Date: 2021

Location: Spring District Park, Bellevue, Washington

Media: Unique cast bronze, copper-nickel column

Components: Columnar sculpture with 200 related bronze flower inlays in pavement

Dimensions: Sculpture: 13’ x 3’ x 2’; Plaza inlay: 3’ wide x 250’ long

Commissioned by: Wright Runstad & Company for Spring District Park, Bellevue, Washington

Primavera depicts a magical flowered scarf swirling around a column topped with a sculpture of the sun. 200 Spring flowers “flow” from the scarf onto the richly textured aggregate concrete ground plane, illustrating dozens of different seasonal blossoms, and creating a pathway of blooms running hundreds of feet across the park plaza.

Location: Spokane Community College

Date: 2020

Media: Unique cast bronze, Copper nickel pipe, Enamel pigment

Components: Columnar sculpture installed in small raindrop-shaped plaza featuring 39 bronze ‘water drops’ embedded in the ground plane

Dimensions: Sculpture: 148” x 50” x 52”; water drops each 2” x 3” x .25”

Commissioned by: Washington State Art in Public Places Project and the Spokane Community College

‘Forty Feet Down’ refers to the distance below grade of water connected to the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer at this particular site. The ten trillion gallon aquifer rests below the City of Spokane and the surrounding region. The adjacent, recently constructed addition to Spokane Community College’s “Old Main” building uses water from the aquifer for a geothermal heating and cooling system, returning the water to the aquifer unchanged after it passes through the system. This sculpture is our tribute to the precious water resource, illustrating ‘water’ sprays bursting from the top of an aged and textured pipe. Bronze Water drops are scattered across a small raindrop-shaped concrete plaza surrounding the sculpture.

Date: 2017

Commissioned by: Washington State University

In collaboration with GGLO Architects, Seattle WA. 

EAST AND WEST ENTRY PANELS

Dimensions: 80” x 24” x 1.5”

Medium: flame-cut steel

In consultation with Nakia Williamson-Cloud, Nez Perce historian and linguist

The East Entrance to the Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center at WSU is used mainly by pedestrians, and the West Entrance by people arriving in vehicles. At both entrances, visitors are greeted by tall, heavy steel panels themed on Nez Perce culture and mythology. 

EYES OF THE ELDERS

Media: cast bronze

A reverence for elders—both human and animal—is fundamental to the beliefs and practices of traditional cultures. Since animals arrived before people, the Nez Perce count them as elders and teachers, looking to them for the lessons of life. The Eyes of the Elders is a collection of bronze eyes traveling across the floor of the Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center, representing animals from Nez Perce mythology and human beings who have spent their own lives in service to humanity. The installation begins just inside the East Entrance of the building, with a wall-mounted cast bronze Cornhusk bag, patterned after a traditional Nez Perce design. The eye of Coyote, the trickster hero-villain of Nez Perce mythology, emerges from the bag. Nearby, on the floor, a trail of 66 single eyes lead visitors down a ramp and around the perimeter of the great hall to the exterior door that leads to the Meditation Pavilion. 

SACRED EARTH CIRCLE

Dimensions: 42” diameter x 1.50” h

Medium: unique cast bronze

The Meditation Chamber is a small Corten steel-clad building constructed alongside the Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center designed by GGLO Architects, Seattle. The skylit space functions as a retreat for reflection and contemplation. GGLO designed the Chamber to include a well in the center, into which was placed earth from a site sacred to the Nez Perce and covered with glass. Surrounding the well is a bronze floor sculpture referencing traditional Nez Perce beadwork, especially as it appears on cradleboards made by women for their infants. 

THE HESUTIN WATERFALL

Date: 2017

Media: Unique cast bronze, concrete stain

Dimensions:  15’ x 10’ x 15" 

Commissioned by: Washington State University

In collaboration with: GGLO Architecture, Seattle

The Hesutin Waterfall greets visitors to the main entrance of the Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center. GGLO Architects in Seattle designed the extraordinary building, which was constructed at the main entrance to the Washington State University campus in Pullman. The installation draws attention to the difficult legacy of land appropriation from native populations. The large black circle on the wall represents the original amount of territory controlled by the Nez Perce in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The round opening in the wall above the water feature represents the land promised in the Treaty of 1855. The 6” circle at the top of the water feature represents the greatly reduced amount of land the tribe received in the subsequent Treaty of 1863.

The water feature is comprised of dozens of unique bronze castings, welded and fitted together to form a 100” tall watercourse, flanked by bronze ‘basalt’ columns, and scaled by five endangered Lamprey fish. A coordinating unique cast bronze grating was created by the artists for the base of the water feature. 

Date: 2016

Media: Unique cast bronze, plate stainless steel, metal stains

Dimensions: Tree, 11’ x 37’ x 4” and Branch, 3’ x 42’ x 4”

Commissioned by: Washington State Arts Commission Art in Public Places Program and the Selah School District

Visitors to the Athletic complex of a new middle school are greeted by an 11’ x 17’ wall-mounted stainless steel apple tree, blown sideways and streaming cast bronze leaves and high-relief golden apples down nearly forty feet of an interior hallway. Students entering by the main entrance encounter a second, related installation consisting of a 3’ x 15’ stainless steel branch with more leaves and apples, wrapping a corner just outside the student commons area. Each of the 37 unique cast bronze apples is spanned by a bronze ‘ribbon’ engraved with a different ‘virtue’. 

The Artists at Play children's playground at the Seattle Center was commissioned by the City of Seattle and funded by Center Art LLC. A collaboration with sound artist Trimpin, landscape architects Site Workshop, and playground equipment specialists Highwire, Inc., resulted in an innovative interactive play space featuring unique musical instruments, stories about sound written by children, and 135 bronze castings embedded in the pavement and integrated into the sound sculpture. 

Photos by Stuart Issett

Date: 2002

Dimensions: 60’ x 50’

Media: Terrazzo, cast bronze

Commissioned by: City of Everett

The Waterways Map in the Great Hall of the Everett Station depicts a bird’s-eye view of the graphic juxtaposition of land and water around the City of Everett. A bronze casting of the Everett Station is located at its site on the map. The initial research to create a concept for the design of the floor of the Great Hall took Judith Caldwell high into the air over Everett. From a small plane three thousand feet above the city, she beheld an amazing pattern of land and water. The tiny boats visible from the sky that day are expressed as a collection of 29 historic vessels in cast bronze inlaid into the water portion of the map. The light that sparkled across the land and water is reflected by mother-of-pearl and colored glass in the richly hued terrazzo.

Date: 2010

Media: Cast Bronze, Copper-nickel pipe, metal stains, colored concrete

Dimensions: Plaza 12’ x 12’ plus path; sculpture 144” x 48” x 36”.

Commissioned by: The King County Housing Authority for the Greenbridge Housing Development

The Rainbrella garden bench and umbrella reference an adjacent Bioswale, which drains storm water from the Greenbridge development. There are Bioswale plant images and text on the umbrella and an illustration of the water cycle on the oval bench. The plaza color mirrors the bright hues of nearby buildings. Local school children provided answers to this question, visible on the edge of the bench seat: “Hello Raindrop, Where in the World Have You Been?” Their sentences were cast into 43 bronze raindrops of varying sizes, and inset into the orange raindrop-shaped plaza and its curving pathway. This small park is located across the street from an Early Learning Center and one block from an elementary school.

Date: 2000

Dimensions: 120” x  32” x 32”; 136” x 48” x 48”; 140” x 36” x 36”

Media: Cast bronze, Copper-nickel pipe, metal stains

Commissioned by: White Center Community Development Association, and funded in part by the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. 

Three unique cast bronze baskets referencing the history of human migration are set on three copper nickel columns. The columns are studded with 75 small unique bronze castings intended to represent old-fashioned “luggage stickers.” The subject matter for the “stickers” was contributed by community members, especially school children from White Center Heights Elementary School. The “stickers” are polychromed using transparent metal stains.

Date: 2007

Dimensions: 88” x 30” x 36”

Media: Cast bronze

Commissioned by: Washington State Art in Public Places Program and the Bethel School District.

This-seven-foot tall bronze “throne” is themed on Mount Rainier. The new Graham-Kapowsin High School for which it was created has a spectacular view of the great peak. Text and images related to the Mountain decorate all surfaces. A bronze “tapestry” wraps the front and sides of the chair, picturing dozens of birds and wildflowers found in the Mount Rainier National Park. The rear of the chair shows a cross section of the volcano, indicating the original outline of the mountain before the eruption that radically changed its contour. The seat depicts the pattern of glaciers on the mountain. The chair revolves 360 degrees in either direction by means of a wheel on the back. The black-tinted concrete pad below the chair is inlaid with bronze castings indicating eight points of the compass.

Date: 2001

Dimensions: Twelve panels, 13.5” x 13.5” x 1.5” to 18” x 13.5” x 2”

Medium: Cast Bronze

Commissioned by: Spokane Community College Health Sciences Division and the Washington State Art in Public Places Program

Twelve cast bronze relief panels based on medical postage stamps from eight different countries reflect subject matter addressing the twelve Health Sciences Division course offerings at Spokane Community College. The stamps were selected from a large number gathered by the Artists, in collaboration with the Health Sciences staff and faculty. Each stamp is labeled with plaque listing the country of origin and the date of issue, and interesting facts about the medical field that the stamp is intended to honor or commemorate. The United States stamps are used with permission of the United States Postal Service.

Date: 2004

Dimensions: Bronze figure on plinth, 78” tall; bronze bench, 14’ diameter x 15” tall

Media: Cast bronze, copper-nickel pipe, granite

Commissioned by: N. Highline Fire Department and the Beverly Park Community Club

A firefighter in firefighting gear salutes a fallen comrade as he is carried from a fire scene. He and his 45” tall granite plinth are surrounded and embraced by a 14’ diameter bronze bench. The top of the bench evokes the patterns of wood grain and of water, one being the element that is consumed by the fire, the other the element that quenches it. The face of the inner diameter of the bench reads: “This Memorial Is Dedicated To Fallen Firefighters Everywhere. For Those Who Have Given Their Lives in the Service of Others, We Are Forever Grateful.” The bench and figure are surrounded by a small garden of perennials and small trees and shrubs.

Date: 2004

Dimensions: Bronze Pillar: 120”x28”x34”; Iron Pillar: 138”x28” diameter; Steel Pillar: 144”x40”x16”

Media: Cast bronze, cast iron, cast stainless steel

Commissioned by: City of Everett

These columnar sculptures were created to complement the formal garden designed by ZGF Architects for the entrance of the Everett Station. They represent the three primary phases of industrial development of the City of Everett, dating back to the very early mining, logging and railroad building of the 19th Century (Bronze Pillar), through the "smokestack” period of mills and factories of much of the 20th Century (Iron Pillar), to the aviation and high-tech industries of recent years (Steel Pillar). The sculptures are lit from within at night, and the Bronze and Iron Pillars have extensive text visible on their interior walls.

Date: 2003

Dimensions: 325 bronze castings, each 8.5” x11”

Media: Cast bronze, metal stains

Commissioned By: The Washington Arts Commission Art in Public Places Program and Camas Senior High School

220 unique cast bronze “pages” are “posted” on four concrete columns in the commons area of the High School, celebrating the importance of paper in both the history of human culture and the town of Camas, a papermaking center for many decades. Students, faculty and staff of the new high school contributed text and drawings for bronze “pages” that reflect noteworthy quotations, scientific diagrams and illustrations, mathematical formulas, recipes, maps, dance steps, football plays, vintage posters, telegrams, musical notation, and much, much more. 105 cast bronze panels depicting tree bark are fastened to the lower portion of the columns, as a reference to the raw material source of paper and to the architect’s intent that the columns read as trees.

Date: 1998

Media: Rustic terrazzo, cast bronze icons and text, cast glass

Dimensions: 65’ x 29’ x 15”

Commissioned by: The Quadrant Corporation

The Solstice Plaza was designed to be part of the Quadrant Lake Union Center in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, which has hosted an annual Solstice Parade since 1989. The plan of the Plaza is based on a 17th Century depiction of the earth’s progress around the sun by the astronomer Cellarius. The blue rustic terrazzo pavement is set with four 28” diameter unique bronze castings of the earth in the stations of the solstices and equinoxes, as well as over forty smaller unique bronze castings related to historical and contemporary solstice imagery, and twenty-five cast glass stars. A golden terrazzo planter/circular bench in the center serves as the sun. Cast bronze text set into the top of the planter quotes a passage about the sun and its progress from John Milton’s great epic poem Paradise Lost.

Date: 1999

Dimensions: “Stream” approx. 250’ long x 14”-24” wide Four 48” diameter unique cast iron tree grates

Media: cast bronze, cast iron

Commissioned by: Boise City Arts Commission and the 9th and Idaho Building

The River of Trees illustrates the leaves of ten recommended street trees, interspersed with leaves of the two native broadleaf trees for which Boise was named. There are 230 unique bronze castings dance across four 48” diameter unique cast iron tree grates. The artists worked with the Boise Urban Forestry Divisions of the Boise Parks and Recreation Department to select the trees. The goal of the project was to “unite” the street trees that make the city livable with the large broadleaf trees that led to a settlement being founded in that location by French fur trappers. As part of the project, Boise’s Urban Forestry Department published a guide that allows viewers to identify the various species depicted, along with locations that the ten street trees were already growing, so that homeowners could reference the project to select trees for their own gardens and parking strips. The project won a Boise City Design Review Award.

Date: 2013

Medium: Unique Cast Iron

Dimensions: 48" Diameter x 2" thick

Commissioned by: The Bertschi School

The Big Eye is one of two cast iron manhole covers commissioned by the Bertschi School and parent-donors for the new "Living Building" that houses the school's science classes. Judith and Daniel Caldwell also created a series of bronze native salmon for the floor of the classroom, and a collection of bronze beetles for the walls of the greenhouse attached to the classroom. The "Living Building" uses net zero water and energy, and is the first school building of its kind certified in the United States. This diagram of the human eye is intended to reference the way we receive much of our knowledge and learning. The second manhole cover (not pictured) illustrates the water cycle, which relates closely to the design of the building, which recycles or composts all water used on the premises, for nourishing plants in the adjacent greenhouse and garden. Judith is pictured with the iron casting still in its sand mold, at the Morel Industries Foundry in Seattle. Morel Industries generously donated their services to the Bertschi School iron manhole covers project.