Along with the three new weeping
cherry trees that were planted, the community celebrated the
dedication of the Rainier Vista Story Tree. This public sculpture
was created by the Iron Monkey Arts Collaborative through a grant
from the Black Rock Arts Foundation.
The
backrest panels of the bench at the base of the tree tell the
story of the
adjacent community whirligig created by several Asa Mercer Middle
School students. The students worked with SouthEast Effect
Development (SEED) and poet Anna Bolint, to create a modern-day
folk tale about a family who lived in the neighbor-hood. The
students then worked with artists Mary Coss and Carl Smool to
create the metal whirligig sculpture that illustrates the story.
The story itself, called
"Trouble in the Air," is about two youngsters who are alone at home when a
big storm hits their house. The Asa Mercer Middle School
students who worked on the project included Claudette Bongato,
Lizbeth Pascual, Evelyn Gumiran, Brian Chin, Irene Chin, Brianna
Marie Peeler, Darius Hooks, Kevin Van, Gizelle Arbea, Angelina
Dang, and Guinto Gando.
The
story tree was originally created as a temporary
installation at the Burning Man Arts Festival in the Nevada
Desert in 2007. Through collaboration with Ignition
Northwest and Iron Monkey Arts Collaborative and Black Rock
Arts Foundation, the tree was brought home to Rainier Vista and permanently installed.
Then the bench
was modified to tell the story illustrated nearby with the
whirligig.
The Iron Monkey Arts Collaborative is a group of volunteer artists who contribute time to
community projects. Some of the collaborative members are
pictured at left. They include
Stuart Updegrave, Tabasco Mills, Julie
Vithoulkas, Brian Retford, Jannette Wise, Tony Moulton, Karla
Schultz, and Kay Morrison.
SEATTLE—April
24, 2008—About 70 residents and community members gathered on
April 24 to plant some new trees and dedicate a tree sculpture that
is part of the public art installation at Rainier Vista Park.