Seattle Waterfront Art Plan
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A WORKING PLAN FOR ART ON THE CENTRAL SEATTLE WATERFRONT 1 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4-7 I. Introduction 8-9 II. Vision 10 1. Ecology, Economy, Community 10 2. A Working Waterfront 11 3 The Waterfront as Cultural Think Tank 12 4. Site as Source 16-17 III. The Geography of the Waterfront 18 1. 360–Degree City 20 2. A Constellation of Sites 22 3. Navigation and Wayfinding 24 4. Mapping 38 IV. A Waterfront Program for Today and Tomorrow 39 1. A Framework for Administering the Cultural Vision for the Waterfront 40 2. Core Commissions 56 3. Ongoing Cultural Programming 57 - Temporary projects 58 - Talks 59 - Residency 60 - Archive and publication 62-63 V. Going Forward 64 1. City Agencies 65 2. A Future Waterfront Arts Organization and Nonprofit Cultural Partners 66 3. Other Partners 70-73 VI. Next Steps: Timeline This document is book 4 of 5 books of the Phase 1B Concept Design and Framework plan for Seattle’s Central Waterfront August 2012. Prepared for: Central Waterfront Committee, The Seattle Department of Transportation, Department of Planning and Development, and Department of Parks and Recreation Prepared by: Creative Time, Mark Dion, Eric Fredericksen, Tomato James Corner Field Operations CH2MHill, Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Inc. SHoP Architects, Mithun, Berger Partnership, Nelson/ Nygaard, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Parametrix, EnviroIssues 3 INTRODUCTION I 4 INTRODUCTION This master plan lays out a multi-pronged approach for art on the Central Seattle Waterfront. The plan considers the history of the site as a working waterfront, the physical conditions of its location along the shores of Elliott Bay, and its role as part of Seattle’s evolving urban and cultural landscape. First and foremost, this plan anchors the waterfront art program in the overall Framework Plan for Waterfront Seattle. Based on a detailed site analysis of the Central Waterfront, the Framework Plan outlines a vision that allows design and art to work together to reveal and develop the unique character and identity of this site. While the Design drafts strategies for reconnecting downtown Seattle to Elliott Bay physically, the Art Plan develops a program that will engage artists and the public in reconnecting Seattle to Elliott Bay culturally. The design and construction of the Central Waterfront will span decades, beginning with the Elliott Bay Seawall Replacement project in late 2013. The seawall will be built in phases and on a seasonal schedule over a period of three years. The viaduct demolition and Battery Street Tunnel decommissioning will follow the seawall construction, and those projects will in turn be followed by the construction of Alaskan Way and Elliott Avenue. Finally, the waterfront promenade and the various projects outlined in the Framework Plan and Concept Design reports will be built. Construction of the waterfront promenade is scheduled for completion around 2019. The construction schedule for the other projects remains undetermined. Due to the extended timeframe, it is important for the Art Plan to prepare for the coming years of phased construction on the Central Seattle Waterfront, similar to a play staged in several acts, with different sets, backdrops, and conditions. Anticipating the inevitable changes that will occur locally and globally over the next ten years, this Art Plan aims to be flexible and responsive, articulating an overall vision and program for presenting art on the waterfront over time. Although the site will change and develop year-to-year, this plan makes it possible for art to be physically and conceptually integrated into the design of each phase. The art program must evolve hand in hand with the design. The Concept Design for the waterfront outlines continuous elements that extend the length of the waterfront, ranging from the continuous waterfront promenade to the running thematic element of tidelines. The Design also identifies places along the waterfront that link it directly to adjacent and distinct neighborhoods via east-west connections. Art should address the large scale of the waterfront’s continuous elements and contribute to the understanding of narrative along the waterfront. It should draw connections between the waterfront and its adjacent neighborhoods through landmark works, projects, and events that connect a constellation of sites, and through active engagement with the public. From the physical infrastructure of the site to the ephemeral realities of the Bay itself, the Art Plan both responds to and helps define the future of the waterfront through early commissions that are part of the design process, and long-term programmatic opportunities to be executed long after design work is complete. 5 INTRODUCTION/ CONTINUED In addition to anchoring art in the geography and design of the waterfront, this plan acts as an advocate for artists of all backgrounds to be directly involved in the evolution of the waterfront. There is no site in Seattle more connected to a history of making, exchanging, and exploring than this. This plan seeks to identify existing opportunities for artist engagement, and to propose new and future possibilities for both artists and audiences. These opportunities are diverse and geographically wide-reaching, inviting artists to research and reflect on the site and ultimately facilitating the continuous involvement of artists on the waterfront over time. An articulated curatorial vision and process is key to ensuring the involvement of artists from the outset and throughout the extended period of design. This vision should run through each commission, project, and event on the site in order to establish a clear identity for the cultural program. This framework will create a legacy of artistic exchange and artist advocacy, placing art and ideas at the very core of the waterfront’s identity. The curatorial model for the waterfront will be flexible and always of its time, starting modestly and evolving in concert with the site and its resources to provide the maximum number of opportunities for the presentation and production of groundbreaking art. Lastly, this plan outlines specific projects and programs that can begin shortly after it is adopted and well before any construction has begun. These range from large-scale Core Commissions, tied directly to the infrastructure of the waterfront design, to ongoing cultural programming that addresses the conditions of the waterfront and further develops the dialog around art and artistic production as part of the waterfront’s future. These projects will be administered by city agencies, institutional partnerships, and eventually through an independent programming body on the waterfront. The key to the success of these projects is the support of not just one body, but many—the city, cultural organizations and institutions, neighborhood groups, artists, and the public at large. No successful program of this magnitude is built on one pillar. For this program and its individual parts to succeed, the Working Plan for Art on the Central Seattle Waterfront must be embraced by the people of Seattle and the artists and audiences that will work collaboratively to articulate its many experiences. Therefore, the final timeline outlines a plan of action for integrating the population of the city into the implementation of the Art Plan from the outset. In this way, we aim to make this an art program that is not simply a reflection of the waterfront, but the key element that defines its character. 6 + + to Seattle Center + + + Broad St + + + + Post Alley University St University S Main St 7 VISION II 8 VISION The Central Seattle Waterfront has long been a site of industry, exploration, and exchange. It is the place where Seattle began, and now the waterfront is poised to again be at the center of city life. As part of the larger Elliott Bay waterfront, it is a connector that links old and new, natural and manmade, and the physical with the poetic. A site of great economic, geological, ecological, and cultural complexity, the waterfront can serve as a rich resource and site for art and cultural expression. The incorporation of art will in turn encourage activity, production, and engagement, contributing to the development of new narratives about and encounters with the waterfront. As the design of the new waterfront is realized, art and culture will add layers of complexity, stimulation, and argumentation. The art team has worked closely with the design team from the outset, and through this relationship an “art intelligence” is integrated into each aspect of the design. Together, the teams’ shared goal is to ensure that art is physically integrated into the waterfront as it is redeveloped and that artists are provided with the space and infrastructure they need to produce their work. Public projects will negotiate connections between new and old on the site. Some will become landmarks, contributing to the identity, texture, and image of regions within the plan and suggesting links between these regions. Other projects will be dedicated to engaging the public in the development of a new cultural identity on the waterfront through artistic expression. The art team is committed to the idea that art does not merely respond to place, but is essential in producing a sense of place. The central goal of the design team is to reconnect the city with its waterfront. To this end, the Bay Ring has been proposed as a new center of the city and region. The Art Plan will extend these links beyond the shoreline limit and beyond the physical, creating new cultural connections between the city and the rest of the world. Waterfront Seattle is proposed not as a singular place, but instead as a series of neighborhoods that draw from and connect to the existing upland communities—those areas that are currently separated from the shoreline by the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The Art Plan considers Waterfront Seattle not strictly a design project or redevelopment, but as a process by which the city will be transformed over time, bringing together the site’s history, its present condition, and its future identity.