Bus Shelter Mural Program Gallery
Silence of the Frogs
© 1997 Annie Kwok, Bill Sullivan, Marsha McAllister, Susan Boyce,
all rights reserved
Medium: Recycled plastic, burnt wood etching,
porcelain mosaic, oil pastel
Located at 10th Ave. E. & E. Galer St. in Seattle
"Silence of the Frogs"
What happened to the frogs?
The grass bends
as he passes over it.
The water dents
as she jumps in it.
But is it the earth
That silences their songs?
The title of this piece refers to the alarming disappearance of frogs and toads in large areas of North America. Many of the affected areas, such as Yosemite National Park have been considered relatively protected places, yet amphibian declines are occurring even there.
This project, conceived by Annie Kwok, uses recycled material for the lower panels of the bus shelter and the sides of the trash receptacle. The project was conceived by Annie Kwok for a design class at Cornish College of the Arts. The class, entitled "New Materials and Sustainable Design," was taught by Tom and Barbara Johnson of Johnson Design Studio. Sustainable design uses reprocessed, recycled and harvested materials in ways that add value to the materials, and allow for them to be re-used.
The colorful panels and the bench of the shelter are made of a material called HDPE#2 a post-consumer, post-industrial recycled plastic that is available in 4’x 8’ sheets of various thicknesses. The panels and bench were constructed by King County Metro’s Facilities Maintenance staff.
The original art works in the upper panels of the shelter were created by three different artists. The burnt-wood etching was created by Bill Sullivan. The mosaic was created by Marsha McAllister, and is made of recycled porcelain earrings from Young & Associates. The oil pastel frog was created by Susan Boye, a visual arts instructor at Cornish.
Many thanks to these artists and Metro for their help to make this a wonderful project.
Funding
Recycled plastic material was funded by the King County Metro Bus Zone Safety and Access Project. Time to create the artwork was donated by Annie Kwok and three other artist’s mentioned above.
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