Rescue

Description: Kirkpatrick’s artwork is a freestanding sculptural structure that shelters the doorway, identifies the station and provides seating at the front of the fire station. The structure of the artwork was inspired by the ladders and stretchers used by fire fighters in their daily work. At the top of the structure is a “35” sign adorned with neon flames and a crown in reference to the Crown Hill neighborhood, its 1950s “boomerang” architecture and the name of the fire station. A blue glass awning is part of the sculpture. The awning shelters a glass tile mosaic bench.

Artist Statement: Rescue marks and shelters the entrance to Fire Station 35 symbolizing the balance between water and fire and the role firefighters play in that balance. An abstracted ladder juts upward toward the sky referencing the rescues firefighters perform daily. Floating near the top of the ladder is the firefighter’s adversary, the flame. Adorned with a neon crown and the number 35, the sculpture plays off the neighborhood’s 1950s architecture. Water overcomes fire, symbolized in blue elements from a mosaic swirl on the base, up through the glass awning to the blue neon line piercing the flames.

Watch: Seattle Channel Profile of Artist Kay Kirkpatrick (2008)