Festival at the Bog on September 15

Festival knitters at a weekly session at Haggen's Cafe

On September 15th, 2012, from 1-5pm, the Meridian Park Neighborhood will celebrate at Ronald Bog Park with the first ever SummerSet Arts Festival. This free event invites all ages to participate in several fun and artistic activities including: live music, dance and drumming performances, fun kids activities, and art making stations. There will also be park and arboretum tours as well as a sculpture exhibition. Volunteers have restored Ronald Bog Park (175th and Meridian in Shoreline) over the summer and the SummerSet Arts Festival will celebrate their ongoing success within the park and community.

Local resident and artist Cynthia Knox is pioneering the festival with the approval of the Shoreline Parks Board. Artist Meghan Lancaster will create a Disappearing Artwork sculpture from natural materials found within the park that will remain until they naturally disintegrate. During the festival she will guide visitors to complete this sculpture. The Unearth Collective will also create a site-specific piece that will remain in the park. Glass and light sculptor Carol Milne will create a piece to be viewed across the park lake on the distant shore. 

Mary Coss working on her shell

Seattle artist and advocate for community art Mary Coss will be installing a giant conch shell on a floating pier in the bog. The shell will have a soundtrack so visitors can also experience her sculpture through music and poetry. She is “committed to placemaking as a way to humanize the built environment. Art can be a vehicle to transform a community, and when done in collaboration with good design, it can contribute to a community with a soul. My experience integrating artwork into the urban setting has made apparent to me the impact of art on neighborhoods and the people who live there, I believe in its value.”

The Shoreline Children’s Center is creating a labyrinth installation as well as a clay turtle mandala. A hands-on art table will keep kids busy making kites and other crafts. Performing artists will bring music and entertainment. Among them, local Shoreline resident Brittain Barber will lead a jazz duo and resident Elena DeLisle-Perry will provide bluegrass and old-time music including a square dance.

Spreading the word and keeping the community involved, Cynthia Knox continues to bring a community art-making table to different locations and events in the Shoreline area during the summer. The pieces created at the art-making table, like tree socks, will be featured in the festival. The SummerSet Arts Festival has found tremendous support; it has received a Shoreline Dept. of Neighborhoods mini-grant through the Meridian Park Neighborhood Association. The City of Shoreline and the Shoreline-Lake Forest Parks Arts Council are co-sponsoring this exciting summer event. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and a picnic and plan to spend a wonderful afternoon in the park!