Sing and Glide

"Rivers flow not past, but through us; tingling, vibrating, exciting every cell and fiber in our bodies, making them sing and glide." John Muir

Artist's Statement:
"Confluence park brings together two rivers, the South Platte and Cherry Creek.  It is also an urban park, a place where nature and city life are married; Fifteenth Street and Speer Boulevard run on either side of the park, operating as urban rivers. 

I was inspired by landscape architect William Wenk's desire to bring people down to the level of the water, to entice them to the confluence, with his design for the park.  I thought about what might draw people to the water.  I decided to employ narrative-- when we read, we want to find out what happens next.  I found this text by John Muir, the great environmentalist, and thought it spoke beautifully to the idea of rivers converging with us, that we become the river.  We are, in fact, inseparable from our environment.

I used this text over an image of a river, divided into eleven panels, to flow down the ramp that leads to the river.  The image is created using glass mosaic.  As one walks down the ramp, the image of the flowing river leads down, and the Muir text embedded in the river image helps us anticipate the wonder and joy of the river itself.

In June of 2018, I added seven large concrete "bubbles," covered with glass mosaic, at the top of the ramp.  The largest is 30" in height, and they join one another in playful groupings.  They are a place to rest and to play, to see where one might access the river, and enjoy the view from above."