In 2025, King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) will begin construction of the West Duwamish Wet Weather Storage Facility on the west side of the First Avenue Bridge in Seattle, Washington. To bring visibility and community connection with our water systems in response to this project, 4Culture and WTD commissioned me to create community-engaged artworks addressing the following prompt outlined in the CSO Art Master Plan designed by the artist team Sans Façon: 

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The End of the Line 

The end of the line is where the built system meets the natural one. How do we relate to these bodies of water, recreationally, culturally, and historically? If we were more aware of the connection from our houses and streets directly into these waters, like built tributaries to a river, how would our relationship change? 

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In response to these questions, I have created two dye gardens in the Georgetown area and developed a project for Duwamish Valley youth programs, community members, and organizations to create watercolor paints from these plants. These watercolors will be shared with the community at local events to paint watercolor pages that highlight the process of this project, the people and locations involved, and the natural and constructed waterways and treatment processes in our landscape.  

Fostering a connection to our water system by growing and foraging plants near our river that become tools of expression and essentially become water once again provides a lens and connection point for meditating on the importance of the Duwamish River, and the network of structures, communities, and ecosystem connected to it. Processing plants into pigments with a technique that is similar to water filtration methods used by WTD  professionals provides an entry point for participants and community members to relate to water systems and the people that work in and for their protection, with the Duwamish Valley as its’ focal point.