Introduction

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents Forecast, an exhibition of new work by twenty-two artists.

Tephra ICA at Signature, located at the Signature apartment building in Reston, VA, is an innovative satellite gallery space that presents a year-round schedule of exhibitions featuring work by local and regional artists as selected by Tephra ICA curatorial staff.

Visitors are welcome Tuesday–Saturday, 11am–5pm.

Tephra ICA at Signature is provided in partnership with Boston Properties and Bozzuto, and generously sponsored by Reston Community Center.

Installation Views

Installation Views Thumbnails

Forecast presents twenty-two image and text works that speak to our collective futures. Far from a singular vision, these predictions span the range from willing the utopic into existence to raising the alarm bells about what may be to come. From Asha Santee’s vision of a black queer woman as president, to Laure Drogoul’s cryptic, “Yes.. No..Goodbye..”, or Nina Q. Allen’s plea “I want you to live…don’t sink in sadness” these forecasts are unapologetically emotional. These predictions, or “Buoyant Oracles” as they came to be known, were created by a cohort of female-identifying artists responding to Sue Wrbican’s public sculpture Buoyant Force, which is located in Reston Town Square Park in Reston, Virginia.

Special funding for Forecast is provided by the GLB Memorial Fund for the Arts.

Forecast is an extension of Boyant Oracle, a playful interactive feature activated by scanning a QR code that provides the opportunity to chat with Buoyant Force and receive a reading of paired poetry and images. Created by the Playful City Lab at American University in collaboration with Sue Wrbican and Tephra ICA, the installation features an evolving cast of guest oracles and narratives. Read more here.

Artwork from Forecast by Kat Thompson

Featured Artists:

Rahne Alexander
Nina Q. Allen
Laure Drogoul
Cheryl Edwards
Heloisa Escudero
Maggie Gourlay
Mira Hecht
Kay Hwang
Veronica Jackson
Isabel Manalo
Zia Palmer
Judith Pratt
Asha Santee
Kat Thompson
Jessica Valoris
Naoko Wowsugi
Jessica Kallista
Maria Karametou
Ceci Cole McInturff
Meeting Ground (Susan Main and MJ Neuberg)
Lisa Rosenstein
Nicole Salimbene

Artwork from Forecast by Lisa Rosenstein

Forecast is presented in partnership with Mason Exhibitions from George Mason University. A concurrent exhibition, Cast/Recast, is currently on view at Mason Exhibitions Arlington located at 3601 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA through December 3. Cast/Recast is a group exhibition of photography, video, sculpture, painting, site-specific installation, and live performative work for select programs. Curated by Alissa Maru in collaboration with Hannah Barco and Sue Wrbican.

Selected Works

Selected Works Thumbnails