Past Community Projects
La Mariposa de la Vida (The Butterfly of Life)
Completed in September 2017, La Mariposa de la Vida is a 19-foot tall exterior mosaic mural that symbolizes and celebrates the Bayview community and its residents. Local artist Marcia Yapp facilitated a comprehensive and inclusive process that involved more than 100 Bayview residents who contributed over 800 volunteer hours to the project. Youth resident and artist Tor Lor worked closely with Yapp and members of the design committee to create the final design of the mural and draft the imagery that makes up the interior of the wings. Themes reflected in the mural include migration, transformation, family, culture, community, protection, education, growth, and wisdom. The artwork is mounted on the exterior of an apartment building that faces Braxton Place and is visible from South Park Street.
East Entry Patio and Mural
The east entry to the Center was redeveloped in summer 2017 due to chronic flooding on the ground floor of the community center. Funds were garnered to address the flooding and enhance the site with a new seating area, landscaping and a painted mural. Landscape designers Ken and Pat Saiki created the new design which was installed by Burkle Landscaping and Bruce Company. The hand railing was donated and installed by Endres Manufacturing. The mural was designed and painted by teaching artist Amy Mietzel and Bayview resident Tou Lor and reflects the gardening traditions of Bayview residents. The site also features 150 square feet of organic gardening space that is maintained by Bayview youth involved in the summer Giving Garden Youth Employment program.
Bayview Magic Carpet
This mural created by Nancy Giffey in 2003 was inspired by the intersection of Hmong embroidery, images from nature, Monona Bay, and religious and cultural symbols from around the world.
One Child Spinning Through Mother Sky
This sculpture created by Harry Whitehorse is carved out of an Osage Orange tree that was planted by an Italian immigrant in 1930 and grew in the old Greenbush neighborhood for seventy-five years. The tree was the only landscape feature to survive the redevelopment of the Triangle neighborhood in the 1960's. In 2002, sculptor Harry Whitehorse carved "One Child Spinning Through Mother Sky" for Bayview Foundation. The sculpture includes animals, people and plants symbolic of the ethnic groups that have called Bayview and the Greenbush neighborhood home.
Greenbush Neighborhood
This mural was created by artist Mary Dolan who researched the history of the Greenbush neighborhood and the residents and families who have lived in the area over the years. The mural is painted in multiple sections. The section on the left depicts the Bayview International Center for Education and the Arts and its annul Triangle Ethnic Fest celebration. Dancers and performers from many countries are represented in traditional attire enjoying the event. The middle section depicts the old Greenbush neighborhood as it was close to the turn of the 20th century when immigrants from around the world, primarily Italy, settled in the area. The section on the right depicts a traditional village in Laos where many of Bayview's current residents are originally from.
For more information about Arts & Placemaking, please contact Bayview's Executive Director at alexislondon@bayviewfoundation.org