Here’s an awesome opportunity to produce some local art, funded by the city, be a writer / poet in residency on the Fremont Bridge:
The Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), seeks a writer to be in residence in the northwest tower of the Fremont Bridge. The selected writer or poet will undertake an in-depth exploration of the historic bridge’s role and meaning for the city of Seattle and create written materials in response to this residency.
The Fremont Bridge has four control towers with a bridge operator working out of the southeast tower. This bridge opened in 1917 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. […] The Fremont Bridge rises for marine traffic an average of 35 times a day, making it one of the busiest bascule bridges in the world. A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge that swings upward.
The Fremont Bridge has four control towers. A bridge operator is on site every day in the southeastern tower, the only tower actively used for bridge control. The two towers on the north end of the bridge are unoccupied. The northwest tower will be used as the studio for this residency opportunity. It measures approximately 13 feet by 8 feet, has 10-foot ceilings and is furnished with a desk, chair, overhead lights, windows, and an air conditioning unit. The tower’s windows feature 360-degree views of the surrounding area.
This is not the first art project associated with the Fremont bridge’s towers. In the 1990s, Rodman Miller’s neon “Rapunzel” and “Elephant and Child” were installed in the bridge’s northern towers, where they remain. In 2005, artist Daniel Mihalyo recommended the creation of a bridge tower artist studio in an SDOT Art Plan he authored as part of an artist residency at SDOT. In 2009, artist Kristen Ramirez was selected as the bridge’s first artist-in-residence and produced a temporary sound installation on the bridge combining oral histories with found sound.
The project budget is $10,000 ($5,000 for residency, $5,000 for project, presentation, documentation).
While we’re on the topic of bridges and arts, the city is also offering a grant for a lighting artist to enchant the University Bridge:
The Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), will select a lighting artist(s) to be in residence in the southeast tower on the University Bridge. Using the University Bridge as their headquarters, the selected artist(s) will undertake an exploration of three historic bridges: the University, Fremont, and Ballard bridges. This exploration will inform a conceptual lighting design for the bridges. The artist(s) will work closely with SDOT staff and engineers to create a concept sketch and cost estimates for future lighting on the three bridges. Currently, funding is not in place for lighting the bridges. Should additional funding be secured for the implementation of bridge lighting, the artist may later be commissioned to create light-based work. The residency includes access to a work space in the southwest tower on the University Bridge. The artist(s) cannot live in the tower, but may use the space as a studio for creating a lighting concept sketch, a platform for observing the bridges and their surroundings, or as a base from which to interact with SDOT and the surrounding communities.
The University Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge built in 1919 with an opening span of 217 feet. The bridge was remodeled in 1933 and was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The University Bridge has two bridge towers; one on the northwest end and one on the southeast end. A bridge operator is on site every day in the northwestern tower, the only tower actively used for bridge control. The southeastern tower is unoccupied and will be used for this residency opportunity. It will be furnished with a desk, chair, overhead lights, and windows.
This is not the first art project associated with Seattle’s historic bridge’s towers. In the 1990s, Rodman Miller’s neon “Rapunzel” and “Elephant and Child” were installed on the Fremont Bridge’s northern towers, where they remain. In 2005, artist Daniel Mihalyo recommended the creation of a bridge tower artist studio in an SDOT Art Plan he authored as part of an artist residency at SDOT. In 2009, artist Kristen Ramirez was selected as the Fremont Bridge’s first artist-in-residence and produced a temporary sound installation on the bridge combining oral histories with found sound. This is the first time a residency is being offered on the University Bridge.
(Fremont Bridge photo by Sea Turtle.)
The Fremont Bridge played an important part in my childhood. It was one of the many playgrounds to which were attracted during the 1930’s. Other being the Ballard Locks and of course Woodland Park. Depression children needed entertainment that didn’t require money, so these venues fitted our needs, perfectly.
There were two attractions that the Fremont Bridge held for kids. One was the small ‘beach’ on the SW side of the bridge which served as our private swimming spot. A more exciting attraction, and only for the more daring,, was to ‘ride’ the bridge up (after climbing out on to the undercarriage of the bridge) as it was raised to allow a vessel to pass through, and for those brave enough to jump off into the canal.
Enough of memories. I must add, however, that I truly love the new paint scheme of the bridge. It fits right in with the ‘new’ Fremont. Kudos to SDOT!