Big Rock Garden Park’s mixture of nature and art makes it a regionally unique venue for its annual sculpture exhibition.
The Big Rock Garden Advisory Committee put on its annual Invitational Sculpture Exhibition on Sunday at Big Rock Garden Park, welcoming the highest turnout the event has seen. With over 300 people attending the committee was pleased with the turn out said Becky Hutchins, member of the Big Rock Garden Advisory Committee and chair of the event.
“This year, the show was done differently than in the past,” said Hutchins, “usually it is a juried show, this year because of diminished budgets we made it an invitational, we wanted to focus on the permanent program.”
In a juried show, a committee (separate from the Big Rock Garden Advisory Committee) receives and reviews applications and art and decides what sculptures will go in the show. This year, the committee decided to ask five artists who have permanent work in the park to return with a new piece.
“The objective is to show how their work has evolved,” said Mary Ann Crawford, member of the Big Rock Garden Advisory Committee. The show, which runs from May until September, currently has 36 permanent pieces as well as the 5 temporary ones that are for sale.
“We’re thrilled they asked us [the artists] to bring something back,” said Tracy Powell, an artist - with art currently permanently located in the park as well as featured in the show - who has been coming to the park since it was still just a sculpture garden, “we love it here,” he said.
“The exhibition sparks discussion about art which is important,” said Hutchins “it creates an event that draws people to the park, specifically to the art.”
Big Rock Garden Park is “a gem of a place,” said Hutchins
The park itself is a naturally beautiful venue that is combined with the arts, making it regionally a very unique and natural space, said Hutchins. In 1993, the land was bought by the city from the Drake family, who had previously used it as a sculpture garden. Since then the 8-acre land plot has been used as a venue for various concerts and art exhibitions.
“The city bought the park because they believed it could potentially be a unique resource for the public,” said Hutchins “what’s important is identifying how unique this space is, usually places like this are much more formal, [Big Rock Garden] is open to the public and user-friendly, it makes art more accessible to everyone.”
Looking into the future of the park
The committee - which is entirely volunteer coordinated - is looking forward to taking the next step in improving the park, the approximately 5.5 acres of land that is undeveloped will most likely remain that way. “The master plan is to increase accessibility to the park,” said Hutchins.
The committee is a non-profit, and although it is supported by the City Parks and Recreation department, budget cuts have taken their toll. “The committee really stepped up this year [to put on this event],” said Rae Edwards, who works with the Bellingham Parks Volunteer Program.
“The next step is to get more public support,” said Hutchins, looking ahead the committee hopes to replace old timbers with rock walls, groom and develop existing landscape and develop the southwest corner of the park.
“This park is a great resource,” said Anne Theiler, resident of South Bellingham, “in addition to the Western Washington University outdoor sculpture park, this could really help Bellingham set its mark.”
Friday, May 14, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Possible required licensing for landlords causes stir on Alabama Hill
Alabama Hill landlords and tenants prepare for a potential new policy requiring licensing for property owners.
The Alabama Hill Association, AHA, neighborhood meeting took place Tuesday evening, fueling discussions over a potential license requirement for landlords. According to the executive summary of the “Options for Rental Housing Licensing and Quality Inspection Program in Bellingham” half of the homes in Bellingham are rentals. The summary calls for a shared responsibility among tenants and owners, a universally applied policy, the right to regulate the business of renting, and a least-cost design to achieve policy goals.
The program was introduced by JD Marris of Keller Williams Realty, president of the Whatcom County Realtors Association. Marris explained the four different methods of approach used when implementing the new policy, the “recipe for regulation” includes: focusing on nuisances, targeting housing quality and safety, regulating tenancy situations, and making efforts to engage universities in cooperatively solving problems with off-campus rentals.
Increased complaints about tenants call for addressing nuisances
According to Marris, the number of complaints called on Bellingham rentals has gone up; he calls for a solution focused on dealing with nuisances. The program would require annual checks on rental homes, a local landlord group with an area representative, and a 5 point system of nuisance violations, where tenants could potentially be evicted for a series of complaints against them.
The licenses would likely be costly to achieve, and would require the employment of more city officials for increased enforcement, the cost on average of a city employee is 70,000 dollars, said Marris.
Marris’ concern is mainly in regards to students “60 percent of the WWU population is off-campus and youngsters that attend local colleges like to…misbehave,” he said while addressing the AHA, the issue is “parties in close proximity to neighbors who frown on such activities.”
Richard Maneval, chair of the Assocation of Bellingham Neighborhoods believes the problem lies elsewhere “I’ve never had a problem with students,” said Maneval, who is currently a Bellingham landlord, “the problem is not with students, it’s with people who have dropped out, or who are not attending school.”
Health and safety also a major issue among Bellingham homes
This prospective plan has been discussed in Bellingham before, “a lot of things were promised, but nothing was done,” said Richard Conoby, affiliated with the Campus Community Coalition at Western Washington University.
Out of the 35,000 living units in Bellingham, 17,000 are rental, and at least 8,000 are rented by students, said Conoby, he believes something needs to be done about rental housing in Bellingham, but the problem is not students, its safety, “this is not just about students, not just about nuisances, this is about health and safety,” he said.
Sharon von See, resident of Alabama Hill has a daughter living in rental properties, “I think it’s a good idea,” she said of the proposed plan “my daughter lives in places I would never live in, landlords would raise the rent, but they would also have to take care of them [rental units].”
The executive summary states that the program would be based off of a similar plan executed in Pasco, Wash. where – according to Conoby – inspectors discovered 85 percent of the houses to have problems, 15 percent to have serious health and safety concerns, and at least 10 percent to be molding.
Neighborhoods slated to be at risk of depreciating
“The issue for us is about health and safety,” said Conoby, and we don’t want to “change the nature of the neighborhood” with deteriorating houses, he said.
According to Maneval, in Alabama Hill half to one of every ten houses is a rental unit, the neighborhood is making an effort to not let rental houses affect the quality of the neighborhood like what has happened in surrounding neighborhoods, he said.
Maneval is fighting to keep the nature of Alabama Hill alive. Unsafe rental houses “create an unhealthy environment, and devalue the neighborhood,” he said. After 15 years experience dealing with “slumlords” and a legal system that is of no help, something needs to be done, said Maneval. There is uniqueness about Bellingham that comes from its renting population, if this proposed plan is applied, we’re going to need to educate and enforce it, he said.
The Alabama Hill Association, AHA, neighborhood meeting took place Tuesday evening, fueling discussions over a potential license requirement for landlords. According to the executive summary of the “Options for Rental Housing Licensing and Quality Inspection Program in Bellingham” half of the homes in Bellingham are rentals. The summary calls for a shared responsibility among tenants and owners, a universally applied policy, the right to regulate the business of renting, and a least-cost design to achieve policy goals.
The program was introduced by JD Marris of Keller Williams Realty, president of the Whatcom County Realtors Association. Marris explained the four different methods of approach used when implementing the new policy, the “recipe for regulation” includes: focusing on nuisances, targeting housing quality and safety, regulating tenancy situations, and making efforts to engage universities in cooperatively solving problems with off-campus rentals.
Increased complaints about tenants call for addressing nuisances
According to Marris, the number of complaints called on Bellingham rentals has gone up; he calls for a solution focused on dealing with nuisances. The program would require annual checks on rental homes, a local landlord group with an area representative, and a 5 point system of nuisance violations, where tenants could potentially be evicted for a series of complaints against them.
The licenses would likely be costly to achieve, and would require the employment of more city officials for increased enforcement, the cost on average of a city employee is 70,000 dollars, said Marris.
Marris’ concern is mainly in regards to students “60 percent of the WWU population is off-campus and youngsters that attend local colleges like to…misbehave,” he said while addressing the AHA, the issue is “parties in close proximity to neighbors who frown on such activities.”
Richard Maneval, chair of the Assocation of Bellingham Neighborhoods believes the problem lies elsewhere “I’ve never had a problem with students,” said Maneval, who is currently a Bellingham landlord, “the problem is not with students, it’s with people who have dropped out, or who are not attending school.”
Health and safety also a major issue among Bellingham homes
This prospective plan has been discussed in Bellingham before, “a lot of things were promised, but nothing was done,” said Richard Conoby, affiliated with the Campus Community Coalition at Western Washington University.
Out of the 35,000 living units in Bellingham, 17,000 are rental, and at least 8,000 are rented by students, said Conoby, he believes something needs to be done about rental housing in Bellingham, but the problem is not students, its safety, “this is not just about students, not just about nuisances, this is about health and safety,” he said.
Sharon von See, resident of Alabama Hill has a daughter living in rental properties, “I think it’s a good idea,” she said of the proposed plan “my daughter lives in places I would never live in, landlords would raise the rent, but they would also have to take care of them [rental units].”
The executive summary states that the program would be based off of a similar plan executed in Pasco, Wash. where – according to Conoby – inspectors discovered 85 percent of the houses to have problems, 15 percent to have serious health and safety concerns, and at least 10 percent to be molding.
Neighborhoods slated to be at risk of depreciating
“The issue for us is about health and safety,” said Conoby, and we don’t want to “change the nature of the neighborhood” with deteriorating houses, he said.
According to Maneval, in Alabama Hill half to one of every ten houses is a rental unit, the neighborhood is making an effort to not let rental houses affect the quality of the neighborhood like what has happened in surrounding neighborhoods, he said.
Maneval is fighting to keep the nature of Alabama Hill alive. Unsafe rental houses “create an unhealthy environment, and devalue the neighborhood,” he said. After 15 years experience dealing with “slumlords” and a legal system that is of no help, something needs to be done, said Maneval. There is uniqueness about Bellingham that comes from its renting population, if this proposed plan is applied, we’re going to need to educate and enforce it, he said.
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