Delridge Know-How
Artist
Studio Wowhaus: Ene Osteraas-Constable & Scott Constable
MediumWelded Sheet Bronze, Stainless Steel, Concrete
DimensionsLarge Nuts: 3 ft., 6 in. (91.4 x 15.2 cm)
Small Nuts: 2 ft., 3 in. (61 x 7.6 cm)
Wrenches: 5 ft., 3 in. (152.4 x 7.6 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineSeattle Department of Transportation 1% for Art and construction funds
Description: The foundation of any industry is human know-how and hard work. For generations, waves of immigrants from around the world have come to Delridge to find work and to make a home. Home to a wide range of industry in the past, including ship building, brick making, flour milling, canning and fishing, ship building and the steel mill that persists nearby to this day, Delridge has a rich history of blue collar labor. A tight-knit, diverse and hard-working community developed in Delridge, and the neighborhood is proud to continue its tradition of welcoming diverse immigrants to this day.
In a neighborhood that is rapidly changing and growing while continuing to welcome new immigrants, Delridge Know-How captures the persistence of human ingenuity and know-how as new patterns of life and work emerge. A series of 9 bronze large-scale nuts and wrench sculptures are integrated with low-maintenance plantings in 3 medians that herald the entry to South Delridge, inviting engagement and play while evoking the neighborhood’s history of industry and labor.
Symbolically, both the nut and the wrench sculptures include repeating elements of a hexagon; the hexagon is the shape created by worker bees that create a series of hexagons in tandem in order to create a honeycomb, a form emblematic of collective community effort.
Location: Delridge Way and 18th Avenue and Delridge Way & 21st Avenue
