pillow field in white center: beauty & challenge

4Culture is pleased to announce the newest earthwork in the King County Public Art collection, Pillow Field by Cao|Perrot Studio (Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot).  227 earthen mounds, representing the cultural diversity of White Center, are covered by creeping thyme which will blanket the 16,000 square foot site with pink blossoms from late spring to late summer.  A generous central staircase and ADA accessible ramp frame the sculpted quadrants of earthwork and replace the former rough terrain and steep slope. Pillow Field celebrates the newly completed pedestrian connector between the Greenbridge mixed-income housing development and the White Center Central Business District.  This improved pedestrian corridor along SW 98th Street already sees heavy use from the community, from high school athletic training to elders enjoying their daily stroll.  Pillow Field is part of King County’s successful community collaboration, begun in 2005, to create a safe and welcoming pedestrian passageway along SW 98th Street.

Vandalism

Though many residents are enjoying the benefits of the new pedestrian corridor, vandalism has caused King County to close portions of the site for safety reasons. Vandals stole the stainless steel hand-railing and cut the electrical service to the pathway lights. The corridor’s central stairway is unsafe without these amenities and so is currently blocked off awaiting repairs, though the ADA ramp remains open. Portions of the artwork have also been repeatedly vandalized with graffiti. 4Culture has been working with the artist to address this issue.

As stewards of the County’s public art collection, 4Culture works hard to commission artwork that enriches the built environment throughout the county. The partnership that helped to build Pillow Field came together to ensure that this underserved area would benefit from King County initiatives that promote Equity and Social Justice, walkable neighborhoods, increased health and enhanced community.

Art in the Environment

From our work at Harborview Medical Center we know what an important role environment can play in health, and how including artwork in the environment can positively impact the psychological and physical well-being of residents. That important collection site has also helped us learn about maintaining artwork that is exposed to heavy use and occasional abuse. With an increased focus on equity and social justice in our public art practice, we have begun to think about viewing all of our sites through the Harborview lens: Is this a healing environment? Does this site promote the well-being of the community in which is located? How can we create meaning, bring beauty and add value and health to this particular place and the people who use it every day?

What do we do?

Pillow Field demonstrates that success can happen in steps. The 98th Street intervention was desired and achieved by input and support from the community as well as a powerful coalition of government and community resources. The artwork clearly transformed the site, adding ease, beauty, connection and an enhanced sense of place to the neighborhood. Within days high school athletes were running the switchback ramp as part of their training and many citizens were expressing their appreciation through both feedback and everyday use.

The vandalism is occurring because we live in difficult times and because, for the very reasons the project was built, the neighborhood has been hit hard by the times. So we take a few steps back, paint out the graffiti, replace the handrails more securely, reconnect the lights. We work with law enforcement and enlist the power of the community through neighborhood watch programming to decrease opportunity for damage. Over the coming months and years Andy Cao’s earthwork landscape will fill out; the thyme will blossom, and a method will emerge that will allow the site to be respected and celebrated. Hopefully, Pillow Field‘s abundance will be reflected in the community that surrounds it.

King County Executive Dow Constantine first supported funding for the 98th Street Corridor as a member of the County Council. Under his leadership as Executive the County is embracing the Equity and Social Justice Initiative and the  promotion of healthy living. 4Culture would like to acknowledge the role that County and coalition support has played in improving the quality of life in White Center. White Center hosts a community blog that has coverage of the artwork site.

© Andy Cao, Pillow Field, 2010 Photos by Stephen Jerrome
© Akio Takamori, LOVE, Ceramic, 2008, Public Art Collection at Harborview Medical Center, Photo by Peter de Lory