunity to meet her and others involved in a growing downtown arts movement.

“We are a group of local artists, residents and some town administrators who have gotten together as a committee; we are a branch of the Architectural Review group (Board of Architectural Review, BAR) – sort of an informal committee, this is all volunteer. Our mission is to curate and facilitate public art in Front Royal, Virginia.”

Will the banner artists present please step forward and take a bow – from left, walking mall entranceway banner artist Kate Fristoe hedges at the front and center offer, as Melissa Ichiuji, interested admirer of the arts Anita, and Chris Stephens urge her forward. Below, a closer look at the absent artist Dagmara Weinberg’s work. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

Ichiuji said the group has also been working with the Façade Grant Program that is part of the State-administered Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) downtown revitalization project the Town has received to make physical improvements geared toward downtown economic revitalization of localities in the Commonwealth. As part of their work in this regard, the Arts Project group has been involved, not only in the building wall-side mural project underway, but also development of some advertising banners to coincide with the Town’s weekend closing of portions of East Main Street to vehicular traffic to facilitate a walking mall aspect to Front Royal’s Historic Downtown Business District.

That impetus began in late May to help revitalize downtown businesses, initially particularly restaurants, hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic State-mandated business closings and social distancing restrictions that while unpopular with some, have helped Virginia stay on the moderately impacted side of the national equation that has seen over 200,000 reported deaths over an eight-month period.

“So, we believe that art is a universal language that can elevate the spirit of the community and especially in this time it’s a little bit divided, it’s the one way we can elevate the town and have it come together,” Ichiuji continued, pointing to the banner we were standing under in front of Element, one of downtown Front Royal’s featured eateries. “And this is one of the ways we’re doing that as kind of a quick pick me up of Main Street since the walking mall is going to be open until November 30^th just as kind of a quick, colorful addition to liven up the street.”

At left, Joe Petty biked up to join the Warren County Project for the Arts discussion. On the Manor Line Market wall behind, an early mural effort of butterfly wings that has become a popular photo op for downtown visitors.

She noted the financial assistance of one local citizen, the semi-anonymous “Frank” acknowledged at a recent Front Royal Town Council meeting for his financial assistance in facilitating the sign and banner project.

“This was kind of pulled off pretty quickly, and Frank was kind enough to support this effort. So, without his help it would not have been expedited and maybe wouldn’t have happened. So, we’re very thankful to Frank,” Ichiuji said with a nod to the nearby and camera-shy patron of the banner project.

“Our original mandate, self-proclaimed mandate, was to upgrade the quality of the public art offerings in town,” Arts Project artist Chris Stephens added as this reporter recruited an Art Project group photo op. “We weren’t in the mural business; we were just in the review of signs and murals. And now we are about to create some murals, have funding for them, and now the signs were added as we were asked to do something for the closing of Main Street every weekend.”

Above, WC Project for the Arts walking mall signage at the East Main St./Commerce Ave. intersection. Below, at the Chester St. intersection – ‘Dine, Shop, Discover’ sounds like a worthy weekend project in Historic Downtown Front Royal.

Kate Fristoe was acknowledged as one of the involved artists in the banner project present for our start of the September 25-27 weekend look at the new banners. We asked Fristoe about her involvement.

“I got involved because my dad is one of the founders of the group. And I’m also a local artist with a little bit of experience with murals, mostly indoor murals. And I mainly do logos and graphic design. So, it just kind of happened that I became the resident committee designer for this project. And we aimed to give something really fresh and colorful and indicate there was a walking mall because it seemed not everybody knew about that. So, we wanted to make some noise and get people excited,” Fristoe said as I gathered those present for a shot under one of the “Dine Front Royal” banners at Element.

An artist noted for her work on those walking mall pole banners, not present for our Friday look at them, was Dagmara Weinberg. So, here’s a shout out to Dagmara for her stellar street pole banner work. Fristoe was cited for her work on the large “Walking Mall” banners at either end of East Main Street, as well as the sandwich boards on side street intersections as at the Chester Street barrier. Also acknowledged though not present, was committee member Mary Ellen Lynn, also a town electric department employee.

Above, a closer look at one of the border walking mall signs; below, what’s not to LOVE about the Warren County Project for the Arts efforts downtown?!?

And as that photo gathering was proceeding, Joe Petty rode up on his bike and joined the group, which acknowledged the County Zoning Administrator as a part of the Arts Project team. So, we asked Joe about his involvement with the Warren County Project for the Arts.

“I am a citizen of Warren County and Front Royal, grew up here and am passionate about fine arts. And as Chris said, we came together to bring quality art to Warren County, whether that is through murals, exhibitions; it could be music, performing arts. We just really wanted to create this mechanism for artists to come together in our community that we thought was lacking.”

Petty asserted the presence of an artists’ community in the town and county that has perhaps been more to the forefront of local culture in the past, than it has been in recent years. That led this reporter to invoke the name of late indoor and outside wall mural and Village Commons sundial sculptor Patricia Windrow, who was a forerunner in the creation of public art in Front Royal in the years before her death.

“There are great artists here, there’s been examples of it in the past,” Petty acknowledged with a nod to Windrow, “And we wanted to bring that spirit back, especially down to Main Street. We think that art provides an experience, it creates place-making and it creates community. We wanted to bring that here … and when people leave Front Royal, we want them to leave with that positive experience,” Petty observed of the Warren County Project for the Arts impetus and direction.

“We kind of got together before the COVID hit, and yea, the walking mall created an opportunity to do some things; and so did the Community Development Block Grant. And we’re trying to take advantage of that opportunity. And hopefully that will spur more excitement and murals, public art, sculptures – there’s bands out here now,” Petty noted gesturing to walking mall sites where businesses have brought live music to their doorsteps.

“It’s exciting to see new things happening that we just haven’t seen before and hopefully art can be a part of that,” Petty concluded of the Warren County Project for the Arts involvement in helping present a best face forward for this community, beginning with Front Royal’s Historic Downtown Business District and the Town’s exploration of a weekend walking mall concept.