Building a piece-ful place

Lincoln City Cultural Center unveils mosaic centerpiece

For the past 18 months, ever since the completion of the main phase of the Cultural Plaza redevelopment project, there’s been a point of curiosity at the west entrance of the Lincoln City Cultural Center.

It was a perfect but empty-looking circle, 20 feet in diameter, recessed in the sidewalk. It had pride of place, surrounded by a curvilinear seat wall and custom-made benches, but something was definitely missing. As they walked through or around this circle of gravel, many pedestrians asked – what is this supposed to be?

Now the answer has arrived, with the installation of “The Lincoln City Cosmography,” an original sidewalk LithoMosaic created by Wick Alexander and Robin Brailsford.

The dedication ceremony for the work will take place at the west doors of the cultural center this Saturday, Nov. 1.

Mayor Susan Wahlke, Sen. Dick Anderson and Rep. David Gomberg will join cultural center board and staff to cut the ribbon for this long-awaited capstone of the Cultural Plaza project. The ceremony will also include live music and refreshments.

The dedication is part of a larger Open House event for the center’s new director, Serena Dressel.

A LithoMosaic is a form of tile art that is structurally embedded into concrete using a durable process patented by Robin Brailsford. The Cultural Plaza project features a mandala design with 64 circles depicting flora, fauna and elements of life on the Central Oregon Coast. Brailsford and Alexander created the piece using ideas generated by Lincoln City residents in online workshops and public input sessions in 2020.

Although conception, creation, planning and fund-raising for the Cosmography took nearly five years, the installation of the piece was fast — completed in less than three days. However, Brailsford’s patented LithoMosaic monolithic pour method ensures that this piece will retain its color and structure for decades. After curing, it is not only walkable and handicapped accessible, but also driveable, making it easy for vendors and artisans to continue their work on the Cultural Plaza every summer.

“From these community workshops organized by the cultural center, we learned of the significance and timelessness of Lincoln County’s natural beauty, of the land, tideland, ocean and sky,” Brailsford wrote in 2022. “Our mandate was to express a unique ‘sense of place and falling in love’ with this bountiful beauty.”

Brailsford and Alexander began thinking about the central location, the natural beauty, the tides, and the community’s connection to the tides and the moon, and they found themselves drawn to the idea of a cosmography: the depiction of information not in grids or right angles, but in circles and arcs. The first inspiration was an Inuit map of the heavens, but they found many more, through many cultures around the world.

“Our design for the circular Plaza LithoMosaic takes inspiration from many sources: mandalas, alchemical diagrams, circles of knowledge and the medicine wheel,” Brailsford wrote. “It is a 20-foot-wide cosmography composed of 64 24-inch medallions. At winter solstice, a stately and iconic pine will be set in its center. In its own way, this living vertical element will work into a solar clock.”

Alexander and Brailsford submitted their preliminary design in 2021, then the public was invited to add their own ideas for plants, animals and elemental forces at the public

input station open at the center, as well as through take home kits, or online methods. The artists incorporated these local ideas, completing the design work in the winter of 2023.

“Our cosmography highlights the four seasons and directions with four colors in the background: red, black, white and yellow,” Alexander wrote. “Over this is imposed a series of graduated rings, from the sky to the center: to ocean, estuary, beach and land. As Lincoln City is called the ‘String of Pearls’ for the small hamlets along the highway, each ring has pearls or mandalas representing the flora and fauna you might see there, in that season, based on where they fall in the circle.”

Unfortunately, Brailsford will not get to see the installation. She died in March following the sudden onset of heart failure.

The LithoMosaic connects the Poetry Path, a 10-foot-wide walkway that winds 430 feet through the Cultural Plaza and connects the gathering spaces, public art installations and program spaces, allowing walkers, wheelchairs and strollers safe and easy access to outdoor events like markets, fairs and concerts.

Saturday’s dedication begins at 2:30 pm at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, located at 540 NE Hwy. 101. For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.

Cultural center welcomes new director

Community members eager to welcome Serena Dressel, who steps into the esteemed shoes of Niki Price as executive director of the Lincoln City Cultural Center, can do so at an open house and reception this Saturday, Nov. 1.

Price stepped down on August 31 after 14 years of visionary leadership. 

The event will include refreshments, music and opportunities to meet Dressel, along with the dedication of the Lincoln City Cosmography and a celebration for the new Legacy Club endowment project. 

The selection followed an extensive search led by the cultural center’s board of directors, which sought a candidate who could build on the organization’s strong foundation while guiding it into a vibrant and inclusive future. 

“Serena brings a rare combination of professional experience, personal connection and deep commitment to community engagement,” said Dorcas Holzapfel, board president. “Her leadership style and values align beautifully with the cultural center’s mission, and we are thrilled to welcome her home.” 

Raised in Lincoln City, Dressel returns with more than a decade of experience supporting mission-driven organizations. She most recently served as coordinator of the Student Sustainability Center at Portland State University, where she led strategic planning, supervised staff and facilitated more than 30 annual events. She holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in environmental science, and her background includes nonprofit governance, cultural programming, volunteer management and education. 

“I am honored to continue the meaningful work of the cultural center,” she said, “and to lead this organization in strengthening inclusive cultural programming to foster a greater sense of connection and belonging.”

Saturday's program begins at 2 pm at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, located at 540 NE Hwy. 101. For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.