Free celebration includes blessing, and storytelling.
Friday, June 21, 2019, Noon – 3 pm
King Street Station Plaza, 303 S. Jackson Street at the corner of 4th Avenue S., Seattle
Brings the Medicine Sundial, a temporary public sculpture intended to bring healing, recognition, and awareness of this land’s First People by activating the King Street Station Plaza, debuts on Friday, June 21. The installation, which features six, 28’ tall fir tree poles that form a semicircle and public gathering place, is created by artist and architectural designer Kimberly Corinne Deriana (Mandan/Hidatsa) in collaboration with Coast Salish carvers. Brings the Medicine Sundial is Deriana’s first major public art commission.
On the day of the installation’s debut, the summer solstice, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in collaboration with yəhaw̓, will host an afternoon of celebration and arts engagement, aligning with its goal of creating an outdoor gathering area honoring the Earth. Planned activities – all free and open to the public – include a land acknowledgement and blessing by Denise Emerson (Skokomish/ Navajo) and storytelling by Jill and Sasha LaPointe (Upper Skagit/Nooksack).
The sculpture Brings the Medicine Sundial features free-standing tripod structures forming a sundial/dais and gathering circle that honor the Earth. Six fir lodgepoles will stand on what is now King Street Station Plaza for the first time since 1855, when the Treaty of Point Elliott outlawed the construction of Indigenous structures within Seattle city limits. The logs, sustainably harvested by Skokomish foresters, illustrate a shared cultural reference central to the theme of “lifting the sky” from the inaugural exhibition at ARTS at King Street Station, yəhaw̓ (on view through Aug. 4). yəhaw̓ is inspired by the Coast Salish story of Indigenous people from many tribes coming together and using poles to hoist the sky above the Earth. The word yəhaw̓ is used across languages to communicate and to form unity in this process.
yәhaw̓ is a year-long Indigenous community-based project culminating in the inaugural exhibition at Seattle Office Of Arts & Culture’s ARTS at King Street Station from March 23 – August 4, 2019. The exhibition is accompanied by a mentorship training cohort, satellite shows, residencies, vendor opportunities and partner programs. yәhaw̓ features the work of 200+ Indigenous creatives at over 20 sites across Seattle and beyond. Curated by Tracy Rector (Choctaw/Seminole), Asia Tail (Cherokee), and Satpreet Kahlon, yәhaw̓ celebrates the depth and diversity of Indigenous art made in the Pacific Northwest. Learn more at yehawshow.com.
About the artist: Kimberly Corinne Deriana is a Mandan and Hidatsa architectural
designer and artist who specializes in sustainable, environmental, Indigenous
architecture, housing, and planning. Her design methodologies focus on
incorporating Indigenous lifestyle practices in relationship to past and
present: design for seven generations. Deriana strives to achieve exceptional
design by weaving together respect for individuality, honor for cultural
identity, and appreciation for contemporary quality, manifested in the shape
and structure of sustainable buildings and communities.
Facebook: @kimberlyderiana, @seattlearts, @yehawshow
Instagram: @kimberlycorinne, @seaofficeofarts, @yehawshow
Project Credits: Kimberly Corinne Deriana (Mandan/Hidatsa) – Artist & Designer; Rob Purser (Suquamish), Delbert Miller (Skokomish), Tina Kuckkahn-Miller (Ojibwe), Sayalts Miller (Skokomish) – Carvers; Absalom Shantz – Lead Fabricator; Christopher C. Shaw – Professional Engineer; Tracy Rector (Choctaw/Seminole), Asia Tail (Cherokee), Satpreet Kahlon – Curators; S Surface – King Street Station Program Lead, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
Free celebration includes blessing, and storytelling.
Friday, June 21, 2019, Noon – 3 pm
