Lowell Park gets royal throne
Published 10:28 pm Thursday, November 27, 2008
EVERETT — They call themselves “Lowell Lifes,” but their latest work is fit for royalty.
Or at least royal hindquarters. It’s a 5-foot-tall throne destined for Lowell Park.
Jules Anslow and Cheri O’Brien are putting the finishing touches on the sky blue concrete sculpture that was funded through a $1,400 neighborhood mini-grant.
“It will help make the neighborhood itself a destination,” said Anslow, who along with O’Brien has a worked to create a thriving arts community in the neighborhood nestled along the Snohomish River.
The throne depicts a glass mosaic with images of a river rat, snails, slugs. It includes the neighborhood’s name. And yes, it is sittable.
Anslow and O’Brien say they hope the sculpture will be the first of other pieces of public art to add pizazz to the Lowell neighborhood, whose independent-minded residents often remind people that it was once its own distinct town.
Two years ago, Anslow and O’Brien became the first tenants at Lowell Art Works, an artists studio in the former Simpson-Lee pulp and paper mill office at 5205 S. Second Ave.
The brick building with vaulted ceilings and huge windows overlooking the river and Cascade Range now boasts 17 resident artists in 11 studios. A few studios are still available for rent.
A coffee roaster and brew master have opened operations in the basement and an upstairs gallery hosts weekly nude drawings.
On Saturday, Lowell Art Works will open their doors from noon to 7 p.m. for holiday shoppers.
On the Web
www.lowell artworks.com
