‘Dancing Leaves’ Art Walls, I-90 Sunset Interchange, Issaquah, WA 2003

Sculptural relief artwork graces concrete walls along major state highway and trail corridor at the Gateway to the Cascades and Mountains to Sound Greenway. Dubbed ‘Dancing Leaves’ by Issaquah citizens, Peggy Gaynor’s original drawings of poplar, willow, cedar and Douglas fir seed symbolize historic farm windrows, Issaquah Creek, native Cascade forest, and regeneration or hope. Greatly enlarged and arranged in swirling patterns, leaf forms lyrically abstract as gestures of movement, reflecting local winds and travel speed.

GAYNOR also provided aesthetic concepts and site-sensitive design for bridge and ramp structures, pedestrian trails, lighting, native planting and stormwater pond earthworks for Washington State Department of Transportation. Completed in 2003, the overall project construction cost $60 million, with approximately $250,000 for ‘Dancing Leaves’ art walls.

Project wins 2004 Gold Award for Complexity from American Council of Engineering Companies of Washington.