GIRASOL O'NEILL: OLD TOWN HALL
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Old Town Hall in the City of Fairfax is a historic building that is often used by the community for weddings and celebrations.While the building is under renovation, we have commissioned George Mason University’s School of Art alumnus, Girasol O’Neill, to design and lead community painting sessions for over 20 individual window panels. During the daytime, we will see a mash of iconic plants and pollinators, and a hidden figurative outline will be painted in phosphorescent paint, which will charge from sunlight and glow at night.
Main Street Side Sketches
Species Depicted: Carolina Mantis, Swamp Rose-Mallow, Blue Bells, Rufus Hummingbird
Progress Shots
Thank you to the Native American and Indigenous Alliance (NAIA) and UndocuMason for co-hosting painting sessions!
About the Artist
Girasol O’Neill is a multimedia, teacher, and human rights activist based in the DC Metro area. He graduated from George Mason University in 2022 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts and currently works as an Elementary Arts teacher with Arlington Public Schools. O'Neill's work explores presence, justice, and socio-political themes through fusing symbols and vibrant colors in whimsical, surreal compositions.
Emotional exchange between art and audiences is the core of his practice, something he refers to as “finding the heart” in each experience. He believes that finding the heart leads us to finding justice through connecting with universal human pain, hope, fear, and joy. O’Neill grew up in Northern Virginia hiding his trans identity and immigrant status for fear of retribution. Reconnecting with his Indigenous Bolivian roots has breathed new life into his individual and community art purpose.
An exhibiting artist in Offerings to the Potomac: Acknowledging Indigenous Place
Finding Our Rhythm: A Collaborative Sculpture, 2024
Girasol O’Neill
Scrapwood, air-drying clay, acrylic, found objects, wire
Finding Our Rhythm was designed for the Carter School's 2024 Conflict Resolution Youth Summit. The sculpture evokes the steady, cyclical, and grounding nature of resilience. Indigenous American folklore of celestial bodies, Turtle Island, and Jingle Dancers were the guides for the entire composition. The bodies of the Sun and Moon are locked in dance over Turtle Island, with his fan stirring the heavens as her fan stirs the seas. During the workshop, the students were tasked with piecing together the bodies without any blueprints before creating their decorations. Almost all materials were recycled/repurposed from George Mason’s Facilities Yard.
Park Side Sketches
Species Depicted: Eastern Prickly Pear, Jacob’s Ladder, varieties of Dogwood, Coral Honeysuckle, Spring Beauty, and Tulip Poplar flower+leaf and Tiger Wing Swallowtail Butterfly
