The Mural:
The George Washington Mural will feature the life and legacy of Washington in and around Virginia The mural will be on a fence that is 10 feet tall and will span 1,200 feet in length. The mural will be painted in a full-sized scale. Whether viewed from a boat on the river or only a few feet away, many of the people, horses, carriages, trees, cannons and architecture will appear to be life size. These images are sure to pique the interest of those about to explore Alexandria, and make those visiting the mural site feel as if they could step into history.
The George Washington Mural will consist of twelve scenes of Washington's life, and a Trompe L'oeil section called "The Legacy of Washington."
Eight of the twelve scenes will focus on Virginia sites, and all of the scenes are each themselves a National Park site within a day's drive of Alexandria.
12 Mural Scenes:
A few of the mural’s scenes are of particular local interest to Alexandria and the DC metro communities:
- Surveying for the canals around Great Falls, VA (see painted model at bottom of this page)
- The Washington carriage near Gadsby's Tavern with Christs Church in the distance (see model painted below)
- Washington's life as a farmer at Mount Vernon -learn how YOU can participate in painting this scene!
- The masonic ceremony before the laying of the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.
NEW: Frequent visitor? Skip this text and see our latest mural photos by clicking [here] -enjoy!
Note: these are extra-large image files and may take a minute to load, so please be patient.
Trompe L'oeil Section:
The north-most section of the mural will show a collection of giant-scale “Trompe L’oeil” items. These will be 3-dimensional illusions of objects that have featured Washington’s image through the years. There will be items such as vintage postage stamps, political items, postcards, medals, and U.S. currency. The twist is the scale, these items are giant-sized. This section is expected to be a favorite, especially with children as they walk up and are surprised that a stamp the same size they are. This section will also incorporate images of other Alexandria Washington-related sites that took place outside of the abreviated Washington story we are telling such as: the George Washington National Masonic Memorial, the Carlyle House, the Apothecary and Friendship Firehouse. Please see our community page for links to these great sites.
Below: Trompe Loeil items in the studip from "The Legacy of Washington" section, see right for photos of the work as installed on site.
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How did we start such a large project? The original computer sketches of the project are here. Two of the earliest painted maquettes, 8 feet wide below:
Painted maquette for Alexandria, Virginia 1792: Cameron Street at Royal Street looking west towards Christs Church.
Painted maquetteWashington and Fairfax at Great Falls, VA
1749
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