Arlington artist’s granite sculpture is meant to be touched

ARLINGTON — Artist Verena Schwippert hugged her granite rock sculpture after it was installed at Lebanon Park.

“Waterline” is meant to be touched, said Schwippert, 62.

“All my sculptures need to be touched by people or sat upon,” she said. “I feel my work isn’t complete if people have

n’t interacted with them physically.”

Her latest piece consists of three cut, chiseled and polished granite boulders. The sculpture is 3 feet at its tallest point and was carved out of five tons of granite, Schwippert said. It was installed in the park at 105 Lebanon Ave. on July 25.

Schwippert said the material she sculpted came from a gravel pit along U.S. 2. The upper third of each rock is polished.

“They’re all polished down to the same level and it’s sort of a symbolic memory of the stone,” Schwippert said. “I call it a waterline. It’s where perhaps in the past the water reached up to the polished level.”

The idea for the sculpture was one of two favorites voted on by people who attended the Arlington Arts Council’s auction last October. The council raised $12,000 to purchase the piece and donated it to the city, council president Sarah Arney said.

“It’s really settled in there good,” Arney said. “You can see it from the street. It’s in a peaceful, beautiful location.”

The sculpture is the third piece of artwork Schwippert has created that is located along the Arlington stretch of the Centennial Trail. The latest addition makes for 17 total pieces of artwork in eight blocks of the trail, said Sarah Higgins, the city’s recreation manager.

Schwippert worked on the sculpture for six months in her outdoor art studio at her Arlington home. It feels good, she said, to showcase more of her artwork in the city where she lives.

“I have some (artwork) in Walla Walla and other places but I especially love to have it in my hometown,” Schwippert said.

The Arlington Arts Council displays art proposals during their annual auction in October and allows guests to vote for their favorite, Arney said. The 2011 auction is set for Oct. 15.

Proposals for this year’s auction, including a photo of a place in the city where the artwork could be displayed, can be emailed to Arney at saraharney4@aol.com.

Amy Daybert, 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.