From the earth, a memory: Dragon sculpture commemorates Korean exchange student visit

Published 12:47 pm Thursday, January 22, 2015

“It looks good, doesn’t it?” asks Brad Pearce, as he examines the eye socket he’s been working on.

It does. Eyes, jaws, the whole head, are clearly visible, and although there are no feet or scales yet, it’s easy to see the serpentine dragon that will emerge from the bundles of branches and moss taking shape on the walkway outside the North Bend Visitors Information Center.

Bob Antone grins as he adjusts one of the teeth. “It’s going to look so cool!” he says.

Antone and his wife Laura, along with Seattle artist Pearce, led exchange students and host families from the Snoqualmie Sister Cities Association in the construction project Saturday, Jan. 17. They sometimes had to work to keep up their enthusiasm throughout the cold, wet, and windy day, but most of the time, it was easy.

“It’s fantastic,” announced 15 year-old Yeon Keong Lee, visiting from Snoqualmie’s sister city in Korea, Gangjin. She was shivering a little — OK, a lot — but she didn’t seem to notice the cold while she wired bark scales into place on the dragon.

The scales were painted blue, for the Seahawks of course, and there was plenty of green moss, too, but these were just the first of many colors to appear on the dragon.

A pile of bright fabric strips on the desk inside the visitors center is a final embellishment for the dragon. For a small donation, which benefits the visitor’s center and its Mountainview Art Gallery, as well as the Sister Cities Association, the public is invited to add to the pile.

“People can write a memory on a piece of fabric, and tie it on the dragon, to flutter in the wind” said Tina McCollum, president of the Snoqualmie Sister Cities Association.

Center staffer Mackenzie Stinson is almost ready to add her own contribution, a white strip, on which she drew mountains and forest in green ink. Some of the exchange students wrote on theirs in Korean.

These will be the finishing touches on the dragon, which Antone hoped to complete Sunday morning. By early afternoon Saturday, he’d gotten most of the scales and all of the feet — made by the exchange students who glued moss and wooden “claws” to four small stumps — in place, and had plans to “beef up” the dragon’s legs. He and Pearce, who asked “Is it going to rain?” during the steady drizzle, worked throughout the day.

“My grandpa used to make organic sculptures like this in the yard,” says Antone. “It’s a family tradition, making stumps and debris into sculpture.”

The dragon, also called an earth dragon because of the materials in it, is a gift to the Valley from the exchange students, said McCollum. It’s also a memory dragon, because of the fabric scraps, each capturing a memory, that will be added now and into the future.

“They want to maintain this for at least six months,” McCollum said. “The visitor’s center will always have fabric available.”

The 10 students visiting from Gangjin are staying with local host families, and will attend Mount Si High School during their trip.

Learn more about  sister cities at www.snoqualmiesistercities.org.

Korean exchange students Yeon Keong Lee, left, and Seung Yeon Lee work together to wire scales into place on a dragon sculpture outside the North Bend Visitor Information Center.

One of the banners made for the memory dragon.

Bob Antone, left, adjusts a tooth in the dragon’s jaw, while Seattle artist and friend Brad Pearce continues working on the dragon’s head.

Korean students pose for a photo with the memory dragon, in progress.

Sasquatch creator Bob Antone and Tina McCollum, on Saturday transform the North Bend VIC sculpture into a 12th fan in time for the Seahawks’ NFC championship game Sunday. Both the Sasquatch and the memory dragon, being built to commemorate a visit from Snoqualmie’s sister city, Gangjin, Korea, flew Seahawks colors.