This project aims to restore native flora and fauna to Heron Meadow while creating opportunities for visitors of all ages to engage with and learn from the site. Interactive structures and natural sculptures invite guests to explore the new Vashon Nature Center (VNC) and meadow restoration while learning about the importance of environmental stewardship. Initially inspired by the old growth forests that used to exist on Vashon, the site design brings restoration to the forefront creating a space where the Vashon community could come to watch the trees grow up. Expanding on that idea, the concept aims to enhance the relationship of reciprocity between the VNC and the Vashon Center of the Arts (VCA) by combining restoration and art. The project does this by taking the formal galleries of the VCA outside and turning them into wild gallery spaces formed by native planting. Built structures and other artworks made by local artists are intended to help frame the ecological restoration of the site. In this way nature will frame the art and the art will frame nature, creating a harmonious space for locals and visitors to come watch the trees grow up.
