The Way to Be

Mike Shaffer

2009  |  Acrylic on reclaimed wood

This abstract, curving neon green tower was one of three works by Maryland artist Mike Shaffer that were on public view in Reston Town Square Park during the “gap” exhibition organized by the Greater Reston Arts Center in collaboration with Public Art Reston and Washington Sculptors Group in June and July of 2010. The Way to Be references both “Buddhist temples” and “play equipment” and like the other two works in the exhibition was inspired by Shaffer’s childhood passion for building architectural structures with colorful blocks and Lincoln Logs. In an interview about this sculpture the artist observed, “I like its openness and the way the bright crisscrossing beams and boards are able to define the space in which the whole work resides without completely separating it from its surroundings.”

Sponsored by Greater Reston Arts Center, Public Art Reston, and Washington Sculptors Group