Staff Report

A mammoth croquet field has emerged in Redmond. It’s not to be played on, however, but walked through.

Suzanne Tidwell’s knitted art installation sits on the new Redmond Central Connector Phase II at Northeast 95th Street and Willows Road. The city-approved piece will be on display through the end of September.

According to Tidwell, the wickets will encourage new visitors to stroll through them and use the path along the trail.

The wickets are approximately 6 feet tall and the mallets are approximately 22 feet long.

Tidwell estimates it took about 120 hours to weld, knit, sew, install, de-install, move again and re-install the entire project. One “elf” assisted with installation and moving the project, and Gary Smith — a Redmond Parks and Trails commissioner — helped install and de-install the wickets.

The piece was initially installed for So Bazaar Aug. 17 on the Redmond Central Connector.

Tidwell’s artist statement to the city reads, in part: “My work has been described as Dr. Seuss meets Christo and is known for making people smile, pause and wonder. My work is often temporary and encourages people to live in the moment, because you never know where an installation will turn up or when it will disappear.”

She regularly sources her materials from thrift stores and frequently recycles yarn from one project to the next, carefully unwinding and re-knitting yarn in subsequent installations until it cannot be used anymore, Tidwell added.

Tidwell graduated from the University of North Texas in 1993 with a bachelor of arts degree in visual art studies. She was accepted into the 2012 Artist Trust EDGE Program and is currently working out of Project 106 Artist Studios in Seattle’s TK Building.