The Garfield Super Block Coalition is excited to announce the finalists for two Public Art Calls on the Super Block site: Reforesting the Central Area and Pillars of Promise.

Background

The heart of the Garfield Super Block Art Plan is the Legacy and Promise Promenade, which will feature seven artworks known as the “Pillars of Promise” to commemorate the seven cultures that established roots in the Central District[1]  prior to its official redlining. This will contribute to the creation of a unique identity for the park as a welcoming and educational place for those who live, play, and work in the area. These artworks will be created by an artist from each of the seven cultural groups; Duwamish, Black/African American, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Jewish, and Italian.

 Additionally, seven more artists from each of these communities will have the opportunity to collaborate on a single seven-sided pillar with each artist designing one side.

 Selection Process

The GSB art team prepared for the selection process by convening a cultural advisory group made up of two members from each community. Advisors helped spread the word about the GSB project and call for art within their communities and aided in the selection panel. The artist selection process included seven mini-panels to help narrow down the applicants and one full panel consisting of advisors and GSB team members to make the final artist selections.  In order to include more opportunities for artists and more voices and stories, we selected one artist from each cultural community for the solo pillars and one artist from each community to design one of the sides of the seven-sided pillar.

 The team purposefully selected a group of artists at varying stages of their careers, highlighting both established and emerging talent with ties to Garfield and Central District history.