Sculpture and Expansion Progress

Marvin Oliver, a renowned artist of Quinalt heritage, is creating a welcome figure for the Salmon Bay Natural Area (SBNA) to celebrate the transformative powers of the salmon life cycle and to remind all of us of the stories, history, and creativity inherent in local indigenous cultures.

Come to our work party, 9-noon on Saturday March 13, to help prepare for the 16' sculpture and clean up the site and adjacent segments of the Burke Gilman Trail and streets. Groundswell NW and the Office of Arts & Culture (OAC) are working with the artist's engineer to coordinate the design and installation of the sculpture base.

We also recently completed an expansion of the restoration area onto The Canal property - read more in this Ballard News Tribune article.

Last fall we visited Oliver's work in progress that offered a glimpse of how the textures on the sculpture will mimic local tribal artistry. We took some great photos that can be viewed below. A variety of textures carved in the sculpture with clay and wax recall weaving techniques in textiles and basketry. Once the sculpture is fully formed, it will be moulded and cast in bronze.  Oliver will work to finish the sculpture with a bold geometric patterning on the tunic.

A glass disc depicting the salmon life cycle is oriented to face upstream, giving thanks to the juvenile salmon as they migrate out to sea while offering an aesthetic reminder for the community to protect vulnerable watersheds. Groundswell NW is working to further support the salmon life cycle theme by enhancing the shoreline habitat with native vegetated cover that will provide shade and protection as young salmon make a critical transformation from a freshwater to saltwater environment.

Groundswell NW expects the sculpture to be installed by late April and will celebrate this beautiful gift to the community with a dedication ceremony from 10-noon on May 1. We invite you to celebrate with us by giving thanks to the salmon returning to the water and welcoming them to come back next year!

Artist's Process

October Work Party

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the 12 volunteers from the community and Mars Hill Church for the time and energy you devoted to our October work party. Beautification and ecological enhancement of the neighborhood would not be possible without your contribution! The morning started off raining really hard but the amazing energy of this group kept the work enthusiastic and fun! We started the morning with litter pick up and weeding along one mile of Burke Gilman Trail near SBNA.

After weeding, we planted donated trees and prepared a planter bed to make room for the welcome figure sculpture by Seattle artist Marvin Oliver. We are getting really excited about the sculpture installation at Salmon Bay Natural Area that will unite the vision for a sense of place with ecological function.

Thimbleberry and vine maple were relocated for the sculpture. We also found some cool looking fungus growing into the plant roots! Once the sculpture is in place, the bed will be replanted with native groundcover vegetation.

THANK YOU to everyone for making urban parks and linear green links beautiful and invitational destinations for the community to enjoy. Everyone involved in planning of this event deeply appreciates your contribution!

Community & City Partnerships

Groundswell NW has established partnerships with Seattle Department of Transportation Urban Forestry (SDOT Urban Forestry) and Seattle Public Utilities Adopt-A-Street program to maintain the plant strips along one mile of Burke Gilman Trail near Salmon Bay Natural Area. The partnership across sectors integrates government and community beautification & urban forest restoration efforts and makes urban restoration accessible to the public.

Collaborating for Healthy Habitat

SDOT Urban Forestry has graciously donated the tools and resources needed to make our monitoring & restoration efforts successful. This type of synergy strengthens the mission of all groups and builds a social network that gives the Ballard community the capacity to successfully maintain green infrastructure projects. Additionally, the partnership becomes an example of public-private collaboration for green urban infrastructure maintenance. Manual removal of weeds and invasives eliminates the use of harmful pesticides and herbicides that discharge in storm drain facilities.

SDOT Urban Forestry

SDOT Urban Forestry's mission is to "maintain, protect, and expand the City's urban landscape in street right-of-ways for Seattle residents & businesses to enhance environmental restoration, beautification, and public safety." Thanks to Darren Morgan and Win Abelsen for providing the tools for our maintenance efforts. To read more about SDOT UF visit: http://www.cityofseattle.net/transportation/forestry.htm

Participate

You are invited to join the partnership to beautify the neighborhood by attending SBNA work party events. For questions about this partnership, please contact Liz Dunigan at (206) 240-3084 or Dave Boyd at (206) 498-6636.

Marvin Oliver Sculpture Progress

Seattle artist Marvin Oliveris creatinga sculpture representing a welcome figure for the Salmon Bay Natural Area along Ballard's shoreline. Folks from Groundswell NW will tour Marvin's studio this week to see sculpture progress. Stay tuned for sculpture events!

Groundswell NW, in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, commissioned the artwork to reflect local indigenous cultures and the rich tribal history of the site. Oliver, an internationally recognized artist of Quinalt heritage, proposed a welcome figure of cast bronze draped in Salish ceremonial garb and holding a large aluminum and glass disk depicting the salmon cycle.

Oliver teaches at the University of Washington and is a curator at the BurkeMuseum of Natural History and Culture. He has created numerous large-scale artworks in the Puget Sound region, as well as a sculpture for Seattle's Italian sister city, Perugia.

SPU is restoring the Salmon Bay Natural Area to improve water and upland habitat for salmon and other species and to enhance public access along the Shilshole waterway. Groundswell NW received Department of Neighborhoods matching funds to create a landscaped public access area where SPU is improving the site.

YOU keep the neighborhood a safe & inviting place to visit!

THANK YOU to Mars Hill Church who made the work party in August successful and fun!

We spent the morning removing weeds, pruning shrubs, and picking up litter. In only three hours we removed this massive amount of weeds!

Thank you to everyone. Your volunteer contributions have truly made a difference. Special thanks to volunteer RACHEL MACOR for all the wonderful pictures!