Holladay Park at the NE 11th Ave & Holladay St. in Portland, Oregon is named after its creator, Benjamin Holladay who was “a sharpster, a con man, and a rake” according to the City of Portland Parks and Recreation Department. The park occupies an entire city block and features three cast-bronze sculptures by artist Tad Savinar and a spouting fountain (I just got caught once!) designed by designed by Tim Clemen and Murase Associates.
There is a video of the fountains here.
bird head with forks
Gear Art
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Auburn has some terrific public art and today I braved the cold rain to capture two of the best. The delightful piece is called “Gear Ball” and it is by Jenny Ellsworth. It is made of truck parts and is part of the Auburn Downtown Sculpture Gallery.
Greg Bartol and Deborah Drllevich’s Silverware Ostrich earned the People’s Choice award in 2015. It is a great piece from a car drive by, but I’m so glad I got out of the car to really take a look at it. It is made out of silverware!
More about art in Auburn can be found here. I plan to go back when the weather turn nice (hopefully soon!) and see all the other pieces!
There was a rally today (2/25) against Washington State Initiative 1552, which would “repeal critical protections for transgender Washingtonians” (Source). The news reports that there were over 2,000 people there and I readily believe that. I was delighted to see many people I know there supporting themselves and their transgendered friends and family. I started at the railing, but moved up to the sky bridge, where the view was better, though it was more difficult to hear (of course).
I was standing on the sky bridge when a young mother came out with her child who was maybe three. They walked over to see the cheering crowd and she turn to her child and said “look how many people love us!”. It was a lovely moment.
Later I found my first Tacoma Rocks Rock which I later hid. Oh and there is a photo of a flower on my table at lunch and some of the old buildings on the University of Washington Campus.
Dear husband and I were recently in West Seattle and I took the chance to check out some folk art, roadside attractions. The first stop was at 5274 44th Ave. SW, Seattle, WA and that home had some wonderful tree carvings in the front. Dear husband especially enjoyed the fairy hanging out on the chimney. The roadside attraction info can be found here. This is a private residence, but the art can readily be seen from the street.
The second stop was the nearby Walker Rock Garden at 5407 37th SW, Seattle, WA. I remember going to see this rock garden more than 20 years ago when it was open one Mother’s Day. I was so impressed. Here are some older photos from when I begged a peek. The amazing rockery was created by Milton and Florence Walker and the property has since sold. I’m not sure of any future plans, but it would be so wonderful if it was again opened up to the public on special occasions. The roadside attraction information can be found here and there is an Atlas Obscura entry, with some good photos, that can be found here. This is a private residence and not open to the public.
Today was the celebration of the Lunar New Year in Tacoma’s Lincoln District and I took the chance to snap some photos of the new signage that reflects the revitalization of the district. An article on the revitalization project can be found here. I love this district and am really looking forward to how the revitalization project proceeds. It was also a joy to see how some of the more recent immigrants are positively shaping the country.
I’ve been meaning to visit Art House Café at 111 North Tacoma Avenue in Tacoma’s Stadium District for ages. And this weekend I finally got around to it. The service was pitch perfect and the food was amazing. I had a bacon and onion stuffed bisquit with an egg on top, It didn’t look huge, but it was so rich and filling that I didn’t finish. The restaurant has charming space with featured art on the walls and an unexpected upstairs with a meeting room. Their website is here.
I read about the “Colored” art exhibit located in the Carpenters Building at 1328 Fawcett Avenue, Tacoma, on the King 5 News Website. Dear daughter, her friend and I arrived around 4, which apparently was well after it had closed for the day. When I mentioned that dear daughter was returning to college and that this was her only chance to see the exhibit, they kindly allowed us to go through. It was a great exhibit and I plan to go back and spend more time. The murals, by Chris Jordan, were painted in inverted colors. We looked at them normally and then with our iPhones set to reverse colors and the difference was amazing. Chris Jordan even spared us a moment to visit with us about his art. When I go back I’ll be sure to spend more time and to appreciate the other artists as well.
My understanding is that the exhibit has been extended to run an extra few weeks.
The exhibition space is in the Carpenters Building which had been the Carpenter’s Union Hall which was designed by McGuire and Muri, architects and was constructed in 1955. The Kiro article said “The inside ones (murals) will soon be hidden by the upcoming Carpenters hall renovation“.
#colored2017
I really admire those folks with passion and commitment to their art. This roadside attraction at 18212-18414 22nd Avenue, Tacoma (Spanaway) is an example of such personal drive. It is on a private residence with good visibility from the street. The property fronts on both 22nd Avenue (the rose) and 183rd Street Court East and my Roadside America App tells me the work is called Concrete Fantasia.
So I have this new app called Roadside America: Your Guide to Offbeat Tourism Attractions. While visiting Renton today, I turned on the app and found an Office Park Stonehenge. It is made up of five concrete block structures that are a nod to the original Stonehenge in England. This Renton Stonehenge is on a grassy knoll surrounded by a traffic circle at SW 21st St., Renton, WA. and there isn’t much information to be found on it. There was also a lovely art piece featuring a nun with bread by the entry door to the closest office building.
The gallery includes a couple of photos of the more famous Stonehenge which I visited in the Summer of 2014 with a People to People group. And there is a map of all the United States Stonehenges and there are a bunch of them!
I’m always on the lookout for quirky and today I found a Giant Pencil at 1020 West 1st Street in Centralia, Washington.
Per http://markhitstheroad.com/us/wa/centralia-giant-pencil.html “Steve Freeman created a sculpture of a 24-foot-tall pencil and installed it in front of this Centralia home which houses the Freeman Learning Center, his tutoring business.”
