DeAnn Sackman, the Kitsap Peninsula weaver and a renowned Duwamish artist whose lineage can be directly traced to Chief Seattle and his daughter, Angeline, was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony to create a woven cedar mat for Benaroya Hall. The mat was hand-woven from cedar bark strips and features hand-crafted details made from materials sustainably harvested from regional woods. The piece promotes themes such as meeting spaces and finding common ground, and Sackman said she views the mat as a physical representation of “a bridge of sharing.” These concepts arise in a design of cedar bark buttons, painted red and black, that are strategically placed atop the woven mat. The buttons, shaped to resemble both musical notes and Native song dots, capture the beauty of the intersection of Indigenous and Western music. Placed together in a circle, the notes and dots evoke the continuous cycle of sharing and learning as music speaks to all cultures. The art installation was unveiled at the 2021/2022 Opening Weekend Concert and is displayed in The Boeing Company Gallery as a part of the Symphony’s acknowledgment that the orchestra performs on Indigenous land.
