Hub Bub owner Rebecca Staebler, left, and David Kiedrowski, right, watch as Bill Wilson's 25 foot recycled steel statue is prepared to be lifted into place early Saturday morning in Centralia.
William Johnen, Olympia, carefully removes the lifting straps off of Bill Wilson's 25 foot recycled steel statue after it is placed in the new sculpture park in downtown Centralia last Saturday morning.
Bill Wilson walks between two of his welded metal sculptures at Hubbub, a shop in downtown Centralia, the new home for the sculptures, which are all for sale.
The final, striking piece in a new Centralia pocket sculpture park arrived this week at the corner of north Tower Avenue and Center Street, and it’s beginning to draw attention. And like a spark from a fire, it and the other sculptures in the former parking lot are igniting interest in additional artistic improvements to Centralia’s downtown.
Shatkona, a 25-foot-tall, obsidian sculpture of geometric complexity weighing in at 4,000-plus pounds was set upon its newest foundation last Saturday under the watchful eye of the parks creator, Rebecca Staebler, owner of Hubbub, an art and clothing gift store on 500 block of North Tower Avenue. David Kiedrowski, owner of Fruffles, a gift boutique across the street, was on hand to help when Shatkona arrived.
“It’s looking good,” he said Thursday as he gazed at the sculptures across Tower Avenue from his storefront window.
Shatkona joins two other pieces in the park. All arose from the creative mind of Centralia artist Bill Wilson, who saw Staebler beginning to carve up the parking lot next to her shop and approached her with the idea of placing some of his sculptures there.
“There are no sculptures in Centralia,” Wilson said he told Staebler. “I think it would be an interesting element to place out there.”
It apparently was. Now it has other people interested in the possibilities for downtown.
Even as passersby stopped to admire the art, city of Centralia employees were taking the first steps in constructing a demonstration “rain garden” — a ditch along Center Street that will be planted with natural vegetation that will complement the privately funded sculpture park.
Not everyone thinks the sculptures are an improvement, however, at least according to feedback Kiedrowski had received.
“Some people think its a little modern,” Kiedrowski said. “But I think it looks good.”
It feels good too, if given a chance.
Revolving and Evolving
Shatkona, a Sanskrit word for “superimposed triangles that form a six-pointed star,” almost insists on a closer inspection.
Approaching the looming piece from different angles evokes a different feel. From a distance it appears as if an illustration from a Dr. Seuss story has materialized in solid, three-dimensional form. One can almost see the Cat in the Hat sitting precipitously, defying gravity on one of its sharp edges.
Standing next to the towering black edifice is an absorbing experience. Look up and it’s mass and symmetry become more evident. Contemplate is shape and one is soon able to recognize the artist’s purpose; its individual protruding geometric triangular shapes actually spiral upward around a central axis, even as the shapes shrink and change as they climb higher. They finally end with a simple, silver box at the sculpture’s apex. And even as Shatkona’s sharp-edged shapes appear to diminish as they reach ever skyward, rounded spaces in between them enlarge.
It’s matter revolving and evolving and giving way to space.
“For me when I was building it I saw those shapes coming together,” Wilson said. “If it was four feet tall it wouldn’t be the same. And I thought it was nice that you had that mass of metal overhead and you could feel it. The size and shape and its presence to is what you sense.”
Recycled and Relocated
Wilson created Shatkona from recycled propane tank material five years ago. It found a home in a obscure corner of the Monarch Sculpture Park north of Tenino until the park’s owner, Myrna Orsini, announced its closure due to financial concerns. Monarch has since been saved, but not before Wilson began trying to find a new home for his art.
Staebler’s pocket park was a natural location. So Wilson arranged to have Shatkona’s surface sandblasted and covered with fresh powder-coating before trucking it back to Centralia. He and many other downtown business owners hope it will ignite a surge of similar spaces in the Hub City.
“People don’t realize what art brings to a community,” Staebler said.
Wilson, who expressed a desire to make similar sculptures, agreed. He said he likes looking around the downtown area and “seeing where other pieces might have an impact.” He has other ideas that could add to the texture of downtown.
“I think it does make an impact,” Wilson said.
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Lee Hughes: (360) 807-8239
