Early in November I read in the local paper that the city of Connell, WA, had received a grant for some public art. The article especially caught my attention because Nick is from Connell. He and Hallie visit his mother there.
Where is Connell, you ask. It's a small town in central Washington. If you're driving from the Lewis-Clark Valley to Seattle, you might go through there, or you might not. At any rate, it is significant that such a small town re
ceived a grant in the amount of $620,584 for beautication, including $189,000 to install forged steel flowers along a walking path. The remainder of the grant -- $431,584 -- will go to beautify Main Street, including stone tables and benches. The hope is that this beautification will be interesting enough to bring travelers off the highway and into town. (All of this is my understanding of the project from the Tribune article, which I reviewed online.)So, I ment
ioned that I had read something about the public art in Connell to Hallie. She sent me pictures that Nick took last weekend when they visited there so that I could see what it's all about. She had some fun writing whimsical titles for the photos. The first photo is "Leaf Hallie Alone" while the second (right) is "Smell the Hallie."
Twirlie Girlie!
Wheat the Hal . . . . (right)
Have a nice Hallie, everyone! Hallie adds that this is not part of the public art but she spotted it in someone's yard and thought it was funny. KW
There are actually six structures in all that line a pedestrian path that parallels the freeway. Downtown Connell is quaint, but seems to be struggling. The town has progressively been painting murals on the old brick buildings, but many of those buildings are currently unoccupied. It may require more than one sit-down restaurant to lure travelers off the freeway. See another beautiful structure at www.dailyvignette.com.
ReplyDeleteYes, we do need something to lure in the travelers, and the speed traps on the highway that the local police use to raise funds for the town don't help. We actually have three, or four if you count the pizza place, sit down restaurants in town, but I agree with Hallie in that more is needed to draw people in off the highway.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit, Kathy!
I hadn't given any thought to public art until I worked for the historical society. I am one who questions whether art is enough to save our dying down towns. Lewiston and Clarkston have yet to come up with viable ideas to restore activity to Main Street.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, Hallie and Toni.
Toni has some beautiful photos of some of these sculptures on her website.
ReplyDeletehttp://dailyvignette.com/
Love the structures, but my favorite part is Hallie's poses!
ReplyDelete