Celebration Planned For Cross Kirkland Corridor Art Installation

From Kirkland Arts: On Friday, May 12 at 5:00 p.m. join City Council, the Cultural Arts Commission and artist Merrily Dicks for the Installation Celebration of the first public art installed on Cross Kirkland Corridor (CKC). The celebration will take place on the CKC at the 85th Street underpass where The Spikes is installed. Access the sculpture from 7th Ave/NE 87th St. The Spikes was created with railroad spikes collected by the Kirkland Community after the rails were removed from the Cross Kirkland Corridor.

After the celebration make sure to stop by Downtown Kirkland for the Second Friday Downtown Kirkland Artwalk and return over the weekend for the Kirkland Artist Studio Tours.

About The Spikes

When Merrily Dicks, longtime Kirkland resident, artist, historian and arts activist, noticed that there were railroad spikes lying beside the new interim Cross Kirkland Corridor, she enlisted the community to help collect over 300 as they walked the CKC.

She then envisioned a sculpture made from the spikes. “I wanted to form a design that reminded me of the sound the train makes as it passes by. As a kid I used to sneak up next to the tracks at my Grandmother’s house in Houghton to wave at the flagman in the caboose.”

Merrily enrolled in a welding class at Lake Washington Institute of Technology and with the help of students, Yancy McCoy and Riley Schroeder, Merrily created a composition of 350 spikes, welded together in arrangements that resemble tree branches. Following City Council acceptance of the piece, The Parks and Community Services Department volunteered its services to install the sculpture on the CKC at the base of the 85th Street Bridge.

In the span of three years a railroad was deconstructed and great art that is and will be a community treasure was created from the remnants thanks to a visionary and talented citizen. Thank you Merrily Dicks for your wonderful contribution to our community and the Cross Kirkland Corridor.

Many thanks to: Merrily Dicks, Kirkland City Council, Kirkland Cultural Arts Commission, Yancy McCoy and Riley Schroeder, Jason Filan and the Parks and Community Services Department, CKC Coordinator Kari Page, Ellen Miller-Wolfe & Philly Marsh from the Kirkland City Manager’s Office, and all the community members who helped collect the Spikes, especially Nora Carlson, Jill Keeney and Mark Williams.

Image via Kirkland Arts