Sammamish moves artwork to protect it from vandalism

The “Four Seasons in Sammamish” art installation that was initially placed near the children’s area in the Lower Commons has been moved up closer to City Hall because it was damaged repeatedly.

City officials said they decided to move the piece because on several different occasions pieces of the glass mosaic style artwork had been pulled off or broken. The piece is now hanging on the outside wall of the restroom building at the east side of the Upper Commons area next to City Hall.

“It was devastating when it kept getting vandalized,” said artist and Sammamish resident Connie Walsworth, who worked on the piece with an estimated 2,000 kids throughout the greater Sammamish community.

The project was born several years ago when Walsworth and others were talking about trying to bring kids together from both ends of the Plateau to work on a project.

“I went to venues where kids would be going — concerts, schools, events ... we worked on it for about six months,” Walsworth said. She then took all the pieces and scenes that kids and community members had created, and compiled them into one work that shows a scene of what Sammamish residents do during the four seasons of the year: City Hall in the winter, a trail scene for spring, the summer concert series and the Haunt at Beaver Lake for the fall.

“A lot of thought went into it by a lot of different people,” Walsworth said. “Most of them did not know each other or me, and they were still able to work together on it.”

Rotary Club of Sammamish donated the piece to the city, Parks and Recreation Director Jessi Richardson said at a recent City Council meeting.

“Unfortunately we had lots of damage, I’m not sure why,” Richardson said. “Occasionally we need to make changes.”

Walsworth is fixing and replacing anything that had been broken or had sharp edges.

“I think it looks awesome,” she said. “It was such a great project and I’m so glad it’s back up, because there were so many kids who worked on it.”

Wendy Giroux can be reached at wgiroux@reporternewspapers.com or 391-0363, ext. 5050.