City Council Meeting
Tuesday, May 5, 7 p.m.

For the past 10 years the community has, in various ways, identified the corridor along 4th Avenue between Edmonds Center for the Arts and Main Street as having a unique role in connecting key cultural areas in downtown Edmonds.

Setting off this important connecting-corridor the “4th Avenue interim art project” has become an integral part of implementing the 2014 Community Cultural Plan strategy. The purpose of the 4th Avenue interim art project is to enliven the corridor through short term or interim art installations.

Over the past year a stakeholders advisory group has been working with the Arts Commission to develop an interim public art project. In March three artists presented concepts at a public meeting. Artist Iole Alessandrini was chosen by the Public Art Selection Committee to be recommended to the Arts Commission for her project “Luminous Forest” using LED solar lights embedded in the roadway. The embedded lights provide a subliminal reminder of the original trees and highlight the connection between Edmonds Center for the Arts and Main Street.

Iole Alessandrini has been living in Seattle since 1994. After early training in fine art in Rome and a Masters in Architecture from the University La Sapienza, she received a Post Professional Master in Architecture with emphasis on lighting from the University of Washington. She has worked extensively with architecture as well as temporary and permanent light installations, several of which are installed in the Seattle area.

On April 6, the Arts Commission moved to recommend this project to the Edmonds City Council, following a March 23 public meeting where artists presented their concepts for interim art installations to a five-member advisory panel.

A public hearing on the artwork will be held at the May 5 City Council meeting, at which time the artist will present a summary of her proposed project. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

Funding for this project is partially through a donation from the Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation.

The Arts Commission completed an earlier project that fit into the Fourth Avenue strategy, incorporating Edmonds’ “Stages of History” last summer with artist-made interpretive markers by Judith Caldwell. The history markers are located along the corridor and other parts of downtown.

— By Emily Hill