Confluence of Communities: The Mask Series by Terry Valdez
Columbia Station is more than just a waypoint in Link Transit’s network of bus lines serving North Central Washington communities. It is a gathering place, a convergence of cultures and demographics; a place in between where stories of the landscape and people come together.
Station planners embraced this role in 1997, commissioning Wenatchee artist Terry Valdez to create “Confluence of Communities: The Mask Series” on the surfaces of fabricated stainless steel water drainage funnels. The whimsical designs, placed above eye level, watch over the daily hustle and bustle of on-the-half-hour arrivals and departures.
In “Irrigation to Fruit Basket,” Valdez tips his hat to the bounty of the harvest made possible by the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project.
Can you find “Irrigation to Fruit Basket” in its funnel form?
“Coyote Woman Sings to Wind Man” was inspired by a dream.
“She was just ethereally kind of floating above me. One of my night visitors,” Valdez said. “I knew she was going to be a sculpture piece.”
Can you find “Coyote Woman Sings to Wind Man” in its funnel form?
In “Koshari Cloud Man Loves Trillium Blossom,” Valdez combines an ancient Hopi art form with one of his favorite flowers.
“Along the forest paths outside of Leavenworth early in the year, you will find these flowers (trilliums) in abundance,” Valdez said. “This is what spoke to me when I thought about Leavenworth.”
Can you find “Koshari Cloud Man Loves Trillium Blossom” in its funnel form?
“Happy Sun – Lake Chelan” is the fourth installment of an eight-part series featuring the original pen and ink mandala drawings by Wenatchee artist Terry Valdez created for the Columbia Station project. Wavy water patterns and mountains presided over by an ever-present and cheerful sun are the dominant motifs.
Can you find “Happy Sun – Lake Chelan” in its funnel form?
The abundant wildlife and vast forestlands surrounding the Entiat River drainage inspire “Entiat Bear Dreams” the fifth installment of an eight-part series featuring the original pen and ink mandala drawings by Wenatchee artist Terry Valdez created for the Columbia Station project.
Can you find “Entiat Bear Dreams” in its funnel form?
Salmon have been an essential part of life on the Columbia Plateau for millions of years. The anadromous fish were a key source of protein for indigenous Columbia Plateau people and an integral part of cultural traditions. “The Fish Dance” is the sixth of an eight-part series featuring the original pen and ink mandala drawings by Wenatchee artist Terry Valdez created for the Columbia Station project.
‘The salmon has always been a totem of mine,” Valdez said. “From looking a salmon in the eye at the Rock Reach fish ladders as a child.”
Can you find “The Fish Dance” in its funnel form?
Golden acres of dryland wheat stretch for miles on the Waterville Plateau. Looking to the east from just about any viewpoint in Wenatchee, it is possible to terraces of neatly plowed farmland on the slopes of Badger Mountain. This is the seventh of an eight-part series featuring the original pen and ink mandala drawings by Wenatchee artist Terry Valdez created for the Columbia Station project.
Can you find “Wheat Vortex” in its funnel form?
Inspired by a pending trip to Russia, “World Community” is the last in an eight-part series featuring the original pen and ink mandala drawings by Wenatchee artist Terry Valdez created for the Columbia Station project.
Can you find “World Community” in its funnel form?
