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.
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.