Heavy Shoe

Description: The design of this substation, located in a residential neighborhood, was a collaborative project. The artwork includes a mural on an interior wall, color coded electrical equipment, signage, and a special fenced in compound featuring 27 whirligigs made from discarded appliance parts, by Emil and Veva Gehrke of Grand Coulee, Washington. Hub caps, hard hats, dust pans, and washing machine parts all spin when the wind blows through this enclosure. A chair, created by Buster Simpson, provides a view of the whirligigs from outside the enclosure. A pathway protected by chain link fencing allows visitors a closer examination of the electrical components and the whirligigs. The signage ties the artwork together and explains how the substation works. The concrete back wall of the substation features a mural that runs the length of the site. Lines and arcs drawn along the wall intersect, creating shapes that are filled in with bright pastel colors. Artist Andrew Keating says that the mural was designed "to act as a backdrop interacting visually and thematically with the equipment and the whirligigs." 

Location: Viewland-Hoffman Substation, Fremont Avenue North and North 107th Street, Seattle WA  98133