Volunteer Efforts

The New Dominion Women’s Club (NDWC) served as a community partner with the McLean Project of the Arts (MPA) to sponsor and coordinate the Children’s ArtWalk as part of the 11th annual MPAartfest on October 1. There were more than 100 budding artists featured in the open-air gallery walk that ranged from grades from pre-K thru middle school. Artwork included a variety of art mediums such as hand rubbings, colorful wooden tile mosaics, a fish tank, prints, paintings, and murals. NDWC works hand-in-hand with community educators and MPA and provides volunteers to create and stage the exhibit.
“The Children’s ArtWalk is spectacular. It’s a community-building event that brings people together. If you come to my office you will see some murals from past MPAartfest events that I have on display,” said John Foust, Drainesville District Supervisor.
“New Dominion Women’s Club is delighted to support MPAartfest with the Children’s ArtWalk again this year,” said club President Desi Woltman. “The teacher-selected entries placed along a tree-lined path are equivalent to a diamond in the rough. It’s heartwarming to see the joy it brings a child when they hunt for their artwork and shout out to their parents when they find their own piece of art on display.” Woltman added, “Our members have so much fun putting it together. It’s always a crowd pleaser. Kudos to Mary Ann Miller, Sherri Heile and Stephanie Arthur for doing a fantastic job.” 
MPAartfest is a juried art festival held in McLean Central Park. MPA’s Executive Director, Lori Carbonneau commented, “The Children’s ArtWalk is the fabric tying together art and community. It is a very popular aspect of our festival.”
 
Each school selects artwork based on a variety of themes. For example, Kent Gardens Elementary School art teacher Lida Saeeiean selected ten artworks from Kindergarten and Third graders. The Kindergarten theme was entitled “Home Sweet Home.”  Other school partners included Chesterbrook Elementary School, Churchill Road Elementary School, Country Day School, Franklin Sherman Elementary School, Haycock Elementary School, Langley School, Montessori School of McLean, Spring Hill Elementary School, Potomac School - lower school, Potomac School - middle school, Ridgemont Montessori School, and St. Luke School.
 

Children's Art Walk

The first Sunday in October brings the MPAartfest, an event connecting art and the community. McLean Central Park is transformed into a lively landscape of mini art galleries showcasing and offering for sale the work of adverse group of 40 juried artists.
NDWC has helped each year at MPAartfest since its inception in 2007. NDWC provided volunteers for the Children's Art Tent the first three years of artfest. Currently, NDWC collects and assembles the art for the popular Children's Art Walk.
Children from local schools, both public and private, contribute art to be displayed at the artfest. NDWC prepares the art for display at artfest. Plan now to attend MPAartfest, the first Sunday in October from 10:00am - 5:00pm in McLean Central Park.
For more information, visit www.mpaart.org/artfest.php.

Adopt A Highway

NDWC has an Adopt-A-Highway location on Westmoreland Street between Chain Bridge Road and Kirby Road. Adopt-A-Highway is an excellent way to give our time to assist in keeping our McLean community clean and beautiful. It's a great family event, too. Cleanups occur twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring.

Reading is Fundamental ​


Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is a national nonprofit organization that was started in 1956 by a former teacher. The program focuses on three key elements to promote children's literacy: reading motivation, family and community involvement, and the excitement of choosing free books to keep. RIF is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education, corporations, foundations, community organizations and individual donors. Learn more by visiting www.rif.org.  
NDWC volunteers to go to the Falls Church/McLean Children's Center on three designated days annually to read stories to the preschoolers and then help distribute new books for the children to take home. Volunteers may bring their own preschool-age children if they need to. The time commitment is about 1 1/2 hours.