The focus of this installation is part of a group of temporary public art projects in Seattle, "Water Calling ”. To quote Mandy from her site:
This new work is commissioned by Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art Funds, and administered by Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, as a way to celebrate and interpret the splendor of Seattle’s urban creeks and encourage community involvement in the stewardship of our essential watersheds.
If I'm a brazen and unabashed champion of Mandy's project on this blog, it's with good reason.
People like me have come to know Mandy through her openness and invitation to join her in manifesting this project. She's offered public places as her studio, teaching young and old alike to crochet, discuss, connect, and learn. We've come to know her and her process a little better, but maybe we've also learned something about other artists or our own creativity. Most importantly, Mandy's project has built a community.
And through her work and Zoe's performance, we'll not only have a beautiful piece of art to enjoy but something to meditate on - sustainability, responsibility, and stewardship. The correlation is not lost - Mandy's work is about many things but it's also about caretaking and nurture. The flow of her project, the connection between the people involved, and a life-sustaining river flowing through woods connecting trees, ground, and sky is a beautiful metaphor.
Click on the links to read more about Water Calling and other artists involved in Seattle's summertime art installations. I'm excited about all of them, but keenly interested in John Grade's proposal for Volunteer Park, Mantle.
Addendum to Mater Matrix Mother and Medium:
I neglected to add something really important to the last post's description of the event -- Mandy's installation and Zoe's performance will be accompanied by clarinet and megaphone music, created and performed by musician/composer Morgan Henderson!
"The Performance, created by collaboration between myself, Zoe Scofield and Morgan Henderson is a hushed reflection on the subtle dynamics of the Forest embedded in the urban environment, at once organic as it is artificial. All three artists, in our own way, having responded to the quirky overgrown tranquility of Camp Long’s little pond, invite you to sit for a short time in quiet observation of the rhythms of this unusual site, heightening your focus through sound, movement, breath and site-responsive installation."
This really does just get better and better - make sure you don't miss it! This one night only performance by Zoe Scofield and Morgan Henderson will be this coming Thursday July 16th, 6:30 pm at Camp Long in West Seattle.




