On the weekend of June 6th & 7th, 2025, participants came to Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, WA to help piece together a mosaic based on a traditional Nisqually basket weaving design. It was an unseasonably hot weekend and it was busiest in the mornings, tapering off in the afternoons, but there was always a steady flow of people joining in the process.
It is always amazing to see and hear how participants are impacted by the ability to contribute to a public art project in this way. Many people feel a deep emotional connection to the park, and they feel strongly about the history and culture of our region. I learn a little bit more each time I engage further with this project. This weekend, I learned that Chief Leschi was hung just outside the perimeter of what is now the park. Nisqually warriors had been accused of murder of soldiers and Chief Leschi gave his life in exchange for their freedom. He has since been exonerated because the deaths occurred as part of a war between the Nisqually and White settlers. The kiosks are located along a path that was part of a trading route used by local tribes since pre-colonization.
I’ll be continuing the process of prepping the completed (and uncompleted) sections for installation and I’m posting the steps on Patreon as I go along.
September 2025 Update (Phase 2)
As of mid-September, the panels made during the first community activity are nearly finished and prepped for installation, but there’s 1.5 sections left of the 16 yet to complete. Meanwhile, I’ve been working on 4 panels that will go on the upper sections of the two concrete stanchions. These will feature a modified design by Leighanna Scott. On September 24/25, I’ll be working directly with the Nisqually Tribe to have participants fill in the background in gold/cream tones to represent the prairie grasses. Installation is planned for October.
November Update:
In September and October, I led three participatory sessions on the Nisqually reservation where we finished the upper sections of the kiosks, applying tiles directly to mesh with thinset so that they could be installed in early November. It was a great experience working directly with tribal members, sharing stories, learning, and laughing together.
In the meantime, many hours, weeks and months of work went into adjusting and filling the basketweave sections all through summer. This was a monumental task as a geometric pattern made by so many participants of all ages and abilities had some crazy alignment and spacing. There were so many unexpected complications with this project, it took far longer to complete than was anticipated. But finally, in early November, I assembled a crew and we completed the installation in Fort Steilacoom Park, Lakewood, WA.
The mosaic is installed, but there are some finishing touches coming. I believe the official unveiling will take place during one of two events in 2026, so I’ll be sure to post when I have confirmation.
