Art Plaques
Seven unique plaque designs used to identify distinct areas of the building were the result of collaboration by designer Kathy Murray of Olive Design, artist Nikki McClure, studio23 metalworks and fabricator CREO. The artwork imagery are of state symbols and the color of the patina on the base materials of copper and brass give visual clues to which level or wing you are at in the building:
- Level 1, Frog
- Level 2, Goldfinch
- Level 3, Steelhead
- Level 4, Apple
- Level 5, Dragonfly
- Level 6, Orca
- South wing all levels, Hemlock
Studio23 developed approximately 20 different patina designs and the artist and client chose a patina to complement each image. The metal plaques were affixed to a signage component and installed on each row of workstations within the tenant spaces.
The design and fabrication process required considerable “hands-on” techniques. The artwork was cut out of the copper and brass plaques by water jet. Then each plaque was polished by hand with abrasive pads to remove oxidization and to smooth the edges. The plaques were individually cleaned with denatured alcohol. Then the various patina chemicals were hand applied to each individual plaque by various methods. After the desired finish was achieved, the plaques were coated twice with a product called SmartCoat. The final size of each plaque is 2.5” high by 8” wide.