Title: Memory's Vault
Artists:
Richard Turner, sculptor
Sam Hamill, author
Fabrication Specialties, fabricator.
Dates:
1987. Dedicated Sept. 1988
Location:
Fort Worden
Media:
Concrete, steel, stone and bronze
Dimensions: Dimensions: 168 x 480 x 720 in.

Washington State Arts Commission

Memory's Vault

Memory's Vault

Memory's Vault

Memory's Vault

Links:PTAC

Port Townsend Arts Commission (click)

Washington State Arts Commission (click)

PT Guide (click)Centrum

Centrum (click)

The Northwind Arts Alliance (click)

Artist Registry (click)

Jefferson County Historical Society (click)

Not a link but reading is still allowed in the digital age (read) City of Dreams: A Guide to Port Townsend, Peter Simpson, Editor. Port Townsend: Bay Press, 1986.


More information about Memory's Vault:


A sculptural interpretation of the old coastal defense bunkers. The work is an integrated plaza, with seating and contemplation areas, which include stone groupings, tree groves, and 7 ten foot high metal monoliths with porcelain enameled plaques containing poems by Sam Hamill (Click here and here and here, to read the poems). The art work references the gun battles and military function of the nearby fort and includes a replica of the Kinzie Battery bench, concrete "chairs" and bunker gutters, and a roofed platform.

Nearby commemorative plaque reads:

On this site stood the barracks which housed members of the Army Corps of Engineers, who from 1898 to 1907, were responsible for the design and construction of the artillery batteries at Fort Worden. The concrete vault in which the plans for the batteries were kept is all that remains of the original structural.

Memory's Vault is a work of art created through the efforts of the artist, individuals and state agencies working collectively to mark in a new way an important place in Washington's history. It is a place for contemplation-of nature, of man and his intentions at Fort Worden.

Washington State Arts Commission in Partnership with Washington State Dept. of Corrections, State Parks and Recreation Commission./Funding was provided through the Art in Public Places Program, Washington State Arts Commission./Built by Fabrication Specialties with assistance from inmates of the Clallam Bay Corrections Center..