Sarah Kavage

Sarah Kavage is a Seattle-based visual artist who creates public projects that call attention to land, ecology, and place. Kavage was born into a family of DIYers, makers, and nature lovers in 1970s rural Ohio. She came to Seattle from NYC with a BFA and a sense of burnout from waiting tables, seeking a new vocation through grad school in urban planning. Urban planning unexpectedly turned her art practice inside out, away from studio work and towards outdoors and community. Much of her work since has taken place along Seattle’s Duwamish River. In 2021, Kavage built 16 functional ecological artworks as lead artist for Lenapehoking~Watershed, an ambitious project about the Delaware River watershed, with sites centered on Philadelphia and spanning 3 states.

It’s an honor to be a part of this year’s DTour. Growing up in the country Midwest shaped my artistic self in many ways and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to reflect on that landscape. My piece, 'Garden of Water and Wind' will be an immersive installation of tall grasses woven and braided into the edge of a farm field. As a kid I loved the feeling of walking out into tall meadows and corn fields. Being surrounded by tall, sweet smelling plants with a view of sky above was so soothing - sort of like swimming on land. I’m hoping to invite folks into that world and show the imaginative, otherworldly side of a humble, familiar landscape.”

- Sarah Kavage

King Tide Orchestra (detail) by Sarah Savage. Duwamish Riverbank, Tukwila WA 2022. A series of woven trumpet and speaker shaped forms built out of willow and planted into the riverbank along the high tide line.