The school’s Garden Club and a group of volunteers will be prepping the garden this weekend and the art will be installed on Monday (Dec. 19, 2011).

The art installation will be composed of metal representations of Native American berry picking baskets which will rust to a reddish-brown in the rain. Two baskets will be positioned strategically at the main path to draw visitors into the garden.

Thanks for the tip, Monica!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: green lake elementary, public art, schools

Photo courtesy Jeff Rodenburg

Tangletown resident Jeff Rodenburg has once again decked out his home with the Greenlake Christmas light display.

You can find the display of over 30,000 lights on NE 57th St, just east of Latona Ave NE. The show launched on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 and will be on every night through New Year’s Day, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

A broadcast on 102.1 FM plays in sync with the lights. The broadcast features christmas music and promos for the Green Lake Elementary School Christmas Tree Sale.

Jeff, a software developer, is a self-described “holiday lighting enthusiast.”  This is the 10th year he has lit up his home. Each year, he says, the display has improved.  “Yes, it has grown in size,” he says, “but it’s not about quantity. My goal around our display has been to maintain a simple design that fits well with our house, yard and neighborhood.”

Why does Jeff do it?  “I like the technical side of it,” he explains. “I enjoy figuring out lighting plans and being creative with decorations and music synchronization, because I’m a geek at heart.  But, mostly I do it to see the expressions on the faces of neighbors and friends who stop by, especially the little kids.”

You can read more about Jeff’s light display on his website, greenlakechristmas.com, and you can find him on twitter at @greenlakexmas. The light show is also a check-in spot on Facebook and Foursquare.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: christmas, public art

The run began at 9:21 p.m. (21:21 on the 24-hour clock) at East Green Lake Beach and ended about 20 minutes later.

A record-setting number of men and women took part in this year’s Naked Pumpkin Run. Traditionally, less than 10 runners have participated; this year, there were 21 participants.

Richard Smith, who describes himself as a veteran of naked runs, says that the Green Lake Naked Pumpkin Run is a fun tradition for the runners, “and based on the fun reactions and encouragement along the way, the folks along the way have fun with it too.”

Many thanks to Daniel Johnson, Pumpkin Runner Sergeant-at-Arms, for sharing the following interview with Josh, Pumpkin Safety Specialist:

And, thanks to Jaybee for sharing these photos from last night (photoshopped by us):

Photographs of last year’s event are available here.

The Naked Pumpkin run is, according to the the event’s website, a non-political, participatory arts event, “where like-minded people party, carve and decorate pumpkins and streak en masse with their pumpkin creations on their heads.”

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: halloween, public art, running

The “I Heart Trees!” project was meant to inspire and encourage visitors to the park to learn about the world around them. The signs, which were approved by Seattle Parks and Recreation, were met with acclaim from both park visitors and Green Lake residents.

A volunteer hangs a tree ID sign at Green Lake Park, March 6, 2011. Photo credit: Holy Outlaw.

128 tree tags were hung by the team of volunteers. Photo credit: Holy Outlaw

Just two days after a group of volunteers hung the signs, more than 100 of the 128 signs went missing. In the place of the signs, cut pieces of twine were left hanging from trees.

“I never found out what happened to any of them,” Meghan Fuller, who headed up the project, said earlier this week.

Cut twine hangs off a tree at Green Lake Park, March 8, 2011.

Recently, while walking around the northwest side of Green Lake, Garet Munger glanced up at a tree near the Go Go Ice Cream concession stand, by the Bathhouse Theatre (7312 West Green Lake Dr N).

There, hanging on the Lombardy Black Poplar that it had originally identified, was one of the signs.

Photo credit: Garet Mungar.

Could one of the missing Green Lake tree ID tags have reappeared? Or has this sign been up all along?

Garet, a frequent Green Lake walker, feels certain he would know if they sign has been there since March. He also points out that the original placement of the signs was much lower to the ground than this sign now hangs, fastened to the tree by wire.

And, according to Meghan Fuller, the signs were originally all hung with twine. Wire, she says, can damage trees.

Meghan Fuller demonstrates how to install a sign to a tree with twine, March 2011. Photo credit: Holy Outlaw.

Meghan does not know how or why the sign made its way back to the poplar, but she can confirm that it is one of the original tags that she and the group of volunteers created last spring. Megan has not made or installed any replacements, and she has no plans to do so.

“Maybe they’ll all start reappearing,” Megan says. “That would certainly be amazing.”

Update, 5 p.m. Mitch Spute, another frequent Green Lake walker, reports that this sign has been up for awhile. The last time he saw it, however, it was turned backwards.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: public art, trees

Green Lake was lit up last night (Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011).

Several hundred people participated in the Fremont Arts Council‘s 11th annual Luminata. The lantern parade celebrated the Autumnal Equinox.

Many thanks to photographer Joe Mabel for sharing his photos of the event with us.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: festival, photography, public art, sculpture

photo credit: armadilo60

Luminata, a lantern parade to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox, is returning to Green Lake Park this Thursday evening (Sept. 22, 2011).

The event, which is in its 11th year, comes our way via the Fremont Arts Council.

All are invited to participate, “no matter your age or your zip code.” Attendees should bring a lantern.

The parade will start at the Green Lake Small Craft Center, located at the southwest corner of Green Lake, at dusk (around 7 p.m.). It ends with a “special secret banquet where the Prince of Summer presides and there is music and dancing, cider, cookies and treats for everyone.”

Participants carry lanterns or blinky lights and toys. Illuminated sculptures also float on the lake.

“The Fall equinox is a wonderful time for celebrating the change of seasons ” says last year’s Luminata lead artist Leslie Zenz on the event’s yahoo group page. “Many traditions around the world recognize the last days of the productive summer are about to shift into the dark, introspective time of winter. Lanterns are a beautiful symbol of our spirit as a community that will sustain us through the cold months.”

According to a Facebook event page, The Fremont Arts Council is holding open studio hours to prepare for the parade today (Sunday, Sept. 18), 12 – 6 p.m. and Monday and Tuesday, 6-9 p.m., at the Power House (3940 Fremont Ave N).

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: festival, public art, sculpture

In May, Kerry Fowler put together a poll to gauge the community’s opinions about the N 63rd St underpass mural.

“It’s amazing that the mural at 63rd Street and Aurora lasted as long as it did without vandalism. But now it’s an eyesore and it’s time to reclaim that space for our community,” the introduction to the poll read.

Kari Boiter, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, has signed on to help with the effort and is organizing a community meeting to discuss securing funding for the refurbishment of the murals.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011 in Room 3 of the Phinney Neighborhood Association‘s Phinney Center (6532 Phinney Ave N).

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: aurora, painting, phinney, public art

You can now find the story on msnbc.com, Boing Boing, Gizmodo and The Daily What.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: humor, public art

Photo courtesy John Creed. Click to enlarge.

The sign, a parody of a Seattle Department of Planning and Development land use sign, indicates that the empty lot will be used “to construct one ground level ball pit pond containing 1,200,000 cu. ft. of rainbow plastic balls.”

“Parking for for 171 bicycles, 65 unicycles, and 13 tricycles to be provided in 2 levels within the structure,” the sign reads. “Existing ramp to be converted to one 40 ft. slide.”

A map on the sign shows a trampoline, a concessions area and a “rescue claw.”

The lot, located between Woodlawn Ave NE, NE 71st St, 5th Ave NE and NE 72nd St, has been a vacant pit for three years.

Ground breaking for a large mixed-use project, called “Green Lake Village,” is targeted for this winter, and opening is scheduled for late 2013. The development will include approximately 300 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in five stories, 50,000sf of retail space and an underground parking garage.

The commercial space will include restaurants and retailers, anchored by a 25,000sf PCC Natural Markets.

Read more about Green Lake Village here and here.

Thanks for the tips, Bob Green, John Creed, Jeb Spengler and Revolutions Espresso!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: comedy, construction, public art

The introduction to the poll reads:

It’s amazing that the mural at 63rd Street and Aurora lasted as long as it did without vandalism. But now it’s an eyesore and it’s time to reclaim that space for our community.

A small core of neighbors have come together to make plans for restoration of the walls and we’re soliciting your input. This non-binding poll will help guide us as we assemble the resources to proceed.

We also welcome your continuing participation, so if you are so inclined, you may provide your contact information. There will be more opportunities later to join in.

The anonymous poll can be accessed here, and you can see a lively community debate about the topic on PhinneyWood.com.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: painting, public art