Rite of Spring: Spring cleaning festival in Old Town Manassas

A Spring Cleaning Day will be held in the Harris Pavilion area of Old Town Manassas on Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Exhibitors from non-profit and civic organizations will provide recycling and environmental information. The City of Manassas Trash and Recycling Department will be coordinating a Shred It truck for people to securely dispose of personal documents for free. Take items that still have a useful life but are no longer used in your household to donate such as gently used clothing and household items, eye glasses, and hearing aids to the Harris Pavilion, where representatives of several organizations will be ready to accept donations.

View Manassas Art Guild’s spring eARTh exhibit, with artists working in several mediums and displaying their work relating to themes of recycling, natural materials and the environment. MAG will also be sponsoring artist demonstrations and kids’ activities.

Other attractions throughout the day include live entertainment, face painting, and inflatables for kids to climb and slide on. Visitors can also take advantage of the sidewalk sale by Old Town merchants “spring-cleaning” their stores, and visit the Farmers Market.

In coordination with Spring Cleaning Day, Creative Brush Studios will hold an “Ode to Trash” Open House.  The exhibit will feature a combination of oil paintings of trashcans and graphite drawings of trash. The artwork will receive awards and will be judged. The oil paintings were created by Mary Reilly’s students ranging in age from 13 through adult, beginner thru advance. The drawings are by Christine Raymond’s students ages 10-17.

The intent of the paintings and drawings is to show that any subject, no matter how mundane, can be an impressive painting with the right lighting, composition and concept. The open house will include light refreshments and will be open on Friday, April 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. and on Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m.  to 7 p.m. Visitors can vote on their favorite art for the “People’s Choice” award.

For more information about Spring Cleaning Day contact Sarah McHugh at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 703-361-6599.