City selects roundabout artwork

By Cameron Rasmusson
Reader Staff

The Schweitzer Cutoff Roundabout will get an aesthetic upgrade by next June following the city’s recent approval of a public art proposal.

The approved artwork, “Celestial Sierra,” is a stainless steel sculpture with an orbital finish and blue-painted interior. Proposed by Seattle artist Troy Pillow, the sculpture will be lit by blue internal lighting similar to the lighting accents along Sand Creek Byway. The budget for the sculpture is $90,000, and an additional $20,000 will be spent on landscaping and infrastructure.

The process to select the Schweitzer Cutoff Roundabout sculpture was exhaustive, with Arts Commission members pouring through 150 applications, 73 of which advanced for evaluation and scoring by a selection committee. After another round of information gathering, the top three candidates received a $1,000 stipend to refine their concepts, a process that ended with Pillow winning the recommendation.