You’ve seen it in Hallmark movies, heard about it in classic Christmas songs and maybe it’s hanging over a doorway in your home. But have you ever seen a 600-pound mistletoe?
The public artwork in Downtown D.C., funded by the D.C. Mayor’s office and dubbed the “National Mistletoe” is a 10-foot, steel sphere, covered in plastic greenery and flowers, decorated with ribbons and a jingle bell and suspended 30 feet in the air.
D.C.-based artist My Ly said it took a month to design and install, and involved calling in a structural engineer.
“My style of art is abstract,” she said.
While a traditional holiday mistletoe is a small bunch of sprigs with white flowers on the end, Ly said: “I took that and then I wanted something classic, something beautiful, something that’s easily recognizable. So, I made a giant mistletoe ball.”
The project is funded by a grant from the District’s Street for People program.
“We knew the Holiday Market was already really successful and a big draw, and so we wanted to make this year bigger and better,” said Nina Albert, D.C.’s deputy mayor for Planning and Economic Development.
Ly said she’s seen people walk by, kiss and keep on walking. Next year, she wants the project to break the Guinness World record for most couples kissing under a mistletoe.
“Get together, get your partner ready,” she said.
If you don’t have a partner, the Downtown BID, along with TechWorld Owner’s Association, is holding a Mistletoe Mingle in Anthem Row, the site of the installation, this Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. There will be live music, hot drinks, cocktails, Adirondack chairs and cozy fire pits.
