Artist rendering of a new “comfort station”. being planned for the project

By Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero

The Garfield Super Block Coalition has completed a master arts plan that is being reviewed by the Seattle Parks Department which is working to add public art throughout the $8.4 million promenade and public space project and is wrapping up their design process for the overhaul of this Central District block with hopes to start construction in summer 2024.

The plan is to include art from eight public art pieces with seven pieces being from different ethnic groups such as the Duwamish, Jewish, African-American, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Italian communities that have helped shape the Central District. The last piece will be a collaborative piece from all seven ethnic groups.

“At the heart of this project is art that lifts up the legacy of seven different ethnic groups that really have built roots in this community,” Sharon Khosla, one of the Garfield Super Block Coalition members, said.

An ethnic advisory committee has been formed with members from each community composed of community leaders and artists. This group is tasked with finding artists to do public art work.

“We’re really hoping that this artwork can help people understand the history and can feel the pride of their community,” Khosla said.

The art will join the Legacy and Promise Promenade, a pathway fulfilling the long-envisioned goal of connecting Horace Mann School, now home to Nova High School, just on the other side of Cherry with the Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center in the center of the Garfield High School campus.

Along the promenade will be artwork that represents and honors eight cultural groups whose history is integral to the Central District: the Duwamish people, the Jewish community, the African American community, the Japanese community, the Chinese community, the Filipino community, and the Italian community.

Earlier this year, the coalition hosted a public art academy with Central District arts and community organization Wa Na Wari to help anyone who was interested in creating public art and learning about the process. They hope to increase the number of new artists involved, even if they do 2-D art, by having someone else fabricate it.

Currently, they are in the outreach phase to get feedback from the community on how they want the space in the park to be utilized. They are doing this through social media, tabling at the park, working with Converge Media, and utilizing their own networks.

Being a public project requires them to have all their funding to begin construction. So far they have raised $6.5 million and need $2 to 3 million more. While the park itself is being funded through public dollars, the coalition is hoping to use private dollars for the artwork so they have fewer restrictions.

The majority of funds raised for the park have been through amendments in the city’s budget with the help of Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Teresa Mosqueda. The coalition has also received federal and county funding.

Other planned new additions to the area include adding parkour to the park, which would be the first parkour park in the city, a new comfort station which will have a concessions area, a new playground with new equipment including a big slide and a new water play area, and new bathrooms. They also plan to create a walkway around the entire park and add a ramp to be ADA accessible.

This vision has been taking shape since 2005 when Robert Stephens, Jr. first started working on this project.

CHS previously reported that as part of the public process to approve building a new Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center, Seattle Public Schools had to be approved to get a variance in order to build fewer than the required number of off-street parking stalls. As part of that process, the district was required to provide a public benefit as a mitigation.

That project was the Super Block improvement project. “The community was just forgotten about,” Stephens previously told CHS.

It wasn’t until 2019 where he was awarded his first grant and that’s when he formed the coalition.

Right when the pandemic started they were about to hire a landscape architect. However, the pandemic gave the coalition the time to organize before they had to go out in the community.

The goal of this superblock was to create a safe space for the community. “Outdoor spaces are really at the heart of mental health and the heart of safety,” Khosla said.

“The idea is to really just be able to walk out into a public space in the Central District and feel the legacy of what was there but also see what the potential is for the future,” Khosla said. “But that doesn’t happen without understanding what the history is.”

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