The City of Auburn will dedicate Swing and Flight by Seattle artist Susan Zoccola at the Auburn Golf Course in front of the Clubhouse at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday, June 3.
These two separate, but related sculptures are the newest addition to Auburn’s public art collection.
Inspired by the surroundings, Zoccola explores motion and the shapes of man-made and natural objects created from movement. Located on the north side of the Clubhouse, Swing mimics the circle of the golf swing. The golf club swings in an arch from a central axis, while the head of the club mimics the motion and form of a seed pod fluttering to the ground.
On the adjacent lawn on the south side of the Clubhouse, Flight is the stylized arch of a golf ball following its trajectory towards the first hole of the course. Measuring approximately 10 feet in height and 20 feet in length, Flight graces the lawn with a gentle but substantial presence.
In both Swing and Flight, elements and stages of motion are stopped in time by stainless steel details and steel rods.
A native of Seattle, Zoccola received her degree through San Francisco Art Institute and University of Washington. Zoccola presents exhibits across the United States and her artwork is included in various public and corporate collections.
Over the last 10 years, Zoccola has completed a number of private and public art projects with recently installed public art projects at Seattle’s Laurelhurst Community Center and the Seattle Aquarium. Some of her other Seattle public artworks include Grassblades, a 150-foot-long screen wall project for the Seattle Center, which earned an AIA award; Bloom, a five-story art wall for King County Metro Transit at the Atlantic Central Base garage; and a 20-foot-high glass mosaic column at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Owned and operated by the City of Auburn, the Golf Course Clubhouse is an elegant, yet friendly community venue to dine, shop, celebrate and relax. With the goal of creating a prominent artwork that will welcome visitors to this active community facility, the seven-member artist selection committee, comprised of Auburn citizens, artists and arts commissioners, felt it was essential that the artworks represent the Clubhouse and Golf Course’s natural setting as well as the variety of individuals that use the Clubhouse and its facilities.
Zoccola impressed the panel with her contemporary approach to her artwork, with its clean and classic aesthetic, as well as her use of nature as a source of inspiration.
Recognizing that public art plays an important role in civic revitalization and neighborhood development, the Auburn Arts Commission created its Art in Public Places program in 1988 and commissioned new work to enhance the city’s parks, streetscapes, infrastructure and civic institutions. Zoccola’s Swing and Flight are the latest additions to Auburn’s collection of public art, now at more than 20 locations throughout the city, including artwork at the Auburn King County Library, Pioneer Cemetery, Game Farm Park and Brannan Park’s skate park.
The Art in Public Places program is managed by the Auburn Arts Commission and Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation. For information on this and other public art in Auburn, visit www.auburnwa.gov/arts or call 253-931-3043 to receive a Public Art Brochure.
