07-01-2021 Howard Mag - Flipbook - Page 58
Azlon, a 35-foot kinetic art sculpture by Anthony Howe, is outside 6100 Merriweather Drive. It is his largest sculpture in North America. PHOTOS BY KIM HAIRSTON
they debuted in 2017.
Columbia arts programmers plan to expand
both festivals, Rodriguez said, while adding more
than 100 smaller and less formal events into the
mix each year.
“Columbia is no longer just the summer
concert season at Merriweather Post,” Rodriguez
said. “We’re trying to layer in different levels of
programming, from a new cultural passport for
kids to concerts that bring in hundreds of people,
instead of thousands.”
Since 2019, the 35-foot tall stainless sculpture
named “Azlon” (after Aslan the lion in C.S. Lewis’
Chronicles of Narnia books) has been towering
above 6100 Merriweather Drive and is a hit with
Columbia residents. The sculpture has curved
spokes resembling a lion’s mane that sway and
twirl in the wind. It was created by the sculptor
Anthony Howe, who designed the cauldron for
the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Other art installations are in the works for the
Merriweather District, Rodriguez said, as well as
two or three large outdoor murals.
“We’re disrupting the myth of the sleepy
58 | FALL 2021 | howardmagazine.com
suburbs,” she said.
But before any arts center can flourish, it needs
artists. That’s why the New Cultural Center also
will feature a new 147-unit apartment building.
Half the rentals are classified as affordable housing
Restaurant and bookstore
Busboys and Poets, a freestanding
building, is under construction
near Color Burst Park.
