contextual considerations

While this project delivers a considerable amount of esthetic impact for a relatively modest budget, there are several contextual issues requiring some attention.  From my observations of several projects elsewhere in the city, it appears Tacoma has a collection of public artworks and park places that are suffering from some serious neglect.  To assure the work is going into places that will offer a modicum of respect and stewardship, I feel it’s important to deal with these issues up front.

The blue tree project, free, invites some comparison with the surrounding canopy, particularly as invasive conifers are pushing out the iconic Garry Oaks being highlighted here.  Given this, I would strongly urge Tacoma Metro Parks develop and implement a consistent overall strategy for preserving the Garry Oak habitat.  While there is a core volunteer group performing ongoing maintenance at the park, the scale of the issue as it relates to undergrowth and invasive species is beyond their capacities.  Therefore I would recommend Tacoma Parks provide a reset clearing throughout the park to help the Garry Oak habitat flourish.  Once that occurs, the ongoing maintenance efforts of volunteers will have a meaningful framework within which to perform their service.

The habitat restoration project, fly, offers some of the same critique, but also with the help of some built-in stewardship, an opportunity to draw more visitors to the park.  The hope is that properly cleared and framed existing meadows will provide enough enticement for a bluebird migration to the area.  This would be a most exciting development, bringing a rare species to the urban environment and another step towards the greening of the city.

The pump house poster project, flow, presents a readymade situation for community outreach on behalf of Tacoma Water.  Unfortunately, the current setting could use some basic cleaning and a paint job to provide a site that could instill some pride.  I hope Tacoma Water will take this as an opportunity to perform some basic facility maintenance prior to our installation of new artwork.

And finally, the monumental stonework along South 74^th known as flume can either be installed as a simple ‘stone on grass’ sculpture (with some consideration for routine lawn mowing) or part of a larger effort to bring in sustainable low maintenance native landscaping and pathways.  While I can’t provide the latter within the current scope of work, it may be something worth exploring or as a vision that develops over time with other resources.  I like to think about these as ‘pebbles in the pond’ sending ripples out into the surrounding community.