2018
Materials: municipal potable water, steel, stone, concrete, native willows, flowering vines, native milkweed
Client:
The City of Carlsbad
Guidance:
Esmi Rennick, Tonantzin Rennick, Jimi Castillo, Pete Matisis, Adam Uribe, Ryan Krieger, and Lisa Roop and the Carlsbad Community Garden Collective
Technical support:
Su Kraus, Moosa Creek Nursery
Glen Kinoshita, botantist and habitat restoration specialist
Engineering:
Elite Engineering Consultants
Fabrication:
Steel Craft
Installation:
DelMar Builders
American Fence
Photography:
Stephen Linsley
The generous Indigenous People who advised me in the construction of this project call water “The Source” – it is the origin of all life. For this project, I did extensive community engagement at each critical phase of the project from inception through completion, gathering as I went the stories, ideas, insights, knowledge and resonances of the people who have lived in and around Carlsbad, California for anywhere from 6 months to thousands of years of ancestry.
The permanent public artwork anchors a city block-sized new park for the City of Carlsbad designed by Spurlock Landscape Architects. There had been houses on it, and some fruit trees, but these were raised in order to create an artificial “garden” and much desired public green space. The City of Carlsbad has sprawled well past the coastline that it originally occupied into land that once was inhabited by the Luiseno and the Kumeyaay. First the ranches, then the citrus groves displaced these indigenous people, now houses and urban sprawl have paved even the orchards, eliminating native habitats and the people and animals who once lived there. The public artwork seeks to balance the stated desires of the community that will use the park, while acknowledging the native people who still live in the vicinity and in its own small way, bolstering the pollinators who may be passing through by offering them native willows and milkweed to eat and nectar from flowering vines. At its center, a child-sized drinking fountain springs up between two locally-sourced boulders, offering even the smallest child the opportunity to drink and play in municipal drinking water with the hope that early memories of the importance of this water will encourage them to grow up to protect and champion their own local drinking water and the watershed that should replenish it. Runoff from the drinking fountain seeps into a dry well at the center of the artwork irrigating the surrounding willows so that they might flourish.
The inspiration for the willow dome structure emerged from the goal of encouraging cyclical thinking regarding our natural resources. Initial inspiration drawn from European-style willow domes led to the discovery of regional Native American willow structures. Kumeyaay, Nawat, and Wirarika advisers guided the approach, methods and materials used in sourcing and harvesting the Arroyo willlow (Salix lasiolepis) used to construct this dome. The willows were planted by the artist and a community of 40 locals during a ceremony led by an indigenous guide. Preparation and planting was assisted by a local botanist who specializes in native habitat restoration.
The design reflects the input of community members responding to questions I posed regarding their city and what makes it unique, what resonates with each of them. Answers ranged from the beauty of the sunsets to the abundance of flowers and (historically) fruit and citrus trees. A large community garden is part of the new section of the park and is within 100 feet of the public artwork, therefor the artwork also seeks to support and nurture the efforts of the gardeners. Each component of this project is built from materials sourced as close to the job site as possible.
2022 Update: The willow dome is thriving!