Two Lake Stevens eagles immortalized in sculpture for traffic circle
Published 12:01 am Friday, July 8, 2011
LAKE STEVENS — An homage to a pair of local eagles that fly around Lake Stevens is now part of a roundabout on Lundeen Parkway.
The 11-foot metal sculpture in the middle of the city’s roundabout is of two eagles barely touching in flight over a mountain peak. The artwork cost $9,860 and comes from a city fund to pay for public art.
The two eagles that inspired the sculpture nest along Lundeen Parkway. People in the community affectionately call them George and Martha.
The Lake Stevens Art Commission since March 2010 has been working on getting art installed in the roundabout at the intersection of Vernon Road, Lake Drive and Lundeen Parkway. Last year, a call for artists was put out and the commission received about a dozen entries.
“We got a variety of submissions that ran the gamut from mosaic pieces to rusty reclaimed things that were to be welded into new things,” said Tracy Stevens, an arts commissioner.
The commission voted several times to try to come to a consensus on a piece of art to recommend to the City Council, Stevens said. A consensus wasn’t reached and the project was stalled until Stevens made a trip to Camano Island and crossed the new Highway 532 bridge. She saw four steel sculptures of different wildlife installed on the bridge to the island.
“I was just enamored by the art on the bridge,” Stevens said. “I researched who that artist was and called her up.”
The artist was Debbi Rhodes of Camano Island. Stevens asked her if she was interested in being commissioned to do a piece of George and Martha, similar to ones on the bridge, for the roundabout. Rhodes, who had submitted an idea that included one eagle during the call for artists, said she was interested.
Commission members agreed on the sculpture design and the City Council approved the idea in April. Rhodes spent 50 hours constructing the sculpture. The eagles last week were fastened to a base in the center of the roundabout.
“I think it’s beautiful,” Rhodes said.
Former Mayor Diana Hale offered to help complete landscaping around the artwork. The commission hopes to host a dedication ceremony in September, Stevens said.
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.
