“Vessels”

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Title: “Let’s go make these salads! Let’s make some dressings!” Two of the 18 individual cast iron “Vessels”
Photo Credit: Nicole Kistler
Lead Artist(s):

Description:

“Vessels” is comprised of 18 individual cast iron sculptures in eight groupings along the main path that runs through the Beacon Food Forest, located on the lidded Beacon Hill reservoir. The Beacon Food Forest is a seven-acre community garden mimicking a woodland ecosystem using edible plants on Beacon Hill in Seattle. Located on Seattle Public Utilities land, food in the edible forest section of the project is available freely to those visiting the park. The goal of the Beacon Food Forest’s stakeholders is to design, plant and grow an edible urban forest garden that inspires the community to gather together, grow food and rehabilitate the local ecosystem.

Nicole Kistler created a three-part program for this project. She began with a series of audio interviews and collected volunteers’ food stories and traditions which she edited into an 8-minute audio piece. She used snippets of those stories and quotes and embedded them into a series of 18, cast-iron sculptures.

Nicole was inspired by contemplating vessels in their many iterations: “The reservoir as a vessel holding water, vessels holding food. Blueberries, tomatoes and pomegranates are fruits that hold seeds. Seeds hold DNA. Mushrooms are containers that hold spores. We are vessels that hold stories. Like cookware, they will rust and weather with time and eventually decay.”

Nicole Kistler was Artist-in-Residence for Urban Agriculture, working with Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle Parks and Recreation to develop an art plan for urban farming.

PROJECT LOCATION

Garden
Park
Public Space
Trail
Outdoor - 18 individual sculptures in eight groupings along the main path between the bus stop on 15th to the toolshed at the top of the hill in the Beacon Food Forest.
The Beacon Food Forest is located at the Beacon Reservoir/Jefferson Park at 16th Avenue South
15th Ave S & S Dakota Street
Seattle, WA 98108
United States

click the map to enlarge
PROJECT TEAM

Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, funding from Seattle Public Utilities1% for Art funds
Seattle Office of Arts & Culture
2 Ravens Studio
Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods P-Patch program and Seattle Parks and Recreation
PROJECT DETAILS

Permanent
$170,000
Percent-for-Art
Landscape, Metalwork, Sculpture, Site integrated landscape architectural work
Landscape/Envirnomental Art, Metal, Sound
See above
2017
2018