Riverfront Park's newest art installation is delightfully outlandish. Opposing wooden staircases create a gravity-defying inverted pyramid, inviting park goers into the heart of the structure, named Stepwell. Inside the installation, they're greeted with the familiar scent of cedar, the rushing sounds of the river, and a vantage with 360-degree views of the Spokane River gorge's natural beauty.
The artist behind this piece is J. Meejin Yoon, a world-renowned artist and architect who currently serves as dean of Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning. Yoon has created other large-scale, public art installations in Virginia, Boston and Shanghai, to name a few. Bringing her talent to our neck of the woods, Yoon says via email, she wanted to highlight and celebrate the distinct natural landscape of Riverfront Park while offering a gathering place for locals.
"The most important things to us were the landscape, the context, and the way the public would engage with Stepwell," Yoon says. "The inhabitable sculpture frames views across the landscape while also creating an intimate space for gathering. Conceived as part of a larger public art master plan, the project references the legacy of environmental activism dating back to the Spokane World Expo of 1974."
To embody the spirit of Expo '74, the world's first environmentally themed World's Fair, Yoon not only sought to play off the park's natural features, but also chose to use sustainable engineered wood, also called mass timber.
"Stepwell traces the long history and great body of knowledge on wood in the Pacific Northwest region. Because of this, we knew we had to use mass timber, but we wanted to rethink how it's used," Yoon explains. "We wanted to explore the sculptural potential of mass timber — to use it in a volumetric way that could be of the place and provide a place for others to enjoy the landscape."
Stepwell is one of two public art pieces commissioned as a part of the yearslong Riverfront Park redevelopment project. While Yoon isn't a local artist, her passion for Expo '74 and her expertise made her the perfect candidate to create this piece. Spokane Arts Director Melissa Huggins says there's value for local artists, too, in engaging someone of Yoon's caliber.
"For Spokane Arts, we're an arts organization, we support local artists in everything that we do," Huggins says. "And also, for our city and for those local artists, it's healthy and good for the ecosystem that we, every once in a while, bring in someone of international renown, you know?"
It was crucial to Huggins and the rest of the art selection committee, including stakeholders with Riverfront Park, that this piece reflect the community, which is why Stepwell was chosen after a year and a half of public meetings. (Inlander publisher Ted McGregor was a park board member at the time the art was chosen.) Akin to the park's iconic Red Wagon, formally named The Childhood Express, Stepwell is interactive and whimsical while also being environmentally sustainable.
"We're thrilled to see Stepwell come to fruition," says Garrett Jones, Spokane Parks and Recreation's director. "Meejin is known for creating interactive art that reflects a community, and this beautiful Expo '74-inspired piece certainly lives up to that reputation. We can't wait for the public to be able to see, touch, and explore this new artwork."
Now, with the piece finally installed, Huggins imagines Stepwell as a place where locals can gather with one another, make memories and engage it with a critical eye. The installation is located just north of the inclusive Providence Playscape, and is easily accessed from the north or south via either of the park's Howard Street bridges.
"I love imagining how people will use this and interact with this, both in the short term and the long term," she says. "I am picturing people having poetry readings here, people playing live music. This is a lovely place to have a coffee or have your lunch, have this really lovely break in the middle of the day. We hope that it'll be a destination piece that visitors will want to check out and that people will bring their families to visit when they come down to the park."
While Stepwell's official unveiling is this weekend, it's already gained attention. Huggins says she's received many passing comments from locals speculating about what the piece might be, judging it to be a boat or a spaceship. With a smile on her face, Huggins happily explains that this carefree engagement and curiosity is what art thrives on.
"Everyone can experience it in a different way, everyone can interpret it in a different way, and that in and of itself is beautiful and valuable," she says. ♦
Stepwell Grand Opening • Sat, May 6 from 11 am-noon • Free • Riverfront Park • 507 N. Howard St. • spokanearts.org
