Campbell Creek Nature Minutes from Busy Lake Otis & Tudor

We biked over the old Campbell Creek bridge just east of Lake Otis (and the newer bridge).  This is in Campbell Creek Park.  The salmon aren't running yet.  Here's a view to the west.

Here's a view to the east.

And this peaceful scene is about 1/4 mile from one of Anchorage's busiest intersections - Lake Otis and Tudor.  When the street was widened years ago and this massive retaining wall was put it, Sheila Wyne's mystical art project transformed (for me at least) what would have been a sterile corner into a favorite spot.  It's easy to find a list of of 1% for the arts projects done by the Municipality of Anchorage.  Wyne's piece isn't on the list so I guessed that it was instead a state project.  But I can't find a state list.  I did find a DOT document which referred to more recent construction (already completed) which refers to Sheila Wyne's raven sun moon and stars and how the finishing work on the new project was intended to complement it.

 

The sun is out of sight past the upper left corner.  There are stories among Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Southeast Alaska and Canadian Native peoples about the raven stealing the sun, moon, and stars from heaven, and I'm assuming that this piece represents a version of that story.   It's best just around sunset when the light catches the stars and casts a multicolor reflection.