Atmospheric River Garden
2024
Plants, earthwork, stoneware ceramics. 21 Acres, Woodinville, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: joefreemanjunior.com
Rain collects in the atmosphere, falls toward earth here, drips on colors and forms evoking weather maps and growing plants, flows into soil, travels through roots, stems and leaves, and slowly continues its journey. Atmospheric River Garden is a vessel and vector of water, a multi-species habitat, a little engine of healing designed to support and amplify the systems of water flow and plant life.
Atmospheric River Garden emerges from the collaboration of people, plants, and land. Vaughn Bell, her father Tim Bell, 4Culture staff, King County Rainscapes program, 21 Acres staff, wild clay, rich soil, a variety of plants, Dirt Corps gardeners, and others have collaborated in this creation.
Atmospheric River Garden invites you to observe how plants and soil transform how water flows, to embrace change and to welcome a feral feeling.
Taking a cue from the colors of weather maps that show the amount of rainfall, Atmospheric River Garden calls attention to the rain garden as a vector of water, a reflection of the weather systems above and water flowing below. When a large storm system carrying a lot of moisture, sometimes called an atmospheric river, flows through the area we are immersed in it. The bright colors of weather maps can depict the amounts of rain that fall. A rain garden transforms what can be a destructive force into a resilient habitat.
This site sits in an alluvial plain, full of clay. Clay was dug from the site to create growing conditions and allow water to permeate. Sculptural forms allow clay to tell a story of water as it flows and drips and evoke the concept that plants and a rain garden direct and hold water. Habitat spaces are created with small pollinator watering holes.
Plants, earthwork, stoneware ceramics. 21 Acres, Woodinville, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: joefreemanjunior.com
Rain collects in the atmosphere, falls toward earth here, drips on colors and forms evoking weather maps and growing plants, flows into soil, travels through roots, stems and leaves, and slowly continues its journey. Atmospheric River Garden is a vessel and vector of water, a multi-species habitat, a little engine of healing designed to support and amplify the systems of water flow and plant life.
Atmospheric River Garden emerges from the collaboration of people, plants, and land. Vaughn Bell, her father Tim Bell, 4Culture staff, King County Rainscapes program, 21 Acres staff, wild clay, rich soil, a variety of plants, Dirt Corps gardeners, and others have collaborated in this creation.
Atmospheric River Garden invites you to observe how plants and soil transform how water flows, to embrace change and to welcome a feral feeling.
Taking a cue from the colors of weather maps that show the amount of rainfall, Atmospheric River Garden calls attention to the rain garden as a vector of water, a reflection of the weather systems above and water flowing below. When a large storm system carrying a lot of moisture, sometimes called an atmospheric river, flows through the area we are immersed in it. The bright colors of weather maps can depict the amounts of rain that fall. A rain garden transforms what can be a destructive force into a resilient habitat.
This site sits in an alluvial plain, full of clay. Clay was dug from the site to create growing conditions and allow water to permeate. Sculptural forms allow clay to tell a story of water as it flows and drips and evoke the concept that plants and a rain garden direct and hold water. Habitat spaces are created with small pollinator watering holes.
