What I Gathered

New small print and sculptural work at the Bainbridge Island Library December 3 - 30, with an opening reception this Friday, December 3 from 5-7pm.

Raintree

More images from a busy summer of public art. Raintree is located in the stormwater runoff pond at the newly redesigned Cromwell Park in Shoreline. A collaboration between Public Works and the Parks and Recreation Department, this park was transformed from a flat grass lot to an undulating, functional and more naturalized gathering place.

Many logs were unearthed from the boggy ground during regrading, some of which remain exposed as landscaping features. This work draws influence from them, the purpose of the site, and the flow that occurs between the exchange of water there.

Dew Beads

Dew Beads, dedicated July 2010 in Shoreline's Hamlin Park.

Ivy Art at Blakely Harbor Park

Yesterday was the culmination of months of work done in Blakely Harbor Park by 7th and 8th grade students from Odyssey Middle School. They made numerous trips to the site to pull English Ivy from a site at the water's edge, test water quality and learn about the site's history.

Their teacher, Elizabeth Vroom, applied for funding from the Bainbridge Schools Foundation, the BIAHC Arts Consortium, and the Wendy Jackson Hall Memorial Mentorship Fund to add an art component to their investigations, which allowed me to come and work with her class. Over the course of three visits, students learned about site-specific and ephemeral environmental installation artwork, conceptualized their sculptural work for the site, articulated these visions in words, and created drawings and origami doves for the actual piece.

The day of building and installing was remarkable: in the rain, mud and wind, everyone worked with intention. Teams of 3 and 4 students fabricated their portion of an ivy rope, joined the parts, and suspended the results. The meandering ivy cable circumscribed the site that had been cleared of the non-native invasive, offering a surprise to passersby (including numerous classes from IslandWood) or conscientious visitors to the park. The work will be up until Sunday morning at 10am, June 6.

Wonderful photos by Larry Steagall of the Kitsap Sun can be seen in conjunction with the article by Tristan Baurick. Video footage will be available shortly at BITV.

Earth Day at Earthworks

We celebrated Earth Day on April 22 at the Herber Bayer Earthworks at Mill Creek Canyon Park. This magical event was coordinated by Cheryl dos Remedios, and featuring Paul Rucker, Mandy Greer, and Aiko Kinoshita's acornDance troupe. I had great help from Sydney Brown, Taylor Norton and Karina Nyquist, students of mine from Cornish College of the Arts. The leaf boat luminaria on the ring pond were a hit.

The City of Kent produced a lovely video commemorating this event -- see it here.