Meridian Archway

Description: The artist created an entryway to Meridian Park, serving as a barrier free access ramp to the park. A visitor entering at the northwest corner passes under an arch made of quarried stone and river rock with unusual color patterns and textures. The arch is approximately 12 feet high. From the arch, a switchback path leads up a hill to Meridian Park, where the Home of the Good Shepherd is visible in the distance, with a grass playing field and fruit trees in the foreground. The switchback path is bordered by a 36 inch high flowing wall that contains a rich assortment of Cascade river rocks, Mexican geodes, fossils from the Oregon coast, petrified sand dollars, columnar basalt, Mount St. Helens ash glass, and snowflake obsidian. At the top of the path, a recessed seat with armrests is set into the rock wall. Many small pockets and spaces for flower gardens were designed into this artwork.

Meridian Archway is notable in that it directly addressed accessibility – providing a wheelchair-friendly ramp to mitigate the grade change entry into the park, even before the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Artist Statement: The basic concept of the arch and what happens as you go into the park is moving from a vertical to a horizontal. Everything that happens here, especially with the bigger rocks, sort of plays with that idea  the 'verticality' of the arch and the 'horizontality' of the horizon line of the park.

Location: Meridian Park, North 50th Street & Meridian Avenue North, Seattle WA  98103 (southwest of intersection)