Wishing Tree and Community Mural
Wishing Trees are found in cultures around world as an object of hope and where offerings — created by writing, drawing, or otherwise communicating ones wishes onto notes, ribbons, tokens, or vows — are attached to the branches as a community project for meditation and expressing hope. In some parts of the world, they are seasonal to celebrate the spring as the weather warms and life flourishes. In other parts of the world, they are created to commemorate events. Trees are a common, universal symbol of life, strength, and longevity and are known for the ability to adapt and survive, often while making everything near them flourish.
As America celebrates the semiquincentennial, this was the perfect time to reflect on our nation’s history and ask our neighbors to write down their ideas about “What is My America” onto the tags at our events in May and June, 2026. The wishes were collected and displayed on a “wishing tree” on June 27 as part of our community mural project at the ACCA Child Development Center during the DMV Night Market event.
In cooperation with ArtLords and inspired by the Emma Lazarus poem “The New Colossus” inscribed on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty, a community mural painting took place in the parking lot at the ACCA Child Development Center on June 27 alongside the final collection of tags for our Wishing Tree. The mural was completed in about six hours by visitors of all ages our booth, volunteers from Artlords and the Mason District Arts Council, as well as local politicians, and will be displayed throughout July 2026 on the construction fencing at the site of the future Eastgate Apartment building (next to the K-Market).
Wishes for America in the next 250 years, written during an event the Mason District Governmental Center in Annandale, VA, on May 1, 2026.
Mason District Arts Council Wishing Tree tags being collected and tied to string to be wrapped around a tree at the event location.
Mary Welch Higgins hangs tags on a branch.
Mary Welch Higgins (left) initiated the Mason District Arts Council Wishing Tree project as part of the Mason Arts 250 activities and Erin Albright (right) spent six weeks collecting wishes from the community at a variety of local events.
Volunteers from the Mason District Arts Council community mural project and Wishing Tree pose after hanging the last of the wish tags gathered from mid-May to late June 2026.
Tags on the Mason District Arts Council Wishing Tree.
Photos by Jay Townsend.
(L-R) Mason District Arts Council chair, James Albright, former Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross, and Omaid Sharifi, President of ArtLords, pose at the start of the community mural project.
(L-R) Omaid Sharifi, President of ArtLords, current Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez, Devin Pharr, Chief of Staff for Supervisor Jimenez, and Mason District Arts Council chair James Albright.
Sulieman Hedayat, from ArtLords, works on the community mural.
ArtsFairfax President & CEO Stuart Holt (right), joins Mason District Arts Council chair James Albright (center), in painting.
Omaid Sharifi, President of ArtLords, a collective of self-styled "artivists" who create street art worldwide, leads the painting.
Volunteers work on the community mural for the Mason District Arts Council as part of the Mason Arts 250 series of activities to commemorate America's 250 founding anniversary.
Mason District Arts Council member Beth Baldwin painting a community mural.
Photos by Jay Townsend.
Mason District Arts Council thanks the Fairfax250 Commission for its support. Visit fxva.com/fairfax250 to explore the celebration.