Artist: Jen Dixon

The Office of Arts & Culture in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation has selected Seattle artist Jen Dixon to create a permanent, site-specific artwork along the Westlake Cycle Track route.

The Westlake Cycle Track Project will build a protected bicycle lane in the Westlake corridor and provide a direct connection between the Fremont Bridge and downtown Seattle/South Lake Union. The artwork Dixon has been commissioned to create is intended to address the functional aspects of the cycle track by including elements that may contribute to way-finding, lighting, or otherwise making the space more legible for cyclists and pedestrians.  Construction on the track will begin in late 2015.

Dixon was invited from a pre-selected roster of artists to apply for the commission. She is a cross-disciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited locally and nationally. Her art discipline includes small intimate objects, drawings, prints, and books and larger public artworks that reflect the communities they are call home.

Her process is close to that of an archaeologist ­–– uncovering and discovering hidden layers and piecing together a narrative from the remains. In addition, she is committed to projects that allow art to be made accessible to the public in ways that are both subtle and unexpected.

Dixon received an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Washington, a BFA in painting and drawing from Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and studied painting and drawing at the Leo Marchutz School in Aix-en-Provence, France. She has received a number of awards including Seattle Art Museum’s Betty Bowen Memorial Special Recognition Award in 1999.

Photo credit: Jennifer Dixon, FlipBooks, 2008. LOCATION; Interurban Trail, Between North 110th Street and North 128th Street at Linden Avenue North. FUNDING SOURCE; Seattle Department of Transportation’s 1% for Art Funds. Jim Tillman Photography